Category Archives: EcoDevo

The need to support public transit

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OK, so it’s not exciting video, but I thought I’d help the Chamber keep this issue before you, because the need to deal with it remains. As a release from that worthy body notes:

Last week, York County said “yes” to another seven years of Pennies for Progress, the county’s 1-cent sales tax roads program.This is the third time York County citizens have voted favorably for a tax that supports infrastructure and road improvements in their county.

Last year, Richland County barely failed to pass such a referendum, thanks to the mistake of bringing it up in the year of Nikki Haley and the Tea Party (you know that band; they did that song “I’m Walking on Moonshine”).

Next year, it will be up again. It should pass.

The big picture for Amazon

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South Carolina hardly rates a mention in this report in the WSJ today (“Amazon Battles States Over Sales Tax“), but I thought some of y’all, your nerves still jangled from the recent battle at the State House, might be interested in this step-back report on what was at stake for Amazon, and how SC fits into the company’s grand strategy. An excerpt:

SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, hasn’t charged sales tax in most states since its founding in 1994. And it has taken some extreme measures to keep it that way.

Among them: Staff traveling around the U.S. have been required to first consult a company map that shades each state red, yellow or green, said three people who have worked for the retailer. These people said they needed permission from managers or company lawyers before entering “red” states because a worker’s actions might trigger laws that force Amazon to collect taxes in those states.

Such steps to avoid local levies allow Amazon to undercut in-state retailers by the amount they must add in sales tax, which can exceed 8%.

A close examination of Amazon’s corporate practices, based on interviews with more than a dozen former employees and people who have done business with the Seattle company, as well as a review of corporate documents, indicates that the company believes its sales-tax policy is critical to its performance…

An economic argument for supporting Israel

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For years, Samuel Tenenbaum has tried to turn the attention of economic development types in SC toward Israel. This is understandable, given that Samuel is the father of our state’s endowed chairs program, and Israel’s tech prowess.

But I hadn’t seen the same argument presented in strategic terms until I read this piece this morning:

America’s enemies understand deeply and intuitively that no U.S. goals or resources in the Middle East are remotely as important as Israel. Why don’t we?

Israel cruised through the recent global slump with scarcely a down quarter and no deficit or stimulus package. It is steadily increasing its global supremacy, behind only the U.S., in an array of leading-edge technologies. It is the global master of microchip design, network algorithms and medical instruments…

While it wasn’t the main point of the piece, I also was struck by what a neat summation, from the pro-Israel perspective, this was of why the peace process hasn’t worked in recent years:

Actions have consequences. When the Palestinian Liberation Organization launched two murderous Intifadas within a little over a decade, responded to withdrawals from southern Lebanon and Gaza by launching thousands of rockets on Israeli towns, spurned every sacrificial offer of “Land for Peace” from Oslo through Camp David, and reversed the huge economic gains fostered in the Palestinian territories between 1967 and 1990, the die was cast…

Not the whole story. But neither is blaming Israel.

Why not a triumphal arch for the Gamecocks?

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I’ll be at the parade for the National Champion Gamecocks on Friday, and I’m sure it will be great, but… we had a parade last year. And we flew a flag from the State House, etc.

All of that was very fine. But it seems like when they win the championship two years in a row, we ought to do something exponentially bigger. Something that really shows some lasting, monumental pride in the new Gamecock dynasty.

Yesterday, I was exchanging Tweets with Aaron Sheinin about the big win (he called it a “Great win for the common man”), when it hit me, and I responded:

If we don’t build a triumphal arch in front of the State House, we’ll never have a better chance. (Hey, I think I’ll blog that.)

Why not? Just move the Confederate soldier monument, and its flag, back to Elmwood Cemetery where it used to be (bet you didn’t know that), and replace it with something on the order of the monument they have in Paris, or Washington Square, or the Marble Arch in London?

This afternoon I heard SC Commerce Sec. Bobby Hitt touting the Gamecocks achievement as a sign to the world (and really, to ourselves) of what we can do in South Carolina if we work as a team. Instead of, I would add, fighting with each other all the time.

Wouldn’t that be awesome? Isn’t it high time that we start defining ourselves in terms of a famous victory, instead of our historic defeat? Isn’t it time to stop wallowing in the biggest mistake our (or any other) state ever made, and proclaim to the world just how great we can be?

I think so.

