Eye on NY: Another Economic-Development ‘Flop’
Plans to lure Canadian battery company Zinc8 to New York with “government incentives” appear to be “a dud,” groans the Empire Center’s Ken Girardin. Zinc8 was working toward a low-cost zinc-air battery for a “renewable-heavy energy grid,” but last week its CEO quit, employees were laid off and its stock crashed. The state had awarded it $9 million in tax credits tied to employment and spent $8 million on the industrial park where it was to be the anchor tenant. True, the losses weren’t as great as with “other state-backed technology flops,” such as the Buffalo SolarCity plant, which reaped nearly $1 billion from the state. But it’s yet another reminder that when it comes to the state “picking winners in the energy-storage space, taxpayers are often losers.”
Ex-NJ treasurer: Menendez May Have Tax Woes, Too
Sen. Bob Menendez faces charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud and extortion, yet “more may be coming,” warns Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff at NJ Spotlight News — specifically, regarding his “civil and criminal tax liability.” The indictment asserts the senator and his wife got bribes in the form of cash, gold bullion, mortgage payments and “other things of value.” It might be hard to prove these were loans. If they were “compensation for services rendered” or even gifts, he and/or his co-defendants, who were his donors, might’ve been liable for taxes. “Al Capone reportedly once boasted that ‘they can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.’ Sen. Menendez would be well advised to remember that Capone was ultimately jailed for tax evasion.”
Culture critic: Fake ‘Trauma Merchants’
Comedian Hasan Minhaj’s “most popular material contained key omissions and barefaced lies” about “persecution he had faced as an Indian and Muslim son of immigrants in a post-9/11 America,” observes Kat Rosenfield at The Free Press. His “popularity centered on his suffering” — and “amid the creeping identitarianism of Trump-era art, it is not hard to see why someone like Minhaj might fall into the trap of not just monetizing his trauma, but fabricating it.” Indeed, “inject a bit of racial guilt into the mix, and you’ll dine out for the rest of your life courtesy of the New Yorker tote bag class — at least until one of said magazine’s investigative reporters finds out you’re full of s–t.”
Libertarian: Credit Taylor Swifties, not Biden
President Biden quickly claimed credit when Ticketmaster announced it would adjust its pricing structure, yet “concertgoers really should thank Taylor Swift and her fans,” corrects Reason’s Eric Boehm. Ticketmaster “had been under pressure from Swifties after a series of mishaps involving ticket sales for Swift’s much-in-demand Eras Tour.” Yet “according to Biden, Ticketmaster’s decision validates his ongoing war on the ‘junk fees’ charged by a wide range of businesses” — and that the changes he seeks would lower costs and create space for competition. Wrong: Businesses “will not choose to make less money, and forcing companies to bundle costs,” as Biden would have them do, will only deprive customers of options. “Consumers, not bureaucrats,” should be the ones to decide “whether they are getting enough value for their money.”
Gov’t watchdogs: Fix Food-Stamp Fraud Now
Recent reports “have raised valid concerns” about food-stamp fraud, which is undermining the “intended purpose” of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and eroding “public trust in government welfare programs,” warn Andrew McClenahan & Dawn Royal at The Hill. Indeed, “the urgency to tackle fraud and abuse within this vital social safety net cannot be overstated.” Among “the most immediate challenges”: criminals swiping benefits from deserving SNAP recipients, which can be addressed via “rigorous identity verification” of recipients. Another key concern: “the trafficking of SNAP benefits.” That calls for “more stringent penalties for traffickers and better data sharing among federal and state agencies,” which can create “a stronger deterrent” to such fraud. States must also “receive the funds and means to detect, prevent and prosecute.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board