I'm told capitalism is about taking risks. I also hear that good capitalists don't rely on government handouts: they rely on their own cash and wits.
I thus read with amusement the AP headline about the credit card company that Mitchell is trying to attract: "Land Deal Scares Off Company for Now." The Mitchell Republic has the fuller story. An unnamed credit card company is promising hundreds of jobs for Mitchellians pushing buttons and twisting the truth on the phone. This city was considering offering the company a chunk of land on the west side of town near the middle school. Some folks complained, though, because the land was designated as parkland in 2002, and Mitchell Park and Rec may someday develop it to expand the Caldwell softball complex. In the face of these complaints, the company has "delayed its plans."
Some Mitchell city councillors are unhappy:
Members of the City Council said they thought the proposal was sabotaged by a few negative comments. Britt Bruner said the company “may or may not come now, thanks to the actions of a few,” and he added that the negative reaction could doom not only the current project but also some future economic development efforts.
“I’m concerned that when businesses that are considering coming to Mitchell find out that this is perhaps the kind of welcome they get, they won’t even consider us,” Bruner said [Seth Tupper, "Complaints Killed Proposed Gift of Land to Private Company, Officials Say," Mitchell Republic, 2008.03.17].
So this credit card company was "scared off" from doing business in Mitchell by the fact that it can't get free land? They can get eager Midwestern workers, low wages, no corporate income tax (at least until Gerry gets elected), and they still need free land? Where's their courageous capitalism? If this anonymous company has to beg for free land to support its operations, maybe it isn't the strongest capitalist for Mitchell to be recruiting. Why welcome freeloaders? Let's focus on recruiting companies who can pay their own way and maybe even raise our wages.
Sounds like "corporate welfare" to me!
ReplyDeleteI may just be an evil dyed-in-the-wool Capitalist, but even I know that taxpayer funds (or government support) for coroporations is questionable at best.
Madison should welcome a clean business like a credit card operation or a calling center. We don't have either. They pay well, offer incentives to employees and everyone has clean hands at the end of the day. Look at how Sioux Falls has blossomed with all the credit card and calling center firms. We need one or two in Madison to provide that second income for our families without the travel costs. Dwaine, what's in the pipeline?
ReplyDeleteCredit cards... clean? What happened to the old rules against usury? Everyone has clean hands at the end of the day, but what about their souls after a day of mind-numbing marketing conversations with faceless callers? I know a lot of people who'd take dirty, sweaty, but honest hammering and shingling over the jobs you're talking about any day.
ReplyDeleteAnd instead of second incomes, how about drawing businesses that will pay good enough wages to be the first and only income a family needs?
I'll talk to any business that wants to come. But if a big corporation can't afford to buy its own land, maybe it's not financially healthiest business to do business with.