Apparently, the NLRB is trying to save the country from us stupid Southerners

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Meant to share this with you the other day when I saw it. It was an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, sticking up for the NLRB for attacking Boeing’s plans to produce Dreamliners in SC:

We should be aghast that Boeing is sending a big fat market signal that it wants a less-skilled, lower-quality work force. This country is in a debt crisis because we buy abroad much more than we sell. Alas, because of this trade deficit, foreign creditors have the country in their clutches. That’s not because of our labor costs—in that respect, we can undersell most of our high-wage, unionized rivals like Germany. It’s because we have too many poorly educated and low-skilled workers that are simply unable to compete.

We depend on Boeing to out-compete Airbus, its European rival. But when major firms move South, it is usually a harbinger of quality decline. Over and over as a labor lawyer in the 1980s and ’90s, I saw companies move away from Chicago, where the pay was $28 an hour, to some place in South Carolina or Louisiana where the pay was about half that. While these moves aggrieved me as a union lawyer, it might have consoled me as an American if those companies went on to thrive globally.

But too often, alas, it was the beginning of the end, as it was for Outboard Marine Corporation, where I once represented workers. In the 1990s the company went from the high wage union North to the low wage South and was bankrupt by 2000. There are reasons workers in the North get $28 an hour while down in the South they get $14 or even $10. Adam Smith could explain it: “productivity,” “skill level,” “quality.”

Here is yet another American firm seeking to ruin its reputation for quality. Why? To save $14 an hour!…

This gross insult not only to SC workers, but to the ability of our technical college system to train them (which the system is perfectly capable of doing — ask BMW), is apparently supported by nothing more substantial than the fact that in SC, we will work for less money. I don’t suppose you can be in actual need of a job unless you’re a stupid Southerner, huh?

This was so over-the-top that I found myself wondering: Did the WSJ deliberately pick this piece because it was so ham-handed, just to make the NLRB’s case look worse than it already did? Surely not.

Why can’t we let her stay over there? No, really; what would be wrong with that?

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Notice how all of my posts the last couple of days are either about Dick Harpootlian or Jon Huntsman? What’s up with that?

Anyway, right when I got back from the Huntsman thing, Dick sends out this video. He’s big on videos. Well, he missed the mark on this one.

It makes two dubious points — the rather painfully populist one about how YOU, the taxpayer, paid for Nikki’s trip to Paris, and his point that the gov should come back and tend to South Carolina business, or as he put it, “the people of South Carolina would rather her worry more about the unemployment rate and the education sector in our state.”

Here are my thoughts on those, in reverse order:

  1. You really think that if she were here, she’d be doing anything for our schools? Anything at all?
  2. She is far more likely to stumble on something of economic use to our state, something to create jobs in SC, over there than she is here. I can far better see her charming some air industry exec who doesn’t know her very well (she makes a great first impression) than I can see her pursuing policies back here that boost our prosperity. After all, the one thing Mark Sanford accomplished in that sphere in 8 years was landing Boeing, and he did that, at least in part, by going to the air show.

Amazon compromise appears to be a good one

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I’ve sort of run out of time to go very deeply into the Amazon compromise today, but I wanted to go ahead and put up something about it…

A deal reached early today paves the way for online retailer Amazon to open a distribution center employing 2,000 people.

The state Senate agreed shortly after midnight to give the company a sales tax exemption it wants for the project, ending a two-day talkathon that opponents launched to stall the measure.

“We’ve got a deal,” Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, announced after resistance ended when all sides agreed that Amazon will send customers in South Carolina notices that sales tax is owed on purchases.

It was quickly approved on a unanimous voice vote.

Amazon’s $125 million project near Cayce would be one of the largest recent developments in the Midlands.

The agreement moves the proposal to the verge of final legislative approval. The plan approved in the Senate will need to go back to the House, which approved the deal last week. But House leaders promise to accept changes that Amazon allies have made in the measure….

Basically, I was impressed at what the lawmakers came up with. No, Amazon won’t be collecting the tax on SC sales, and I think that it should. It won’t be calculating the amount for customers, either.

