You need to look at the returns these investment brought Texas. This are nothing but good, solid business practices that brought jobs to Texans, not corporate welfare.
BTW the 2003 Texas Leg introduced this fund and it has to have the signatures of the Gov.,Lt. Gov, and the Speaker of the House for every transaction.
In case you’re wondering about defaults or other problems. Case in point:
“In 2004, they authorized the fund to grant $20 million to Countrywide Financial in return for a promise “to create 7,500 new jobs in the state by 2010.” The grant (all of which are approved by the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House) is one of the largest made from the fund in terms of the size and the number of jobs promised. In the fall of 2007, while slashing jobs and with its stock price plummeting, Countrywide was eventually acquired in a fire sale by Bank of America. But thanks to the “claw-back” provisions in the program, grantees return all funds to the state for jobs not created.”
Please read post #75 in this thread.