Iowa Values Fund redux

State 29 (see sidebar for link), has a great post about the latest foolishness concerning the fund.

We need to convince voters out there that this is a bad idea. $500 million invested is $200 per Iowan. For a family of 4 that comes to $800. This handout to 28 lottery winners...er...companies was supposed to have generated 1700 jobs. That's $290,000 per job.

Now, let's look at the results of all this largesse. The meat packing plant goes out of business. The bakery from Colorado never shows up in Iowa. And a company from Fairfield actually announced plans to leave the state the same day Vilsack was giving a speech about how good the Value Fund is for Iowa.

Let's go back to the $200 per Iowan. What would you have done with an extra $200 per family member this year? Most likely, you would have spent it or paid a bill. Wouldn't that help the economy and create jobs too? Wouldn't we actually get repeated benefit from it?

Why is the State involved in the venture capital business? Professionals (defined as people who do this everyday) don't get it right all the time either. The difference is the professional venture capitalists use their own money, not mine and my neighbor's, and every other Iowan's money.

I've sent my letter to the editor. Send yours now! Call your state congressperson and let them know what you think. Why should the state spend my money on companies that go bankrupt or move out of state?