Will Supremes ban corporate subsidies?

Blogging from Washington, D.C. after a strategy meeting with Good Jobs First, an excellent group tracking corporate subsidies and alternative ways of stimulating economic development.

The meeting was spurred by the Supreme Court's decision to hear DaimlerChrysler v. Cuno, a landmark case that challenges the constitutionality of public subsidies given to corporations for economic development. If upheld, the Cuno decision could void many types of tax breaks and other policies that transfer some $50 billion worth of taxpayer money to corporations each year.

The South has been the leader in state and local corporate give-aways, beginning with Mississippi in the mid-1930s, all the way up to the current spending spree to lure auto plants in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and other Southern states -- often at the expense of schools, health care, and other public investments.

The Supremes could either kick the case back to Ohio, uphold the decision, or shoot it down. Whatever happens, it will be a great chance for those concerned about jobs and tax fairness to talk about where taxpayer dollars should be going, and what kind of economy we want.

Stay tuned ...