The New York Times ran this piece today about tax breaks for corporations, and how it’s just a big con being played on the American people. Corporations never live up to their promises, and we the tax payers are left holding the bag.
I do speak from firsthand knowledge having grown up in Arlington, TX and watched the Rangers pull this con game twice, and the Cowboys once.
Back in 1989, the Texas Rangers were bought by an investment group headed by George W. Bush, and they pushed very hard after acquiring the team that they needed a new stadium. (The old ballpark was pretty bad, in all fairness.) They threatened to take the team to another city unless Arlington ponied up 71% of the cost of a new stadium. Also, the city created a corporation that used eminent domain to take over additional tracks of land for future development. What was promised was a San Antonio-esq Riverwalk with shops and hotels, and all kinds of other crap that would bring “additional job.” They never built the Riverwalk, and no additional job were ever created. The Ballpark in Arlington, they said, was the type of stadium that would be around for 100 years.
Then, Jerry Jones does the same thing with the Dallas Cowboys. In 2004, he wanted a new stadium in Dallas, but the Dallas county commissioners wouldn’t put it to a vote, as the polling showed Dallas citizens had no interest with paying for a stadium and getting nothing in return. People pointed to the Ballpark in Arlington that Bush built, and how none of the promises materialized. But Jerry is a smart one. He took the whole thing to Arlington, and the people of that city again agreed to raise their taxes for a load of promises of the “entertainment center” that would be built. They got the AT&T Stadium, but Jerry only built parking lots, and nothing else.
The in 2016, the new Rangers owners decided that they had to have a new stadium as well. They followed the same playbook; threatened to leave unless the city put up the money for a new stadium. But this time it would be different. The new owners promised that there would be a new entertainment center that would create lots of new jobs. Again, people voted for it…
When I talk to friends and family that still live in Arlington, they tell me that the tax raise is not that big, that they are getting the jobs in return, and this will make Arlington a better place.
But if you bring up raising taxes to help the local schools, or to provide a mass transit option (Arlington is the largest city in America without any public transportation) then these same people will say they can’t afford the tax increase, that they get nothing out of it, and it won’t make Arlington a better place. And you can’t trust the government.
But you can trust billionaires who need a handout, and never keep their promises?
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