“Gov. Perry by his veto has undercut the creation and preservation of manufacturing jobs in Texas and the U.S.” Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller said. “These jobs are critical to our economic success.”

I noticed some sturm und drang online about Texas Governor Rick Perry vetoing a bipartisan “Buy American” bill.¹ Interestingly, people angered by the bill include both liberal labor unions and nationalist conservatives.

I think “Buy American” bills encourage shoddy governance. Supporting US manufacturing is a noble goal, but it shouldn’t take hostage all other government responsibilities. If the federal government or a state or a city wants to build a train system, for instance, they should focus on hiring vendors who will do the best possible job building a train system. Many of those vendors will be American and will generate jobs in the US, but the point of building the train should be to improve transportation, not to create those jobs.

Adding rules like “Buy American” encourages every government project to focus on local cronyism, rather than building whatever the hell they’re supposed to build.