Don't You Wish You Were Amgen?

I'm for good jobs. Amgen is promising 450 new jobs with a median salary of $55,000 (2/3 require a college degree). The st. legislature also secured them an increased water supply when West Greenwich hesitated. In return Amgen made promises.

Now all this raises questions for me since tax breaks for Amgen means tax increases for someone else (guess who?). Suppose Amgen renegs. Any clawbacks? How much are these jobs actually costing the taxpayer? Does the median salary include benefits? What about healthcare? Will any of these workers qualify for free healthcare (earning less than $45,000 for a family of 4)? Now I'm not saying this is a bad idea, but enquiring minds like to know! Where is the accountability?

CEO Kevin Sharer earned 11 mill last year. That’s $88 a min. or $5,303/hr. This company recognized $504 mill in tax savings (15th highest) during the Bush years. In a 3 yr. period this co. paid no state income tax one year. With billions of dollars in profits, Amgen ponied up an average of 1% of its profits in 3 years of state taxes. What did you pay?

Amgen recently awarded 2 lucky R.I. Science teachers $5,000/each. Too bad they didn't do like Forest Ave. School did & let them be Principal (or CEO) for a day. 7 hr. day = more than $37.000!