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Kansas and Missouri
肯萨斯和密苏苏里
The new border war
新边境之战
Missouri calls for an economic truce with Kansas
密苏苏里提出与肯萨斯达成经济休战协定
I hear the tax breaks are good in Kansas
听说肯萨斯州有好的税收减免政策
MISSOURI and Kansas are old rivals. In the 1850s thousands of Missourians rode into Kansas, seized polling stations at gunpoint and fraudulently elected pro-slavery candidates. The efforts of these “border ruffians” were a prelude to the civil war.
密苏苏里和肯萨斯是一对老冤家。在1850年代，千万密苏苏里人涌入肯萨斯州，抢占他们枪口下的投票站，公然欺骗地投选支持奴隶制的候选人。这些边境恶棍的努力同样阻止了内战的爆发。
Today the rivalry is less bloody. Both states offer tax incentives to lure in companies from elsewhere. Because they share a large metropolitan region, Kansas City, many firms qualify for such breaks simply by shifting a mile or two over the border.
如今的对抗少了点血腥。双方都拿出税费刺激计划，吸引四面八方的公司。由于大都市肯萨斯城横跨两州，许多公司为了有资格拿到这样的税收减免，会通常把公司移一两英里跨过边界。
Looking at the biggest type of sweetener, the Hall Family Foundation, a charity, estimates that over the past five years the two state governments have forgone $217m in taxes. Some 3,289 jobs have been tempted across the metropolitan border to Kansas; Missouri has won 2,824 jobs back. Kansas can therefore claim to be “winning”. But local reports suggest that CBIZ, a Kansan consulting firm, is considering moving to Missouri; that would erase this lead.
霍尔家族基金会慈善组织推测，在过去的五年间，两州政府分别放弃了2亿1700万的税收。肯萨斯州吸引了大约3289个职位，密苏苏里州则抢到了2824个，因此肯萨斯可以说是胜利的一方。但当地媒体表示，肯萨咨询公司CBIZ有意移到密苏苏里州，如果一旦成功，领先将会不复存在。
None of this border-ruffianry creates new jobs. Locals gripe that when, for example, AMC Theatre recently moved its headquarters out of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, its staff simply had a longer commute to work. Sly James, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, describes the new border war as “short-sighted”. Kevin Collison, a reporter for the Kansas City Star, calls it “cannibalistic”.
边境恶棍们并没有创造新的就业机会。当地人抱怨称，最近AMC电影院从密苏苏里肯萨斯城市中心迁走时，只不过它的员工们花费在上下班的时间更长了些。该市市长斯莱·詹姆斯认为这是一场没有远见的边境之战。肯萨斯城星光的一名记者Kevin Collision称之为自相残杀。
A few years ago local business leaders from 17 companies, including Sprint and Hallmark Cards, wrote to Jay Nixon, the governor of Missouri, and Sam Brownback, his counterpart in Kansas, to warn them that the rift was harming the area. In the past month, a truce has started to look likelier. Majorities in the Missouri House and Senate have approved versions of a bill that would bar incentives for businesses near the border to hop over it. The catch, though, is that this law will go into effect only if Kansas reciprocates. There is a two-year window for a deal to be done.
几年前，包括来自Sprint和Hallmark Cards在内的当地17家公司的总裁们向密苏苏里州长杰·尼克森联同肯萨斯州州长萨姆·布朗巴克写信警告这种裂痕正危害着这个地方。过去数月里，双方好像可以签署一份休战协定。多数密苏苏里议员同意签署一项法案旨在禁止边界贸易刺激方案。然而该方案有一缺陷，要想该法案有效，必须得到肯萨斯州同样的做法。在达成协议之前有两年的窗口期。
Missouri Senator Ryan Silvey, a Republican who is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, says he is confident the House will soon pick up and pass his version. Over in Kansas, Mr Brownback is guardedly optimistic. He says he has thought for some time that “ceasefire negotiations” were needed, and that this bill is a “necessary condition for us to negotiate”. Mr Brownback says that ceasefire discussions ought to consider all the tools used to encourage economic development on both sides of the border. These would include income and property taxes.
密苏苏里州民主党议员莱恩·希尔威尔支持这项法案，他表示对国会审议通过这样法案有信心。而肯萨斯州方面，布朗巴克对此保持着谨慎的乐观，他说停火谈判的必要性已经在他脑子里有一段时间了，这部法案为我们谈判提供了必要的条件。停火谈判应该考虑边界双方共同的经济发展刺激方式。这其中就包括财产和所得税。
It is difficult to understand why either state would want to continue throwing money at a scheme that benefits only the companies that move. Mr Silvey explains: “When people feel like they are locked in competition they just want to win, even when the competition is stupid.” Since Missouri's annual budget is $26 billion to Kansas's $14 billion, some Missourians ask why their state does not simply outspend its neighbour to win the war. Mr Silvey says that if an agreement is not reached in the next few years, his colleagues will want to “go with both barrels” and steal more business from Kansas. Move quickly Kansas, or the border ruffians may yet ride again.
我们仍然弄不清楚，为什么苏肯两州会继续撒钱来支持只有迁移的企业才会受益的方案。希尔威尔解释道，当人们感觉到自己受困于竞争，他们总是很想赢，尽管这是一场傻傻的斗。相比140亿美元的年度预算，密苏苏里州每年有达260亿美元预算。一些密苏苏里人问，为什么就不能仅仅靠相对高的预算来赢得胜利。他指出，如果未来几年内仍达成协议，他的同僚们会带着枪，从肯萨斯州抢些生意。肯萨斯快快行动！边境恶棍又要来了！译者：邵玄
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