Cascade Curtain hypocrite

“Stupid is as stupid does,” the fictional character Forrest Gump said.

The quote is old but the meaning may fit House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.

In a time when the national economy is facing recession fears and Washington looks at a possible $2 billion deficit with its budget, how intelligent is it to stop growth momentum? Should we leave high-tech, environmentally clean businesses pondering their ability to compete globally? Can we afford to do so, especially now?

Chopp thinks so. He led the House majority of Democrats to ignore promised tax breaks for computer server farms like Microsoft, Intuit and Yahoo! in Quincy and Ask.com in Moses Lake. The breaks were never included in the budget.

“We are supportive of that economic sector. But with the national economic situation the way it is and our own economy slowing, we need to take an extra look at any additional tax breaks,” Chopp said.

Really?

Perhaps he thought the tax breaks for the server farms would do further damage to the state budget by reducing revenue. Maybe he thought the companies would continue where they are since they have already invested so much. Maybe he honestly thinks endangering the profitability of multi-million dollar server farms in Eastern Washington makes good business sense.

After all, he voted to approve $3.2 billion in tax cuts for Boeing. Yes, there was a condition the company build the 7E7 in the state, but since then the company decided to reduce thousands of jobs in Washington by outsourcing production of parts to subcontractors in various countries.

At first glance, it’s hard to believe Microsoft or Yahoo! need tax breaks. They are giant companies. But the reality is no company wished to invest in a money-losing endeavor. Without the promised breaks, Microsoft announced they could move to Oregon or different states where it would cost them less than continuing in Grant County.

By not including tax breaks for the high-tech companies in the budget and having the state Department of Revenue declare they are not eligible for existing breaks for rural manufacturers, the bright rosy future of Grant County darkened slightly.

The server farms brought money to the county, Quincy and Moses Lake through property taxes. They brought jobs and even more spin-off jobs to companies working for the data centers, employing people with quality wages. It was an economic boost and source of pride for the entire county.

Sen. Jan/a Holmquist and representatives Judy Warnick and Bill Hinkle tried to provide the breaks. They had help from Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee, and Lisa Brown, D-Spokane.

Their next chance to try again is January 2009. Let’s hope more listen to reason than listen to Chopp and the data centers remain to receive the breaks they deserve.

— Editorial board