Bipartisan opposition to corporate welfare

Very interesting article in The Wall Street Journal today about how some states are expanding taxpayer-funded incentive deals for companies despite lacking evidence that the approach is worth the investment.

The article includes this salient passage:

Kentucky shows every indication it will continue to play the sucker's bet that state officials can really pick our economic winners and losers.

If Kentucky called a unilateral cease fire on the corporate incentives battlefield, we would very likely have less of a fiscal problem on our hands. At the very least, state "economic development" officials should have to demonstrate the return on investment for their handiwork. The fact that they don't shout their results from the rooftops speaks volumes, doesn't it?