« The National Employment Situation in January - PA context | Main | National Employment Projections »
February 10, 2009
Rewarding Incompentence: Toll Brothers Edition
From Calculated Risk (see bottom of post) embedded in both the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill are provisions to allow companies to write off current losses and collect refunds from the government.
The biggest beneficiaries of this provision will be home builders like Pennsylvania based Toll Brothers who made big profits a few years ago while laying the foundation for the current economic crisis. The CEO of Toll Brothers made $427,768,300 over the past five years. This is insane! It does not create jobs to enrich homebuilders and their shareholders. This does nothing to get people to buy homes.
These billions could have gone to school construction or state aid both of which would far and way have yielded substantially more employment!
We are to believe that spending is not stimulus but showering millions on firms for profits they made in the past is? I mean seriously if you put millions in the hands of Toll Brothers will that drive them to build more homes? Only if you believe 2 + 3 = 6. Home building will not pick up until the oversupply of housing is reduced and when consumers are able to get a loan to buy a home.
MONEY LOSING COMPANIES:--House -- $15 billion to allow companies to use current losses to offset profits made in the previous five years, instead of two, making them eligible for tax refunds.
--Senate -- Allows companies to use more of their losses to offset previous profits, increasing the cost to $19.5 billion.
The world has gone completely mad!
--Mark Price
Posted by Price at February 10, 2009 10:33 AM