Buried in the details of the deal to close California’s $19-billion budget deficit is a roughly $30-million tax break crafted to benefit a company owned by members of one of the state’s richest and most politically influential families, according to a legislative analysis obtained by The Times.
The provision, which will allow the Humboldt Redwood Co. to deduct $20 million in old losses from future taxes, is also expected to cover penalties and interest for the firm co-owned by three sons of Donald G. Fisher, founder of the Gap and Banana Republic, said company Chairman Sandy Dean.
Nothing breaks my bleeding heart more than when our rich corporate overlords get money that should instead be diverted toward researching tree diseases in Redwood National Forest, or improving the general quality of Birkenstock sandals. This is another instance of corporate greed run totally amok. We cannot continually allow big business to profiteer at the expense of organic school lunch programs.
Robin Hood, that most American of good guys, would be ashamed.
Worse still is the disgrace that the three sons of Donald G. Fisher, founder of the Gap and Banana Republic, are bringing to the Humboldt name. Humboldt County is and should remain synonymous with really great marijuana and, to a lesser extent, Earth Day, and not some pillaging, despotic company that happens to sell awesome jeans. I wore Gap jeans the first time I ever burned an American flag to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I’ll tell you right now, those days are long gone. My next pair of jeans will be made of 100 percent recycled plastic bags.
Speaking of the Gap, have you seen their ugly new logo? Much like their insanely cool clothes, it looks like it was put together by undernourished Malaysian children. Maybe the Humboldt Redwood Co. can spend some of their tax break money to bring some jobs back to America and hire a Madison Avenue design firm instead – assuming they don’t spend the entire $30 million on bigger McMansions and new Hummers.
The Bad Apples Blog 