Pat Garofalo, Author at Public Seminar

Corporations

The Car Rental Sales Tax Swap Scam

Car rental corporate consolidation, funded by you

February 21, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

Big car rental corporations did a very good job sweeping across the country collecting what is a massive backdoor tax subsidy on the purchase of their main business asset....

Body & Mind

The National, Bipartisan Loathing of Hospital Monopolies

State legislators of all political leanings are fed up

February 16, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

The United States, rather famously, has the highest health care prices in the developed world. And one of the chief drivers behind that is high hospital prices: hospitals receive $1 in $3 spent in the United States on health care, and they're more profitable than other notorious health care sectors such as insurers or ...

The National, Bipartisan Loathing of Hospital Monopolies

Corporations

“The Commonwealth of Amazon”

Amazon Web Services holds about 40 percent of the cloud computing market

January 26, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

As one Virginia resident put it, “Northern Virginia is being overwhelmed by these things. … We may as well start calling ourselves the Commonwealth of Amazon.”...

Corporations

Non-Competes, Banned

The FTC took the first step, now states need to follow up

January 23, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

Getting rid of non-competes is a big deal and is a big win for economic freedom for all workers...

Politics

2023 State Legislative Preview

11 things to watch at the state level this year

January 11, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

11 issues and trends to keep an eye on in 2023....

Corporations

Election Day 2022: Good (and Some Bad) News for State Corporate Power Politics

Big tech antagonists did well, but so did megadeal boosters

November 14, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Big Tech antagonists won big in attorneys general races. So did all of the governors who have been promoting major corporate subsidy deals in recent months won their reelection races, lending more evidence to the already existing heap of it that massive corporate handouts can be potent political tools....

Election Day 2022: Good (and Some Bad) News for State Corporate Power Politics

Corporations

The “Transferable” Subsidy Scam

Meet a big, under-the-radar problem

October 31, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

It’s a mess, is what I’m saying. But making a corporate subsidy transferable is an easy thing to do under the radar, without folks knowing what it means or realizing what their state is in for when such a policy is actually implemented. ...

Capitalism

The Semiconductor Shell Game Has a Big Winner

Money in politics finds a current in semiconductors

October 13, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

This deal confirms my worst fears about the confluence of a genuine semiconductor shortage and lack of domestic manufacturing with a huge pot of federal subsidies that state officials are vying for in an election year. The table was perfectly set for overspending on giant deals in order to facilitate ...

Corporations

Corporate Subsidies Exposed by Georgia Judge

The state made big promises in a deal with an electric car manufacturer

October 5, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Subsidy deals almost always necessitate new obligations on behalf of taxpayers to provide services to the corporation’s physical grounds and its future workers. But the costs of those services — be they increased water and power usage, public safety, infrastructure degradation, environmental costs, or what have you — are not ...

Corporate Subsidies Exposed by Georgia Judge

Politics

What You Don’t Know Can’t TIF You

Pretend something isn’t a problem and it goes away, right?

September 29, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

TIFs date back to the 1950s, and every state except Arizona has them in one form or another. There are thousands upon thousands of TIF districts all across the country. Chances are decent you’ve heard about one in your local area....

Corporations

A Texas-Sized Battle in 2023

Corporate interests won’t let one of the nation’s worst handouts go without a fight

September 26, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Last year, a bipartisan coalition unexpectedly blocked the renewal of Chapter 313 in the Texas Statehouse. Come the end of this year, it will cease to exist as a program — and corporate interests are gearing up to campaign to bring it back when the Texas legislature reconvenes at the ...

Corporations

3 Ways Congress Could End the State Subsidy Wars

Don’t hold your breath, though

August 29, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Though most of the time I write about how state and city leaders and community members can combat the scourge of corporate subsidies themselves, in theory, Congress could swoop in and knock the whole thing off, stopping states from engaging in this race to the bottom. Here are three ways ...