In The American Conservative, CEA President John C. Mozena warns that the real “dark money” in politics is hiding right in front of us, in the form of politically motivated economic development subsidies that dwarf anything spent by campaigns, PACs or parties:
Right now, state and local politicians running for reelection across America are living up to H.L. Mencken’s old adage that “every election is a sort of advanced auction on stolen goods.” In a time-honored tradition, spurred on by the risk that voters may blame them for the economic consequences of their COVID-19 lockdowns, governors and mayors are busily purchasing voter goodwill with promises of jobs at taxpayer-funded projects such as Tesla’s “Cybertruck” factory in Texas and Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters in Cleveland. The stage is set for a potentially disastrous explosion of new corporate welfare deals across the country that could hamstring state and local budgets and burden communities for decades to come.