But what it WILL do is notify customers of something that many seem to be unaware of now — that they most likely DO owe taxes on the purchase (the reason why it says “may owe” instead of “owe” is to step around the complication of all those exemptions we have, such as the fact that you don’t owe taxes if what you bought from Amazon was a Bible) — and point them in the direction of finding out how much, and paying it. Here’s what the amendment requires (for more, search for “Amendment No. 230” on this link:

(E)(1)   A person to whom this section applies who makes a sale through the person’s internet website shall notify a purchaser in a confirmation email that the purchaser may owe South Carolina use tax on the total sales price of the transaction and include in the email an internet link to the Department of Revenue’s website that allows the purchaser to pay the use tax. The notice must include language that is substantially similar to the following:

YOU MAY OWE SOUTH CAROLINA USE TAX ON THIS PURCHASE BASED ON THE TOTAL SALES PRICE OF THE PURCHASE. YOU MAY VISIT WWW.SCTAX.ORG TO PAY THE USE TAX OR YOU MAY REPORT AND PAY THE TAX ON YOUR SOUTH CAROLINA INCOME TAX FORM.

(2)   The Department of Revenue shall cooperate with any person to whom this section applies and provide the person with the information and assistance necessary to comply with the provisions of this subsection and the means to link to the applicable portion of the department’s website. The department shall develop the webpage required by item (1) and develop a means to allow the purchaser to pay any required tax through the webpage. The department shall include on the webpage a table of the various sales tax rates of the State by location that permits the person to calculate the tax based on the total sales price and delivery location.

(3)(a)   A person to whom this section applies shall also by February first of each year provide to each purchaser to whom tangible goods were delivered in this State a statement of the total sales made to the purchaser during the preceding calendar year. The statement must contain language substantially similar to the following:

YOU MAY OWE SOUTH CAROLINA USE TAX ON PURCHASES YOU MADE FROM US DURING THE PREVIOUS TAX YEAR. THE AMOUNT OF TAX YOU MAY OWE IS BASED ON THE TOTAL SALES PRICE OF [INSERT TOTAL SALES PRICE] THAT MUST BE REPORTED AND PAID WHEN YOU FILE YOUR SOUTH CAROLINA INCOME TAX RETURN UNLESS YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID THE TAX.

The statement must not contain any other information that would indicate, imply, or identify the class, type, description, or name of the products purchased. Any information that would indicate, imply, or identify the class, type, description, or name of the products purchased is considered strictly confidential.

That’s more than we have now. And it gets us those 2,000 (or more) jobs. That’s a good deal for South Carolina.

Resonating, rather than governing

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Here’s an example of the kind of thing we see in a country in which democratic habits have overtaken republican ones. (And remember, I’m using those words according to the generic, original definitions, not referring to the execrable parties that go by those names.)

Just got this email from Joe Wilson:

Dear Subscriber:

This Congress, my main goal has been to bring jobs to South Carolina. Since January, I have actively encouraged job growth in South Carolina while removing barriers for job creation.  I am proud to say we are close to having 2,000 more full time jobs come to South Carolina. This week, the South Carolina House brought these jobs one step closer by voting in favor of the new Amazon amendment. This legislation would allow for Amazon to invest $125 million in a distribution facility in the Midlands. I supported this creation of jobs back in December. I stood firm on the steps of the State House supporting it on Tuesday. And even today, I am urging the State Senate to follow the lead of the State House of Representatives and pass this legislation! The Second District wants these jobs!

With Amazon coming to the Midlands, more local companies will be able to expand as a result of working with Amazon. This means more hiring across the state for small businesses. It also means new and higher-paying jobs for residents of our state. Finally, it means more dollars will be spent locally in our neighborhoods, our shopping malls, and our communities.

I am thankful for your support! As many of you know, progress is made from the bottom-up. By being vocal, we were able to get our state government to change its position 180 degrees in a matter of a few weeks. You and I both know government rarely moves that quickly. It’s a testament to your hard work and effort that we now have thousands of jobs and investment on the verge of coming to our community.

However, the bill still needs to be approved by the S.C. Senate. Please go to myFacebook page and vote in the poll to let me know how you feel.

Sincerely,

Joe Wilson
U.S. Congressman

P.S. To visit my Facebook page, please click here now.

You see, Joe has determined that in the core of his constituency, being FOR the Amazon break is a winner. Never mind that it has NOTHING to do with his job as a congressman. Unless, of course, he’d like to tell us how he’s working on a national solution to the internet shopping/sales tax issue, as both I and Amazon would like to see someone  in Congress do. Which he doesn’t mention.

