Corporations are rapidly becoming the “welfare queens” of 21st century. While Republicans denounce social programs that pick the pockets of taxpayers, their picking the pockets of taxpayers in corporate giveaways and incentives. Pretty soon, corporations will essentially be paying nothing, using the countries commons, at the expense of taxpayers.
This “job creator” nonsense, repeated so often people believe it, has made corporate welfare a simple fact of life. We wouldn’t have jobs without them, right?
Check out the following corporate blackmail, in Illinois, that is supposedly an acceptable price of doing business;
Newsmax email text: States considering an increase in corporate or income taxes would do well to study the recent move by Illinois to boost state revenue … In May, Motorola Mobility was offered $100 million in financial incentives to keep its corporate headquarters, and 3,000 jobs, in Illinois. Navistar, a truck and engine company, has received $65 million in incentives.
Now Sears, one of the state’s largest employers, says it will move 6,000 jobs out of Illinois unless the state extends tax incentives set to expire in 2012. Two Chicago-based financial exchanges are also threatening to depart … the state could be compelled to spend the additional tax revenue in order to convince companies to remain in the state. Ohio has offered Sears $400 million to move there, and Indiana has an ad campaign tempting Illinois businesses by asking if they are “Illinoyed” by the higher taxes.
Corporate welfare appears to be completely unstoppable, unless something is done nationally to stop this monetary competition between states.
I believe the term you're looking for is "moochers." Ask Sykes.
ReplyDeleteblack·mail
ReplyDelete2 a : extortion or coercion by threats especially of public exposure or criminal prosecution
b : the payment that is extorted
(merriam-webster)
Are you saying that Motorola Mobility is extorting $100 million from the government of Ill.? And Navistar and Sears are involved in blackmailing too? Wow. The Ill. governor needs to quit fearing public exposure or criminal prosecution and begin to stand up against those corporations to put an end to such corruption. As a lifelong Libertarian-leaning Republican, I recognize that corporations who break the law should be prosecuted every bit as much as individuals. Whatever the governor is hiding can't be all that bad. He needs to bite the bullet and do the right thing on behalf of his constituents. Corporations will never stop if he doesn't draw a line in the sand and prepare to prosecute.
Response to pfbonney; Nice try, but different definitions can be found all over that add to, and don't mean "illegal, as in your example.
ReplyDeleteI found these without trying too hard;
Obtain by coercion or intimidation…
To exact something wrongfully by threatening or putting in fear.
The natural meaning of the word extort is to obtain money or other valuable things by compulsion, by actual force, or by the force of motives applied to the will, and often more overpowering and irresistible than physical force.
Distracting commentary like yours is neither clever or worth the time to read. But I did anyway out of courtesy.