McCamy Taylor's Journal - Corporate Welfare Gone Wild: GameStop Demands Tax Abatement

No matter how bad the economy gets, we can all count on GameStop to turn a profit. Every dollar that flows through a teenaged boy’s hands eventually ends up at the videogame retailer. Fifty bucks for a flashy, computer generated graphic heavy game that will provide about twenty hours of play, then it’s back to the store for more. Yeah, I know you were able to get hundreds of hours of play from Final Fantasy VII and Super Mario Brothers. But times have changed. What is good for the light bulb industry is good for the gaming industry. GameStop is synonymous with “profit” in this country….

So, why the hell is GameStop asking for a handout?

GameStop of Grapevine and the General Motors assembly plant in Arlington are applying for refunds on state sales and use tax payments through a state incentive called the Texas Enterprise Zone Program.

For GameStop, the program would provide a tax savings of up to $2.5 million over five years. For GM, the savings would amount to $3.75 million. The tax breaks, tied to new investments, would come on top of other tax incentives the companies might receive.

Snip

GameStop plans to invest $150 million for machinery and equipment upgrades at its new refurbishing center and for renovation and remodeling at its Grapevine headquarters and warehouse. The game software company also plans "a large technology upgrade."

Michael Nichols, GameStop's senior vice president of finance, said the investment will result in new jobs, but "I don't now have a specific number."

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/11/21/35...

Do I even need to talk about what is wrong with this? Ever wonder why our schools are so under funded, our classrooms so crowded? It’s because businesses that already make a bundle of money look at programs like this one and say “Hey! More free money! Let’s get some!”

Now, step back for a moment. All the way back to 1976 when Ronald Reagan invented the story of the Chicago South Side woman

"She has eighty names, thirty addresses, twelve Social Security cards and is collecting veteran's benefits on four non-existing deceased husbands. And she is collecting Social Security on her cards. She's got Medicaid, getting food stamps, and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income is over $150,000."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen

The imaginary “Welfare Queen” shocked and appalled a generation of Americans who believed that no one should get rich by taking advantage of programs meant for those who really needed the help.

Keeping that in mind, what does that make GameStop? What does that make American capitalism? What does that make the American taxpayer?