Instead, he asks us to come to his Facebook page and tell him how we FEEL about this S.C. legislative issue.

This is sort of the kind of thing I was on about earlier.

The Second Battle of Amazon, with a different outcome

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Had to type that headline three times. Fingers kept wanting to hit X instead of Z. Oh well; at least it’s easier to spell than “Manassas.”

Ever since this started heating back up last week, I’ve been meaning to do a post on it so we can discuss it. But so much has been happening that by the time I get set to react to one development, there are several more. There’s crazy buzz about it.

An hour or so ago someone Tweeted:

Reporter at Statehouse just saw Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt come out of secret meeting with House GOPers and Gov. Haley over Amazon.

… to which I responded, “Secret?” Which drew the response, “They’re met behind closed doors. They kicked our dude out. Not illegal, just out of sight.”

Anyway, here’s the latest, from that same source:

S.C. House has reversed course and has APPROVED tax-collection exemption for Amazon.

Boy, that happened fast, didn’t it? Just goes to illustrate something I say all the time in the face of Conventional Wisdom that this or that is going to happen, or this or that will never happen in politics: Anything can happen. It’s never over. The Fat Lady can screech all she wants.

John O’Connor reports that “35 Republicans and 17 Democrats switched their Amazon vote from April 27.” And Will Folks says “@nikkihaley also told the Caucus that she would not ‘hold it against them’ if they voted for Amazon.” Nothing like leadership, huh? But all I have for you about today’s developments are these bits and pieces.

I don’t know what happens next, either, beyond it needing to go to the Senate. But I thought I’d give y’all this chance to talk about it. For fuel, here’s a recent news story about the resurrection of the debate, and here’s another and here’s another. And here’s the latest attempt by Amazon to sweeten the deal. And here’s a radio ad from opponents.

So, what do y’all think?

That’s the way it should ALWAYS be, guys

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In talking about working with Jim Clyburn and Lindsey Graham on getting the money for the port deepening study, Tim Scott said,

“When it comes to addressing the needs of South Carolina, there are no Republicans and no Democrats. There is only Team South Carolina.”

Yeah, well — that’s the way it should be on EVERYTHING you do as an elected official. There should be nothing remarkable about it.

Just thought I’d point that out… Maybe even Jim DeMint will read it.

NLRB gives GOP chance to clearly be the good guys

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Yes, I know that was a split infinitive, but I like it that way.

I was glancing over this story on the front page this morning:

WASHINGTON — Business leaders and Republican politicians Tuesday accused President Barack Obama of punishing GOP states by trying to block Boeing from opening an aircraft plant in South Carolina.

… and it struck me what a gift the NLRB had given the Republican Party in South Carolina.

By doing something SO outrageous, so without justification, and so profoundly harmful to South Carolina (if successful), the NLRB has given our state’s Republicans an issue to rally around and present themselves clearly as champions of the state’s best interests.

This doesn’t happen often. Usually, the GOP has to manufacture nonsense to fulminate about, such as “the looming specter of Obamacare” or something equally ridiculous. But this is real, it has substance, and it is clearly an attack upon the economic well-being of South Carolinians.

No wonder Republicans are rallying together, forgetting their pettier differences, to make as much noise about it as possible.

Of course, there is some overreaching, with Jim DeMint accusing the president of the United States of “thuggery.” Because, you know, wishing for his “Waterloo” isn’t malicious enough. But that’s Jim DeMint. On the whole, this makes Republicans look good, and far less silly and ideological than usual. (YES, there are some big ideological issues at stake in this matter, but you don’t actually have to care about them to care about the outcome.)

As for Mr. Obama — it’s pertinent that Nikki Haley has asked him, personally, to weigh in on this. (Which I don’t believe he’s done yet, Mr. DeMint. If he has, someone please send me a link.) Not that he’ll want to. As much as I like Mr. Obama, we all have our faults, and one of his biggest is his unwillingness to oppose Big Labor, which crowds him into some really ridiculous positions, such as his longtime, indefensible opposition to the Colombia Free Trade agreement.

This issue puts the president right where the SC GOP wants him. Since, you know, they mean him ill and want him to look bad. More to the point, it puts them in the position to look very good.

Me, I don’t care who looks good, as long as the bid to derail this project fails.

Is our governor politically clueless, or does she know EXACTLY what she’s doing?

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Either way, it’s not good for South Carolina.

