Brad Feld Quotes

I'm sort of suspicious of most economic development projects, but the ones that encourage taxpayer-funded relocation bidding wars should be declared unconstitutional.

Politicians like to talk about incentives - for businesses to relocate, for example, or to get folks to buy local.

Mom and pop shops paying taxes while Amazon got billions just to come to town didn't seem right, and, post-FoxxConn, people are less likely to fall for the promised jobs numbers.

The moral argument is that we give big business a huge tax break, and why do we do it? To get their jobs.

Give tax breaks to large corporations, so that money can trickle down to the general public, in the form of extra jobs.

History shows that it's not smart for states to pay more to get jobs; you just get into the race to the bottom.

Bain also asked Kansas City for a $3 million tax break. The Bain executives were taking home $36 million in borrowed funds and were asking Kansas City to forfeit $3 million in public money for police officers, roads and schools? More free stuff!

It's easy: if you want to grow the economy, encourage job creation, and increase federal revenue, you support making bonus depreciation permanent. Permanency gives job creators the certainty they need to plan and invest in their businesses, including hiring employees.

Effective tax credits are used to create jobs and grow our economy. But tax credits that aren't delivering for Missourians must be retooled and reformed.

Tax breaks can serve a vital role in keeping and bringing jobs to our state; however, without accountability, they are little more than loopholes at taxpayers' expense.

Can I say that I think it should be against the law for one state to use taxpayer money to try to bribe businesses in another state to move? Which then causes the target state to use taxpayer dollars to try to bribe the businesses to stay.

… a giant corporate welfare program

Successfully bringing jobs home requires serious policy and reforms that make America the place businesses want to plant and grow. You can't punish business into doing the things you want.

I know the ugly history of corporate welfare, and that's not New York City's future.

There is nothing better than just policies that say, 'Come on: grow your jobs here.'

Old models of development simply seek to lure business with substantial tax breaks and then hope (and pray) that economic benefits will trickle down to residents. It has not worked for our city in the past, and it will not work for the future city that we all hope want to see.

I don't believe other states should be in the business of luring production out of California. We've made it clear that no one is going to out-compete California.

Why should 'big sports' get tax breaks that businesses and families across America don't get?

When corporations get special handouts from the government, subsidies and tax breaks, it costs you. It means you have to pay more in taxes to make up for these hidden expenses, and government has less money for good schools and roads, Medicare and national defense and everything else you need.

In high-tax New York, in high-tax California, the governors of those states are constantly offering tax breaks, tax exemptions to any number of companies if they will locate in those states. The left does it all the time. We point it out every time we learn about it because it's hypocritical.

I've heard time and again from small business owners in Ohio that extending bonus depreciation is the single biggest factor in allowing their businesses to grow. Allowing companies to use these tools for capital reinvestment is a common-sense way to encourage job creation.

As mayor of Milwaukee, I've had many developers come and many businesses come and have asked for financial assistance from the city, and my questions have always been: how many jobs are we talking about and are these family-supporting jobs.

The long term sustainable growth in job creation comes from the private sector. It is important that the Obama administration partner with the private sector and come up with the best possible ideas for creating jobs.

The way to create jobs is to encourage private sector job creators.

Job creation requires a business friendly environment with a tax structure that is not punitive and a state government designed for efficient use of fewer tax dollars.