What do you think about Corporate Welfare? What is your definition of it?

Answer 1

Tax breaks that the rest of America carries with the cost of inflation, you know like gasoline, and just about everything else while the corporations make record profits.

Answer 2

Corporate welfare is a detriment to society, economy, and average people. Its difficult to get rid of however, because of its structure - it helps a few people a great deal, while hurting a lot of people a little bit. Not surprisingly, the people who benefit are strongly in favour, while those hurt are not as interested.

Basically, corporate welfare is when governments give preferential treatment to certain industries or companies. Why is this a problem? Because they are twisting the tax/benefit system to support companies that would otherwise disappear, or shrink, at the expense of other companies that would have taken their place. The recipients of corporate welfare are those companies who are either individually large enough to get government's attention, or banded together into an industry association powerful enough to sway government policy. At its most basic level, corporate welfare is a cash grab, whereby a block of votes or support are effectively sold off for a targetted benefit. Think about from the point of view of a cold politician. What's going to get you more votes, giving everyone a small tax break, or giving 60% of people a bigger tax break?

Recipients of corporate welfare generally claim they need the money 'for the workers'. I.e. they threaten public layoffs if they don't keep getting handouts. On a case by case level, this all seems quite believable, but in aggregate, corporate welfare hurts workers. Since it rewards inefficient companies while squeezing out investment and opportunity for other, ignored companies, it makes the economy on the whole less efficient. A less efficient economy means lower average salaries for the entire country.

Answer 3

Corporate welfare, also known as "wealthfare", is a pejorative term, first coined by Ralph Nader in 1956, describing a government's bestowal of grants and/or tax breaks on corporations or other "special favorable treatment" from the government. Usually these actions are seen to be at the expense of the citizens, although they often disadvantage other corporations as well. The term is meant to create a satirical association between corporate subsidies and welfare payments to the poor, and perhaps imply that corporations are much less deserving than the poor. It is important to remember, however, that all forms of government subsidy fit into the general category of welfare.) Some object to the term "corporate welfare" on the grounds that the term plays on negative stereotypes about welfare payments to poor people, and may suggest that the poor are as undeserving of government "handouts" as corporations are. Corporate welfare is a symptom of regulatory capture.

Corporate welfare is applied in a number of different situations. A classic example is the granting of the use of broadcasting rights to TV stations at nominal fees, when other companies are willing to pay substantially more to use these frequencies. Increasingly common with the rise of globalization is offering incentives to locate in an area. For instance a company intending to build a manufacturing plant, or even a sports stadium, will frequently declare interest in two areas, and then let their respective governments attempt to "outbid" each other with promises of tax breaks, free land, and infrastructure developments. Critics charge that this skews the free market, giving a competitive advantage to large corporations, and shifts tax burdens away from these large companies to smaller ones and to individuals.

Another common example often derided as "corporate welfare" is when a large company is nearing collapse, and is given substantial breaks or financial support by the government to keep it in business. While free market theory views the bankruptcy of companies as essential to the process, the specter of lost jobs and unhappy voters often means the government will step in to help a faltering behemoth, to an extent that would not happen with a small business. For example, the airline industry has survived ongoing losses through government aid.

Critics of corporate welfare charge that many cases are nothing more than "pork barreling" and even examples of corruption. Examples might include defense contracts given to inefficient businesses in a politician's district, or giving assistance to a major campaign donor.

Answer 4

The Big Labor Union Bosses and Democrats don't like it.
But we rank & file Unions members like it because it gives us more security and helps Corporations to expand and hire more employees.
It seems as though our Union Bosses & Democrats are against anything that helps working people.

Answer 5

corporate welfare? isn't that like jumbo shrimp?

Answer 6

uhhhhh is that when coporate amercia get's a check every month?