Recent editorials from Mississippi newspapers:
Sept. 9
Enterprise-Journal, McComb, Miss., on incentive deals pass rapidly:
Let’s hope that the almost universal approval by Mississippi lawmakers to spend $175 million to lure two new companies to the state turns out exactly like it’s drawn up.
It continues, however, to be troubling that these huge expenditures of taxpayers’ money get rammed through in a matter of hours, with lawmakers basically trusting that Gov. Haley Barbour and his people have done their due diligence.
There’s almost no other expenditure legislators make that gets rubber-stamped this quickly. But when it’s an economic development project, checks and balances basically get thrown to the wind in these rushed-up special sessions. …
The state is basically betting taxpayers’ money that these two companies — California-based Calisolar and North Carolina-based HCL Clean Tech — have a winning business formula.
…
9/13/11
Magnolia Tribune