If you expect her to be mindful of the opinions of South Carolinians, you have to be puzzled by this behavior:

Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday that a sales tax exemption Gov. Mark Sanford’s administration promised to Amazon, if granted, would destroy her economic development message.

While speaking in Charleston at the Free Enterprise Foundation awards luncheon, Haley addressed the Internet retailer’s decision to cancel a planned distribution center in Lexington County after the S.C. House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected the promised sales tax exemption.

The planned facility would have brought about 1,250 jobs to the Midlands.

Haley described the tax break that her predecessor promised as a “distraction” and said it is dangerous. She drew a distinction between the retail-related jobs Amazon would have brought and manufacturing jobs such as those Boeing Co. is bringing.

When talking to companies about coming to South Carolina, Haley said she tells them, “We are going to give you a fair, competitive marketplace to do business, and we are always going to take care of the businesses we already have.”…

So you ask yourself, why would she bother coming out and saying thing like this NOW, when the debate is over? When the issue was in doubt, she studiously avoided taking responsibility for any position. (She made it clear she didn’t LIKE the incentive, but promised to do nothing to stop it — while standing by as her Commerce secretary lobbied for it.) She didn’t want her fingerprints on whatever happened in any way.

So why make a speech about it NOW, when it’s moot? After all, the people who wanted Amazon to get the break are really unhappy now — as I can attest, having had to explain my own position to some of them the last couple of days. Why further antagonize them? Why not be quiet, or just say it’s a shame it didn’t work out, without going on about how jobs that aren’t manufacturing jobs are no good? (“Retail by nature is a lower-priced job. And retail by nature is not solid and invested. It is not a Boeing. It is not a BMW. Manufacturing, high technology is very different.”)

The only explanation I can see is that Nikki Haley has never been about trying to get things done here in South Carolina. She’s always been about appealing to what she sees as a potential national constituency — the kind of ideologues elsewhere who couldn’t care less about jobs in SC, but who DO have a marked prejudice against economic incentives. With them, badmouthing the Amazon proposal is win-win. She was, after all, speaking to the Free Enterprise Foundation.

Which do you think it is? Is she clueless? Is she, as David Woodward suggested, just that much of an amateur? Or is it all on-message calculation — a calculation that leaves us in SC out completely?

Amazon takes ball, goes home — or somewhere

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Been meaning to post something on this all day, so y’all can comment:

Amazon all but told South Carolina goodbye Wednesday after the online retailer lost a legislative showdown on a sales tax collection exemption it wants to open a distribution center that would bring 1,249 jobs to the Midlands.

Company officials immediately halted plans to equip and staff the one million-square-foot building under construction at I-77 and 12th Street near Cayce.

“As a result of today’s unfortunate House vote, we’ve canceled $52 million in procurement contracts and removed all South Carolina fulfillment center job postings from our (Web) site,” said Paul Misener, Amazon vice president for global public policy.

The decision came shortly after state representatives rejected the tax break 71-47.

“People who think this is a bluff don’t know Amazon,” Lexington County Councilman Bill Banning said. “Too many other states want them.”

The partly finished center probably will be completed and then “put into mothballs,” he said.

Something, I mean, more penetrating than what I said on Twitter this morning: “So Amazon, having made South Carolinians jump obediently through one hoop (blue law), petulantly decamps when we balk at a second one…”

I didn’t mean that to sound quite so dismissive of Amazon, or of us. I mean, I’m sorry they’re leaving. I also suspect that, given the way it unfolded, there’s nothing — nothing legitimate and wise — that we could have done to stop them from leaving. Which is a shame. To Amazon, this is about bigger fish than South Carolina.

Or such is the impression I form from this rather dramatic action — abandoning a multi-million-dollar investment (which was either worth making or not) over the inconvenience of having to collect sales taxes (which ALL businesses should be required to do, whether they have a “nexus” or not).

But what do y’all think?

A few words from Amazon’s local friends

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Well, I’ve gotten my hands on audio of that radio ad I was wondering about last week from the friends of Amazon — and a second one as well. Here’s audio for the first ad, along with the script:

In the elections, politicians promised jobs.

When Amazon announced plans for a distribution facility in Lexington County, it meant 12-hundred and fifty full-time jobs and hundreds of part-time jobs.

Not only that, but millions of tax dollars for our schools.

South Carolina promised Amazon it would work to make this happen.

