$3.6 billion in tax dollars goes to Japanese automakers

Those who denigrated the federal rescue of the American auto industry should know that $3.6 billion worth of U.S. tax dollars have been awarded to Japanese automakers in the form of tax subsidies – and the numbers keep growing.

According to MichEconomy.com, Toyota will begin building luxury Lexus vehiclesat its huge manufacturing complex in Georgetown, Ky., marking the first time Toyota has trustedAmerican workers to produce vehicles carrying the highly touted  Lexusbadge.
Rick Haglund of MichEconomy wrote that the Japanese car company will spend $360 million at the Georgetown complex, which will allow the company to manufacture about 50,000 Lexus ES 350 models a year. The expansion will generate 750 jobs.But Kentucky is paying a hefty price to get those jobs. The Bluegrass State has tentatively approved a tax incentive package for Toyotavalued at $146.5 million.  That equates to $195,333 per job.
The big giveaway to Toyota adds to the amount calculated by a 2008 study. That research found that Kentucky and other mostly Southern states have awarded nearly $3.6 billion in taxpayer-supported subsidies to foreign-owned auto plants in the United States.
Here’s Haglund’s epilogue:

“And in case you're wondering, Kentucky (a Red State) is not a right-to-work state. Proponents of the new RTW law in Michigan say it's nearly impossible to attract manufacturing investment from another state or country without being a right-to-work state. Kentucky is a successful exception to that rule. The state is home to about 6,600 Toyota workers.”