Corporate Subsidies Gone Wild in Texas

[Musburger]

Link.

The article tells of the extensive lobbying on behalf of large corporations, particularly by Ryan LLC. It details the large amount of campaign contributions going to the Dewhurst, Combs, Perry, etc. Also, the article talks about the effect on taxation, local school districts, and the drain on state funding as it relates to these subsidies.

I found the part of the article about Amazon to be the most interesting. Employees typically earned between $20,000 and $30,000 a year, working in non-air conditioned warehouses where the temperature typically reaches 115 degrees. What the article doesn't say, but I deduced, is that a large percentage of these employees have families. That means that their earnings are also subsidized by taxpayers as they would qualify for EIC anywhere from $3,000 to $5,600 depending on the number of dependents. So Texas taxpayers are not only directly subsidizing these corporations to "create jobs" by giving them multi-million dollar tax breaks, but US taxpayers also indirectly subsidizing them even more by giving them refundable tax credits as a result of the low wages being paid out.

In short, the politicians are funded by the lobbyists. They offer large tax breaks to bring in corporations to "create jobs." The corporations and the lower paid employees are subsidized by the taxpayer. The executives and stock holders reap enormous profits via the tax breaks and low wages indirectly paid for via the tax code. And you are happy because the free market is working.

This is something that Deez has talked about from time to time.

1. TP pays corporations. We call this incentive for job creation.
2. TP pays workers via EIC and corporations pocket the difference. We call this welfare to the poor.


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[Mr. Deez]

Obviously this kind of junk happens in every state. However, few states dole out corporate welfare as enthusiastically as Texas does. Furthermore, it goes a lot deeper than just these direct cash payouts.

We have regulatory agencies that give the illusion of serving the public but will roll over if the business interest is big enough, as the TCEQ did for Harold Simmons with his nuclear waste dump. And for the most special donors and business interests, we'll actually create regulatory agencies designed to interfere with and harm the people the donor screws, as we did for Bob Perry and the Texas Residential Construction Commission (since sunsetted and eliminated).

In addition, our court system is a joke. Six of the nine Texas Supreme Court "justices" are completely bought and paid for prostitutes. They have absolutely no judicial or intellectual integrity at all. If the law favors industry, they'll construe it very liberally and enforce it vigorously. If it favors individuals, they'll construe it narrowly and come up with reasons to set it aside.

For example, the Legislature has enacted a pretty strong and comprehensive Insurance Code to protect policyholders. However, the Supreme Court always seems to come up with a reason not to enforce it. For example, if you get in an auto accident with an uninsured motorist, until you sue and get a judgment against your own carrier, the Court has said you don't even have standing to file a claim. You can send them paperwork and call it a "claim," but legally, it isn't, which means the carrier has no duty to pay you under the Insurance Code or even under your insurance contract.

On the flip side, the Legislature has enacted a very pro-insurance carrier medical liability statute, so our Court now defines "medical malpractice" to such a broad degree that one lawyer once joked to me that if the guy who cleans toilets at a hospital rear ends you driving drunk, you better file your case as a medical malpractice case. Obviously, that's a joke, but it's not that far off. You now don't even have to be a patient for your case to be a medical malpractice case. No ****, the Court said so just this year.

So regardless of whether or not our Legislature and Governor kowtow to business interests, the Supreme Court consistently will.

That's what sucks. If you turn your state completely over to the GOP, you won't get a free market tempered by the rule of law. You'll get corporate welfare and handouts and no rule of law.

 

[ut1969]

Ryan has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 20 years. Ryan got in John Sharp's back pocket and never looked back. Sharp passed down decisions that made Brint Ryan a millionaire and that's why Ryan gave him a job making over $400,000 before he left the Comptroller's office. I just wish the general public knew of all the economic damage Brint Ryan has done to our state.

 

[cmtsip]

And how about the damage your Republican darling Rick Perry continues to do to your state?

 

[Crockett]

It will be interesting to see who will challenge Perry and get him out of office. He'll have lots of money and he can sound intelligent in a 30 second campaign commercial. How many people really understand that his doofusness from the debates is an actual reflection of the brain activity he puts into governing? I'm guessing not enough.

 

[Mr. Deez]

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