what a fucking asshole: After tax vote, Chicago mayor wants to poach Oregon businesses

[cali]

Less than a week after Oregon voters passed a tax increase on businesses, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley says he wants to start poaching Oregon companies.

An article in Thursday’s Chicago Sun-Times called the taxes “head-scratching” and said Daley plans to send economic development officials to Oregon to recruit businesses.

“It will help (Chicago’s) economic development immediately,” Daley told the Sun-Times. “You’d better believe it. We’ll be out in Oregon enticing corporations to relocate to Chicago. I’ll be very frank. I make no bones about that.”

Daley has a track record of recruiting Pacific Northwest businesses. In 2001, the Fortune 500 company Boeing Inc. moved its headquarters from the Puget Sound area to Chicago.

On Tuesday, Oregon voters approved two taxes. The first is a tax on Oregonians who earn more than $125,000. The second is an increase in the minimum tax on Oregon businesses.

“I’ve always thought America stands for . You finish high school. You work hard, go to college and you hope to succeed in life," Daley told the Sun-Times. "I never knew it’s a class war—that those who succeed in life are the ones that have to bear all the burden. I never realized that. It will be a whole change in America that those who succeed and work hard we’re gonna tax ‘em more than anyone else.”

Mayor Daley’s office did not immediately return a call for comment.

Pat McCormick, the spokesman for the campaign against the tax hikes, said he isn’t surprised that other states are interested in recruiting Oregon companies.

snip

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/01/25/daily43.html

[ddeclue]

1. Arrest their asses at the airport on poaching charges..

:rofl:

[Warren DeMontague]

2. Having spent plenty of time in both places

Sorry, Dude, Oregon wins.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

21. our museums are far better. As lake fronts go,

Chicago's kicks ass, major league.

We have better food.

Lastly, our politics are so slimy and bare knuckled, that when our sports teams sucketh, the political pages provide sufficient entertainment, especially about criminal trials, coming indictments, and stool pigeons who wing about other pols in office.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. I grew up there. Believe me, I know Chicago.

I love the lake, at least between June and August. (Especially August, when it gets nice and warm)

Chicago food, hell yeah. Although past a certain age, when cholesterol becomes a concern, it isn't quite as realistic for many of us...

Still, overall- on issues of livability, temperament, general low stress, scenery, etc. etc. etc. I'd take Portland over Chicago any day.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

29. that says a lot about Portland

and I say, lucky ewe. er, you.

But I have to say, after a major league winter storm, which blows back from the east, and builds HUGE ice floes on Chicago's beaches, now there is a sight to behold.

I have heard that portland has one season. As you must recall, we have four in Chicago: Summer, Winter, Elections, and Road Construction.

[eeyore]

33. You've heard wrong...

Actually, never mind. Yes, we only have one season here, and it sucks. It's a very bad place to live, and no one should ever think of moving here. Everywhere in the country is better than Portland - stay very far away!

[Warren DeMontague]

34. That thing about one season is propaganda to keep people from moving here.

Summers in Oregon are about the most beautiful I've ever seen.. er, no, they suck! Really! They suck!

Seriously, they're sort of short but no shorter than they are in Chicago.

(Re: "Major league winter storm" -- you mean like 78-79? I was there for that fucker.)

[Hello_Kitty]

3. Daley doesn't believe in democracy.

And what is this "class war" horseshit coming from a Democrat?

[LisaM]

4. What a jackass

And that, my friends, is why this country is so divided.

[alstephenson]

5. It's a miniscule increase in business taxes.

Daley is a jerk. The Oregonians are the only ones that don't have their heads up their asses. They value education and human services, unlike the idiots here in Arizona.

[cali]

7. well, they're hardly the only ones

we here in Vermont would argue that.

[Parche]

6. Finally make Corporations pay their fair share

about time here in Oregon!!!

:hi: :hug:

[HBravo]

16. Sorry but

cooperations do not pay taxes. They just raise their prices to cover the increase and we/the people pay them.

[pa28]

19. Even though the economy is tough we made the right move.

Nice plane BTW

[rucky]

8. Enjoy your race to the bottom, Mr. Mayor.

[gratuitous]

9. Good luck, Richie

So now it's "class war" when the have-nots fight back, is it? I think after one winter in Chicago (hell, even one beastly, unbearably hot summer would do it), company personnel might be wondering why they had to give up mountains, ocean beaches, water you could drink straight from the tap, and air you didn't have to chew: Just so their CEO could save $140 a year on taxes? Oh yeah, and pay sales tax on every purchase. And pump your own gas.

What'll you give us for Pat McCormick and his "expertise" in public relations? Chicago's the home to the Leo Burnett agency, which gave America half of century of lies on behalf of the tobacco industry. Sounds like a match to me! We'll settle for a fried hot dog with ketchup and ship you old Pat tout de suite, Richie.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

14. What's wrong with pumping yoru own gas?

I pump my own and save a few bucks in the process.

