Why on Earth Is Rick Perry Giving Apple Money?

While we're excited that Apple's decided to expand its operations in the United States, it's very difficult not to be cynical about the details. Governor Rick Perry announced on Friday that he's giving $21 million over the next decade from the Texas Enterprise Fund to Apple, and (presumably in exchange) Apple will build a $302 million campus near Austin that will create 3,600. On a positive note, Apple's creating American jobs after all. Hooray! We thought they were exaggerating their record of job creation. But does the world's most valuable company really need a $21 million grant? Perry justified his decision in a press release: "Investments like this further Texas' potential to become the nation's next high-tech hub." After all, lots of other states would probably love to be home to the next Apple campus. And evidently, it takes money to make money jobs.