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March 14, 2006
Vote-buying Pols
... Georgia intends to write Kia Motors Corp. a fat incentive check — some $400 million — including about $200 million in state and local tax breaks, cheap dirt in Troup County and a $40 million state grant. With 2,500 jobs inside the plant, Georgia will pay Kia roughly $160,000 per job, a sweeter deal than rival Southern states offered carmakers like Nissan, Honda or BMW. And it's more than the $320 million, or $96,000 per job, state and local officials promised in the state's failed bid to lure DaimlerChrysler in 2002. Incentives were just one reason Kia picked the Peach State, but for an automaker looking for a deal, Kia may have found the perfect partner in Georgia, observers said. The state had a governor facing voters in the fall, was suddenly leaking thousands of jobs from car plant closures, airline layoffs and corporate buyouts, and had missed the boat on six auto plants that had come South since 1993. All those factors helped open the state's wallet, said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp. "Manufacturing jobs are the big elephant ... and states are very competitive," he said. And car plants are big political trophies: "Once you get one, you're a hero." Look what happened to former Gov. Roy Barnes, "who had one slip away," Vitner said. So every Georgia taxpayer, regardless of whether he wants Perdue to be reelected or not, has just ponied up a hefty campaign contribution to ole Sonny. The $400m works out to more than $40 for every person living in GA. And the $162k per job works out to more than three years of pay for the workers who are estimated to earn $50k per year. I don't see anything heroic here--only another taxpayer fleecing. Posted by E. Frank Stephenson at 05:17 PM in Economics
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