What? The meditation didn't work?

Turns out that a reporter (the news director for Madison radio station WTDY) wondered the same thing - why did they get the money? - and went looking for answers. He thought at first that he had a scoop, that Spectrum had been planning to leave Madison or cut their workforce and hadn't told anyone previously. The reporter was interviewed by the host of the station's "Sly in the Morning" program. You can hear the entire interview here. It's worth a listen, but if you don't have time, the conclusion drawn by the reporter after interviewing officials at both WEDC and Spectrum was this: Spectrum got the money because they asked for it.

The reporter is almost incredulous, detailing how he kept asking again and again about the agreement and how nobody could come up with any stipulations that had anything to do with creating jobs. Spectrum got the money because they asked for some money. That's the story. They can do whatever they want with it. They can hand it out as bonuses if they wish.

Well, you must be thinking, at least we have a guarantee that Spectrum will be staying in Wisconsin and paying their fair share of state income taxes. That's a good thing, right?

Oh, you poor, trusting souls. Turns out that Spectrum re-chartered themselves in the State of Delaware around the same time they were moving back to Wisconsin. Delaware charges no state income taxes for earnings from a company's holdings in other states. Spectrum hasn't responded to a newspaper's inquiry about whether their corporate structure exempts them from paying Wisconsin state income taxes. I'm guessing that if they do pay the taxes, they would have responded immediately.

To be fair to Spectrum, lots of companies take advantage of Delaware's pandering attitude toward all things corporate, and Spectrum's asking for state grants is not unusual. Lots of companies investigate the availability of government-funded corporate welfare payments economic development grants. They don't expect to just get the money for doing nothing, though. I have to believe that Spectrum is feeling a little sheepish about the free cash.

I don't blame Spectrum Brands for asking. I blame Scott Walker and the Republican-led state legislature for abolishing the state Department of Commerce and replacing it with WEDC, a private corporation with very limited public oversight but tasked with handing out public funds. The Spectrum grant is exactly the kind of corrupt, insider deal that critics warned about when the bill creating WEDC was passed.

May I suggest that you write a polite email to Spectrum Brands encouraging them to turn down the offer? They do provide good jobs here in Wisconsin. They still manufacture some batteries here, though they have moved a good portion of their blue-collar jobs elsewhere. I am not asking for a boycott or any negative language directed at Spectrum. I think they are as shocked as the rest of us at this deal. A little positive coaching might persuade them to do the right thing.

And they wonder why this state is so polarized.