Washblog

Which begs the question:  Why can't a corporation who's gross profits last year was $405.1 million and how profited $359.2 million the year before afford to fork up a measly $179 million extra out of its own pockets if building a NASCAR racetrack is such a damned fine marketing idea?

I'll get to that one later because it is at the root of what NASCAR is really trying to pull over on the public.

But first, let's take a look at the rest of the deal - it's not essential to this discussion, but the outrage of it just can't be ignored.  These "side effects" are part and parcel with corporate exploitation.  On the surface, it would seem to be that by having the government step in and help pay for this, the real benefit the ISC reaps is that they won't have to pay any property taxes.  Yep, that's right, they get us to fork out for half the track, while THEY are the defacto owners, and because it's now half government financed, they don't have to pay property taxes.  Now, most folks, not being very informed, just shake their heads knowingly and think that's why NASCAR wants us to pay for half their track, that and they get to keep $179 million of course.  I guarantee you, avoiding property taxes are pretty low on the list of reasons to gull the public into paying half the costs of this construction.

But before I move on, let me point out something interesting:  the ISC projects as one of their "selling points" that increased sales taxes from out of state visitors due to the NASCAR events would increase state coffers to the tune of $1.8 million annually.  What they don't mention is that the property taxes they avoid by having us pay for half of it come to $3.5 million annually.  So we not only accept a total tax burden of nearly $500 million dollars (after debt burden with interest is factored in), but we would be would be agreeing to lose out on 2 thirds of the revenue the site would generate for state taxes.  A real loser proposition if ever there was one.

Okay, as I said,  those are all just numbers that concern, and hopefully outrage, the local populace.  What concerns you and I and anyone who wants to know how this NASCAR proposal is really just a microcosm of corporatism and its effects upon our society, is the real reasonwhy it's so important to NASCAR that we fund half this thing.  To understand that, let me explain the economics of NASCAR.

NASCAR's stated goal is to have 50 racetracks in operation.  Nice round number that one.  50.  One for every state I suppose.  But of course, it isn't.  Not every state is that stupid.  Some states are doubly stupid however, so NASCAR is close to realizing its goal.

Now, NASCAR only holds 38 sanctioned events.  So one has to wonder why NASCAR needs 50 racetracks to hold 38 sanctioned events.  I bet our readers here could tell us why in a heartbeat.  For the same reason cheap labor conservatives need unemployment.  Full employment raises the demand for labor which in turn raises workers wages.  Full employment for NASCAR means every racetrack has a sanctioned race.  Which means no leverage for the ISC over the track owners.  So by creating a gap between tracks and races, the ISC can get the best deals.  Problem is, if the ISC owns all it's own racetracks, then it's like that commercial where the exec says he's "sticking it to the man" and his employee points out "but you are the man!".  

That's where WE come in.  You know, Joe Taxpayer.  That's right, they want to stick it to us.  You see, if WE pay for half the track and then NASCAR says, "oh gee, we (their WE being the ISC, not the ISC and the states taxpayers) need more seats to be profitable, we need more safety barriers,  we need bigger and better luxury suites for our elite clientele doncha know?   - BTW, you ever sit in one of those luxury suites?  I did.  Once. To a Mariners game. Because the supermarket picked my little girls drawing out of a box.  That's about as likely a chance as Joe Taxpayer is ever going to get to reaping the benefits of his tax dollars.  Paying for bigger better luxury suites for guys who make more in a day than you or I will make in our lifetimes - what are we going to do about it?  We (being us Joe Taxpayers, not the ISC) will pay to give them those things.

And why will we pay for these things?  Because we'll HAVE to.  You see, if WE  don't pay for these upgrades, then NASCAR and the ISC will just take their race elsewhere and that big expensive racetrack will sit idle for an entire year and all those out of state dollars that WE, the taxpayers, will be depending on to pay off that money we borrowed to build this boondoggle will dry right up.  And so we will get mad.

And who will we get mad at when we realize we've been bamboozled?  At NASCAR?  What good will that do?  They are a corporation.  They aren't responsible to the public and we can't hold them accountable.  No.  We'll get mad at our legislators.  So guess who will save their jobs by signing us up for even MORE taxes to pay for upgrades to a track that only profits a corporation that already makes half a billion dollars a year?  I think even our children can spell  "over a barrel".

That's the REAL reason they need us to finance half this track.  It's how they put us over the barrel.  Without us, they couldn't put all the tracks over a barrel by simply forcing 24% unemployment upon the track owners.  That's what 12 racetracks sitting idle out of 50 is.  24% unemployment.  Gee, where did I just read about 24% unemployment rates before?  Oh yeah, that's the figure someone was quoting as being the unemployment rate during the Great Depression.

And THAT, my friends, is how the economics of  Cheap Labor Corporatism works in a nutshell.

Cross Posted at Conceptual Guerilla