Try Thinking

I just can’t resist trying another voice in response to your article in the Record Searchlight yesterday. I doubt if you will pay any attention to it.

Try thinking differently.

It is no wonder Shasta County is “lost in the wilderness” regarding economic development. Your premises are flawed and fundamentally are the root cause of the economic disaster we find ourselves in today. You write about two needed “reforms” to spur economic growth: cut corporate tax rates by 50% and allow new industries that relocate here to not pay prevailing wage rates. In short, give them everything they want and they will come here.

The Toyota Plant closure in Fremont illustrates the folly of your approach. They too gave Toyota everything they wanted, and the plant came. After twenty years, the plant left, while building a population dependence that will be disastrous to the region. People moved to Fremont, they commuted to the plant from the valley, and still Toyota left. Tough luck. And, as far as I know, no contractual efforts to have Toyota help pay for the population they just screwed. They just leave, like all corporations in America, leaving the worker with nothing.

Your article is interesting how it uses statistics, listing California 34^th in corporate tax burden I believe. You rail about the impossible California business climate. Gee, Apple must not be listening! Meanwhile we rank last in per pupil expenditure for education, next to last in state worker population. Yes, that is right, next to last.

I won’t list the impact of the global economy on us. You know all that. But to give huge corporate tax breaks to multi-nationals and then pay workers dirt cheap wages indicates to companies a panic, a lack of confidence, and failure. You will lure the bandits into the area, the irresponsible, the crooks. Your approach rewards corporate irresponsibility.

Look at the past 30 years in the county. Ever since we bought the conservative nonsense that cutting taxes and ripping wages was the way to economic growth, we have accomplished just the opposite. This county has 50,000 with no health care coverage, we are running over 20% unemployment. Our pro-business climate has failed, and failed and failed.

And what do you offer as a solution? More tax cuts and cut wages..

Here’s an idea. Stop it. Stop the slavish allegiance to an econmic philosophy (and political one) that is a failure. It doesn’t work.

This county has a reputation of being a “wing-nut” zone. We have made national news with our anti-government positions, anti-tax, anti everything.

I have quite a few friends who have been involved in the Bay Area economy for years. They say this, “Shasta County is too right wing for us”, too much radicalism.

Why not try this? Work with government for once. Work with education. Work to help develop an excellent educational system up here K-16. Then, go “all in for wind power and solar power”. We have one thing in abudance, the sun, and not much interest in solar power. In short, go green hard. The future for economic growth is fostering ideas and investment that will deal with a dwindling fossil fuel supply, shifting to different modes of transportation; etc. If Redding became the capitol of solar power development in California then we would have something. We have two things that are needed: 1. Lots of sun. 2. Lots of empty lots.

But above all, try to get beyond this lunacy of conservatism that is killing us. Quit trying to compete for retail. Realize the middle class is broke and getting broker. To continue to cut their payrolls is insanity! Oh, and when public workers are laid off, especially in Redding a government center, those lost dollars cut into the economic bone marrow.

We cut taxes in this state for over 30 years, and do rank somewhere in the middle relative to tax burden. In fact, California should be near the top, because we have the largest population. Moreover, we should try to stop our slide into ruining what once was the best public higher educational system in the world. THAT is what is killing us. Cutting public investment, especially now when we are competing in a global economy, is cutting our throats.

I remember seeing a report on the global economy once, where a group of Indian engineering students were being interviewed. They said basically that they were going to “beat the United States” because they were graduating thousands more engineers every year. And they are!

Cut taxes and you cut public investment. Cut public investment and the rot from the millions of the poor you create drags you down to oblivion.

Your solution does not work. It has a track record of many failures and right now has us on a one-way trip to making the United States a second rate power.

We are our own worst enemy. We have bought a lie and it is killing us. Stop it! Try listening to progressive economists for once.