House Republicans Highlight Debt, Rendell Spending

AP article on House Republicans (at least some of them) noting the enormous burden of debt on Pennsylvania taxpayers before voting on more borrowing for corporate welfare. Dwight Evans is quoted, “We’re generating jobs, we’re trying to deal with the infrastructure.”

But they’re not “generating jobs.” Taking money from some to hand out to others, namely your political allies, doesn’t create jobs, it redistributes them and subverts entrepreneurship (and productivity) and encourage lobbying. In fact, more spending on “economic development” hurts job growth.

The House GOP Budget Blog also has a video on Rendell’s spending and proposals to exhaust the Rainy Day Fund. It is pretty good, though I would focus less on the “all the money is going to Philly” angle and more on the question “if we have money for soccer stadiums, hockey arenas, convention centers, and Hollywood producers, why do we have to raid the fund?”