By Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn
The Burger King Corporation’s recent decision to relocate its headquarters to Canada, where tax rates for large companies are substantially lower, offers us chilling proof that the dangerous and destructive anti-business policies implemented by President Barack Obama and D.C. Democrats are harming the U.S. economy.
Rather than calling for a top-to-bottom review and possible lowering of corporate tax rates on the federal level, liberals like Obama and Nancy Pelosi reacted to the company’s announcement by attacking its motives and questioning its patriotism.
Remember that liberals lavished praise and affection upon individuals who fled to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War, but when for-profit businesses attempt to escape oppressive taxes by legally locating there, those on the left call them un-American.
Before the handful of liberals remaining in Alabama decide to jump on the bandwagon attacking Burger King, however, they should be aware that we have directly benefited from similar economic decisions made by businesses and corporations on the state level in recent years.
For the past several decades, dozens of companies have chosen to leave the hostile, pro-union business climate of the once thriving industrial Northeast for the more welcoming, conservative, and business-friendly atmosphere that Alabama offers.
The ongoing construction of a $110 million Remington Arms Company manufacturing plant in Huntsville that will employ 2,000 workers is just the most recent example. Most observers cite recent laws that limit gun ownership and sales in New York State as the reason why the company’s Ilion, N.Y., plant was not chosen for expansion.
In addition to Alabama’s fervent embrace and rabid defense of the Right to Bear Arms, Remington will also benefit from our skilled workforce, reasonable taxes and industrial utility rates that are among the lowest in the nation.
Because he senses that the dependable energy and affordable rates we offer are also helping to bleed jobs from the northern areas of the country where his liberal political base dominates, I am convinced that Alabama is among the areas Obama is directly targeting with his aggressive and relentless War on Coal.
Any industrial recruiter you ask will attest that our low utility costs are an important ingredient in Alabama’s economic development recipe, and, in the past, our Public Service Commission has utilized this reality by offering even more generous rates to companies that expand operations and create additional jobs.
Now, Obama and rogue elements within his Environmental Protection Agency are seeking to take away our advantage by using unconstitutional executive orders to implement extreme mandates on Alabama’s coal-based energy production. In addition to derailing our efforts to recruit new industries and expand existing ones, Obama’s end run around Congress threatens the 16,000 individuals whose jobs depend on the Alabama coal industry.
The fawning liberal media and left-wing posse that protect Obama claim that his job-killing actions are necessary in order to combat “climate change,” which is a meteorological theory built on the spongy foundation of snake oil science and crystal ball predictions by gypsy fortunetellers wearing lab coats. I remember when they used to call their flawed theory “global warming,” but when data proved the planet is getting cooler, not hotter, they changed the name to “climate change.”
Alabama’s only hope to protect its economic development advantages and block Obama’s disastrous policies from festering here is to continue electing a Republican legislature that can throw obstacles in his path and run out the game clock until he leaves office. With the next presidential election only two years away, we can finally begin to see light at the end of the long, dark and cold tunnel known as the Obama administration.
Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) serves as Alabama’s Speaker of the House and represents District 79, which encompasses much of Lee County. Visit mikehubbard.com or follow Speaker Hubbard on Twitter @SpeakerHubbard and Facebook at facebook.com/MikeHubbard79.