Tax Breaks For Delta, $8000 in Gifts for Georgia Governor
June 21st, 2011
Delta: The Pride of Georgia....well the Governor of Georgia at least
In all levels of government, special interests try to find their way into the legislative process anyway they can. It’s because of their influence and sway over certain legislators that they can win subsidies and tax breaks that hurt a state’s fiscal well-being, but is good for an industry’s bottom line.
This is the case in Georgia, where Governor Nathan Deal and his wife received close to $8,000 in airline miles and special privileges from Delta Airlines, a Georgia-based company, as a thanks for exempting the company from a sales tax on fuel, worth nearly $30 million over two years. Needless to say, this kickback sparked outrage throughout the state, especially since it was this governor who signed an executive order barring legislators from receiving more than $25 in gifts from lobbyists and anybody who does business with the state of Georgia. Governor Deal’s spokesman defended the kickback because it was meant for “economic development” within the state, and the Governor and his wife would only use the free miles on matters of state, not for personal vacations, which exempts it from the executive order. Delta’s response was that they reward all legislators in a similar fashion, even though the gifts are nowhere close to the ones Governor Deal received.
Special interests are not new in this country, we can all agree on that. In 2019, our rebels go up against a government that is willing to sell America’s economy up the river with its Weimar-style inflation practices, and a Federal Reserve that aims to control the monetary value of homes through a tightly-controlled housing market. If governments local and federal do not swear off this anti-free market practice of crony capitalism and lobbyist kickbacks, this is the future we have to look forward to, and it isn’t a pretty one….unless you know how to work the system to your advantage, that is.
