Corbett's Corporate Welfare

[Naveen]

What money? If the state never had the money in the 1st place they aren't giving it to anyone. They (State) are actually receiving money from the income tax they will collect from employees

Wait, so the state is going to collect income taxes? Sounds like extremely tyrannical behavior to me. I guess Corbett must be a liberal-Marxist-socialist!

Seconded.

[BarryG]

The state isn't giving Shell any money and I repeat, will actually collect taxes from the employees working at the facility. Now if Exxon/Mobile opens up next door and they aren't given the same freedom and liberty that Shell has received from the state, that can be perceived as the State picking winners and losers

Right. So the middle class chumps will be shouldering the majority of the tax burden for this project.

[raider.adam]

The state isn't giving Shell any money and I repeat, will actually collect taxes from the employees working at the facility. Now if Exxon/Mobile opens up next door and they aren't given the same freedom and liberty that Shell has received from the state, that can be perceived as the State picking winners and losers

If the plan was to give all new businesses an abatement on businesses taxes, I would agree with a bunch of that. The problem is, that isn't the case. The company benefiting is a multi billion dollar corporation that has the political influence to cut the deal.

Do you think someone who wants to open Nick's Puppy Grooming and Fluff store will be able to go to the governor, request that the location of his store be made a KOZ as well as get resellable tax credits ?

[NickTheCage]

What money? If the state never had the money in the 1st place they aren't giving it to anyone. They (State) are actually receiving money from the income tax they will collect from employees

Agree .. all taxes should get the

[NickTheCage]

Wait, so the state is going to collect income taxes? Sounds like extremely tyrannical behavior to me. I guess Corbett must be a liberal-Marxist-socialist

Most people who spend most of their lives in public service are tyrannical

[NickTheCage]

What money? If the state never had the money in the 1st place they aren't giving it to anyone. They (State) are actually receiving money from the income tax they will collect from employees

Right. So the middle class chumps will be shouldering the majority of the tax burden for this project.

There shouldn't be a tax burden at all.

From a revenue and job perspective .. do you think those "middle class chumps" would rather have no job or pay income taxes and have a job?

[NickTheCage]

The state isn't giving Shell any money and I repeat, will actually collect taxes from the employees working at the facility. Now if Exxon/Mobile opens up next door and they aren't given the same freedom and liberty that Shell has received from the state, that can be perceived as the State picking winners and losers

If the plan was to give all new businesses an abatement on businesses taxes, I would agree with a bunch of that. The problem is, that isn't the case. The company benefiting is a multi billion dollar corporation that has the political influence to cut the deal.

So we should stop voting for the lesser of two evils at the federal, state, and local levels of govt

Do you think someone who wants to open Nick's Puppy Grooming and Fluff store will be able to go to the governor, request that the location of his store be made a KOZ as well as get resellable tax credits ?

Depends how much money they donated to the Gov., not that I am advocating that

[raider.adam]

Depends how much money they donated to the Gov., not that I am advocating that

The defense rests.

[NickTheCage]

So we should stop voting for the lesser of two evils at the federal, state, and local levels of govt


Depends how much money they donated to the Gov., not that I am advocating that

The defense rests.

So I can assume you will be changing you voter registration card party affiliation?

[raider.adam]

So I can assume you will be changing you voter registration card party affiliation?

What does one have to do with the other?

[NickTheCage]

What does one have to do with the other?

Nothing hence smiley face.

That said, why would you support a state party/candidates that you feel support crony capitalism?

[FKD19124]

Wait, so the state is going to collect income taxes? Sounds like extremely tyrannical behavior to me. I guess Corbett must be a liberal-Marxist-socialist!



Seconded.

[eldondre]

If the plan was to give all new businesses an abatement on businesses taxes, I would agree with a bunch of that. The problem is, that isn't the case. The company benefiting is a multi billion dollar corporation that has the political influence to cut the deal.

Do you think someone who wants to open Nick's Puppy Grooming and Fluff store will be able to go to the governor, request that the location of his store be made a KOZ as well as get resellable tax credits ?

I believe his logic is that the plant will have spinoff industries that will locate nearby to take advantage of byproducts.

[billy ross]

I believe his logic is that the plant will have spinoff industries that will locate nearby to take advantage of byproducts.

Ohio and West Virginia are desperate to get this cracker - it's not a done deal yet. Whoever gets the plant is going to win big-time. The number of jobs and the amount of economic activity that will come out of this plant is staggering, wherever the plant goes. It'll produce the raw materials, the basis, for the petrochemical industry, and all kinds of manufacturing will locate to take advantage of its output.

That's what the article seems to say:



So it would appear from reading that that Shell is already in a tax-free zone. The $67 mill is technically a tax credit, but is effectively a subsidy (no point giving them a tax credit if it's non-refundable if they're not paying any taxes to begin with).

The question is since the state is cash-strapped, where will the money for this come from?

The tax credit is only due if the plant is producing product, which means producing tax revenues for the state of PA, (some of) which will go back to the plant's operator in the form of tax credits. At the very least there will be income taxes on workers. I believe there will also be sales taxes due on materials consumed, and on out-of-state sale of the product of the plant, but I'm not sure about the minutiae of sales tax laws for manufacturers; essentially sales taxes are only due at the point of sale to an end user, and not in intermediate stages (like a VAT would be). I don't think they'd allow it to leave the state without paying sales tax, and I know that if it stays in-state it'll eventually get taxed when it becomes a finished product (as long as its not tax-exempt like clothing or food. However even then it'd be a win because it would be supporting all kinds of production industries in the state). Having cheap inputs relative to your competition is an enormous source of wealth (see China and its labor costs). The USA is undergoing an energy revolution right now due to fracking and horizontal drilling and it's going to remake our economy. Already all kinds of petrochemical plants which used to use petroleum for their raw materials are coming back to the US and are being configured to use natural gas for the basic building blocks of the industry. The petrochemical industry is 100% opposed to the US exporting LNG, since they'll dominate with how cheap gas is in the US now. This cracker (and any others like it) is the wellspring from which everything will flow, and Corbett gets it.

[raider.adam]

I believe his logic is that the plant will have spinoff industries that will locate nearby to take advantage of byproducts.

Correct. That is what the resellable tax credits are for.

[Naveen]

I believe his logic is that the plant will have spinoff industries that will locate nearby to take advantage of byproducts.

That's his logic. The question is whether or not we should all have to pay for the industry's success.

We've reached the point where Big Business can leverage it's power to effectively pay little or no taxes, or even be subsidized by the tax payers. After last night's results in WI this model will become even more entrenched.