Ron Johnson Outed As Corporate Welfare Beneficiary

And thanks to readers who keep sending me these interesting Daily Kos posts:

WI-Sen: More federal spending hypocrisy from Johnson

by Joan McCarter

Sat Sep 25, 2010 at 02:46:04 PM PDT

Ron Johnson is emerging as the biggest beneficiary of federal spending among the teabaggy candidates who regularly rail against federal spending. TPM summarizes:

Ron Johnson, who claims "government doesn't create jobs," and who's hoping to unseat Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), has perhaps the longest record of benefiting from government largesse. 

In 1979 a company called Wisconsin Industrial Shipping Supplies, owned by Johnson's brother-in-law, received a $75,000 development grant from the city of Oshkosh to build a rail spur to a plant it was building. One of the conditions of the grant required WISS to hire 11 people in exchange for the funds. Just a few months later, WISS became Pacur -- the company Johnson owns today -- and the factory was opened. 

The factory itself was also built with the help of a $1 million government-issued development bond.
Years later, as president of the board of the Grand Opera House in Oshkosh, Johnson would investigate the possibility of obtaining stimulus money to help pay for theater renovations.

Here's more on that factory-building story.

The Oshkosh plastics factory owned by Republican senate candidate Ron Johnson was built, in part, with the assistance of a $1 million government-issued industrial development revenue bond.... 

According to records provided by the city, the money was loaned to Wisconsin Industrial Shipping Supplies - Pacur's previous name - a company owned by Johnson's brother-in-law.
The funds were used to buy land, construct the building and buy equipment at the new factory, which Johnson said he co-owned on day one. 

Gary Green, a UW professor and economic development expert, says bonds like the ones issued by the city of Oshkosh are widely used.
"The issue seems to be does government create jobs?" he said. "Most economic development professionals across the state see industrial development revenue bonds as the primary tool in which local government can actively try to create jobs in their communities."

So that would fairly objectively rebut Johnson claims that government doesn't create jobs. Government not only creates jobs, but created the very company Johnson owns today.