The Economic Development Administration was created in 1965 to promote economic competitiveness and create jobs. In reality, it’s basically a slush-fund for the well connected.
In April, it gave a $2 million grant to build a “culinary amphitheater,” wine tasting room and gift shop at the Port of Benton and the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Richland, WA. That same month, it gave another $1.5 million to promote tourism in the Northern Mariana Islands. Another $1 million was spent on an innovation conference center in Arkansas to promote “cultural enrichment.”
Why should the people in Arkansas pay for wine tasting herein Washington? Likewise, why am I interested in the cultural enrichment of Arkansas? And does anyone really care about tourism in the Northern Mariana Islands? Heck, I actually had to look up where these Islands were!
Sounds like a whole lot of special interests were taken care earlier this year at OUR expense.
