American Dream

How Wal-Mart Uses Tax Dollars to Finance Its Growth

Another study just completed by Good Jobs First documents more than $1 billion in subsidies to Wal-Mart stores and distribution centers. These subsidies include:

• Free or reduced-priced land
  
• Infrastructure assistance
  
• Tax-increment financing
  
• Property tax breaks
  
• State corporate income tax credits
  
• Sales tax rebates
  
• Enterprise zone status
  
• Job training funds
  
• Tax-exempt bond financing
  
• General grants

Hey! Those sound a lot like subsidies to smart-growth projects in Portland, Denver, and elsewhere. We seem to have become of nation of corruption and bribery in the form of subsidies and pork barrel.