Payoffs for Layoffs

Once again, the public is learning that tax funded corporate economic incentives don't really work. In Oregon, right after Georgia-Pacific received a property tax break that will amount to $15 million over 15 years, the company turned around and announced that it was laying off 130 workers. Chuck Sheketoff over at the Oregon Center for Public Policy puts it the best, "[i]t's payoffs for layoffs". On the other side of the country, AAA Mid-Atlantic demanded that Delaware grant the company tax incentives if the state wanted them to move there. The twist? AAA Mid-Atlantic already made the decision to move to Delaware before they demanded the tax incentives - Delaware simply paid AAA Mid-Atlantic to do something it was already going to do. For a more in-depth analysis of AAA Mid-Atlantic's scheme, check out this report by New Jersey Policy Perspectives.