I have no problem with giving tax breaks to companies that invest. None whatsoever. However, this is a piece of legislation written specifically for Ford Motor Company. Other employers in the exact same financial situation will NOT get the same treatment. That’s what makes it a bailout. If it works so well for Ford, why not everyone else?
Apples and oranges. Mortgage Interest Deduction is available to ANYBODY (within a certain set of parameters) with a mortgage. It’s not targeted for the Rothschild family with all the money because the state is afraid the Rothschilds will relocate.
Actually, the way they set it up, although the break is designed to keep Ford, GM and Toyota (who both have factories in Missouri, too) can also get tax breaks, as can suppliers.
While it is backwards that they choose a particular industry, rather than lowering tax rates for ALL businesses, at least they didn’t treat competitors in the same industry differently, unlike Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana have all done - where one company gets a massive subsidy to start a factory, while a direct competitor that has been paying taxes for 20+ years or more is not given similar treatment to allow them to keep their plants competitive.
Some of these subsidies have grown so big that the state is essentially covering the wages of all the workers in the new plant for several years, then turning around and telling the old competitor that they don’t deserve equal treatment when they provide an equal number of jobs (because “creating” new jobs is sexy, but preserving old ones isn’t).