The Great American Job Scam,,,Alternet lays it out:

[rasputin1952]

<snip>

Greg LeRoy: It's an intentionally rigged system that enables companies to get huge tax breaks and other taxpayer subsidies by promising good jobs and higher tax revenues -- and then allowing them to fail to deliver and suffer no meaningful consequences.

And this is a system that costs the American tax payers $50 billion a year?

Right, that's the estimated total spending by states and cities.

One of the points you make in the book is that it is very hard to get this data, right? There is no disclosure, with these corporate deals being negotiated behind closed doors. So the very heart of your argument -- that corporations don't deliver on the increased tax revenues, increased jobs, etc that they promise in return for these tax breaks -- is obscured by this lack of disclosure.

<snip>

Today, states, counties, and cities cannibalize their own communities in the name of "attracting business," which entails competing with one another to waste vast amounts of precious taxpayer dollars in the form of corporate subsidies. As LeRoy demonstrates in his book, these subsidies are not just "unfair" but also entirely useless. Companies routinely pocket the money -- all $50 billion of it each year -- without delivering either the promised jobs or tax revenues.

<snip




Found at: http://www.alternet.org/story/23607/

Finally someone lays out the Scam; big problem...getting this story into the MSM.

[RedEarth]

1. Thanks for posting....looks like an interesting article....nt

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. nominated

[2Design]

3. pratt whitney did this in conneticut in 90's

thjey got millions from state to not relocate
and to at least keep wages at 10/hr and not lay off as many people

and then the CEO of the parent company got a 900,000 dollar a year raise

[rasputin1952]

4. Precisely...Just one more way to enrich the corporations...

at public expense.

The infrastructure required for many of these corp's is subsidized by local taxpayers, roads and road maintenance, fire protection, schools etc are subsidized by locals, who rarely get the lions share of jobs.
It is a profit making scheme that has backfired. As usual, those that have power and money get the breaks, while others are caught paying for them. Losing proposition for municipalities...and yet they continue with this insane policy...:shrug:

[yowzayowzayowza]

5. DemocracyNow had an interview with...

the author last week:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/22/143204

Good stuff. Really drove the Walmart issue home for Mrs Yowza.

[SoCalDem]

6. Big box stores do this all the time..

The get sweetheart deals by promising jobs, get the towns to pay for road improvements for them and get tax deferrments for a specified number of years. They put up ugly concrete boxes, hire a few locals for shit wages (no benefits)..

Then, just as the deferrments are about to expire, and they will start to pay sales taxes, they close the store, and move to a nearby town..

This has happened here many times.. They leave behind the empty box that NO ONE wants to rent/buy and the city has to pay to keep vandals away..

[rasputin1952]

8. This goes on all the time, and finally, some municipalities are

starting to realize the inasanity of the whole scam. The burden put upon the locals through taxes to build up the infrastructure has been felt, and people are seriously reconsidering doing this anymore.

Like you said, 'box stores' are infamous for this, as are many other garbage companies. There are some pretty good Corp's out there, but the greed factor has overwhelmed far too many of the people in charge of many.

[loudsue]

7. Good read! Thanks!

:kick:

[rasputin1952]

9. My pleasure, sorry it was a bit lengthy,but it needs to get into the MSM

and people should be aware of what the truth is.