- Joined
- Aug 21, 2009
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- Pindostan
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The state has been a perennial economic backwater since the Civil War, when King Cotton, timber, and the slave economy propelled Natchez to the status of having more millionaires per capita than any other city in the United States. It's been pretty much downhill since. I think we're still on our 1988 highway plan. It is estimated that Tunica County took in more than $750,000,000 in taxes, mostly from the gaming industry, since dockside gambling was legalized in 1992. Where did the money go? Things like four-lane highways to make the driving easier for the flocks of tourists and gamblers. And now that the gaming boom has fizzled in Tunica thanks to increased competition, all of that deteriorating infrastructure seems like a cruel joke. And where are the tax revenues to maintain it going to come from now? It sure won't come from poor blacks in one of the poorest counties (still) in the country who can't even maintain their own homes. I also doubt it's going to fall upon the large county landholders who were the principal beneficiaries of the tax cuts that were put in place thanks to casinos. Meanwhile, the state is still trying to get its economic output back to 2008, and its one of only two states (the other being its neighbor to the west, Louisiana) in the South to lose population for three consecutive years.
So what should the state do to right the ship? Is there anything it can do? Robert Reich would say it needs more public investment. Presumably, that would include education. But right now young, educated Mississippians can't wait to get out. I see it on a micro level with childhood friends of my sons. One went to California, where he writes code, another went to Colorado, where he writes code, another went to Washington, where he writes code, and so forth. So the high wage earners (and their taxes) are fleeing. Republicans say Mississippi needs to cut taxes and provide incentives for investment. It does that, often with minimal benefit. For example, Chevron, which operates its largest petroleum refinery in the United States in Pascagoula, got a 10-year tax moratorium on a $2 billion investment in a new base oil production facility. The total number of permanent jobs for that: 30. And how many of those are actually in Mississippi instead of neighboring Alabama, which is a stone's throw from the plant, is anyone's guess. Meanwhile, everyone else in the vicinity of the refinery gets the benefit of the increased pollution. And years ago Oreck was given a 10-year tax abatement in order to open a plant in Long Beach, Mississippi, but closed it at the end of the 10-year period, which coincidentally was announced a little more than one year after Hurricane Katrina. Talk about kicking people in the nuts when they're down. :doh
On a personal level, I moved myself and my family here more than two decades ago after my father's suicide. I was tired of the management rat race in California, where I was raised and spent most of my life up to that point. We just needed a new start in a new setting. We live along the Gulf Coast near Biloxi, about ninety minutes from New Orleans, and became casino dealers. What drew us here was the unique culture and history that goes back to when the French first landed on the Back Bay in 1699, erected a fort, and made Old Biloxi France's first capital of the Louisiana Territory. (Native Americans were here first, of course, but there is little actual evidence that they ever existed.) What can I say. I like the area's unique history, good food, music, art scene (yes, art scene), slower pace, and pretty sunsets over the Mississippi Sound. Regardless of the larger economic and social problems facing the state as whole, this is home now and probably will be as long as I'm living.
So what should the state do to right the ship? Is there anything it can do? Robert Reich would say it needs more public investment. Presumably, that would include education. But right now young, educated Mississippians can't wait to get out. I see it on a micro level with childhood friends of my sons. One went to California, where he writes code, another went to Colorado, where he writes code, another went to Washington, where he writes code, and so forth. So the high wage earners (and their taxes) are fleeing. Republicans say Mississippi needs to cut taxes and provide incentives for investment. It does that, often with minimal benefit. For example, Chevron, which operates its largest petroleum refinery in the United States in Pascagoula, got a 10-year tax moratorium on a $2 billion investment in a new base oil production facility. The total number of permanent jobs for that: 30. And how many of those are actually in Mississippi instead of neighboring Alabama, which is a stone's throw from the plant, is anyone's guess. Meanwhile, everyone else in the vicinity of the refinery gets the benefit of the increased pollution. And years ago Oreck was given a 10-year tax abatement in order to open a plant in Long Beach, Mississippi, but closed it at the end of the 10-year period, which coincidentally was announced a little more than one year after Hurricane Katrina. Talk about kicking people in the nuts when they're down. :doh
On a personal level, I moved myself and my family here more than two decades ago after my father's suicide. I was tired of the management rat race in California, where I was raised and spent most of my life up to that point. We just needed a new start in a new setting. We live along the Gulf Coast near Biloxi, about ninety minutes from New Orleans, and became casino dealers. What drew us here was the unique culture and history that goes back to when the French first landed on the Back Bay in 1699, erected a fort, and made Old Biloxi France's first capital of the Louisiana Territory. (Native Americans were here first, of course, but there is little actual evidence that they ever existed.) What can I say. I like the area's unique history, good food, music, art scene (yes, art scene), slower pace, and pretty sunsets over the Mississippi Sound. Regardless of the larger economic and social problems facing the state as whole, this is home now and probably will be as long as I'm living.
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