Rich Take From Poor as U.S. Subsidy Law Funds Luxury Hotels

[dajoki]

Rich Take From Poor as U.S. Subsidy Law Funds Luxury Hotels
By David Dietz - Feb 8, 2011 12:01 AM ET Bloomberg Markets Magazine
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-08/rich-taking-from-poor-as-10-billion-u-s-subsidy-law-funds-luxury-hotels.html

Renovation at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago qualified for a federal subsidy due to the neighborhood's 26 percent poverty rate. Photographer: Michael L. Abramson/Bloomberg Markets
The landmark Blackstone Hotel in downtown Chicago, which has hosted 12 U.S. presidents, opened in 2008 after a two-year, $116 million renovation. Inside the Beaux Arts structure, built in 1910, buffed marble staircases greet guests spending up to $699 a night for rooms with views of Lake Michigan.

What’s surprising isn’t the opulent makeover: It’s how the project was financed. The work was subsidized by a federal development program intended to help poor communities.

<<snip>>

Since 2003, some of the world’s biggest financial companies, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., U.S. Bancorp, JPMorgan Chase and Prudential, have taken advantage of a federal subsidy that will cost taxpayers $10.1 billion -- and most of the public has never heard of it.

Investors have used the program, called New Markets Tax Credits, to help build more than 300 upscale projects, including hotels, condominiums, office buildings and a car museum, on streets far from poverty, according to Treasury Department records released through a federal Freedom of Information Act request.

More...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-08/rich-taking-from-poor-as-10-billion-u-s-subsidy-law-funds-luxury-hotels.html

[Vincardog]

1. What good are job-training centers if there are NO JOBS?

[somone]

2. Not to mention fancy sports stadiums

for corporate welfare queens like Jerry Jones

[WCGreen]

12. I think 95% of the stadiums are built with taxpayer money....

And then nothing is done to pay it back.

We subsidize billionaire so millionaires can entertain us at $ 250 a seat.

[peacetalksforall]

3. Poor get poorer Clinton Hastert Santorum - that's the way I will remember this article.

Sad to say.

It's in a cultural hub, miles from the poverty area, hired 200 people when they opened.

Prudential insurance, Prudential invest, J P Morgan, Goldmans Sachs, US Bancorp, Chase got millions.

Highest room price for one night - $699.00.

[cutlassmama]

4. More corporate welfare for the rich

[DearAbby]

5. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x372767

excellent article, just wondering when is enough going to be enough?

[dajoki]

6. I wouldn't have...

started this thread if I saw the other one first. But I don't think there can ever be enough.

[DearAbby]

7. No worries

I miss them myself :hi: The more this is exposed the better

[Starry Messenger]

8. k&r

[leftstreet]

9. K&R

[FiveGoodMen]

10. "Rich Take From Poor" is the US in a nutshell the last ten years

And it has only gotten worse since we got a "Democrat" in the White House.

[rhett o rick]

11. So who is in charge of handing out the money? nm