Values Fund may not be so valuable

Blog for Iowa posted this article on the shortcomings of the Iowa Values Fund over the weekend, courtesy of Nicholas Johnson.

What's the value of the Iowa Values Fund?

Its promoters say it's a "jobs program." Its detractors say it smells more like corporate welfare. Who's right?

Admittedly, it's a little bizarre ideologically. The recipients are often the same folks who praise free private enterprise, repeat "marketplace regulation" like a mantra and oppose universal health care and safety and environmental regulation as "socialistic."

Governments run programs such as schools and libraries and contract for services such as road building.

But I always thought private enterprise was supposed to rely on private capital, dangling before investors both the risks of bankruptcy and the rewards of riches.

One of the reasons I am supporting Ed Fallon for Governor is his stance against the Iowa Values Fund. There is no reason my neighbor who owns a paint store pays for a company like Wells Fargo to get millions of dollars from the State. Corporate welfare only lines the pockets of the rich.