BAE Systems makes a bunch of stuff to kill people at its plant in Sealy, Texas (roughly 60 miles west of Houston). BAE is perhaps the largest employer in the area, with sales of over one billion dollars and 50,000 employees. The plant primarily makes armored tactical vehicles for the U.S. Army; however, the Army recently awarded the contract to a storied Wisconsin company, the Oshkosh Corp.
Now Texas politicians are crying foul! Their entitlement has ended and they are pissed off:
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas' elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic incentives provided to the winning company by Wisconsin's Democratic governor.
texas clout?
Governor Perry blames politics. Maybe he's right: Perry's a republican; Wisconsin Governor Doyle is a democrat. Texas went for the losing GOP; Wisconsin went for the winner. However, the Oshkosh Corp. is a United States corporation which has been around for almost a hundred years, while BAE Systems is a United Kingdom interest. Oshkosh also underbid BAE by 10%.
Senator Lloyd Bentsen, a democrat, helped Stewart & Stevenson (BAE's predecessor) win the initial contract. But, Governor Perry seems to have simply assumed the work would remain in Texas, maybe because one doesn't "Mess with Texas." According to Katherine Cesinger, Perry's deputy press secretary, BAE Systems "did not ask our office for any assistance prior to the recent decision." Well there likewise doesn't seem to be any evidence of Perry offering the company any incentives. Perry's efforts to salvage the deal have been described as having a party in the corral after the horses have run off.
Moreover, Texas politicians like Perry are as arrogant as they come. Perry, at the very least, sympathizes with the secessionist movement. Perry said "no thanks" to federal stimulus money for unemployed Texans, only to borrow from the feds later on to pay for it. Perry brags about how tough and independent Texans are, and how they take care of their own. Well, when the good folks in Sealy lose their jobs, there will be more Texans to take care of; and, by the way, how about those unemployment benefits Rick?