But Wal-Mart and other retail giants are trying to force the state to break its promise and make Amazon collect taxes from South Carolina customers. The courts say that’s wrong.  If Walmart gets its way, Amazon has said that it would have no choice but to leave.

This isn’t about online sales taxes. That’s for Congress to decide.

It’s about paychecks and healthcare benefits families. Property taxes for schools. And purchasing power for small business.

Call your legislator and Governor Haley now. Ask them to keep South Carolina’s promise to Amazon by extending the Job Creation Act. Say yes to jobs. No to Wal-Mart.

And here’s audio for the second, and that script as well:

The Upstate has BMW and the Low Country Boeing.

Now it’s our turn with Amazon.

Forbes calls Amazon the number one company in America for customer service.

Fortune listed Amazon as one of the world’s most admired companies.

We NEED one of America’s best companies working with one of America’s best regions to grow and prosper.

Call your legislators and Governor Haley. Tell them to pass the Amazon bill because 1200 jobs with benefits are exactly what we need.

Paid for by Save Our Lexington Jobs.

As you see from that first item, a large part of the case being made is that the opposition is Walmart. And indeed, it is a big liability for opponents of Amazon getting the break it seeks — and a huge irony as well. The anti-break faction paints itself as being all about “main street” — and we all know that Walmart has done more to hurt ol’ Mom and Pop than anyone. Which is why that side is quick to point to local business allies.

Both sides are playing on emotion, of course — fairness vs. mean ol’ Walmart. That’s because this is a political battle.

Which is why one seems out of place when one cites dry policy justifications, as my friends at The State did. They were right, of course: we need to be moving TOWARD collecting taxes on online purchases, not away from it. That’s the big picture. Unfortunately, when you’re looking at that many anticipated jobs going away, that “big picture” can seem awfully abstract.

That’s why I get somewhat uncomfortable defending the position that is, in the abstract, completely right. Like when I was talking with Mike Briggs of the Central SC Alliance this morning at breakfast.

To Mike, Amazon was promised this break — which is really about reinstituting a break that existed in state law before. To me, the idea that anyone could consider anything that depended upon action by the SC General Assembly as a promise seems far-fetched. Perhaps legislatures act more predictably in other states where Amazon does business, but they certainly don’t here. A “promise” made by Mark Sanford (who’s he?) to TRY to get something enacted hardly seems binding on anyone currently in office. YES, it could indeed make the job of economic development in the future harder, to the extent that other prospects also see this as having been a promise. But do you really do something you think is bad policy because of that? Maybe you do, if you need the jobs badly enough…

Mike’s stronger point is that this distribution center is hardly the kind of “nexus” that was anticipated in the case that set national precedent on whether businesses were required to collect such taxes. He argues that it was about storefronts, not about administrative facilities. He may be right.

My response is that what we need is national law that would require Web businesses to collect sales taxes regardless of whether they have a local precedent. Web businesses have enough of a competitive advantage over bricks-and-mortar businesses that provide jobs (and, ahem, buy advertising) in our local communities. Government should not allow them another.

Yeah, I get it — that’s  NOT the law now. But apparently, current law DOES hold that Amazon would have to collect the taxes once its facility is built. And granting a specific break to Amazon on this would be a move in the direction AWAY from the kind of law we should have, nationally.

Yeah, I know. Such dry policy considerations about laws we OUGHT to have are cold comfort to someone who was counting on getting a job at Amazon. And I respect that.

Which is why I’m trying to give as much exposure as I can to the pro-Amazon argument. So my readers have all the ammo they need to disagree with me, if they are so inclined. Hey, I try to do that all the time, but in this case I feel particularly obliged.

In that spirit, I call your attention to one other item from the pro-Amazon campaign — this op-ed piece in the Charleston paper, by Lewis F. Gossett, president and CEO of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance. An excerpt:

Debate about extending the Jobs Creation Act for Amazon goes far beyond the Midlands, which stands to gain 1,200 full-time jobs with benefits, hundreds of seasonal jobs, and economic investment nearing $100 million.

How the General Assembly and governor handle this project will affect every county’s ability to compete in the global economy for jobs and investment. If they fail to simply extend a tax provision that has existed for five years, leaving Amazon no choice but to go somewhere else, every state in the nation will have the same message for job creators large and small: If South Carolina will break its word to a world-class company like Amazon, it will do it to you.

