Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald ran an earth shattering investigation into Governor Rick Scott’s failure to bring more jobs to the state of Florida. As we’ve noted regularly on this site, the type of middle-wage and high-wage professional jobs that Florida needs have tended to not transpire under the leadership of our last three Governors, all Republicans who served with Republican controlled legislatures during their entire tenures. What’s particularly galling for Floridians is that the GOP has gotten the economic growth formula right in some other southern states but not here in Florida.

The record of failed tax incentives and tax abatement is clear. For a state of its size, one of four true “mega-states” with more large and medium sized urban areas than any other state in the US, Florida has a pathetically small number of Fortune 500 companies based in the state.  Despite a tax rate lower than most states and “right to work” status which prevents unions from effectively organizing, Florida’s Republicans have failed badly in attracting high-end service sector job, manufacturing jobs, intellectual jobs or more than a handful high-profile corporate relocations. For example, Virginia has attracted five new Fortune 500 companies to the state in the past decade. Texas, which like Florida has been run by Conservative Republicans has attracted four. Florida has attracted just one. While having the fourth largest population in the country and total Republican control of state government for 14 years, Florida ranks just 11th in Fortune 500 company headquarters. In terms of actual job creation and attracting new big business to the state, Texas’ Rick Perry and Virginia’s combination of Democratic and Republican Governors blow away Scott, Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush.

While unable to attract new industry or foster a climate of innovation that develops successful companies the Republicans have done more damage with cuts to Higher Education that have resulted in the plummeting national reputation of the state’s top universities.

Perhaps the Republican agenda is to protect current Florida businesses by busting unions, lowering taxes and preventing competition or innovation in the marketplace. Weakening higher education ensures that chances of a well educated workforce emerging to threaten the old order are remote. Tax breaks for manufactures benefits current manufactures in the state but has not brought new jobs in this sector in an effective enough manner to justify the $115 million expenditure.

Republicans and Democrats in other southern states deserve credit for their ability to encourage and solicit economic development from large corporations creating heavy manufacturing jobs. The types of blue collar jobs complemented by high end corporate jobs that Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee in particular have attracted over the last fifteen years is admirable. While those states have moved forward, Florida, once the envy of the region has stagnated or regressed. While Republicans in other southern states have taken governing seriously, Florida’s GOP have chosen to use control of state government as an opportunity to implement the experiments of right-wing Washington think tanks and special interest groups. It is no small wonder Florida continues to be the butt of jokes nationally.