Jay Nixon's Sweet Centene Deal?

In 2011, Centene Corporation received nearly $4 million in aid from the state of Missouri according to the left-leaning Good Jobs First. Was this another quid pro quo from Jay Nixon? Cenetene is the company that's involved in what looks like a pay-to-play scheme orchestrated by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. Gateway Pundit has more about that story.

I learned about this the $3.9 million illustrated above from Instapundit who linked David Johnston's write up: Taxed by the boss:

Across the United States more than 2,700 companies are collecting state income taxes from hundreds of thousands of workers – and are keeping the money with the states’ approval, says an eye-opening report published on Thursday.

I'm a little skeptical of that description. If true, then states have transferred some of their tax authority to private corporations while misleading the public about who is really responsible. I don't think that's really the case. When I looked at the source data, I noticed that there's a "subsidy_type" column which lists things like "tax credit" and "grant", so I suspect that the "paying taxes to the boss" is mostly spin intended to demonize corporations and management.

That said, this sort of corporate welfare needs to end. It's the modern equivalent of medieval patronage.

The Show Me Institute's Audrey Spalding wrote last week that at least Missouri is transparent about our crony capitalism:

The Pew Center on the States has published a review of the transparency of state tax incentive programs. Some Missouri legislators, of course, are big fans of tax credits — the Missouri government issued about $500 million last year, and during the 2011 legislative session, some legislators pushed very hard for legislation to create nearly another $400 million in tax credits.

Related articles

• MO: Medicaid deal in Missouri draws lawmakers' scrutiny (kansascity.com)
• Lawsuit over Missouri Medicaid Contracts Goes To Court (stlouis.cbslocal.com)
• Could Nine People Stop Tax Credit Nonsense In 2012 (And Maybe Help State Budget)? (showmedaily.org)
• Is it possible to land tax credits after layoffs? (missourijournal.com)
• Today's Democrook Spotlight: Gov. Jay Nixon Awards $1.1B Contract To HMO After They Contribute $66,500 To His Campaign (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)