By David Nir
Thursday Dec 01, 2016 · 1:27 PM EST
Predictably—and horrifyingly—the traditional media has fawned over Donald Trump’s supposed “deal” with the Carrier Corporation, the giant air-conditioner manufacturer, to allegedly save jobs at the company’s facilities in Indiana. But this was no deal. It was a shakedown.
In exchange for $7 million in tax breaks furnished by the state of Indiana (only possible because Trump’s running-mate, Mike Pence, just so happens to still have a few weeks left in office as governor), Carrier has agreed to keep 800 jobs that were slated to move to Mexico in the U.S. (And yes, according to the Wall Street Journal, it’s 800 jobs, not the 1,000 originally announced—300 additional jobs weren’t going anywhere. So we’re already post-fact here.)
But while the press has deeply enjoyed the chance to celebrate this arrangement as a “win” for Trump, it’s nothing of the sort. Now, every big American company can simply threaten to shift jobs overseas because they know Trump will intervene purely out of vanity so that he can earn more glowing headlines.
Trump can then offer more tax breaks (or bully governors and mayors into doing so on his behalf) to the businesses that suck up to him best. Presto: More jobs “saved,” more ecstatic media coverage for the man whose only real goal in life is to see the world pay him the respect that he’s convinced he’s due in spades. Never mind the cost to taxpayers, which will only escalate as more and more major corporations seek to take advantage of Trump’s ego. And never mind the cost to the economy, as businesses opt for the easy route of looting the public coffers rather than seeking to actually compete with one another.
So expect plenty more of this. Trump’s America will be all about crony capitalism in service of feeding the gaping black hole where the president-elect’s soul ought to be. And we will all pay the price.
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