Liberal Talk Radio

…when first we try to enshrine corporate pork into the tax code:

Washington state’s hopes of wooing an aircraft assembly plant that could be built by a major Boeing Co. rival may get a boost from a package of tax breaks designed for Boeing itself.

France-based European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., the majority owner of Boeing rival Airbus SAS, is collecting bids from state and local governments this week for a possible U.S. manufacturing site and engineering center. The location could be used to compete with Boeing for a multibillion dollar aerial refueling tanker contract from the Air Force.

Come children, and let us sit by the fire and watch this ironic stew bubble to a boil. In an effort to get Boeing to keep its assembly lines in Washington State, our State legislators signed off on $3.2 Billion (yes, that’s a “B”) in tax breaks for the “aerospace industry.” You see, it turns out you can’t actually give taxpayer money to a specific corporation. That would be too easy. You have to guise it in an effort to promote a specific industry. Of course, the “aerospace industry” has, like three companies. And only one of them is based in Washington.

Well, maybe not any more.

Of course, the only reason that the Air Force has put the tanker contract out to bid again is that it turns out that Boeing hired a former Air Force procurement specialist to help seal the deal and probably violated a few laws in doing so.

So in the end, two of Boeing’s efforts to raid the public purse strings have backfired in stellar back-to-back fashion, like a beautifully executed chain reaction. Cheers, guys!