[Sebastian Doyle]

42. Nothing, unless you live in Oregon

It's illegal to do so there.

No, I'm serious. There is no such thing as "self-serve" gas in the state of Oregon. I usually get yelled at at least once when I drive down the coast, because being from north of the Columbia myself, it's just habit to get out of the car and turn on the pump. They take it very seriously.

[KamaAina]

15. And get stuck in nightmarish traffic for hours on end day after day

And watch the Cubbies choke it away again...

[Union Yes]

10. I'll be calling Daley's office to complain, believe me. knr for the heads up. nt

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

11. This is the reaction when taxes are raised... the money moves.

The wealthy and businesses take thier ball and go to another playground. Ya can't blame them.
If you could move to an identical apartment 2 floors up for less rent, wouldn't you?

Other states (or countries) with lower tax rates are happy to have the revenue and jobs they didn't have yesterday.
Smart move on Daley's part to bring business to his state.

And you can bet yuor ass the same thing happens on the natinoal level when US taxes are raised.

[gratuitous]

22. We didn't buy that argument Tuesday

And I'm not buying it on Friday. Any businesses that skedaddle Oregon over paying an extra $140 a year won't be missed. As for the apartment analogy, are the apartments (states) really identical? And two floors up might make a difference if the elevator's out or non-existent. And it might be a BIG difference in case of a fire.

There are all sorts of considerations for any business to locate where it does, and taxes is just one of them. For 30 years, the business lobby in Oregon has been bitching about having to pay any taxes. They even passed a ballot measure in the early 1980s repealing the unitary tax, which was a big windfall for a lot of businesses. And when recessions hit, Oregon still suffers more than most states. We're running about 2% higher unemployment here than the rest of the nation, just behind Michigan for the worst rate.

So in exchange for providing such a "business friendly" climate (about 14th in the nation by some measures), businesses here have been notoriously well treated and minimally taxed. But they don't provide any recession-proofing to the economy, and bolt at the first sign of trouble. Then, after sucking up lots of government services, they don't pay to improve or maintain roads, schools or any of the other amenities that make for livability, and then complain some more about that. Four years ago, it was the business community that worked double time in overdrive to kill a proposed tax increase ballot measure. Then spent four more years complaining about the lack of state services.

So in the last session, the legislature called business' bluff, and proposed the paired ballot measures on the most profitable businesses and wealthiest individuals. Despite a well-funded and relentless campaign, marked by some of the usual dishonesty and skullduggery, the haves finally got beat by the serfs. And so it looks like Oregon, which already has the shortest public school year in the nation, won't have to cut more days. Hardly an oppressive beat-down, but the haves aren't used to losing.

[alstephenson]

31. Well that's what the MSM has been telling us! But that doesn't make it true.

Do you have any links to information that shows this?

[JoeyT]

40. Absolutely right.

And that's why you create a monstrous tariff on reimported goods.
Suddenly it ceases to be useful to ship jobs to other countries and the economy and industry recover.
Can't believe people are using still using that neo-con talking point about taking the rest of the jobs overseas, as if there's absolutely nothing that can be done to stop it.

Edited to add: This is in response to the argument that taxing corporations will make them all move to another country.

[depakid]

12. Memo to Daley: the cost of living and doing business in your corrupt city is far higher

Moreover, your schools are shitholes, your water's polluted, ya got no skiing- it's bloody cold in the winter and filthy stinking hot in the summer.

Other than that- it's nice place to visit.

[grantcart]

13. The sad reality is that IL has had most of its manufacturing poached for decades

The Chicago Furniture Mart used to be home to the largest community of furniture manufacturers in the country.

North Carolina and Mississippi and other southern states have depleted the entire industry.

Just one example.

[ibegurpard]

17. Oregon has lots of intangible "quality of life" advantages

over Chicago.
Many people and businesses there are there because they CHOOSE to be there not because it was the cheapest place to set up shop.
I lived in Oregon for several years and loved it and am happy to see the people there finally taking a progessive lead on issues as they have done in the past.

[frazzled]

18. Hey, we have many quality of life advantages in Chicago, too ...

Like, for instance:

(1) It was a high of 10 degrees out today. You can't get that kind of invigorating, bracing weather on the Pacific Coast.
(2) All our parking meters are belong to Spain and Australia.
(3) We've got the ever-winning Cubs.
(4) We've got political corruption that knows no party boundaries and extends into daily life in unimagined ways.
(5) We have the most architecturally significant and beautiful city in America, and some of the nation's top restaurants. We've got one of the best symphony orchestras in the world, a thriving theater scene, two important art museums, two of the nation's top universities, an unparalleled avant-garde jazz scene, large and vital African-American, Hispanic, Polish, and Asian communities ...

We don't have the natural beauty and the delectable Oysters of Oregon, but we ain't that bad (except for nos. 1-4).

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Word...Daley's a dick

but I'd rather live in Chicago than Oregon by a long goddamn shot.

