Google wants to open a new $600 million server farm.  And they want to open it in North Carolina or South Carolina.  Where will the new facility end up?  That's anybody's guess right now.  But the two bordering states are not making the choice easy for Google.  According to a report from WRAL, a news station in North Carolina, North vs South is playing out all over again, except that this time the battle is confined to the Carolinas and, so far, munitions aren't involved.

North Carolina, whose economy has been decimated by industry closings, has recently lost several bids to woo new technology firms and industries into its borders.  South Carolina, who scored the new businesses instead, is interested in Google's new facility as well.  But North Carolina is throwing everything it can muster at the search company to try to convince the Google management that N.C. is the way to be.

According to the WRAL report, state officials have already cleared land, have offered a $4.7 million grant, and are prepared to offer Google more than $100 million in tax savings.  A similar tactic helped North Carolina entice Dell into building a manufacturing plant within the state.  And, apparently, North Carolina is willing to pull out all the stops again to get Google on the list of businesses operating inside the state.

I understand that the facility would create jobs in North Carolina.  And I'm sure North Carolina would hate to see the server farm go in just a few miles over its borders in South Carolina.  But come on.  This makes no sense to me.  Why should a company that's pulling in billions of dollars a year be given millions of dollars in tax cuts?  Why should they have land bought for them when they could most certainly afford to purchase the land themselves?

It seems like the rich just keep getting richer.