Waldo Lydecker whacks Joe Taylor, FITSNews

Waldo's got a great post up about how abysmally the current Commerce chief has performed at growing the SC economy, and has the most sound, and blunt, critique of this state's economic development strategies:

The fact remains, South Carolina is pursuing out of date strategies to attract companies that just want cheap workers to bolt things together. Screw the residents of the state: give BMW and Boeing land and tax breaks that will take decades to recover even as state services atrophy, look the other way when most of their workers are not real employees but contract workers (hello, BMW), and pray they don't pick up and leave when their factories are fully depreciated and they can get some other state to build them new ones.

Joe Taylor ought to resign in shame over the way he is willing to pimp the citizens of South Carolina. A 21st century economy is not one where your operating principle is to beg companies to come here on the promise you're willing to beggar your constituents' rights to access to redress when they are abused. In the new economy, workers' knowledge and ability to innovate is where the action lies. And they can, even under the Supreme Court's reactionary views, can go where they are most valued and life is most agreeable. Smart people don't migrate to low wage states.

In this century, companies that succeed- and stay- in SC are companies that can persuade their employees to want to live here and stay here. As long as South Carolina is perceived as a racist, reactionary, uniparty, head up its ass, homophobic, misogynist political/business culture, all you can be sure of is that the big, nameplate corporate recruits that enable politicos to declare victory and go home will stay here only as long as it suits them.

Both parties suffer from this mindset in South Carolina. The idea is, if we can bring in companies by throwing money, reforming tort and lowering taxes - then the expanded tax base will maintain the provided services. The fact is, until we invest in the necessary services in this state, educate our children properly, foster homegrown innovation then we'll be an attractive site for expansion, and relocation. We wouldn't have to throw as exorbitant incentives at out of state and international corporations. It'll take a whole lot of institutional reform for which the political will in South Carolina is completely non existent. Sure FITS News can harp about reform, and legislators may pay some election year lip service to it, but they know where their bread is buttered.