In one of the most obscene cases of using public money to back private business, the State of Rhode Island has promised former Red Sox World Series hero Curt Schilling a $75 million loan guarantee to relocate his 38 Studios video game company from Massachusetts:

The state is dangling the sizable loan guarantee as an inducement to the company, which says it could bring more than 400 well-paying jobs by the end of 2012.

But some business officials and political candidates see the deal as too risky and say it’s an overly large guarantee for a single company, especially one that lacks a proven track record and has yet to bring a product to market.

That’s right — the company hasn’t even produced a video game yet and the first one is at least a year away. “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” is the first title. Doesn’t sound like a winner to me — why not “Bloody Sock Battle” or “Mystique and Aura Cage Match?” Regardless, politicians and bureaucrats who play with taxpayers’ money this way need to be removed from the game.