[Warren DeMontague]

36. I remember when Navy Pier was a run down pile of broken cement.

I think some nice things have been done with Chicago since I left... but I'd much rather live on the West Coast; ANY part of the West Coast- than Chicago. Different types of people may feel differently, of course.

[gratuitous]

28. Absolutely

There are many things to recommend Chicago. There are many things to recommend Oregon. Generally, people who prefer Chicago will live there. People who prefer Oregon will live there. Businesses that jump from place to place chasing the "best" tax structure as their only consideration probably aren't stable in other ways, either.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. You left out the brick-wielding mugger at the Morse L Station in Rogers Park.

That guy seriously fucked up one of my friends in the summer of '91.

[Hannah Bell]

24. daley said "I never knew it’s a class war."?

what a disingenuous bozo.

The business tax is a 1.3 pt increase on profits >$250K. So on your second $250K of profit, for example, you used to pay 6.6% ($16,500) & now you pay 7.9% ($19,750), for a whopping $3250 increase - *if* you've got *profits* of $500K.

The other is a raise in the corporate minimum tax from $10 to (I didn't see the figure).

So far, it doesn't sound too onerous.

[change_notfinetuning]

25. Daley's running out of things to pawn. Desperate people do desperate things.

I had proposed that we sell or lease Richie Daley to another city. Although many people think he's the best, there were no takers.

[dysfunctional press]

26. the only reason that richie 'succeded in life' is because of his last name.

people like him make me wish that there really was a hell.

[Imajika]

27. Daley isn't the only one doing this...

Politicians in all states, both Dem and Repub, do this.

If taxes in Oregon are too high in relation to the benefits of doing business in the state, companies will just leave.

Hopefully this small tax hike is not enough to drive corporations and wealth out of the state.

Most of the taxes on corporations just get passed on to the public anyway.

[KingFlorez]

30. That's how business and economics go

Any executive of a municipality or state is going to take advantage of anything that could benefit their entity.

[groundloop]

32. Now there's one politician the Democratic Party should disown.

Crooked scumbag, gives Democrats a bad name.

[eeyore]

37. Great. Any business that feels that way can get the hell out of Oregon.

Seriously. If that's the way that they are going to do business, then we don't want them here anyway. They obviously place no value on Oregon as a place and have zero commitment to our community. Oregon will be just fine without them. Independent small businesses are what makes Oregon such a great place to be, and if the large companies have a problem with the environment here I will welcome their departure.

I own a small business here (around $500k annual sales), and I really don't understand the people who say that Oregon is a bad business environment. It's a fantastic place to start a small business, and people by and large are very committed to patronizing the local businesses. What we don't do here is kowtow to the mega-corporations with tax breaks to entice them, and think that's what they mean when they say that Oregon is a hostile place to do business. For the most part we don't play that game, and the quality of life here is better for it. You have to drive to the outskirts of Portland before you're going to find any box stores.

The kind of jobs that will leave Oregon to save on taxes are low wage wastes of time and energy, and we will happily be rid of the companies that perpetrate that standard of living on their employees. If a company doesn't offer an actual living wage then I see no value in their presence.

Good riddance!

[eeyore]

38. That magazine is a total rag for Republican/Libertarian hoarders...

Portland Business Journal is a porn mag for people who think that they should be exempt from all taxes. We have been subjected to their shit for too long, and have finally said enough is enough to these jackasses. The article's purpose is a giant "Told you so!", and the comments are sickening. Take your ball and move on to a state that's willing to be suckered into giving you the tax free existence you so desperately crave.

What bunch of maroons!

[liberalhistorian]

39. I just love people and businesses who demand to be exempt from

taxes and who thump their chests about how "independent" and "self-reliant" they are, and yet scream and yell for all of the benefits paid for by taxes and who would be nothing without such benefits. Such hypocrisy is one of the MAJOR MAJOR issues I have with libertarians.

And will someone please tell that dipshit Daley that just because you "work hard" does NOT mean you'll always succeed economically? And that those who are successful economically did NOT always "work hard" to get it, but either inherited it from mommy and daddy and coasted along on their family money and/or name, or got it off the backs of employees who "worked hard" for them, but whom they stiffed on wages so as to pad their own profits more. I've known many of both and they're sickeningly hypocritical and completely clueless. Some wouldn't have known "hard work" if it came up and bit them in the ass and were ocmfortable precisely due to the "hard work" of others who served them or left them money. And some of the hardest workers I've known haven't been paid nearly as much as their efforts should have brought. Like my parents, who were both teachers.

And Dipshit Daley himself would be nothing without his family name, the hypocritical corrupt fucker. I don't give a shit if he's a Democrat, he's still a hypocritical, corrupt fucker who needs to go.

[bullwinkle428]

43. +1

[dysfunctional press]

41. that's one of the big reasons that we have 50 states, rather than one country...

to keep the states fighting amongst each other for the most favorable business climate and lowest taxes.