In Wake of Mayor’s Arrest, CAUTION Renews Call to End Incentive Packages
CAUTION Calls for End to Incentive Deals
Charges Levied Against Mayor No Surprise in World of “Pay to Play” Politics
Charlotte, NC – March 26, 2014 – Common Americans United to Inspire OUR Nation (CAUTION) announced today its disappointment that Mayor Patrick Cannon was arrested on public corruption charges and that it seeks an end to tax incentive packages provided by the City that leave open the door for such corruption to transpire.
CAUTION President Christian Hine released the following statement:
“CAUTION has a proud history of standing opposed to corporate tax incentive programs. Incentives create a government induced high stakes game of picking winners and losers with public resources. In such an environment, it is not surprising to witness the buying and selling of favors at the highest levels, as we have seen in this situation with Mayor Cannon.
While the charges against the Mayor do not specifically involve recent tax incentives, it certainly sets the stage to question what may have happened behind the scenes during those negotiations. Since the investigation of Cannon began in 2010, Chiquita, the Panthers, the Knights, and Carowinds, among others, have received millions of dollars from the City.
Even now, the City is in discussions with a company called GoodSports to provide $18 million in upfront subsidy. We need to end the practices of government which provide specific benefits to specific companies and which provide fertile soil for the types of corruption we are witnessing today.”
CAUTION is a Charlotte based group of concerned citizens seeking open, honest, transparent, and fiscally responsible government. The organization meets weekly on Mondays at the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille. For more information, visit ProceedwithCaution.us.
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Right on!
I don’t disagree at all, as long as every state and municipality has to play by the same rules.
Although I don’t what this subject has to do with Cannon. If the charges are true, he should spend most of the rest of his life in a Federal penitentiary. Public corruption should carry the harshest penalties for white-collar crime. Betrayal of public trust is the sleeziest crime of all.
Thanks.
What it has to do with Cannon is that we see how easy it is to utilize the power of office to offer benefits to companies and individuals in exchange for payback. It seems like not only do the incentive deals themselves just smell of bribery, “Give us money and special treatment or we move away”, but who knows what is happening behind the scenes during these negotiations. Did the Panthers pay off any city council members to gain support for voting them 87.5 million dollars?
When you mix business and government, you have elected officials and bureaucrats deciding the fate of millions of dollars. It’s unfortunately not a far stretch to think they might be “influenced” to vote certain ways or approve certain items.
That’s why I say just end the practice altogether.
That’s a tall task indeed. Unfortunately, the ones with the money make the rules. Always have and always will.
I wouldn’t say its all about the money. Certainly money influences, but at the end of the day, politicians want to be reelected. Its ego. A well organized group of people vocally advocating a cause can have just as much influence. My frustration is that far too many conservatives are not willing to be involved in the process. The result is a self fullfuling prophecy.
Cannon’s downfall is he could not upgrade is corruption. Saint Harvey Gantt was able to flip a TV station meant for Negros to own, and sell it to the white devils within days of owning the license. And he made a multi million dollar profit, and then bragged about it. Cannon was sucking the hind tit of affirmative action,
No need for that kind of vitriol and language. Is Ken Lewis a “cocksack”? He just settled fraud charges yesterday for 10 million. I am sure he is able to pay a fine like that due to his honest dealings…
Zon, get your panties out of a knot, All the poor little cocksack Cannon needs to do is 16-24 month in the can if he pleads guilty, He thought he was entitled like Saint Harvey Ganntt. Saint Harvey got a new TV station that was meant for negros to own. He flipped it to a devil cracker white man and pocketed a 7 figure profit.
The SAIC and the U.S. Attorney must have kept this investigation under wraps. I can’t see Holder indicting Cannon willingly.
Wonder if Fox will be implicated…
Fox is furiously reexamining his appointment book for the last 5 years.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Pat McCrory was too. It would be ironic if McCrory was laid low by light rail and arena shenanighans and boondoogles instead of the faux scandals of the moral monday crowd.
Wonder how we were able to “keep” the CIAA tournement…hmmm. Although I do find it hypcritical that on the SAME DAY this story broke, it was announced that foremer head of BofA Ken Lewis cut a deal to pay 10 million for his part in misleading investors and regulators on the Merrill Lynch deal. You could argue that his behavior affected many more folks – investors, laid off employees and the economies they support, people who lost their homes to the fraud he oversaw – than any penny-anny bribes taken by a small town mayor,
They settled out of court. Doesn’t necessarily mean they were guilty of defrauding anyone but persuing an aquittal against a State Entity with unlimited funds would have been cost prohibitive even if he and BOFA had won.
We saw in the Brannon case on a smaller scale how that works.
Yeah…the bank paid 9.33 billion and Ken paid 10 million becasue they were “innocent” and wanted to avoid the “cost” of a protracted fight against a governmental agency with lawyers making 40,000 a year. Okay.