Corporate Welfare
Corporate welfare is a government’s special treatment to companies or even tax breaks and or grants given to a company on behalf of the government. Corporate welfare is usually at the expense of the citizens of America, even though it could also be at the expense of some corporations as some of these corporations receive more ‘special treatment’ than others. Our country has always had corporate welfare. It seems unfair to so many that tax breaks are given to corporations who cannot seem to take care of themselves. Some governments will offer a company so much in return for a business plant or factory to be built in their area. For the VP of a large corporation to look at a map, and say, ‘let’s decide between these three cities- let them all know we are looking into building here and let’s see who takes the bait.’ For the governments to offer land, the promises of tax breaks, or any other kind of incentive to get them into their turf, it is so competitive. It is hard to say how much revenue corporate welfare has accumulated. This is because corporate welfare is a private, noncentralized system of service provision (Stoesz). Conservative policy organizations argue that by excluding tax credits and deductions from the accounts of corporate welfare, they have the same effects as the government increasing the taxes of corporations (Egan). This policy has not been effective for the citizens who are affected. At times, the government will pay a corporation a big bonus and maybe even throw in some free land or tax breaks. It may open hundreds of jobs for those in the area, but in the end how is the government able to give those bonuses and tax breaks? At the expense of the workers and the citizens? If I were president, I would look into making corporate welfare, the same all the way around. Also, there would be restrictions as to how the money for these corporations would be earned and spent.
References
Egan, Daniel. 2004. "Who Put the 'Welfare ' in
References: Egan, Daniel. 2004. "Who Put the 'Welfare ' in 'Corporate Welfare '? Race, Gender, and the Critique of Business Subsidies." Journal of Poverty 8, no. 3: 1-21. Education Research Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed July 22, 2012).
Stoesz, David. 1986. "Corporate Welfare: The Third Stage of Welfare in the United States." Social Work 31, no. 4: 245-249. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 22, 2012).