LouisianaVoice has expressed concerns about the industrial tax incentives, aka giveaway programs, for years. It has been our contention that while welfare cheats are an easy target for criticism, the money lost to fraudulent welfare and Medicaid recipients is eclipsed by the billions of dollars stolen from taxpayers in the form of industrial tax exemptions, incentives, and credits.
Of course, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry would never concede that fact. Instead, they use the stage magician’s tactic of misdirection by claiming runaway lawsuits, organized labor, higher wages (they are especially terrified of an increase in the $7.25 minimum wage) and poor public education performance are to blame for Louisiana’s economic and social ills.
Never (not once) will one hear LABI point to poverty as a cause of the state’s low ranking in everything good and high ranking in everything bad. Never (not once) will one hear LABI, the local chambers of commerce, or the Louisiana Office of Economic Development call attention to the billions of dollars in relief given businesses and industry—from Wal Mart to Exxon—in the form of corporate welfare—leaving it to working Louisianans to pick up the check.
And all you have to do to understand how this has occurred is to follow the money in the form of campaign contributions to legislators and governors and visit the State Capitol during a legislative session and try—just try—to count the lobbyists. Better yet, you may do better by counting lobbyists and legislators following adjournment each night as they gather for steaks, lobster and adult beverages at Sullivan’s or Ruth’s Chris—compliments of lobbyists’ expense accounts.
And while LouisianaVoice has attempted to call attention to this piracy, an outfit called Together Louisiana has put together a 15-minute video presentation that brings the picture into sharp, stark focus. The contrast between two separate economies living side by side is stunning.
Stephen Winham, retired director of Louisiana’s Executive Budget Office called the video “a super good presentation of facts our decision-makers choose to ignore as they have for many, many decades.”
Winham went a step further in saying, “Our leaders seem to think we are all too dumb to understand this—and that’s a positive assessment. A more jaundiced view would be that they don’t want us to understand it.
“All we can do is keep on keeping on with our individual attempts to communicate this and let our elected officials know that we do understand and that we hold them responsible and accountable. Unfortunately, when I attempt to talk about this with individuals and groups, their eyes glaze over within minutes. I’m not going to stop trying, though, and neither should anybody else.
“I am happy to have this information in such a tight presentation,” Winham said.
So, with that, here is that video:
And if that’s not enough to convince you, THIS STORY was posted late Friday.
Louisiana Voice 
EBR does not need another tax for roads. We need EBR government to eliminate the ITEP and you would find the money for roads, schools, teachers, health care, etc. Hence the reason I will not support the mayor’s road tax.
The famous criminal Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks, and his response was simple, eloquent, and humorous: Because that’s where the money is.
Why do oil and natural gas and petrochemical industries locate in Louisiana? For tax incentives? No! Because that’s where there is oil and natural gas. They would come here if we charged them a surtax. And yet our stupid legislators PAY the oil and gas companies to come here. How dumb is that?
And paying Wal-Mart to locate stores here? Equally stupid. Wal-Mart will locate stores where there are customers. Paying them to come where they already want to be is again STUPID. We have got either the dumbest legislators or the most corrupt. My vote is for the latter.
Cheers, Tom.
Good point, overall. Taxes should affect all equally, or no taxes at all. That does not excuse all the bad rankings, or that anyone illegally benefits from Medicaid. Any government needs revenue to exist, and taxes mean how government pays for the things voters want. Want more, pay more.
Taxes of all kinds causes incentives to change, and changes how people (including business people) act. Taxing some while not taxing others is a bad road, and LA is far down it. Tax all the same, no exceptions.
I see no hope for government to fix itself. Officials, elected or not, survive on being able to dole out payments from everyone’s taxes. I don’t know if that’s corruption, since I see it happening everywhere. Why would we intentionally elect corrupt politicians? I suspect that politicians act just like we would in the same position.
Corporations are people, right? All people should pay a fair share of taxes, since we all benefit from government services and infrastructure.
All property should be taxed at the same rate. No one should be exempt from paying property tax. Louisiana homeowners benefit from a unique homestead tax exemption. Nobody lives at chemical plants and other businesses, so the homestead exemption does not apply. I sincerely doubt many businesses will leave because they are required to pay a fair share of taxes. Building a chemical plant is a lengthy and expensive process. And if every community taxes its commercial residents, tax havens will not exist and cities everywhere will benefit.
It’s long past time for citizens to demand that elected officials insist that tax burdens are to be shared equally. We can’t go back in time to force industrial entities to pay a fair share, but we can going forward. Now that citizens/voters are on notice, we must hold those we elect to govern accountable for ending tax exemptions that enrich wealthy corporate entities that feed off government services the rest of us pay for,
Good article; thanks, watts