October 20, 2011

Rick Perry Doesn’t Understand the Word “Subsidy”

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Paul Kane writes in the Washington Post today that both Ron Paul and Rick Perry, who have spoken out against energy subsidies, nonetheless lobbied for federal loan guarantees for a nuclear plant in Texas. Is this hypocrisy? Paul actually had a perfectly good answer: he opposes federal intervention in the energy market, but once funds have been allocated he’ll do his best to make sure that his district gets its fair share.

And then there’s Perry:

On Wednesday, Perry spokesman Mark Miner said he thinks loan guarantees are not the same as “subsidizing” corporations, because a well-managed company will not default and leave taxpayers liable for repayment. The governor said energy promotion will be a hallmark of his jobs creation plan during the presidential campaign.

Unlike Paul’s answer, this one is nonsensical. Of course loan guarantees are a subsidy. What else would they be? And the whole point of a federal guarantee is that it’s only necessary if the private sector isn’t sure about whether the company will default. If the loan is a sure thing, Wall Street would be happy to finance it all on its own.

I may not agree with Ron Paul on much, but at least he has a functioning brain that knows how to think consistently. But Perry’s just dim, and apparently so is his spokesman.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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