Wisconsin taxpayers are getting scammed by Foxconn deal

Wisconsin would actually lose taxpayer money on plan to build large electronics factory in Kenosha area

Earlier today, it was announced that the State of Wisconsin was providing billions of dollars to Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn as part of Foxconn’s plans to build a 1,000-acre factory in the Kenosha, Wisconsin area that Foxconn claims would create thousands of jobs.

However, and according to the left-leaning group One Wisconsin Now, Wisconsin taxpayers would, if the deal was fully implemented, lose money on the deal:

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn announced today that it intends to locate a company facility in the state of Wisconsin in exchange for a secretly negotiated incentive package reputed to cost taxpayers multiple billions of dollars in the coming years.

The backdrop for the deal comes with both corporation’s reputation for demanding massive public subsidies to lure its business and the desperation of the Republican politicians negotiating in secret who have been unable to pass a state budget, despite total control of state government.

[…]

“According to Gov. Walker’s WEDC, Wisconsin would get $181 million a year in state and local tax revenue, and we only have to pay $250 million a year to get it. Talk about the ‘art of the deal.’

In other words, the Foxconn deal is estimated to result in a net loss of $69 million per year. While most Democratic elected officials in Wisconsin are mildly supportive of the deal, Wisconsin State Rep. Jimmy Anderson of suburban Dane County has vocally criticized the deal as an example of the corporate welfare state in Wisconsin resulting in terrible roads and public school systems in decline in Wisconsin. Last year, Anderson won a contested primary against candidates from the pro-corporate welfare wing of the Democratic Party. Contrast Anderson’s statement with a statement from State Representative and likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dana Wachs, who was conditionally supportive of the deal. While Anderson is not expected to run for higher office in 2018, if Democrats fail to nominate a vocal critic of the corporate welfare state in Wisconsin, Scott Walker will win re-election, possibly in a landslide, and that is something Wisconsin cannot afford.

Long story short, the Scott Walker/Foxconn deal makes about as much sense as the Nigerian prince email scams.