Cat plans are off track

Excuse me from the coronation of Caterpillar as the next economic savior of Spokane County. I’ll be amazed if Cat employs 50 area workers over three years without soaking us all for more perks.

Full disclosure: I consider Cat criminally anti-labor and complicit in the murder of Rachel Corrie, a hero from Olympia, by Israeli defense forces. Beyond that, it’s another big corporation seeking another haven to exploit desperate workers, local governments and facilitators for corporatism.

Perhaps we should be grateful to be in Cat’s southern strategy, but notice we get no manufacturing or living-wage jobs, in spite of outrageous claims that wages will be determined by survey. A preview of what the community gains is the subcontractor scramble for table scraps from the rich strangers who will build the West Plains infrastructure and then take their money home.

Yes, it’s like Wal-Mart bragging about boosting our economy while sending every extracted penny straight to Arkansas.

I wish local chamber and government leaders, with all of their background in the economy, had a basic understanding of the economy under which most of us live. Subsidies and breaks should be reserved for local companies, or those that will put money into local circulation.

Rusty Nelson

Rockford