Decades of work to make us a global player, from Carroll Campbell to Gov. Haley, and heroic efforts by the General Assembly to make our laws business-friendly will be compromised by a broken promise.

Make no mistake, the outgoing administration promised Amazon reinstatement of a just-expired law that did not require online retailers to collect sales taxes from South Carolina customers. Secretary of Commerce Robert M. Hitt has said so.

Detractors can parse language in the formal agreement all they want, but the fact is that every major deal between the state and private companies contains a lot of formal language, as well as verbal agreements and handshakes. Company officials from well-publicized large projects in the Upstate and in the Charleston area also trusted state leaders to get incentive packages approved by governments at all levels. And it is true for Amazon…

It’s a tough issue. And I find myself on the less-comfortable side of it.

NLRB launches attack on Boeing, SC

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Well, here’s a nice acid test on how you feel about unions and economic development. See what you think of this:

NLRB files complaint against Boeing over N. Charleston plant

By Matt Tomsic
mtomsic@scbiznews.com

The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint today, calling for Boeing to open a second 787 final assembly line in Washington state to remedy what it calls an illegal transfer of work to non-union facilities in North Charleston.

Boeing is building a multi-million dollar facility near Charleston International Airport to complement its first final assembly line in the Seattle area.

The board is pursuing an order to require Boeing to maintain a second assembly line in Washington state, though the complaint does not ask for the line in South Carolina to be closed, according to a news release from the NLRB….

You know, I’m not sure the federal gummint wants to pull something like this on SC so soon after the anniversary of our firing on Fort Sumter.

Nice of the NLRB not to “ask for” Boeing to shut down in SC. No, it’s just saying the company has to open a line it doesn’t need.

Wow. I’m with Lindsey Graham on this one:

“This is one of the worst examples of unelected bureaucrats doing the bidding of special interest groups that I’ve ever seen,” Graham said in a statement emailed from his office. “In this case, the (National Labor Relations Board) is doing the bidding of the unions at great cost to South Carolina and our nation’s economy.”

Congratulations, Innovista, on landing Ann Marie!

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A little earlier, I sent an e-mail to Ann Marie Stieritz congratulating her on her new job:

Ann Marie Stieritz has been named director of business solutions for Innovista at the University of South Carolina.

Stieritz has worked in the S.C. Technical College System for the past four years, most recently as vice president for economic development and workforce competitiveness.

Her responsibilities will include recruiting high-tech businesses to the Midlands and serving as the liaison between USC’s researchers and the business community.

Don Herriott, director of Innovista partnerships, said, “I have worked with Ann Marie on various boards and projects. She has demonstrated exceptional capability and leadership in her role at the South Carolina Technical College System, especially in her economic development and workforce development programs. I am confident that she will provide the industry connectivity that Innovista needs.”

Stieritz has a background in education, workforce and economic development. At the S.C. Technical College System, she has overseen the system’s two nationally recognized economic and workforce development programs, as well as other statewide initiatives that have enhanced the state’s competitiveness through education and training, USC said.

She is former statewide coordinator for 12 Regional Education Centers, which coordinate education, workforce and economic development with business and industry initiatives to develop education and workforce readiness strategies…

But then I realized that I had it all wrong! Congratulating Ann Marie was as wrong-headed, as déclassé, as congratulating the bride on her engagement.

Actually the congratulations are due to Innovista. So, Innovista, I give you joy of your new hire.

Don Herriott was a good call. He did what he should, immediately shifting the conversation about a couple of buildings to the much, much broader concept about what the juxtaposition of an urban research university and all this undeveloped land overlooking a river can add up to.

So is this. Ann Marie’s intelligence and drive will be just what Innovista needs for this movement to take off. I look forward to watching her make that happen.

How many SC lawmakers does it take to screw up light bulbs?

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You thought that SC lawmakers had already done everything they could possibly do to emphasize to the world that, if given the slightest excuse, they would secede all over again? Well, you were wrong.

These boys are creative, and they never miss a new way to celebrate the spirit of Nullification. This just in:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina legislators are throwing a lifeline to traditional incandescent light bulbs as they try to trump federal energy standards.

The House on Thursday approved legislation with a 76-20 vote that would allow companies to manufacture the bulbs in South Carolina and sell them here.

The measure needs routine final approval next week before heading to the Senate.

