"A policy of subsidizing failures will end in an economy strewn with capital-guzzling industries long past their time of profitability - old companies that cannot create jobs themselves, but can stand in the way of job creation." -- George Gilder, "Wealth and Poverty"
An Unnecessary Deal ...the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a fine and upstanding financial institution whose job it is to "guarantee" loans made to American companies investing overseas, has gone and underwritten a $930 million private loan to Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum, part of the $7 billion in financing being arranged to build the Qatargas-2 liquefied natural gas project. - Charles H. Featherstone, November 19, 2004 [LewRockwell.com]
PA DCED Secretary Announces Home Furnishings Company Will Remain in Pennsylvania The Governor's Action Team, economic-development professionals who report directly to Governor Edward G. Rendell and Secretary Yablonsky, worked with Roomful Express Furniture to secure funding for the project. DCED offered the company a financial package totaling $2.08 million. - November 10, 2004 [Yahoo News]
Study finds program ineffective Of the total, $54 million funded 63 American Indian enterprises designed to create jobs and tribal income. - Tony Thornton, September 19, 2004 [The Oklahoman]
Turbulence over turbines in Cumbria This form of subsidy costs the British taxpayer £500m a year, roughly half of all subsidies for renewable energy. - James Arnold, September 19, 2004 [BBC]
O'Sullivan regularly receives tax money to train employees Within weeks of asking taxpayers to spend nearly $300,000 to cover the cost of training its employees, O'Sullivan Industries quadrupled its CEO's pay and more than doubled the cash compensation of another key executive. - Andy Ostmeyer, September 19, 2004 [The Joplin Globe]
Federal loan to help US Air stay afloat The filing came after US Airways was unable to obtain $800 million in annual cost cuts from its workers' unions that the airline said it needed to stay afloat. - Matthew Barakat, September 14, 2004 [Bradenton Herald]
The United States of Boeing A partnership between massive private firms and government exists, all funded by the U.S. taxpayer. - Brandon Snider, June 1, 2004 [antiwar.com]
Water Shortages: Subsidies Are All Wet A shortage is a sign that somebody is keeping the price artificially lower than it would be if supply and demand were allowed to operate freely. That is precisely why there is a water shortage in the western states. - Thomas Sowell, March 27, 2004 [Capitalism Magazine]
The Scana Scam The Scana Corporation is a government-created monopoly that provides electricity to most of the state of South Carolina. Like all regulated corporations, it is pressured by regulators to promote politically correct causes and policies--or else. - Thomas J. DiLorenzo, August 28, 2002 [Mises]
Enron: Under-Regulated or Over-Subsidized? The Enron collapse provides an example of how government does so much to prevent the market from working properly in the first place. - Congressman Ron Paul, MD, January 30, 2002 [LewRockwell.com]
Corporate Welfare Bums "If Molson owes the government $10 million in taxes on it's net profits and the government says, hey, tell you what, pay me $5 million instead, what we have is the government giving Molson's $5 million dollars as surely as if they handed it to them in small denominations in a little black briefcase. If it was true, this would be a massive government 'hand-out.'"
Stop the Bailout - Don’t Charge Consumers for Utilities’ Past Mistakes Electricity deregulation is one of the most hotly debated issues currently before federal and state governments. Some electric utilities are threatening to derail this nationwide reform effort if policy makers do not bail out their inefficient, uneconomic past investments which they may lose money on in the future. Utilities claim these so-called 'stranded costs' could total anywhere from $200 to $300 billion, maybe even more.
See the Pyramids Along the Nile By subsidizing sports facilities governments are taxing the "average Joe" and increasing the earnings of some very wealthy individuals: pro athletes and sports team owners. - Gene Callahan, July 31, 2001 [Mises]
Moochers at Multiplex Cinema companies are declaring bankruptcy, defaulting on loans, and failing to pay their rent. What are city government officials doing? Raising taxes and doling out public subsidies to lure the debt-ridden movie-theater industry to downtown. - Michelle Malkin, October 16, 2000 [Capitalism Magazine]
Paying A Price For Polluters Many of America's largest companies fould the environment but clean up on billions of dollars in tax benefits. - Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, November 23, 1998 [Time]
Supercar, Superscam ...the question remains: why do multi-billion dollar private corporations need or deserve to have their research funded by struggling taxpayers? - Eric Peters, August 1997 [Mises]
The $150 Billion "Welfare" Recipients: U.S. Corporations The $150 billion for corporate subsidies and tax benefits eclipses the annual budget deficit of $130 billion. It's more than the $145 billion paid out annually for the core programs of the social welfare state: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), student aid, housing, food and nutrition, and all direct public assistance (excluding Social Security and medical care). - Charles M. Sennott, July 7, 1996 [Boston Globe]
Ron Brown's Corporate Welfare Scam The death of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown in a Balkans plane crash exposed the real reason President Clinton sent American troops to Bosnia: to make the world safe for corporate welfare. - Thomas J. DiLorenzo, June 1996 [Mises]
Cut Train Subsidies to Re-connect Rural Michigan Eliminating welfare for trains might also have the indirect benefit of restoring rural bus routes. - Jack P. McHugh, June 14, 2004 [Mackinac Center for Public Policy]
"Big Oil" at the Public Trough?
An Examination of Petroleum Subsidies "Critics of the oil industry allege that the industry receives large and unwarranted government subsidies and that rival technologies, such as those for ethanol, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, deserve compensating government preferences. The evidence indicates that, on balance, the oil industry is not a net beneficiary of government subsidies. The facts point in the opposite direction. The oil industry is more harmed than helped by government intervention in energy markets." - Ronald J. Sutherland, February 1, 2001 [CATO]
