Or so they say:
“He’s obsessed with Amazon,” a source said. “Obsessed.”
What we're hearing: Trump has talked about changing Amazon’s tax treatment because he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out of business.... Trump’s deep-seated antipathy toward Amazon surfaces when discussing tax policy and antitrust cases.
Is it "deep-seated antipathy" in some nutty or politically vengeful way, or is it possible that he actually shares the ideology of antitrust law? Why is everything about Trump put in terms of his supposedly crazy psychology? The precise opposite was done for Obama — everything was presumed to be coolly analyzed and competently executed.
Trump never talks about Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook: He isn’t tuned in to the debate over how they handle people’s data, and thinks the Russia story is a hoax, sources say.
Maybe because it's not an antitrust problem. Maybe because it's a vehicle of free speech and government ought not abridge the freedom of speech.
Axios' Kim Hart points out: "Trump told Axios last year he doesn’t mind Facebook because it helps him reach his audience...."
It helps him and a lot of other people get our messages out. But, of course, if Trump is for free speech, it's only because he wants free speech for himself. Everything Trump-related must be an involuted personal melodrama.
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89 comments:
The precise opposite was done for Obama — everything was presumed to be coolly analyzed and competently executed.
Yes. "If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor." "The Average family will save $2,500.00 a year on health care."
Oh praise ye Obama from on high! We worship your glorious economic lies! and question, not.
If Trump cured cancer the headline would be "Trump throws doctors and researchers out of work!" and Chuckles would be claiming that the Russians actually did it and Trump was just taking credit.
Why aren't leftists concerned that Amazon isn't paying its fair share in taxation?
You broke the code, Professor! Congratulations! Now you’re only 15 months behind the more cynical among us.
So we now we have "a source" who apparently knows every single word of what Trump says every day - such that he/she can state what Trump "never" talks about.
Pretty amazing.
I feel silly--in 2004-08 I thought Bush Derangement Syndrome was a real problem. Then in 2010-16 I though Obama Derangement Syndrome was a thing.
But, they were both cool, clear reason compared to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
There's an "obsession" alright.
@Gahrie, and if Trump solved world hunger the headlines would be how he’s contributing to overpopulation and besides, Obama should get the credit because Trump was just continuing a trend that began while Obama was in charge.
Why aren't leftists concerned that Amazon isn't paying its fair share in taxation?
@Dickin’Bimbos, perhaps they are but the Post won’t print it.
sources say
Someone (I forget who, but probably Iowahawk) said that anytime there's a story about Trump with "sources", you should replace the word "sources" in your head with "an old gypsy woman".
Dickin has it right . It’s not an antitrust issue, it’s tax policy. Amazon has been gaming the tax laws for years by having more expenses than profits. By continuously expanding, they keep piling up expenses and debt. Their revenue goes up but can’t keep pace with the expansion. A more sane tax policy for companies would be to tax revenues and lose all the deductions and opaque arcana that goes into business tax preparation. A tax of 1% would be about right.
@Big Mike
Except I've made the same point a thousand times for more than 15 months.
Not everything I say should be understood to mean this is the first time I thought of this. It would be very hard to speak if that were how we interpreted each other's statements. Most of what we say would be regarded as incredibly stupid. "I love springtime"/"Oho! You just noticed that springtime is pleasant. I have recognized the pleasantness of springtime for many years!"
Trump lives in all their heads and he is not the one obsessed.
Poor nonplussed Ann, she can't figure out why some people don't give Trump credit as a shrewd analyst of anti-trust issues and is baffled that some people don't judge Trump to be as thoughtful or prudent as Obama. Ann seems to think this coarse and vile man is actually trying to preserve the tax base (and curing world hunger and cancer as well), rather than attacking the owner of the Washington Post. Of course, Ann and many her readers get their news from Powerline and the Daily Mail, and only read the WaPo for its fashion and media coverage.
@Althouse, I apologize for being a bit facetious. You have been open-minded about Trump since at least the election if not sooner. I do find your acknowledgement that a credulous media made a man — Obama — in over his head appear to be more thoughtful and honest than he really was to be refreshing, but I think you’ve made that point before as well.