Federal energy standards have manufacturers turning to compact fluorescent, halogen and LED bulbs. Manufacturers phase out traditional 100-watt incandescent bulbs next year.

Proponents say more efficient bulbs cost too much and they don’t like the light they provide.

The Incandescent Light Bulb Freedom Act allows manufacturers to make the traditional bulbs and stamp them as “Made in South Carolina.” They could only be sold in the Palmetto State.

Someone who doesn’t understand South Carolina — someone who thinks the sesquicentennial of secession is a commemoration of the way we were, rather than a celebration of who we ARE — might think that this is just a particularly moronic way of rejecting any kind of concern for the planet as “liberal,” and therefore beyond the pale.

But if you really do understand South Carolina, you realize that yes, it’s that, but it’s also a chance to relive the heady days of 1860, and cock a snook at the federal gummint. Especially that Obama.

So that’s, what? Three birds with one stone? Environmentalism. The Union. And Obama.

These guys aren’t dummies, no matter what you think. They are geniuses at what they do.

They’re going to keep trying until they provoke that Obama enough that he tries to resupply Fort Sumter. They’ll be ready for him, too.

The gov tries to explain her (more or less correct) position on Amazon

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Here’s a video Nikki Haley is touting in which she tries to explain her action/inaction on the Amazon issue.

As I said before, she’s sort of groping toward trying to do the right thing. She just has trouble articulating it.

But I agree with her that she’s in a tough spot, and Mark Sanford put her there. Hey, I can identify.

The Amazon tax break opposition gets organized

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This came in a few hours ago, and I just saw it:

SC MADE NO PROMISES TO AMAZON

Issue Is About Basic Fairness To SC Citizens & Businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Brian Flynn

April 5, 2011

Columbia, SC– The state government agency that cut a controversial sales tax deal with Amazon.com admits that no promises were made to the online-only retail giant.

“We can’t make a promise,” Commerce Department spokeswoman Kara Borie told The State newspaper on Thursday regarding the deal, which was crafted to lure the company to South Carolina.

South Carolina’s agreement with Amazon only states that the Commerce Department would “use its good faith, best efforts” to persuade the legislature to exempt Amazon from sales taxes.  The agreement even maintains that the chances of such an exemption would also depend on available resources.

The South Carolina Alliance for Main Street Fairness (SCAMSF) – a statewide group representing brick-and-mortar retailers – argues the deal is unfair to other business in the state and will likely cost thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost revenue.  The group said the state has more than lived up to its “good faith” commitment to Amazon.

“This is an issue of basic fairness.  Amazon should not be able to receive a deal that provides it a competitive advantage over South Carolina businesses,” said Brian Flynn, spokesperson for the South Carolina Alliance for Main Street Fairness (SCAMSF).  “Furthermore, it is clear Amazon was not promised anything; instead, the online-only retailer is trying to bully our state into giving them an unfair advantage over other retailers.”

Added Flynn, “Not only will South Carolina businesses be negatively impacted by this special deal, but South Carolina consumers will continue to be held liable for unmet tax obligations due to the fact that Amazon refuses to collect the sales tax and places the burden on its customers.  Elected leaders in Columbia should stand with their constituents and employers and oppose a special handout to Amazon that will end up costing us more jobs than it creates.”

SCAMSF also noted Amazon signed the deal knowing there were no guarantees that a sales tax exemption would be included.  South Carolina currently is experiencing a budget shortfall that is $700 million.

The South Carolina Alliance for Main Street Fairness (SCAMSF) is a statewide organization representing brick-and-mortar retailers that collect sales taxes and are committed to a fair and equitable sales tax system that eliminates the competitive tax advantage granted to certain online-only retailers.

###

I gave the contact, Brian Flynn, a call after I read it, mainly to find out who the South Carolina Alliance for Main Street Fairness might be. He said it was a brand-new chapter (formed in response to the Amazon issue) of a national organization, Stand with Main Street. The point is to fight the tax advantage that online businesses enjoy over real brick-and-mortar businesses here in our communities.

Brian says he is calling himself the executive director, and is paid by retailers, from Mom and Pops to big boxes. I asked him what else he did for a living, and he said he’d just returned from Afghanistan. He’s an intelligence officer with the National Guard — 178th Field Artillery.

I thanked him for his service.

He says while this is the first issue the new organization has worked on, he hopes to see a “fairness” bill introduced in the Legislature later.