Carrier Deal more of example of Hostage Taking than Corporate Welfare

It doesn’t take a “rocket-scientist” to figure out that a major mistake has been made in the recent presidential election and that ow the fear of America being totally ignored and its reputation severely damaged by the choice of over 62 million people and over 500 on the Electoral College board.  The current rate of temperament being demonstrated by President-Elect Trump has begun to have a reverse effect even upon our market-driven system.  If this trend continues and Americans are spending more time making excuses for his lack of knowledge and protocol, soon world leaders will begin to over-look any statements, advise and even warnings coming from Washington or in this case New York.  The recent economic crash may prove far easier to recover from than the damages this may do to this country we all claim to love so much.

Notwithstanding the other massive misfortunes of the in-coming administration stands a very clear example of a world leader speaking before thinking.  In an article titled “He ‘lied his– off': Carrier union leader on Trump’s big deal” by Danielle Paquette for the Washington Post, it is reported that “seven months earlier, at a campaign rally in Indianapolis, Trump had pledged to save the plant’s jobs, most of which were slated to move to Mexico. Then the businessman won the election, and the 1,350 workers whose paychecks were on the line wondered if he’d keep his promise.  When Trump announced last week that he’d reached a deal with the factory’s parent company, United Technologies, to preserve 1,100 of the Indianapolis jobs — until the union leader heard from Carrier that only 730 of the production jobs would stay and 550 of his members would lose their livelihoods, after all. In exchange for downsizing its move south of the border, United Technologies would receive $7 million in tax credits from Indiana, to be paid in $700,000 installments each year for a decade. Carrier, meanwhile, agreed to invest $16 million in its Indiana operation. United Technologies still plans to send 700 factory jobs from Huntington, Ind, to Monterrey, Mexico.  T.J. Bray, 32, one of the workers who will keep his job, sat in the front row during the Dec. 1 meeting as Trump spoke. A corporate employee had guided him specifically to that seat, he said, so he suspected he might be part of Trump’s remarks.  “I was confused when he was like, ‘I wasn’t talking about Carrier,’” Bray said. “You made this whole campaign about Carrier, and we're still losing a lot of jobs.”  Bray clapped that day, anyway, for the 800 that would remain on American soil”.

Yes, there is good news that not all who work there will lose their jobs but what about those who will?  Is there any incentive for Carrier and others hostage takers like them, to provide an avenue for those that they let go to find some life-sustaining work after their jobs are done in Indiana?  The money/tax break that they are slated to get, will those who lose their jobs be excluded from having to pay for this tax break since they will not have any income to do so or are they just casualties of this war?  Will this now be the deal that sets the standard for all deals negotiated by this great negotiator and his crew and will all American businesses hold hostage this country’s economy and its workers because the die has been caste and the verdict is in as to how to win with this new administration.

T.J. Bray appeared on television and became the focal point for this effort he did not seem to care very much for the outcome but he clapped anyway.  Is this what the rest of America is prepared to do after each and every American business threaten or decide to move?  Will we continue to just clap, bow our heads and tuck our tails between our legs?