The video below was put out by Charles Koch — an extremely successful entrepreneur whose company bought the Dupont Fibers business (and changed the name to Invista) for $8 billion in cash a few years back. Note that the Minner Administration gave Koch Industries around $14 million in incentives.
I am against corporate welfare, but if the government is going to hand out money, I have no ill feelings about Koch Industries getting its piece (just like I don’t have ill feelings towards the Schell Brothers getting their piece, Fiskars getting its piece, Bloom Energy getting its piece, etc.). Government policy is to hand out money. Bad policy, but talk to Governor Markell.
Delaware has spent the last 20 years crimping economic freedom. DNREC has been the worst offender, recently, but tax policy (taxing job creating small businesses so that we can feed government slush funds), cronyism (DelDot, DeLuca & double-dippers, family government jobs, etc.), DEDO corporate welfare, NCC Government, and Wilmington City Government have all played a major role in destroying Delaware’s economic freedom, growth & opportunity. As I’ve written before, New Castle County employment has shrunk to pre-1998 levels.
If government in the United States/Delaware/New Castle County/Wilmington focused on moving back up the scale of economic freedom, 1) More people would have jobs and earn more for themselves reducing the governmental burden, & 2) Tax rates would be able to be maintained and a low, sustainable level, & 3) Corporate welfare would be much less.
The facts are the facts. Countries that rank high in economic freedom are wealthy, have smaller poor populations, are healthy, and are happy. Sadly, the United States/Delaware/New Castle County/Wilmington continue to move in the wrong direction. The facts demonstrate what this means for our children and grandchildren.
Sorry but the next time a rich Greenville type tells me about economic freedom and their family is loaded I will barf.
Without your family connections your printing business would be Sir Speedy.
Dear Greenville Madness,
I don’t know Charlie except in passing, and I am not part of the Greenville populace, but I do know a prejudiced wannabe when I read this kind of classist rant.
Do you honestly believe those who are successful got that way only because of sheer luck or connections? It takes hard work to run a business, no matter who you are or what your connections are.
Charlie has laid out facts concerning the decline of Delaware over the last twenty years and has proposed solutions time and again.
It’s more than you appear to be doing.
“Sir Speedy”? Do you mean the highly-successful, multi-million dollar, family-lead corporation with a national presence?
http://www.sirspeedy.com/about/companyhistory.cfm
Were you trying to insult Charlie or complement him?
Regardless, it seems you lack the self-discipline to THINK before you “barf” your incongruent nonsense all over the place.
Charlie is right, Delaware is now worse for businesses than it was 4, 12 and 20 years ago. There’s a common underlying theme as to why. Can you figure it out?
curios, by what measure is Hong Kong and Singapore the most free nations on the planet?