WASHINGTON – In Washington, D.C., on June 14, 2016, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com was awarded the James Smithson Bicentennial medal. Official DHS photo by Barry Bahler.
When politicians play games to lure companies to their state, it is oftentimes with tax breaks using money they don’t have, as was the case with New York’s tax breaks to Amazon. Amazon was going to pay much more in taxes than they received in tax breaks—by a lot—it was basically New York Prime.
The topic came up at a recent lunch with clients. I told them I was torn. I have a real problem when politicians use other people’s money to do their bidding. But I’m certainly not sad to see the backlash Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will face in 2020.
My beef with politicians is, they roll out the red carpet for newcomers like Amazon, but do nothing for the businesses that haven’t already moved down to Florida. It’s a slap in the face to those who stuck around. Probably because they can’t leave. But at the end of the day, is it better for business to give the tax break to a lucky few?
My answer is a resounding no.
I’ve followed National Right to Work President Mark Mix for years and here’s his open letter to Amazon:
February 26, 2019
Dear Sirs,
I could not help but note the recent news reports that you have decided to cancel a major infrastructure investment in New York.
Allow me to congratulate you on having dodged a bullet.
As you know, polls showed that the people of New York were excited about Amazon bringing 25,000 high-paying jobs into their area.
Yet despite the clear benefits to the residents of Long Island City, Amazon immediately began to face a flood of hostility from local politicians, left-wing activists, and, not surprisingly to us here at National Right to Work, union officials.
Such hostility is sadly common in forced-unionism states like New York.
You see, Big Labor’s ability to force workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of working has led the union bosses and the politicians they finance to routinely ignore the desires of the hardworking men and women they claim to “represent.”
The fact is, job growth in Right to Work states is nearly double that of the forced-unionism states, for just that reason.
And after adjusting for cost of living, it’s clear that families in Right to Work states have on average $4,500 more to spend in after-tax real income.
That’s why site selection consultants consistently report more than half of their clients won’t even consider non-Right to Work states when looking to relocate, invest, or expand.
So it makes sense for you to expand in Nashville, Tennessee and Arlington, Virginia, both in states which have Right to Work laws.
My question to you is why you ever had New York, and more specifically, New York City, on your list, when there are dozens of cities open and welcoming for business across the 27 Right to Work states?
Sincerely,
Mark Mix
President, National Right to Work Committee
For more from Mix, click here.
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
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