Two neighboring state governors – Democrat Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Republican Bob McDonnell of Virginia – go to Asia on trade missions, seeking foreign direct investment in their states. I’ll give you one guess which governor came back with “$85 million in immediate foreign direct investment” to his state, and which governor came back with…no foreign direct investment at all. Need another hint? Try this photo from one of the governor’s Facebook pages.
That’s right, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) of Maryland went to Asia, and reported back: “I’m pleased to announce that our economic development mission to Asia has already resulted in $85 million in immediate foreign direct investment into Maryland!” Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) of Virginia went to Asia and reported back on a “new marketing office in Shanghai,” plus “an historic cultural exchange agreement,” plus…uhhhh. Well, there’s this: “agricultural exports including soybeans and chicken…[m]ore specific details will be announced in the upcoming weeks and months.” Wow.
As Rebecca Jaramillo notes (major h/t to her on this story!), “It’s wonderful that McD sold our chickens and agricultural good (which of course means that it is good we didn’t pass those anti-immigration laws and end up like GA — without our workers), but that isn’t the same as ‘direct investment.’” Bottom line: the Democratic governor brought back serious foreign direct investment to his state; the Republican governor brought back…a cultural exchange, some chickens and hog sales, and something or other to be named later. Surprise, surprise.
