Governor McAuliffe showed nothing if not boldness yesterday when he stood up and promised that workforce development would be his number 1 priority for the Pittsylvania/Danville area at a rally in Danville. What is so audacious about that?
Backtrack to 2009. Terry McAuliffe (then-Chairman of GreenTech Automotive after being clobbered in the gubernatorial primary) was scheduled to tour sites for an automotive plant that the Virginia government (under Gov. Kaine) had helped find and connect him with in Martinsville and Danville. The administration and McAuliffe's company had been discussing the plant for some time and hopes were high that then-just-Mr. McAuliffe would be able to bring his 1,500 jobs there, the most economically hard-hit areas of the Commonwealth.
There was only one rub; the EB-5 visa program, a money funnel near and dear to Terry's heart [read: wallet]. The program allows foreign nationals to buy their visas in return for investments in American businesses (three guesses as to which business). When officials expressed concerns, Terry legitimately stood us up. GreenTech cancelled the day before and announced their new plant in Mississippi to investors.
If workforce development is your priority, if "we are all in this together", if you are a savvy businessman who cares about Virginia, then why does every single solitary shred of evidence build further the case against that? You have the cheek to come to a place that you snubbed, to tell people that you betrayed, that you want to bring them jobs? The Governor was given a golden opportunity to bring jobs here, and he sold us out for a tax break.
VA GOP Caucus
vagopcaucus.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment