We're saddened but seldom surprised when politicians and chambers of commerce support public subsidies for undeserving private industry.
Corporate welfare is a way of life in Arkansas, and most of the South.
More is expected of organized labor. Maybe Bill Becker spoiled us. When Becker was president of the Arkansas State AFL-CIO, labor opposed corporate welfare and fought not just for workers but for minorities, consumers and progressive causes generally. Things that needed no apology, unlike the AFL-CIO's recent alliance with organized gamblers who are backing a constitutional amendment to legalize casinos and give themselves a monopoly on the action. The amendment would force casinos into towns that don't want them, too.