Mercedes-Benz could announce HQ relo to Atlanta on Tuesday; focus on Central Perimeter (Alpharetta: homes, neighborhoods)

[arjay57]

Some more details on Mercedes' move to Atlanta....

For Cousins Properties and Ackerman & Co, the stars may be aligning into the image of a Mercedes-Benz.

While officials with the Daimler luxury automaker stress no decision has been made, sources familiar with the company's Atlanta HQ search say Mercedes-Benz has a favored site among the contenders: Abernathy 400--the project at the corner of GA 400 and Abernathy Road. It's a move that can even fit with what Mercedes officials revealed yesterday: lease existing space for the short-term, while developing a new HQ building.

More...https://www.bisnow.com/archives/news...r-mercedes-hq/

[AtlantaIsHot]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Advocating for lower taxes is easy. The real question is what are you going to cut?

Education? Police? Military? Welfare? Parks? Infrastructure? Individual tax breaks to attract Corporate HQs like Benz?

I personally consider my self pro-small-government and do support cuts to some of the above sources. But those are the hard cases to make. Saying you support "lower taxes" without naming specifics is the easy way out.

Well I think modern society is too complicated to pigeon hole one into small government and big government. These are extremely difficult questions. Interpreted word for word, the constitution explicitly gives the federal government power to do only certain things. On the other hand, it doesn't explicitly forbid a lot of it either. Therein lies the struggle. There is a battle over whether we have a living constitution that can bend like taffy or whether it is literal. A lot of what you listed isn't in the constitution but yet the government is involved. A lot of it was meant for state/county control. Here is what is factual. 75% of the budget goes for welfare programs. 15% for interest on the debt. What does that say? Many things...

Here is what is known. The government cannot take care of every citizen from the cradle to the grave. How can it? Where will all that money come from? That is just not possible. Where does the government cease being a help and become a hindrance? Generally speaking, the more is done FOR people, the less they are willing to do for themselves. Once people realize that someone else (the government) will take care of their needs, there is no reason for them to do it. Already, almost HALF of all Americans PAY NO INCOME TAXES AT ALL, yet they receive disproportionate welfare benefits. How long can that sustain itself? Who's going to pay for it and how much can you confiscate to do so? I am not generally in favor of "incentives" because I think they distort things. However, I do agree everyone's tax burden should be lower (both individuals and corporations). I also think the welfare state is out of control. I personally KNOW people (in my own family) who are perfectly able to work and yet are on "disability" and SSI. How is that fair for the people who had their earnings confiscated to pay it? The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of money to confiscate.

NOTE: I'm not going to belabor these arguments any longer. Let's just focus on discussing the coming move and it's issues. These questions and debates are for philosophy or political sections. Agree?

[Pink90]

So Mercedes is officially going to ATL? Sucks for NJ.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by AtlantaIsHot

Here is what is factual. 75% of the budget goes for welfare programs. 15% for interest on the debt.

I do not take those figure as fact. Even if you were only talking federal. But I was referring to state and local government too. Even if you feel that welfare is the place to cut you need to be advocating letting people who are unwilling or unable to work die in the streets in one of the richest countries on earth.


But lets get to a relevant spending question here: Should the state be spending money to give incentives to Mercedes (and other businesses they cozy up to) instead of tax breaks for all people and businesses large and small?

[ATLJR]

@AtlantaIsHot

I can't take your opinion serious when you're so woefully misinformed on issues such as where our federal tax dollars go. I suggest you do some (easy) research. 75% of the federal budget does not go to welfare projects and 15% does not go to interest on debt. Defense spending and international security assistance is around 20% of the budget, which doesn't include interest paid on debt accrued by military spending and where the hide other expenses in other departments, like the nuclear arm of the military expenses being attributed to the Energy Department.

[Pemgin]

I wish they'd take space in the new spec tower being built in Buckhead: Three Alliance Center. That way they could actually be in Atlanta.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Pemgin

I wish they'd take space in the new spec tower being built in Buckhead: Three Alliance Center. That way they could actually be in Atlanta.

They are German and smart. They like the burblands! :-)

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

They are German and smart. They like the burblands! :-)

They will move into the city limits like Porsche did after dealing with the Perimeter area for several years :-)

[JoeP]

Something else that often gets thrown out there is that many people are leaving higher cost states, leaving out the burden of cost for states with so many people for so long. Many people move for a variety of reasons, but one of them is its expensive to live in places like NJ. I'm talking about taxes. I'm talking about the cost of a home. Atlanta ain't cheap either, but compared to the NE and CA, it's cheap.
I work with people from other states that would move back, but it's not practical, given the cost of a home.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by jsvh

They will move into the city limits like Porsche did after dealing with the Perimeter area for several years :-)

I wouldn't be surprised! I'm a bit puzzled they picked that area personally. I'd have looked into Buckhead - it seems like a more Mercedesish sorta part of town.