It's enough to make the average taxpayer's head spin. But here's another outrage:the Daily News reported Monday that Goldman-Sachs could soon receive up to $321 million in city and state taxpayer dollars as part of an incentive program to keep their offices near Ground Zero. That's on top of $1.6 billion the investment firm has already received in tax breaks and publicly backed bonds for its shimmering new downtown headquarters.
Enough is enough. With the economy down and the city and state budget strained, now is no time for corporate welfare - especially for a company that's already taken more than their share. The deal has been signed, but that doesn't mean Goldman has to take the money.
If enough New Yorkers speak out, we can embarrass Blankfein into doing the right thing.
As the Daily News points out, that $321 million could pay for more than 6,000 teachers for one year. Or provide badly needed funds to take care of the homeless or the uninsured.
A little history: In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki agreed to fork over truckloads of public money if Goldman Sachs kept its headquarters downtown. Buried in the deal was a clause rewarding Goldman with hundreds of millions more if Ground Zero construction hit any delays.
Since 2005, when the deal was struck, Goldman has raked in over $32 billion in profits, and now Blankfein & co. could be in for yet another taxpayer-funded payday.
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