GE, Massachusetts, and the Corruption of Crony Capitalism
20th January 2016
Jeff Jacoby turns over a rock.
Have you ever paid someone to punch a victim in the stomach? If you’re a Massachusetts taxpayer, you have now.
To induce GE to relocate to Boston, Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh offered to cross the corporate behemoth’s palm with silver — lots and lots of silver. The package of incentives underwritten by Bay State taxpayers is expected eventually to total more than $150 million in direct subsidies, tax abatements, training funds, site improvements, and property acquisition costs. That means that General Electric — a conglomerate with roughly $150 billion in annual revenues — will siphon $188,000 out of the public treasury for each job it proposes to move to Boston.
Since this is basically one Blue State government screwing over another, one might be tempted to ignore it; neglecting the fact that all this is being done with money taxed from the people, not all of whom are brain-dead lefties. (Not even in Taxachusetts.)