Goodyear

Concerned people on both sides of the aisle have been up in arms about corporate incentives ever since the Great Goodyear Giveaway by our "business-friendly" General Assembly this summer. Out-negotiated and out-maneuvered by a bunch of corporate lawyers, the legislature, with Mike Easley's eventual blessing, gave away the store in a stunning display of short-sightedness.

In the wake of the debacle, many of us worried that this would be just the beginning of a slide into never-ending corporate welfare, but little did we know that Goodyear itself would soon be extorting even more money from North Carolina taxpayers.

In September, Goodyear Tire & Rubber won as much as $40 million in state incentives to stay in Fayetteville. Now a lawmaker is proposing that North Carolina help lower the company's shipping costs, too.

It looks like a letter-writing kind of day.

Very glad to see this. Thanks, Governor Easley. You did the right thing.