Silicon Suckers

The juxtaposition of last week’s “Waukee Scores Apple Server Farm” story with the “Iowa Nursing Home Budget Crisis” story revealed to me, the advanced rot of political obeiesance to corporations at the expense of badly frayed public resources and services.

The Los Angeles Times column on the subject put it as well as could be stated. Of course Bleeding Heartland covered the nursing home crisis here.

After reading the LA times story, it was darkly funny to read this story in the New York Times about Mr. Cook, CEO of Apple, “Barnstorming for Moral Responsibility”.

Not only are these corporate out-of-state care facilities taking advantage of our citizens on the low end of the scale, you have the richest, most profitable company on the planet, literally skimming future dollars off the top!

Those of you with Apple stock are probably grateful for your good fortune. Maybe those dividends will offset the taxes we may have to pony up to recover what Apple is taking away.

(When you look at the size of the tax breaks Iowa coughed up at a time when the DHS budget shortfall puts hundreds of people at risk,it makes me wonder if Mr. Cook might consider adding some of his latte allowance to fund Iowa’s ailing social programs? Frankly, I think we’ll have a better shot at convincing him than we will waiting for the Reynolds administration to Think Different.)

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dbmarin

  • I have a post in progress

    about Governor Reynolds enabling and cheering as Apple fleeces Iowa taxpayers.

  • Thank you both

    I really appreciate this post and will also appreciate the post that is in progress. Apart from other reasons, these posts make me feel a little less like Alice in Wonderland.

    When the Apple news came out, I thought “Wait, isn’t all this hoopla about a collection of server farms? I think I sort of know what a server farm is. What am I missing? Why is it so wonderful to provide a really massive tax break for server farms? Are we doing it because someone in the Statehouse saw the word ‘farm’?”

    For me, the “darkly funny” part came from reading the REGISTER story in which officials rhapsodized about the unsustainable sprawl that is in store for northern Madison County now that roads and utilities are being extended. “High-end homes on large estates on wooded bluffs above the river” are just what we need to make sure that Iowa’s shrinking mature oak woodlands will be enjoyed by the wealthy people who deserve them.

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