re: Why Louisiana stays poor

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Take the example of Exxon in Baytown vs Baton Rouge - the tax rate in Baytown is astronomical in comparison but they aren't moving or complaining. Why shouldnt EBR get closer to what they're paying in Texas? Exxon can piss and moan about it but theyre straight up paying a fraction of what theyre paying elsewhere

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Property taxes in Baytown are higher, but sales taxes are substantially lower, and there are no income taxes.

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This is physical land these companies own that aren't being taxed. This is like if the Governor were to say "Property of government workers will no longer be taxed because they're important to us". It wouldnt fly at all. Propert tax owed to parish government should be something both sides of the aisle can agree on.

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One thing that isn't mentioned here is the 2 for 1 land deals.

Let's say you're a chemical company and want to open a plant along the Mississippi. You have to purchase double the amount of land of the new plant in another area and turn that land into suitable wetlands. This could be considered a tax in some people's eyes

Yep. I could hire 50 of them today if they had work ethic and a decent attitude.

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I’d said this the other day and I’ll say it again, without the O&G industry, South Louisiana would resemble a 3rd world country. Don’t be a fricking idiot

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As if they're going to so readily give up on all the infrastructure and facilities they're already invested in?

Everywhere else in this country does things differently than we do and doesn't give as many subsidies and breaks. Nowhere else even comes close to the way we just hand everything over to them.

Where else are they going to go? They're just going to pick up and leave this area, which has so many benefits as far as the ease of shipment and access to waterways, rail, and pipelines?

It's either sheer insanity or pure ignorance that leads so many in that state of fools to keep regurgitating this nonsense.

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Every single excuse you make is a crock of shite.

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You're right. I guess that's why industries and people are waiting at the state line to come here. and probably why Amazon and Google opened shop here. Oh wait!

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Workforce? We have a workforce centered on that industry

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how's that working out for you?

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Entertainment? Means nothing to a company looking to expand or build a refinery or plant

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but it does to the emplyees necessary to run that plant or expansion.

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Better infrastructure? Not for the oil and gas and chemical industry. We have all the waterways and rail roads and pipelines that we need, outside the crumbling roadways

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I see you don't get out much. Take a look at our ports, airports, Not exactly cutting edge. How bout those pilot fees on the MR? Pipelines you say? Yes, Bayou Bridge has gone along just swimmingly.

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Less regulation? Not on that industry

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what about the other ones?

did you know a barber in the state of La. has to be licensed? Florists too! Aint that encouraging?

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Crony politics? That benefits that industry.

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Yep, you're right. That's why all those other businesses and industries keep opening here.


But keep fist pumping and cheerleading while ignoring the current situation.

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And some have the audaticy to say that 'Oh, the companies will just up and leave is we try and do anything different than what we've been doing for decades and which hasn't worked out all that well for us, but 'muh, culture

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It's not about them leaving, it's about expansion retard. Do you want to keep the state GDP the same while that money gets 2% or so less valuable every year? That makes no sesne.

And we're not even discussing the lack of any other industry.

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You're right. I guess that's why industries and people are waiting at the state line to come here. and probably why Amazon and Google opened shop here. Oh wait!

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The subject is the oil, gas, and chemical industries. Why is that so hard to follow?

Have you not been paying attention to all the expansion and new construction going on or about to start, especially on the river south of Baton Rouge?

Yes, the petrochemical industry is standing in line to come here.

Are you just ignorant of that are are you so caught up in the bullshite that passes for conventional wisdom here that you just go all cognitive dissonance and pay it no mind?

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but it does to the emplyees necessary to run that plant or expansion.

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That has zero to do with a companies decision to expand or grow here when their bottom line is so heavily boosted with the giveaways of the board of Industry and Commerce.

We are the only state in the nation that lets a state level board give exemptions for local entities, and they never turn down an exemption and they never ever do a cost benefit analysis. It is so bass ackwards to the way it should be done.

And then we have people like you that regurgitate the same old unsupportable nonsense while ignoring the reality of what really goes on in this state.

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I see you don't get out much. Take a look at our ports, airports, Not exactly cutting edge. How bout those pilot fees on the MR? Pipelines you say? Yes, Bayou Bridge has gone along just swimmingly.

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The pilot fees are the same in ship channels in Texas. We have an unmatched pipeline infrastructure, that's a cold hard fact. We have the Mississippi river and all these canals they use to move goods around. And their are innumerable rail links for them to take advantage of We are deficient in roads and bridges but when it comes to the infrastructure on the scales they really use, we're not lacking. We have of the top 15 ports in the country. Our ports are well taken care of. How can you be so out of touch with reality?

Airports? That's got zero to do with the petrochemical industry. What is this insanity?

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what about the other ones?

did you know a barber in the state of La. has to be licensed? Florists too! Aint that encouraging?

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But that's not what we're talking about. We're specifically talking about the petrochemical industry, not the florist. No other industry has the remotest equivalent to the economic impact of this one. Why would you bring that up?

A perfect example is a few years back when the state tried to get the petrochemical companies to pay up for the way the canals they dug all over south Louisiana have led to so many problems, and the petrochemical companies used their cronies at every level to block anything from happening. It was an awesome sight to see them show how they have tentacles in every area of state government.

There's reality, and then there's the nonsense things that you and others keep harping on that don't have any relation to reality.

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The pilot fees are the same in ship channels in Texas. We have an unmatched pipeline infrastructure, that's a cold hard fact. We have the Mississippi river and all these canals they use to move goods around. And their are innumerable rail links for them to take advantage of We are deficient in roads and bridges but when it comes to the infrastructure on the scales they really use, we're not lacking. We have of the top 15 ports in the country. Our ports are well taken care of. How can you be so out of touch with reality

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Tigerinthebuechere gets emotional in LA threads and talks out of his arse

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Being nice gets nothing done in Louisiana

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Neither does being stupid, so you might as well bow out.