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Americans, on average, have paid more than $456,000 for every ONE job created by massive corporate tax subsidies over the past thirty years. Tax payers in two states, New York and Michigan, have paid far more than that, although state reporting requirements make it difficult to determine just how much more.A detailed analysis conducted by Good Jobs First, examined just the top corporate subsidies awarded by all states and the District of Columbia, over the past 3 and a half decades. The focus of the study was on the largest corporate tax giveaways, those totaling $75 million dollars or more.
According to Thomas Cafcus, one of the researchers involved in the study, the analysis excluded megadeals for sports teams, such as the Detroit Red Wings, a team that is soon to get a brand new stadium, at the expense of taxpayers who reside in an already bankrupt city. Cafcus makes it clear that subsidies related to sports teams are not included in the report because the sheer number of such 'megadeals' would have overwhelmed the database. According to Harvard researcher Judith Grant Long, however, at least $18 billion in taxpayer funds has been spent on sports stadiums nationally, over the last 20 years. Worse, the 'job-creating' stadium deals consistently lose money, with teams costing taxpayers more than bring in.
Also excluded from the research are subsidies that cost taxpayers less than $75 million dollars, again, due to the sheer number of corporate giveaways that fall below this mark.
Wal-Mart, a company that pays its employees less than poverty wages, has received so many of these subsidies that Good Jobs First has a special database reserved just for them. An earlier report from 2004, shows how Wal-Mart has used taxpayer money to fund the company's predatory advance across the United States, often ruining small communities and destroying more jobs than it creates. Wal-Mart Subsidy Watch provides a state by state break down of taxpayer funds spent to create low wage, no benefit Walmart jobs. None of this includes the $904,542 to $175 million per year that each Wal-Mart location in the US costs taxpayers, due to the company's poverty wages. This study, conducted in 2013, shows that taxpayers pay an average of between $3,015 and $5,815, per Wal-Mart employee. All of this totals $6.2 billion annually, from American taxpayers, who subsidize housing, food and medical care to those who are employed at Wal-Mart.
Two sporting goods stores, Cabela's and Bass-Pro have followed the earlier example set by Wal-Mart, similarly using it to extract billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies from a multitude of states.
A huge problem is that companies like Wal-Mart and Cabela's, which exploit communities, employees and taxpayers in order to gain enormous profits for themselves, are more often than not, dishonest, deceptive and otherwise lacking in ethics. They make big promises to create jobs, draw money into the local economy etc… etc… yet these promises are nothing more than hot air.
Still, time after time, state and local officials reward these unethical businesses with huge subsidies, always at the expense of their constituents. Often these massive giveaways are done without voter approval, and in many cases politicians move forward, even when a majority of residents disapprove.
Two states topped the list of corporate giveaways, New York and Michigan. Whereas Michigan leads the nation in the number of massive subsidies given away (over $75 million), with a total of 29, New York outspent Michigan in the total value of subsidies.
New York came in second to Michigan, with a total of 23 corporate giveaways, while Texas and Ohio tied for third, at 12 each. Louisiana and Tennessee each had 11 corporate giveaways worth more than $75 million, while three states, Alabama, Kentucky and New Jersey, each had ten.
In terms of dollars, New York outspent Michigan, with corporate subsidies costing taxpayers $11.4 billion dollars. Michigan, on the other hand, still gave away more than double the amount of every other state, plus the District of Columbia, with corporate subsidies totaling $7.4 billion. Five states tied for third place, Oregon, Texas, Louisiana, Washington and New Mexico, each giving corporate subsidies worth $3 billion dollars.
If the amount of money that Americans are paying these corporations to allow us the privilege of working for them seems astounding, you haven't heard the worst of it yet.
Here's something else you might not know, in 16 US states, workers personal income taxes are not being paid to the state, but to their employers. At least 2,700 US companies are legally collecting the state income tax of the people who work for them. In most cases the workers are totally unaware that their tax dollars are going to their bosses, instead of helping to support the community they live and work in. The 16 states that allow employers to collect employee income taxes for themselves are Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina.None of those states require that the employee be informed regarding where their tax dollars actually go...."
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/10/31/corporate-subsidies-cost-americans-456000-per-job/
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