A one-sided marriage to Boeing?

In response to “Tax breaks are the weapon Boeing uses to mug Washington state,” Shawn Vestal, March 31):

A fair question to ask, is: Would our federal and state legislators - while being mugged, care to share with the people of this state what subsidies/tax breaks they are negotiating with Boeing out of our current state budget? Knowing what’s on the negotiating table for keeping Boeing jobs would open up the public dialogue about the value of those jobs and clarify the direction Boeing is coercing our elected officials. This information shouldn’t be hidden but made visible. Then lawmakers could be bolstered or undermined in their conjugal choice to keep Boeing in the state, and we, the state, would know what gambles we make for the future, eyes wide open.

As it stands, the 20,000 manufacturing jobs used to coerce lawmakers were held onto for $435,000 per job ($8.7 billion as quoted). I don’t want to give up Boeing, but I would like to see the state support a more diverse, competitive economy through incentives for small business.

Daniel Collins

Seattle