This opinion is by Doug Hoffer, a policy analyst.
There he goes again. Burton’s decision to move its manufacturing jobs to Austria led the Gov. Jim Douglas to say that taxes need to be rolled back. But Laurent Potdevin, CEO of the company, said nothing about state taxes, which are a very small component of business costs. [Of course we have no idea how much Burton pays, although we do know they received $1.8m in EATI/Vermont Economic Progress Council credits and were just awarded another $1.6m in Vermont Employment Growth Incentive/VEPC "incentives."]
The CEO did mention health care costs, which is ironic because Austria has a tax-based national health care system while the Governor continues to resist such an approach for Vermont. For his part, the governor said we need more “choices” which ignores the fact that Austria spends half as much per capita as we do on health care (and gets better results).
Instead of listening to what the company said, the governor went immediately to his canned talking points. This bespeaks a lazy intellect and a rigid ideology that refuses (or is incapable) of seeing the world as it is. We need leaders willing and able to analyze real problems instead of trying to fit everything into prefabricated boxes. The former is about solving problems; the latter is about serving vested interests.
Doug:
Jim = Jobs has been serving these vested interests ever since he got into the governor’s chair. That has been his purpose all along and look what we have for it: less jobs, a crumbling infrastructure, a health care system ripping us off with thousands still unable to even get to see a doctor, homelessness and bankruptcies rising, worsening drug problems, and more. But all Douglas cares about is breaking the state and teacher’s unions. No wonder Burton left. You’re right: the old ideologies that he serves are no good anymore.
Austria’s health care costs are more than USA, Why would Burton obfuscate it’s reasons and claim it’s vt helathcare costs.
About 8% of the gross domestic product goes toward health care expenses, much less than in the US. At $1,124, per capita health care expenditures spending are about half that of the US.
Read more: http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Health/Health-care-in-Austria-universal-access-national-health-insurance-and-private-health-care.html#ixzz0ioeNuTN3
I have a hunch it’s to avoid investment of high end manufacturing technology in VT to keep up with Austria.
Can you help me understand why Burton Snowboards is leaving VT for Austria?