My Bad | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Dr. Roy Cordato, who is Vice President for Research and resident scholar for the John Locke Foundation.

Principles of NC Republican Party no longer preclude "corporate welfare" or "higher taxes on the many to provide preferential treatment for the few"

    Last week I reported that, based on this quote, the actions of the Governor and many state legislators in pushing new corporate welfare schemes were at odds with the Republican Party Platform. I was wrong. Shortly after my newsletter went out, I received an email telling me that, in the latest version of the Platform (2014), this language was completely taken out. I was also informed that the previous language had been in the platform for around a decade, although I was not immediately able to find older versions of the platform online to confirm this. I assume that it was taken out because this view of corporate welfare no longer represents what are considered to be fundamental principles guiding the party, which is what a party platform is usually about.

    It should also be noted that, in the current and previous versions of the platform, the party comes out strongly in favor of "the free enterprise system," stating "the free enterprise system is the most effective and just economic system in the world." Which, of course, is true. But in previous years the party took the position that "corporate welfare" and "incentives" were "contrary to the free enterprise system" and "unfair." These statements are gone.

    Apparently, in deciding to remove this language, the Republican Party has had a change of heart regarding not only what defines the free enterprise system but also what defines fairness and justice as they relate to the transfer of taxpayer money to favored businesses. At the very least, the meaning of these concepts is an open question, left to be interpreted by individual legislators and the governor. Of course, if this is the case, and wealth transfers from some businesses and entrepreneurs to others can be viewed as consistent with the free enterprise system, then I would argue that, in the eyes of the state's Republican Party, they have no firm meaning at all.

    Since the elimination of the previous language in 2014 seems to represent a sea change in the party's fundamental understanding of both incentives and free enterprise — one which is at odds with the vast majority of free enterprise scholars both living and dead — one would hope that some kind of explanation would be forthcoming. If there is one, I am not aware of it.

    It is interesting to note that in this legislative session, which is the first session after the platform change, there has been a host of new proposals by Republicans in both the legislative and executive branches of state government to expand and/or extend corporate giveaway programs like JDIG and incentives for so-called green energy, including solar power. One could speculate that this dramatic change in the language of the platform was not about principle at all but about clearing the way for a legislative agenda that was already in the pipeline. For now, I will assume the best, namely that the elimination of this section was based on principle, whatever that principle might be, and not purely on political considerations.