'Stand Up To Billionaires And Corporations'? Tlaib Voted To Give Them One Billion Taxpayer Dollars

A fairly common tactic used by Michigan politicians - especially on the left - is to publicly complain about taxpayer-funded government subsidies to private corporations while concealing their record of support for corporate welfare handouts.

Newly elected member of Congress Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Detroit, provided the latest example in a video posted on Twitter. It shows her blasting tax breaks handed out to corporations by the state of Michigan.

“I'm so tired of the billionaires back home s****ing on my neighborhood,” Tlaib said in the video. “Marathon Oil refinery is blocks away from where I’m raising my two boys. I’m so tired of them getting tax breaks.”

When Tlaib ran for Congress, she wrote on her RashidaForCongress website: “We need someone who will stand up to the billionaires and corporations taking advantage of our communities and hijacking our government.”

Tlaib’s votes in the Michigan Legislature, however, show no record of her standing up to billionaires or corporations getting taxpayer dollars. Rather, they show 100 percent support for giving them the public’s money.

Tlaib served in the Michigan House from 2010 to 2014. During her tenure, several bills came before her on the question of approving corporate subsidies. Her eight “yes” votes authorized $1.031 billion in handouts for politically favored corporations and developers.

Among the bills Tlaib approved was one authorizing a $253 million subsidy for electric car battery makers. Another one was for $228 million for a state “21st Century Jobs Fund,” which writes subsidy checks to scores of private businesses.

Here is a list of the bills, with the amount authorized by each:

$100,000,000. Senate Bill 777. Subsidize battery scheme in former Wixom auto plant. House Roll Call 469 on Sept. 10, 2009.

$253,000,000. House Bill 5469. Give subsidies to electric car battery makers. House Roll Call 676 on Dec. 17, 2009.

$365,000,000. Give subsidies to electric car battery makers. House Roll Call 96 on March 26, 2009. Senate Roll Call 83 on March 11, 2009.

$9,500,000. Senate Bill 619. Tourism industry marketing subsidies. House Roll Call 122 on March 3, 2010.

$24,000,000. Senate Bill 944. Subsidize developers’ ‘historic’ building rehabs. House Roll Call 555 on Dec. 3, 2009.

$50,000,000. Senate Bill 855. Subsidize electric car battery maker in former Wixom auto plant. House Roll Call 613 on Dec. 8, 2011.

$2,400,000. House Bill 5732. Make subsidies for developers saleable to others. House Roll Call 680 on June 12, 2012.

$228,000,000. Senate Bill 269. Authorize an extension to the ‘21st Century Jobs Fund’ for various business subsidies and other favors. House Roll Call 719 on Dec. 18, 2014.

Further information on the specifics of each bill is available at MichiganVotes.org.