Being
trained specifically in the field of research and statistics, I am well
acquainted with the practice of, what I like to call, omission statistics, to
justify your case. In a recent photo opt, the mayor of New Orleans,
Mitch Landrieu and our phantom governor, Bobby Jindal, who always, magically,
instantly appears for photo opts, celebrated Chiquita Brands International
returning its shipping operations to the port of New Orleans.
Of
course, Bobby was all a glow in touting how his tax incentive economic plans
for Louisiana were paying off. However, what I noted about all this
exciting news was the total lack of any statistics related to just how much our
state was going to benefit, economically, from this venture. There were
vague references to it creating less than a hundred new jobs, but the only
specified statistic relating to this event was the fact that the business was
going to benefit greatly by getting over $15.5 million of tax payers’ money
over the next 10 years to relocate the company here.
I’m
sure that Bobby and Mitch would be the first to point out that one has to spend
money to make money. However, why don’t we ever hear statistics relating
to projected income for the state from these new tax incentive ventures BEFORE
we grant them? And why aren’t income figures monitored and reported back
to the public from the tax incentive ventures that are already in place, and
touted continuously by our Governor and legislators as successful?
When
the statistics for one such venture did make it to the media, namely, the movie
making tax incentive program, we discovered that it produced a return of
approximately 28 cents on each dollar spent by the state, a losing proposition.
While
Louisiana receives high marks for its favorable work environment from economic
development magazines, it continues to hemorrhage financially, resulting
in continuing infrastructure decay, along with a downward spiraling of
educational and healthcare services under the Jindal Administration.
Consequently,
one has to wonder when our elected legislators will stop giving money away
blindly without full economic disclosure.
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