Off the record, it's called corporate welfare. But it's a reality in the times we live in. Every village, every town and every city in every state is competing to bring business in because business equates to money injected into the local economy in the name of jobs. Jobs that pay a measurable margin above minimum wage are most desirable because they bring educated and skilled workers along with them, and this equates to a good standard of living and thusly a healthy community. It also has the side effect of keeping local taxes stable and when taxes are stable, communities flourish.
Business, however, is not like business used to be. To remain profitable, they have to compete in the marketplace. This means they have to be able to produce and distribute their product and then be able to sell it at a profit. If business, any business does not make a profit, they do not last long. Raising prices is the last thing a business wants to do because they know competition is fierce and if they price themselves out of the ballpark, sales will drop and consequently profits. So they look to lower their internal costs any way they can.
The highest cost a business has to deal with is their human resources, period. The more people you have on the payroll, the higher the cost of doing business. So it is no surprise that business will automate everything it can to lower costs. There is a line, however. There will be employees and there will be a payroll.
When a company like Amazon lets it be known they are looking to establish a regional presence, the political wooing begins. With an estimated 25,000 jobs to barter with, Amazon sat back and considered the offers. And there were plenty of them, to be sure. Boston, Chicago, San Diego, New York City ... not to mention the southern states set up with lower tax schedules than the bigger blue states. Along with doing business in a blue state comes the reality that it is usually over-regulated more than red states are. (This is one contributing reason business down south is doing better than up north.)
I confess I was surprised and amazed that Andrew Cuomo seemed to have won the competition to have Amazon locate in New York; Queens was the selected location. Andrew Cuomo is not on my Christmas card list, but I gave him credit for winning the competition. The nay-sayers attacked him for the deal he gave them (3 Billion in tax credits and incentives along with squashing local regulatory controls, just to mention a couple of gems in the package), but overall bringing in 25,000 jobs is no minor accomplishment.
It was a short-lived victory. About a month or so after the announcement, Amazon pulled out. And as the story unfolds, now we're learning why. It seems the new Congresswoman from Queens (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aka AOC) kind of pissed on the deal to the point where Amazon decided it would not be in their best interests to relocate to Queens after all. The bidding war looks to be back on, but anybody with a brain should realize Amazon already had a plan B, C and D in reserve. The smaller municipalities (like Oneida County) can save their ink, paper and stamps and skip wooing Amazon. Simply put, it ain't us... It ain't happening here.
Like Yogi Berra says, It's like deja-vu all over again. The first thing that came to mind was how our County Executive Anthony Picente (aka Fearless Leader from the cartoon Rocky and Bullwinkle) did worse: He actually built the building before having the company pull out of the deal leaving OC taxpayers holding the empty NANO bag, bond debt and all. But he had help ... Boris "Brindisi" Badenov and Natasha "Destito" Fatale have their fingerprints all over it too.
There is a silver lining in the cloud. Now Democrats are going after AOC for ruining the deal, and we all know there is nothing better than watching liberals tear up liberals. It saves wear and tear on Republicans when Democrats shit where they eat.
Is the deal salvageable? I have no crystal ball and won't bother to prognosticate about that. But I will make a bet, and that is AOC is going to have a real hard time in less than 2 years when she runs for re-election. She has her own party that is pissed-off at her to contend with before she has to deal with the other party candidate - and I'm thinking there is going to be a Republican candidate on the ballot next time. That's a double whammy, and for the new kid on the block, that's a critical mistake to have made so early in her career. I'm thinking she is going to be a flash-in-the-pan anomaly; here today, gone tomorrow.
And, FWIW, the New Green Deal is almost guaranteed DOA. Mitch McConnell is going to bring it to a vote, but he already knows the outcome. Not only is it going to go down, it is going to go down in flames and the upside of calling the vote is that the American public will now have on record as to who voted for it and who voted against it.
And 2020 isn't all that far off. Barring any unforeseen tremors and if history is any predictor, Trump will be re-elected ... and I wouldn't be surprised if he brings the House back to Republican leadership at the same time. Not to mention, odds are this President will have another Supreme Court nominee if I'm reading the tarot cards right. That is going to set the tone and pace for judicial decisions for decades to come, and after considering how screwed up this country is, I'm not thinking this is a bad thing.
But for now, I'm going to sit back with a bag of popcorn and enjoy watching Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor de Blasio rag on AOC for pissing in their Amazon Wheaties.
I'm betting it's going to be a show to remember.
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