Carrier/United Technologies is receiving $7 million in corporate welfare to keep 1,069 jobs averaging $30.91 an hour at its Indianapolis plant, even as C/UT moves 400 jobs from the Indy plant and 700 jobs from Huntington, Indiana, to Mexico. That’s a bad President/precedent:
“It’s a potentially dangerous policy where you reward a company that threatens to leave. It’s a dangerous precedent. Why wouldn’t every other company make the exact same pitch?” said Steve Weitzner of Silverlode Consulting, a site selection firm. “In this case, you’re rewarding a company that is actually cutting a lot of jobs in the state” [Tony Cook, “Why Carrier Deal Could Set Troubling Precedent,” Indianapolis Star, 2016.12.02].
Another prominent business executive agrees:
Over the years, I’ve watched, for years, for 10 years, for 12 years, for 15 years, beyond Obama, and I’ve watched as politicians talked about stopping companies from leaving our states… Remember, they’d give the low-interest loans. Here’s a low-interest loan if you stay in Pennsylvania. Here’s a zero-interest loan. You don’t have to pay. Here’s a this. Here’s a tax abatement of any kind you want. We’ll help your employees. It doesn’t work, folks. That’s not what they need. They have money. They want to go out, they want to move to another country, and because our politicians are so dumb, they want to sell their product to us and not have any retribution, not have any consequence.
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I’ve been watching these politicians go through this for years…. I’ve been watching them give low-interest loans. I’ve been watching them give zero-interest loans. These companies don’t even need the money, most of them; they take the money. There were a couple of instances where geniuses with great lawyers gave them money and then they moved anyway…I mean, the whole thing is crazy.
The first quote is from Donald Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on August 12, 2016. The second quote is from Donald Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 2016. [See Pema Levy, “Trump Likely Broke with His Own Stance in Indiana Manufacturing Deal,” Mother Jones, 2016.11.30.]
According to Open Secrets, defense contractor United Technologies’ PAC has given $1.18 million to federal candidates this year, 35% to Democrats, 65% to Republicans. UT PAC gave Kristi Noem $4,000, John Thune $7,500, and Nancy Pelosi $10,000.
