“Bob’s for Jobs” Economic “Strategy”: Huge Corporate Welfare for Minimal Jobs

If you want to understand the wild, gross hypocrisy of Republicans like Bob McDonnell, this article in today’s Virginian Pilot is must reading. So, here we have our fearless governor, Bob McDonnell, testifying to Congress that “it is the entrepreneur who makes businesses grow and prosper – not the government.” Yet here is that same fearless leader “plac[ing] government aid front and center in his campaign to reinvigorate the state’s economy.”

Over the past year, the state has doled out $23.8 million in government incentives to 22 businesses coming into Virginia or expanding their operations in the state, resulting in 3,429 new jobs.

That works out to about $7,000 in taxpayer money for each job created.

Alright, you say, so McDonnell’s been hypocritical, but how many jobs has he attracted to Virginia through his strategy of doling out corporate welfare, “three-quarters of [which] went to five Fortune 500 companies?”  Uh, not so much. Thus, “Bob’s for Jobs” pals at Northrop Grumman got $13 million and created…300 jobs, but then turned around and laid off 377 people, for a net loss to Virginia of 77 jobs! Now that’s corporate welfare “bang for the buck,” huh? “Bob’s for Jobs” indeed. Also, Microsoft – a company greatly in need of corporate welfare, as we all know (snark) – received $2.1 million in state money, which will end up employing a grand total of…50 people!  Hey, at that rate, we’ll soon have jobs for the 280,000 unemployed Virginians in about…uh,  5,000 years or so. Heh. Actually, with the loss of 77 jobs from Northrop Grumman, we’ll never find jobs for those 280,000 unemployed Virginians. But seriously, even if you take the figure of “3,429 new jobs” in 1 year, even with all that corporate welfare money McDonnell’s spending, it will take 80 years to find jobs for the 280,000 unemployed people of Virginia. Anyone got 80 years to wait for “Bob” to create those “jobs” he promised?

The bottom line is simple: Bob McDonnell’s only “plan” for creating jobs is to shovel money at Fortune 500 companies that don’t need it, then who come to Virginia and either lay people or only create a tiny handful of jobs. Meanwhile, he slashes programs for the poor, the elderly, the sick, the most vulnerable. He also bashes the federal government while eagerly accepting federal “stimulus” money to help bail him out of far worse trouble and keep his sacred pledge not to raise taxes. What leadership! Definitely material for a future run for U.S. Senate, Vice President, or even President! Yeah, and if you believe that, you probably think Sarah Palin’s a world-class genius, that Dubya was a great president, and that Bob McDonnell has a clue what he’s doing as governor of Virginia.