I was reading this morning about Wiliams Electric Co. in Shelby laying off 168 following termination of a contract with Duke Energy. Williams is in the business of installing and repairing power and phone lines in Western North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina. In its WARN notice, Williams blamed the layoffs on “unforeseen business conditions, namely the loss of our contracts with Duke Energy.”

Under an aluminum hat, one would connect dots and say the scrapping of the monstrous power line infrastructure project Duke had proposed may have had something to do with keeping these people employed. Tightening the thumbscrews on the aluminum cap, one might even extrapolate that, had the federal government proposed some monstrous WPA-type project to keep these 168 on-the-job, spinmasters would have left-wing activists falling all over themselves about how socially just it all was.

On the bright side to all but those offering economic development incentives hereabouts, word has it that Duke provided a soft landing for those affected, offering them employment elsewhere.