Haupt’s Take: Cronyism in your own backyard

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Haupt’s Take: Cronyism in your own backyard

http://watchdog.org/273475/cronyism-in-your-own-backyard/

[h=2]Haupt’s Take: Cronyism in your own backyard[/h] By William Haupt III / August 16, 2016 / No Comments

By William Haupt III | Haupt’s Take
“God works in mysterious ways but at least he works, he’s never on welfare in a mysterious way.” (Stephen Colbert)
The debate about corporate welfare has raged on longer than the debate over the chicken or the egg. And it will continue long after we discover which did come first.
We have an inability to cipher fact from fiction. Many who consider lowering taxes to stimulate economic growth for local business is an evil worse than the devil himself.
But this is not corporate welfare. This popular misconception giving tax breaks to industries is the same as subsidizing them with corporate welfare grants is an incongruous myth. Tax breaks are beneficial to those who use them to enfranchise enterprise. It’s a tried and true fact.
“If we boost productivity, we can improve economic growth.” (Tony Abbott)
Corporate welfare is a term used to describe the bestowal of monetary grants, tax breaks, and bequeathments to selected corporations who are favored over others. Cronism is unfair, excessive, unwarranted, and wasteful government subsidies. This is brought on by the lobbying of special interest groups who work their way into the innersole of government. They are hired to enhance the profitability of large corporations. They obfuscate their true intentions of dishonest greed so
This is brought on by the lobbying of special interest groups who work their way into the innersole of government. They are hired to enhance the profitability of large corporations. They obfuscate their true intentions of dishonest greed so the government will spend tax dollars funding large corporations, in uncompetitive ways.
Yet, “Government is not the generator of economic growth; working people are.” (Phil Gramm)
Businesses love being in bed with government. Why take chances in a marketplace when you can ally with Uncle Sam? This way you share the risks so you don’t fall off the financial cliff alone when your new venture flounders. And why worry about investors, when you get free money and favors from taxpayers?

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This has been a tradition since the development of American industry when free-market advocates felt it was good for government to invest in free-market enterprise. This tuned out to be a tremendous misconception. Too many people think “free-market” means pro-business. That is false. Free market means laissez fair, hands off, leave the marketplace alone. No subsidies, no privileges, no arbitrary regulations.
“Competition is the most effective regulator of all.” (Jay Ollie)
For years, the U.S. government has been providing special benefits to individual industries and companies through tax breaks, trade policies, and sheltered inclusive spending programs. But there are elementary inefficiencies with government and business parenting this way.
The federal government has an execrable record of picking winners and losers, so most benedictions usually fail to consecrate. Moreover, these iniquitous marriages create an uneven playing field while fostering an incestuous relationship between business and government. They are also anti-consumer, anti-capitalist, and create a huge drain on the federal budget. Government and business mix much like petrol and water.
“Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” (James Madison)
When we speak of corporate welfare our minds automatically focus on the Federal Government. Just take a look at the companies that have benefited since Obama ascended to the White House. His theory on expanding government and making it look like he is catering to the needy and the poor is under the cloak of corporate cronyism.
Bailouts, unsuccessful make-believe industries, green energy fiascos, and ludicrous ventures intro economic nirvana are the real deal. Many top CEO’s are now his personal advisors and the government is their investors. The government is no longer working for the citizens it’s intended to serve. It is only responding to the public’s demands giving away free cell phones and EBT cards, instead of creating real jobs for real people.
“If you want to be lied to, just believe everything that the government tells you.” (Steven Magee)
Corporate welfare is not confined to Washington. It is more contagious than the swine flu in a North Korea suburb. Every state in the USA is going after fast track bucks of companies by giving away the people’s farm in return for a quart of milk.
Nationwide, local incentives by states, counties and cities are flushing tax dollars down the toilets of companies who promise to come to their state and end all unemployment. If you believe this, you believe the tooth fairy will leave you a million bucks for your next root canal! These beneficiaries come from every corner of the corporate world: banks and big-box retail chains, technology conglomerates, and entertainment companies, just to mention a few.
“The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.” (Shigeo Shingo)
The cost of these gratuities comes in many forms and the citizens never realize or discover this until they have failed. And it’s too late to backtrack since the damage is done. It is not possible to account for every freebie giveaway because the gifts are granted by thousands of government agencies, and many do not know the value of them themselves!

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They never know if the money was worth it because it’s impossible to accurately track how many jobs they created. Even if they traced every incentive they’d never know if any of these jobs would have been manufactured without them paying most of the bill themselves.
That is why “Willful waste brings woeful want.” (Thomas Fuller)
Mayors and governors desperate to create jobs are outmatched by multinational corporations and short on tools to fact-check what companies tell them. They fear companies will move to any other state that offers them better gratuities.
For years, corporations have exploited that fear, creating a high-stakes lottery to gamble away tax dollars and pit local officials against one another to get the most lucrative packages. States compete with other states, while cities compete with suburbs, and small towns have entered the race to defeat their once beloved neighbors. It’s time we look past the forest so we can see the trees.
“The price of light is less than the cost of darkness.” (A. Nielsen)
If these companies actually proved their worth and hired real people in our states for management jobs or vastly contributed to the economic stability this cronyism might be justified. But that is rarely the case.
Instead of hiring local residents for management positions, they bring their management team, and offer our citizens warehouse midnight shift minimum wage jobs.
“Local taxpayers pay all the bills to get nothing but the leftovers these corporate conglomerates leave behind.” (John Slay)
When will we ever learn! What made America great were the opportunities we provided for those who ventured across the pond. Anyone could do anything they wanted and be a millionaire if they had the incentive.
But instead of investing in our local business to help them help themselves, we are vying for corporate dollars from non-loyalists who will desert us in a heartbeat the very day their subsidies run out. Wake up America and take a look around your city!
Are local businesses being treated with respect and dignity for their loyalty and their countless years of contributions to your communities? Or have they been kicked to the bottom of the economic pyramid in favor of some corporate giant who is here today and gone tomorrow when they get a better offer?
“You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.” (Charles Noble)
The colonists came to America to seek opportunity, not build government-sponsored corporations. That is what has made us a great nation, and it is the only way we will remain great!