Sad stories are told of people who suddenly found themselves accountable for serious losses of other peoples’ money. Some perpetrated fraud. Others did nothing worse than taking bad investment advice. Seeing no other options, some suicided, and others faked suicide. Sitting comfortably, by comparison, are recipients of corporate welfare.
Consider BorgWarner. The Buncombe County manufacturer has a history of getting corporate welfare. It just received a state grant in the amount of $23,940 in January, but now it is laying off 140 people. It was hit hard when John Deere and Caterpillar suffered major losses. BorgWarner received another million dollars last summer, and another award in 2005. There may be others. (See, for example, 1,2,3,4.) It will likely not suffer as badly as John Deere will when it has to compete against all the corporate welfare its competitor is slated to receive, unless Deere also gets its fingers in the pie. Deere employees are likely happy their tax contributions will keep the competition employed with better employee benefits, lower risks of layoffs, and lower prices for comparable products.
