By Roldo Bartimole
How much money are you willing to give to wealthy corporations and their wealthy executives? How much will you tolerate them taking? I am talking about free money. Gifts. Tax free, too.
Not much? But you already are.
Let’s see.
The State of Ohio – that’s YOU and your taxes if you live here – has awarded General Electric $115,335,000. Nice if you can get it.
Marathon Petroleum got $72,128,036.
These are massive figures. Even in this day and age.
And we get furious at Jimmy Dimora for taking some tens of thousands. As we should. But how about the legal graft that has become part of our give-to-the-rich culture? All the money goes up the ladder. To the top.
What about these guys? The guys that don’t get the headlines for what they take. They escape notice or exposure. Walk on to the bank.
How about Eaton Corp., the company that apparently now wants to shift even of its normal U. S. income tax to Ireland so it can escape higher U. S. taxes. Our state has given Eaton Corp. $30,417,493 and another $17,670,632. That’s $48 million for a company that doesn’t even want to call its headquarters here home.
(We also have given Eaton Corp. virgin land in Chagrin Highlands for its new headquarters building. This enabled the company to move out of downtown Cleveland, which I predicted would happen back in 1989 when Mayor George Voinovich, helping his former law partner, and George Forbes, helping Dick Jacobs, opened that valuable land to corporate exploitation. And profit for their friends.)
The list of giveaways is so long that I couldn’t possibly recount all the corporations here in Ohio taking these payoffs. You’d stop reading.
Here, however, is a sample of the public cost. There are two categories – Job Creation and Job Retention. That’s what they call these give-aways.
The totals for Ohio – $393.8 million for so-called job creation. And $56.9 million for so-called job retention. They cover the years 2007-2012. More will come that’s for sure.
These figures were compiled by an organization called Good Jobs First.
Where does the state money come from for these subsidies? The income taxes paid by workers! The money diverted from state revenues to these private corporations. Neat. Taxes paid by workers go to their bosses. How better can Robin Hood work in reverse?
How crazy have we become?
Here’s what David Cay Johnston, a 2001 Pulitzer Prize winner for beat reporting on taxes for the New York Times, wrote about the report:
“Across the country more than 2,700 companies are collecting state income taxes from hundreds of thousands of workers – and are keeping the money with the states’ approval,” citing the non-profit Good Jobs First report.
Here’s his Reuter’s article.
What’s of value to know is that while this major shifting of tax revenue to corporate coffers is going on we are losing government jobs and worker income is diving. The recent news verifies this disaster for workers. And there’s a right-wing Republican push to blame police, firefighters, teachers and other government workers for our fiscal problems. Even as the money is being poured into corporate pockets.
Workers aren’t the people running away with public dollars in the hundreds of millions.
So what’s the percentage in giving state revenue to private interests? Who benefits? Who pays? The same old unanswered questions. It’s one state trying to bribe from another. A rush to the bottom.
While I couldn’t possible list all the corporations being bestowed with our money by the state. However, here are a few more:
– Ford Motor: $19,047,100. (Wonder what the $100 is for?).
– Explorys Inc.: $17,697,000.
– Whirlpool Corp.: $16,524,624.
– Ernst & Young: $16,524,624.
– Bridgestone-Firestone: $16,124,625.
– Lio Energy Systems (US): $15,942.235.
– ALCOA: $15,942,235.
– B & C Research: $15,626,375.
– Med Pace Inc.: $14,167,494.
– Net Jets, Inc.: $11,709,508.
– Procter & Gamble: $11,741,508 and $6,669,207. Double dipper.
These are real figures. Real dollars.
But why go on. If you’re not disgusted by this now, I’m wasting my time and energy.
Here is the entire list of thousands of such gifts all over the nation. You can find it listed under “spreadsheet.” The states are trying to steal companies from each other with bribes of tax revenue. Here’s a spread sheet for all who want to be further disgusted and thanks to Susan Miller of Cleveland Heights for bringing this to my attention.
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Larkin’s Silly Propaganda Piece on Jackson
If you want to read a masterpiece of bullshit propaganda please read Brent Larkin’s column in Sunday’s paper. Larkin lauds Jackson with inane manufactured praise. You have to leave your brain somewhere to get this ridiculous.
Larkin writes about the school plan Jackson – and the establishment and the Plain Dealer – have been pushing hard as a prelude to getting a property tax passed. The piece is also meant to give the state legislature a push to pass the Cleveland plan, which it has not done. And may not do.
Larkin mirrors the panic here among Cleveland’s Corporates. It’s panic time.
It is part of the corporate community’s big push for a tax increase for the Cleveland schools. The same schools they have robbed of revenue so readily with tax abatements and tax exemptions for their benefit.
The piece is entitled: “Jackson’s feat of statesmanship.” What a crock.
