Big
business much too costly
With
the California economy slumping big time
since the crash of the dot-coms, every politician
this side of the Colorado River seems to
think that what we really need is to bring
big business back.
We
all know how that's done, more corporate
tax-breaks while we're all paying our way
out the yin-yang. Lower environmental standards
because, by-golly, it's expensive for those
companies to clean up their own mess and
follow all those pesky standards just to
protect the environment and the people living
in it.
It's
true that California needs revenue and needs
jobs and needs to get a clue about how to
get out of debt. But is begging all
the corporate gurus to come back really
going to solve all of our problems?
Probably not.
There
are lots of states and counties that are
totally dependent on manufacturers or factories
for almost 100 percent of the jobs. Those
companies then have complete power over
when people get raises and when benefits
get cut and whether or not people even have
a job. Those corporations have people under
their thumb.
Is
that what California wants? Is getting a
bunch of manufacturers to come to California
because we need them so bad our new goal?
Wooing companies back from Nevada and Arizona
with lower tax-rates and lower environmental
standards sounds like a step in a very bad
direction.
California's
environmental standards are stricter than
many states. But with giant industrial centers
and some of the most important ports on
the West Coast, our standards are much needed.
Would
California lower emissions standards along
with the rest of the country? In addition
to the already smog-ridden cities, we could
take a quick flashback to the '80s when
smog conditions could be so bad warnings
had to be issued to limit physical and outdoor
activity. It's only a hop, skip and a jump
away.
Lowering
corporate taxes seems to be all the rage.
With corporate tax breaks starting at the
top and trickling down to us little people,
who has time to worry about a $30 billion
deficit. Instead of lowering taxes we should
be raising them. Not a pretty idea, but
probably the only way to make ends meet.
When
it comes down to it, California does need
the business of big business. But if to
get it we have to twist into a pretzel to
get them to come back it may not really
be worth it. With corporation after corporation
moving not only to other states but taking
much needed jobs to other countries the
entire nation is liable to be in the same
pickle very soon.
And
if you haven't already noticed the steps
in that direction, at the national level
President Bush has been lowering environmental
standards and giving tax-breaks since the
beginning of his term. And yet there's still
rampant unemployment throughout the nation.
Playing
how-low-can-you-go with the corporations
isn't playing fair or right. They can always
take their business to some country where
they can pay their workers a dollar a day
and pay off the government to ignore their
toxic waste. Maybe instead of giving them
tax incentives and lax standards they should
be figuring out a way to make them manufacture
their products where they sell them.
Until
then they will continue to do what they
want, where they want to and give their
business to the lowest bidder. Does California
really want to play that game with our environment
and our budget?
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