Columbia Basin Herald Online Newspaper

Local News - Moses Lake, WA - Grant County

Cascade Curtain hypocrite

Posted: Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 - 03:47:50 pm PDT
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“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


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* All comment posts will encounter a possible delay of up to 24 hours.

AM wrote on Mar 26, 2008 12:37 PM:

" I don’t think the Democrats in control really care about fair; they only care about staying in power. The Democrats policy of tax and spend is completely out of control. They know Westside businesses are looking to leave which will cost them big in an election year. The Dem’s don’t want to curb DSHS spending or help curb fraud, but they want us to support all the illegals that get all the free-bees. The Dem’s fought voter I.D. because they knew about the fraud. DSHS refused to cooperate with Grant County Sheriff Frank Detrillio concerning the Mattawa day care fraud because they like helping illegals break the law. Has anyone at DSHS been arrested for aiding and abetting illegals breaking the law (((Not)). The Dem’s just don’t care about you and me they just want our money! "

Glenn Sand wrote on Mar 26, 2008 12:36 AM:

" You have to ask the question...why are tax breaks necessary? It would seem to imply that the law is flawed in the first place. Granting exceptions to the law(s) make their very existence suspect. The obvious solution would be to change the law and not grant 'exceptions' to it. I was raised to believe that the laws of this country were to be applied equally, justly and fairly to all. Why should exceptions to the law of the land even be considered or better yet, how is it even legal to do so? How can you grant an exception to one entity without granting the same to all covered under the law? If ever such a thing affected me or my business, you can be sure that I'd be in court in a New York minute demanding the exact same redress and relief. The whole idea stinks in my opinion. "

Pablo wrote on Mar 25, 2008 6:30 PM:

" I believe the latest solution is a 6% increase in the contributions by employees and their employers. This is to allegedly counter the poor returns on the states investments in 2006. I found that very interesting when I read it last month. "

AM wrote on Mar 25, 2008 1:20 PM:

" Well Pablo, that will be an awfully large tax hike when the day comes and it will come. "

Pablo wrote on Mar 24, 2008 6:00 PM:

" Well AM that is an awfully large sum of money just sitting there doing nothing. All it does is sit and wait for some poor overpaid underworked slob to draw on it after their 25-30 years of milking a gravy train job. Why not use that money for something constructive like a study or gve to some kids or something. After all it's just sitting there. (Please note the sarcastic tone of mockery in which this was written) "

AM wrote on Mar 22, 2008 5:20 PM:

" I am concerned about the under funded State Retirement obligations. PERS I was eliminated because the state failed to fund the program as promised for over 35 years. PERS II is still in play but the state makes every effort to get participants to switch to PERS III. The state just will not fully fund any of their Retirement obligations weather TERS, PERS, or LEOFF typical Democrats talk big about taking care of our teachers, police officers fire fighters and other public employees and then refuse to save the money required to provide them with the retirement they deserve. The last time I talked with representative Hinkle, he said the state is 5 billion in the hole for retirement obligations. That’s $5,000,000,000. I guess DSHS/Mattawa day cares and illegal alien deserve more than out teachers, cops and firefighters. "