Larkin quotes a lobbyist – a state house lobbyist at that – to render praise upon Jackson. It is the quote of a guy with a reputation, which takes about a minute to comprise. A worthy voice for a phony piece of journalism.
“I’ve been around politics my whole life,” says lobbyist Dan McCarthy, “This was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. At every critical juncture in this process, Frank Jackson made the right decision. You could not hear him talk about these kids without saying to yourself, ‘I’m going to be with this guy.'”
My heart skips a beat.
This passage comes from PR Handbook – Chapter Trite #1.
Larkin describes McCarthy so we know what he is. He is president of The Success Group, “one of Columbus’ most respected public affairs and lobbying firms.” The company describes itself as “Achieving the government affairs objectives of Fortune 500 companies, trade associations and non-profit organizations for three decades.” It adds that its “core competency is lobbying.”
In other words, he’s a Columbus lobbyist, dealing mostly with Ohio legislators and politicians. How more mercenary could you get? Larkin wants to pass him off as a noteworthy person of stature. Someone to believe. Worth quoting.
Larkin inadvertently lets us in on why he chooses this particular lobbyist for his praise of Jackson.
McCarthy helped Jackson with his school plan “on behalf of his friend and client Albert Ratner.” The guy is heaping praise on his own work. And Al Ratner is a friend. Ratner, of Forest City fame, has played Cleveland politicians like a master puppeteer, along with his partner Sam Miller. You can ask them about taking money from Cleveland school children because they know how. And he’s sponsor of your acclaim?
Larkin then turns to Carol Caruso, vice president of advocacy for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, for more praiseworthy words about Jackson. Why shouldn’t she heap praise upon Jackson. He merely carries water for the Greater Cleveland Partnership when asked. The school plan is more theirs than his.
And then even Armond Budish chimes in with the trite acclaim of Jackson as “the Picasso of Cleveland.” Talk about manufactured admiration.
We have bullshit by the ton here. The only kind Larkin cultivates as the elites principal historian. Talk about water boys.
And he wants us to eat this prose as honest. Please.
He even lets Jackson in on this false artistry. Larkin writes:
“Sitting at a table in his City Hall office early Tuesday morning, Jackson said there was never a time when he thought he might fail.
“‘It never crossed my mind,’ deadpanned Jackson.” Oh, oh, Brent.
Wow! Has Larkin been watching too many old B movies in his retirement?
Only the totally naive could believe his transparent shilling.
But Brent and the PD keep dishing it out. Watch you don’t step in it.
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For a different take on the legislature outlook (it’s dead) on the Cleveland plan see this Plunderbund piece.
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Fred Nance, Browns, Port Authority in a Stew Pot
What’s going on with the Browns and Port Authority with public land on Lake Erie’s lakefront?
The Plain Dealer has reported that the FBI is looking at Port records relating to parking agreements between the Browns and Port Authority.
But mixed in issue is a claim by a Port board member that some members of the board met with the Browns secretly in what should have been a public meeting on public issues.
What an honest Port board member?
Now Fred Nance calls the claim “ridiculous.” What’s really ridiculous is taking anything Nance says without considering that he called the shots on the Browns’ sweetheart deal for the stadium with the city. And now has gone to work for the Browns. If that’s not conflict of interest it certainly is double dealing in my book.
He should be the last one anyone should listen to.
And the city should be more than wary of dealing with the Browns and Randy Lerner, who apparently have designs on development on the lakefront.
This one deserves a lot more attention.
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CORRECTION: Last week I referred to Pat O’Malley as former county auditor. He is the former county recorder.
Roldo Bartimole celebrates 50 years of news reporting this year. He published and wrote Point of View, a newsletter about Cleveland, for 32 years. He worked for the Plain Dealer and Wall Street Journal in the 1960s.He was a 2004 Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame recipient and won the national Joe Callaway Award for Civic Courage in 1991. [Photo by Todd Bartimole.]
2 Responses to “ROLDO: It Puts Jimmy Dimora Corruption to Shame”
Tom
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has been in charge of the Cleveland Public Schools for several years as Mayor, and has caused those Cleveland schools to get worse. So for that he should be criticized (not praised by the misleading ruling class Plain Dealer) and removed from office by a recall election. His new so-called school transformation plan really amounts to nothing, just more of his fakery to fool the public, and privatize more schools to make children’s education the subject of backroom political deals to enrich corrupt poltiicians and their wealthy big business money funders and bust the teachers’ union, with the help of the Plain Dealer and its long-time editorial director, the arrogant, wealthy, elitist, shifty, dishonest, aristocratic snob, Brent Larkin. Over the years, Larkin has done more damage to Cleveland than anybody. He just serves the rich.
Roldo Bartimole
Can’t argue with what you say Tom and thanks for saying it.