Mercury Paper, which recently moved its national headquarters to the Shenandoah Valley, is under attack by organizations such as Greenpeace for killing the rainforest… or something like that.
Now obviously, Greenpeace has the right to fly off the handle at will. Mercury Paper has the right to defend itself.
…but does anyone really think that it’s Lt. Governor Bill Bolling’s job to stick up for Mercury Paper? From Anita Kumar’s Virginia Politics blog at the WaPo:
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, the state’s chief jobs creation officer, is sending a flurry of letters to companies across the nation, including Wal-Mart, that are threatening to cut off business with Virginia-based Mercury Paper.
Mercury Paper, a subsidiary of Asia-based Sinar Mas Group, one of the world’s leading pulp and paper companies, expanded its Shenandoah County facility last year, relocating its North American headquarters to the site, creating 150 jobs and investing $21.2 million. (The state spent $250,000 to lure the company here.)
There’s capitalism. There’s socialism. When the two work in concert, isn’t that where we reach some oddly-shaped form of corporatism?
This isn’t a criticism of Bolling — Bolling is a fine conservative and is doing his job.
But is this the role of our government? I doubt it.
How many other times will Virginia go to bat for other beleaguered firms? Today it’s a strongly-worded letter. Tomorrow, is it further tax subsidies? Loans? Gifts?
Of course, we’re all facing the challenges of state capitalism vs. the free market. The Chinese government is running roughshod over the U.S. manufacturing industry precisely because the Chinese are willing to financially back enterprise with public funds.
Virginia and many other states are having to compete in the same environment, and even with federal minimum wage standards, a low state tax rate, right to work laws, one of the best public education backbones in the nation (believe it or not), and a level playing field for business across the Commonwealth… we still are required to sweeten the pot just to be competitive.
So is Bolling wrong? Should Virginia’s government be in the business of protecting corporations to the point of being spokesmen?
