Monday, May 5, 2014

Politicians' Airplane Love


Washington state gave Boeing $8.7 billion in tax breaks with no employment assurances.  The Seattle Times reported on the bill when it passed:

Boeing was forgiven more than $500 million per year in taxes over the span of 16 years.  
The deal is a record.  It's the "largest state-tax subsidy granted to a private company in American history."  Boeing has five PEU representatives on its board of directors.  They're quite skilled in milking governments of subsidies.

“When companies play states against each other like this, they can extract enormous public goods. There is a cost to that. At some point there’s going to have to be some pushback on this practice. By someone. Somewhere.”

This harkens back to the days when Vought Aircraft Industries, a Carlyle Group affiliate, had Texas and South Carolina competing for 787 Dreamliner production.  Texas Governor Rick Perry gave Vought $35 million for 3,000 new jobs.  South Carolina countered with $65 million.  Vought took Texas' $35 million then cut 35 jobs.  Texas gave Vought $1 million per job lost.

Governor Rick Perry rewrote the agreement prior to Carlyle's selling Vought to Triumph Group.  Carlyle's billionaire co-founders gave not one penny of the proceeds to Texas taxpayers.  What looked ill advised and extravagant back then is chicken feed to today's corporacrats.

Push back?  The Government-Corporate Monstrosity, Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex, is on $ trillions in steroids.  Purchased politicians deliver for their sponsors.  They're pushovers.