John Combest today links to a story out of the Mexico Ledger about the opening of a new brick factory in Mexico, Mo. There is certainly a lot of good news in the story. Who in the world complains about new factories and new jobs? I certainly don’t. But there is also something unsettling in the article — how it has become routine and accepted that private enterprises will be subject to major government involvement.

I don’t have any criticism for anything specific in the story. I don’t blame the new company for asking for aid. I don’t blame the politicians for getting involved. I’ll even admit that the deal itself (from what I can read in the story) might be a better use of taxpayer funds than many other such deals. But it is unfortunate, and bodes poorly for our economic future, that government involvement in projects like this is now so common and expected. From the article:

On Friday, Mexico City Council members unanimously approved a $1 million CDBG loan to the project that will be funded and serviced by the state’s Department of Economic Development. The loan was one of the final steps to finalizing the project.

In addition to local, state and federal grants and loans [...]

The news I want to hear would report on a business that gets going without any involvement from the government. That is the man-bites-dog story that I want to read.