“Jobs Governor” a Colossal Failure

Remember what Bob McDonnell promised Virginians back in 2009? He was going to be the “jobs governor,” and Bill Bolling was going to be his “jobs czar”? As was pointed out on Blue Virginia, the “Bobbsey twins” of Virginia job creation aren’t doing well at all, ranking 40th in the nation in job creation, though that’s a little bit better than the 47th ranking Willard “Mitt” Romney had as governor of Massachusetts.

A few days ago, Bob McDonnell touted the fact that he had bribed the Washington Redskins to the tune of $4 million in state welfare payments to keep its headquarters and 350 jobs in Virginia, all the while not mentioning the fact that Exxon Mobil was closing its Fairfax County operation and moving 2,100 jobs to Houston TX.

In my little area of the state, Tread Corp., a company that got welfare from the state last August totaling $166,800 – plus two acres of land and more than $60,000 from Botetourt County – by promising to add 100 jobs, is actually laying off 100 people, instead. As luck would have it, their “welfare payments” to expand aren’t going to be affected by the fact that they are shedding 100 jobs, not adding them.

I remember well Bill Bolling telling the Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce last year that “government doesn’t create jobs.” He better not visit Northern Virginia and tell that to the federal workers looking at layoffs and job loss as the government cuts back on spending. He doesn’t want to go to Hampton Roads and try that one one on the thousands upon thousands of people there employed because of the military, people also facing possible job loss.

More than 27% of Virginians work for government. That’s more than one in four jobs in the state, making government/military the largest employer in the state by far. I guess government does create jobs, after all. (Willard might want to remember that when he ridicules hiring teachers, firemen, policemen.)

Bob McDonnell has failed miserably at what he said was his first priority. But, hey, next week he’s off on his sixth junket in two and a half years to “promote Virginia business.” This trip, at a cost of almost $200,000, will allow McDonnell, his wife Maureen, and eleven others to visit Germany, Switzerland, Britain, and Sweden.

I’m sure the main thing on the minds of Europeans right now is not some pesky worry about the Euro Zone falling apart and recession returning to the continent. No, McDonnell evidently thinks they are in the right frame of mind to talk about Virginia agricultural products and wine, maybe even a tour of our Civil War battlefields. Or, maybe, just maybe, this trip coincides nicely with his vacation plans.