Friday, July 30, 2010

A $Million A Job . . . and Threatening Freedom

A $Million A Job . . . That's just about what New York taxpayers are being soaked to "create" jobs at the GlobalFoundaries chip plant in Malta. At a $Million a Job, that's enough to pay a worker $100,000 a year for 10 years . . . or $50,000 a year for 20 years.  The state appears to have committed the state's taxpayers to paying for this company's entire workforce.

This is nonsense . . . Blogger Jim Ostrowski out of the Buffalo area knows it, and he decided to do something about it by suing the state to stop the handouts. According to this YNN Story, the suit just received a green light at an appellate level.
Ostrowski said, "Those businesses that can't survive without subsidies, should go bankrupt fellas."

His basic argument is that the state Constitution forbids state money from going to private corporations.
Readers of this blog are familiar with that argument . . . It's been made here on several occasions in relation to:
 Article VIII of the State Constitution §1 provides:
"No county, city, town, village or school district shall give or loan any money or property to or in aid of any individual, or private corporation or association, or private undertaking, or become directly or indirectly the owner of stock in, or bonds of, any private corporation or association . . . "
The YNN Story indicates that the provision was added to the Constitution because people were upset that their money was going to support the railroads; however, ever since, courts have expanded what was allowed if it created a "public benefit" . . . We have seen this "public benefit" argument used to justify taking land from one person and giving it to another in Auburn.

Railroads create a clear "public benefit," but the constitutional provision was designed specifically to prevent public funds from being given to them and to other private entities. Almost any activity can be argued as somehow creating a "public benefit." When the power of government is used to take from one and give to another, to favor one person's activities over another's, that is oppression. . . .   It is obvious that somewhere along the line the courts have gotten off the track.

Per YNN  
the Attorney General's Office is asking for the appellate court's decision to be dismissed, but if not, for the state's highest court to hear the case right away because they say this case could jeopardize the state's potential economic recovery.
The Attorney General's job is to enforce the law (including the State's Constitution) and not worry about "potential economic recovery." When government becomes invested in one company, it is tempting for government to use its power to squash that company's competitors. This seems to have already happened with our Attorney General, and his misplaced priorities have already been commented upon (11/5/09).

Hopefully the Court of Appeals will acknowledge the oppressive environment that has been created, and start enforcing this constitutional provision as intended by its drafters.

If not, We the People will be placed in a terrible position.  We will  be forced either to accept more of governmental taking from one of us and giving to another . . . or to exercise Our Right to Abolish Our Government.  Help us avoid having to make that choice.

3 comments:

Mango Man said...

Strike,

Great stuff my Jim Ostrowski.

http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Citizen-Action-American-Revolution/product-reviews/0974925349/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

http://utica-mohawkvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/512468/court-documents--new-york-taxpayers-give--4-8-billion-to-businesses/

We should give our support to this guy who could very well shake-up the entire system of graft in New York State.

Anonymous said...

A process that started with good intentions decades ago, has gone awry and out of whack.Government incentives were created to give minor breaks to specific companies needing them under very well defined circumstances. As usual in the public arena, these programs have been expanded and misused to the extent where they've become give aways to companies and projects that could never make it without taxpayer funds. In addition, companies that do not require public asssitance, of course, demand their "incentive". The politician gets on the soap box claiming credit for "giving" our money away. It's a sick system. See EDGE, See Obama for plenty of examples. No wonder our goverments are going broke and actually costing us jobs.

Anonymous said...

Groups as the EDGE were created to allow government to skirt constitutional restraints.Limit or remove governemnt funding and transfers of power to them and the problem will be solved.