NC’s targeted tax breaks yield better results than corporate tax cuts

The Koch brothers can be blamed for warping politics with a flood of anonymous donations, but you’ve got to give them credit for gumption.

The Koch brothers-backed groups Americans for Prosperity and its branch aimed at young people, Generation Opportunity, are complaining about Gov. Roy Cooper’s use of tax-break incentives to attract new businesses to North Carolina.

A spokeswoman for Generation Opportunity said the group may post ads on social media protesting the incentives as “corporate welfare.” She told The News & Observer, “Corporate welfare is taxpayer money being given to rich businesses, which takes away from people who are struggling to make it.”

This from a group that applauds sweeping cuts in federal and state taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. North Carolina’s incentives have been carefully targeted and effective. The tax breaks only apply if the eligible company actually delivers on jobs and capital investment. That’s a more constructive approach than raining tax breaks on corporations and the wealthy and hoping a benefit trickles down to “people who are struggling to make it.”

This story was originally published January 2, 2018 at 6:04 PM with the headline "NC’s targeted tax breaks yield better results than corporate tax cuts."