Congress passed the $2.2 trillion Heroes Act.
House Democrats said it gives money to “governments that desperately need funds.”
But it also gives a lot of money to people who don’t need it.
Maryland, which even the Washington Post admits is “awash in cash,” received enough extra money to pass a budget that “gives bonuses to every state worker.”
Even the town of Atherton, California, where the median home price is $6 million, got money from the Heroes Act.
“There was no means test!” – complains Lisa Conyers, author of “Social Assistance for the Rich” in my book last video.
Omni Hotels & Resorts received $68 million in loans. Major airlines got $25 billion in CARES Act loans.
“Who wouldn’t want to play Santa?” Conyers asks. “Who wouldn’t want to just be able to give everybody some money?”
Welfare for the rich didn’t start with coronavirus relief bills. Politicians have been doing it for years, and the pandemic hasn’t stopped them.
Nevada politicians gave Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis $750 million for a modern stadium. The stadium designer says Davis insisted on the best features, including natural grass on the field that “enters and exits the building in one piece.”
Cool. But why didn’t Davis pay for it himself?
“I’m not a billionaire,” he said.
But it is what it is. The team is worth more than $3 billion, and Davis and his mother co-own a 47 percent stake.
Politicians are cheating taxpayers to build stadiums for lots of rich people.
Minnesota gave the Minnesota Vikings $348 million for a modern stadium. Santa Clara, California, gave the San Francisco 49ers $114 million plus $850 million in loans. Team co-owner Denise York and her family are worth $3.5 billion, says Forbes. It should finance its own stadium.
“Taxpayers often vote on things like this,” I tell Conyers, “so they must like it.”
“They promise there will be lots of jobs,” he replies, “not only at the stadium, but also in the hotels that will be built around the stadium.”
Politicians always promise that public investments will bring more benefits to taxpayers. But that’s not true.
AND test by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City found that modern stadiums bring in about $40 million in jobs and tax breaks, far less than the $188 million paid by taxpayers.
The situation with donations to other corporations is no better.
Ohio politicians gave General Motors multimillion-dollar tax breaks to keep the Lordstown plant open. GM then closed the plant. Politicians allowed GM to keep a third of the money.
Wisconsin awarded nearly $3 billion in tax breaks to Foxconn as it promised to create 13,000 jobs. Now the company promises to create only 1,454.
“If you look at the cost of each job, it was a million dollars,” Conyers emphasizes.
It was actually over a million.
Politicians often justify corporate welfare by saying, “We didn’t give cash, we gave tax breaks.”
But “if some big company is in this city and doesn’t pay property tax, that means every other taxpayer covers it,” Conyers notes. “(F)ight bulbs still have to be paid for. Police still have to be paid. Schools still have to be paid!”
Then there’s the scam with subsidies for farmers.
Both Republicans and Democrats are eager to give money to agribusiness, even though farmers are currently wealthier than the average American.
Politicians say the handouts are not intended to pay political contributions but to “ensure sufficient food” because “farmers have no control over price fluctuations and weather.”
But that’s absurd. Other companies adjust to fluctuations in price and weather. America doesn’t subsidize fruit and vegetable farmers—and yet we have plenty of fruit and vegetables.
Politicians say they want to lend a hand “small family farms”, but they do 90 percent subsidies for the largest farms.
Such prosperity for the rich persists because politicians voted for handouts many years ago, and once they start handing out money, they won’t stop.
“I’m an American taxpayer,” Conyers says. “I don’t understand why money is coming out of my pocket and going into someone who’s rich.”
Me neither.
John Stossel is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”
