Governor Hoeven Taking Credit For Senator Conrad And Senator Dorgan’s Pork

Recently I’ve spent a lot of time tracking the number of “jobs created” Governor Hoeven is claiming as having resulted from his economic development policies. I’ve questioned whether or not the Governor has actually created 25,000 new jobs since his election (total employment numbers in the state have only gone up about half that much) and I’ve also questioned whether or not spending $61,933 in economic development tax dollars per new business in the state – or $6,344 per new job – is really an efficient and effective use of tax dollars.
Now Shane Goettle, Hoeven’s Commissioner for the state Commerce Department, has an editorial in today’s Grand Forks Herald defending the economic development money they’ve been spending. But the problem is that in his defense, he’s actually attributing jobs to Governor Hoeven’s policies that were created by some pork Senator Dorgan and Senator Conrad secured for a political ally.
Back in August, this was a press release sent out by Senator Dorgan and Senator Conrad:

(DICKINSON, NORTH DAKOTA) — U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad helped kick off Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing’s new plant here Tuesday, saying the expansion is a good sign for the economy of Dickinson and all of North Dakota.
Senator Dorgan, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senator Conrad, Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, have worked to help Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing secure contracts to produce high-tech equipment for the U.S. military and companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The senators have secured more than $8 million to help KMM develop new technologies for the military. . . .
“Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing is precisely the model for how private companies can invigorate the economy of North Dakota. Don and Patricia Hedger have an entrepreneurial and common-sense spirit that helps all of North Dakota, by seizing business opportunities and creating jobs,” Senator Conrad said.

Don and Patricia Hedger are, obviously, the owners of Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing. They’re also the parents of former Democrat Secretary of State candidate Kristin Hedger who ran against Republican Al Jaeger in the last election and also just happened to work in Byron Dorgan’s office not so long ago.
Must be nice to be able to secure millions in pork for your political friends. But I digress.
The issue at hand here is why the Governor is taking credit for jobs created by Conrad and Dorgan’s pork? And if the Governor is counting these jobs in his tally, is he counting other jobs his policies aren’t responsible for?
I think North Dakota citizens need to take a long, hard look at what the Governor is telling them about economic development in this state. Because to this observer his policies are inefficient and their impact is being grossly exaggerated.