Even the Seattle Times Understands The Government Shouldn't Tell Boeing What to Do

Of course, Seattle would like to keep Boeing and all its operations in Washington, but the National Labor Relations Board's efforts to force Boeing to cancel its plans in South Carolina was even too much for the Seattle Times to handle:

In its complaint, the NLRB is attempting to reverse a U.S. investment by the nation’s No. 1 exporter 17 months after the company decided to make it — after the money has been spent, after the equipment is set up and after 1,000 workers have been hired. In South Carolina, assembly of the first 787 is scheduled to begin this summer. For the government to demand now that the company move everything to another state shows no sense of practical reality.

The “other state” is, of course, our own. This newspaper favored the company building the second 787 line here. We want Boeing to build its next commercial jetliner here and all its commercial jetliners here. But that is Boeing’s decision to make, not the government’s.

The NLRB’s complaint takes the weird position that Boeing has a right to put a plant in South Carolina if it keeps its mouth shut, but that if it complains about the history of strikes in Washington, it is being “punitive” and is breaking the law…

We are for jobs, and for the investment that creates them. But companies cannot be dragged to Washington and forced to invest here. They have to want to invest here.

Exactly. There is no rationale for the NLRB's actions in this case. They'll lose and their loss will be good for the overall economy.