This is worth repeating. Tuesday, the powers that be in Buncombe County are asking citizens to weigh in on Project X. Project X involves the contribution of a few million in tax dollars plus a few more million in capital improvements for an unnamed company. Taxpayers are supposed to dig on the scene because the unnamed company will create tens of jobs paying above-average, not above-median, wages. Here are a few objections:

  • Government is not magic. I don’t like government selling ends-justifying-means. Honest government cannot make this kind of promise. Government is not to tell us a magic black box will bring us prosperity. It is supposed to tell us what it intends to do to advance prosperity and let the consequences follow. A credible, though not necessarily good, government would say things like: we are going to lower taxes 2%, we are going to bulldoze the high-crime sector, we will impose tariffs on imports. A government banking on the silliness of its constituents will say things like: we are going to increase family income on average 1%, we are going to grow jobs 2%, we are going to grow our manufacturing outputs 1.5%. To accomplish the latter, government needs an evil device capable of controlling the creativity and decision-making processes of its constituents. Ashevillians were told providing domestic partner benefits would be like opening a box of Lucky Charms, but the economy went south with the rest of the country.
  • Forced markets are unjust. Government should not be in the business of controlling the economy. Government in this country was instituted to protect rights. One of those rights would be the ability to venture into a business and be as successful or disastrous as one’s genius allowed. If somebody tried to steal from the business, copy intellectual property, fraudulently discredit the company, or advocate new rules to strangle that company; then government would be welcome to step in as the arbiter of justice. Government is force, it is blind justice. Redistributing wealth to favored companies; particularly when the public cannot even know their name, does not fit the model. In free markets, buyers and sellers agree upon prices that please both. The force of government only introduces distortion to fair pricing.
  • The 99% subsidize the 1%. Corporate welfare has been described as socializing the risk and privatizing the gain. It is therefore a hybrid odious to both socialists and capitalists – except each side only looks at the half that conforms to their economic Utopia.
  • Extra government revenue is a myth. Before this came about, Buncombe County was lamenting the necessity of imposing a 5-cent property tax increase. It is argued the money spent today will pay off with greater tax revenues in the future. That is either bunk or a confession by the county that it charges too much in taxes. If taxes pay for services without unnecessary overhead and splurging, then the taxes paid by Project X directly and indirectly should only cover expenses for more police, fire, and EMS services, more students in the public schools, more road improvements, etc. Whence comes the surplus?
  • All for one, or all for all? Rep. John Szoka, a creditable mathematician, has determined what the state spends on corporate welfare is about equal to what it brings in in corporate taxes. If we were to eliminate the corporate tax, all businesses could partake in the tax break, instead of having the many subsidize the bounty of the few.
  • Producers are marginalized. What about the competition? In a free market unadulterated by government perks for favorite sons, people get to spend their money on the best product for the lowest value cost. When government steps in, it gives a competitive advantage to businesses that can now offer their widgets at a lower price. With all the businesses still going under, it is not unconceivable that the extra tax added to the loss in revenue would cause a mom and pop shop to go under for the sake of subsidizing their rivals. Unfortunately, economic development analyses tend to ignore jobs lost and jobs supplanted, lost opportunities for tax dollars, and other negative quantities.
  • Production underpins prosperity. Corporate welfare favors sleaze-boogers who can play the good ole boy game. I know, when we play politics, we live in a perfect world with perfect people. Unfortunately, I’ve been in the business world and seen folks who get their MBA’s all trained in the latest business models. It is not their objective to invent and improve; rather they owe it to the shareholders to beef up the bottom line with grants and lawsuits. When deception fails, force is evoked. With an economy where manufacturing is faltering and buyers of bad debt and derivatives are prospering, it is only a matter of time before the house of cards falls. What we have here is crony capitalism.
  • Alms for the rich and famous. What about all the needy in Buncombe County? Don’t half the school kids need help getting breakfast and lunch, and after their two subsidized meals, they must go hungry at night and on weekends? What about all the mentally ill and the homeless? Are we saying Project X is needier, and it is better to create high-paying jobs for the working class than to look after those who cannot look after themselves?