John Pickering said...
Poor nonplussed Ann, she can't figure out why some people don't give Trump credit as a shrewd analyst of anti-trust issues and is baffled that some people don't judge Trump to be as thoughtful or prudent as Obama. "
Now that there is some fine dry comedy.
Not everything I say should be understood to mean this is the first time I thought of this.
With some people (definitely not you since you're far smarter and more informed than most) you can't always assume they're aware and they're feigning ignorance for effect or sarcasm. Also, with some people it seems like they have no memory, it's as their mental hard drive is wiped before the beginning of each day and history starts anew for them. They're babes in the woods.
But then again they could be feigning as an irritating rhetorical strategy.
Shorter Pickering:
Obama = good
Trump = bad
John Pickering,
I enjoy collecting examples of Begging the Question. Thank you.
Thanks, Big Mike.
With Obama the Left was obsessed with what he said as if words were deeds. The deeds, why bother with minor insignificant details? The man was given a Nobel prize for nothing but words. Trump natters like crazy and the Left focuses on that but not on what he is actually doing. The average person merely has to look at their wallet and see if Obama's promise of $2,500 in health insurance savings is real or whether Trump's tax reductions reductions is real.
As for Amazon, as Jack Wayne pointed out its Ponzi like growth scheme eventually has to come to a halt. The market eventually wants to see results and the lenders want to see profits. The Axios articles blathers about Trump's friends who are invested in brick and mortar real estate etc. Of course they presume collusion. It doesn't occur to the morons at Axios empty stores and dead malls equal less tax revenues for state and local government which goes to show how far TDS has gone when they are willing to damn Trump at the cost of financing progressive things. If the market's hammering of tech stocks today is any indication, the Amazon ballon may have just hit its maximum altitude.
Trump, Trump, Trump, the hacks are typing,
Cheer up comrades change must come,
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the freeland in our own beloved home.
cubanbob: It doesn't occur to the morons at Axios empty stores and dead malls equal less tax revenues for state and local government which goes to show how far TDS has gone when they are willing to damn Trump at the cost of financing progressive things.
It may or may not have occurred to them, but it isn't what their paymasters want them to write about.
DickinBimbos has been reading sales tax books at home. I like Amazon. I benefit from Prime. And I frequently don't pay California sales taxes when I order through Amazon. That's good for me. I live in California and I begrudge every danged penny I send to Sacramento where it is p@ssed away into the wind.
But--state sales taxes have their legitimate place in the scheme of things and Amazon helps lots of folks avoid them. If I could trust Amazon (a fact not in evidence as it were) to collect the appropriate state sales tax on all goods shipped into any particular state, and then remit all sales taxes collected to the appropriate state, I'd sigh and pay my share.
It would end a game that has gone on for ages. Oregon has no state sales tax. You'd be surprised how many California owned yachts were "purchased in Oregon and registered in Oregon" and docked in Newport Beach California. Jean Fraud Kerry engaged in the same tax dodge when his luxury saleboat was "docked in Rhode Island" to avoid Massachusetts sales taxes.
“And what they’ve done is he bought this paper for practically nothing. And he’s using that as a tool for political power against me and against other people. And I’ll tell you what: We can’t let him get away with it. So he’s got about 20, 25 — I just heard they’re taking these really bad stories — I mean, they, you know, wrong, I wouldn’t even say bad.”
Donald Trump
“He’s obsessed with Amazon,” a source with no direct access to the President said. “Obsessed.”
FIFY.
Of course, Ann and many her readers get their news from Powerline and the Daily Mail, and only read the WaPo for its fashion and media coverage.
Whereas you gets your "news" from CNN.
But, of course, if Trump is for free speech, it's only because he wants free speech for himself.
Maybe it's more precise to say that Trump doesn't have a problem in general with free speech, but he dislikes specific sorts of free speech. Hasn't he's made various noises about disliking the current state of defamation, slander and libel laws with regards to public figures? Who knows were all that could lead, but I wouldn't be surprised if at some point he starts pushing hard for changes in those laws.
Trump certainly knows how to piss off blondes:
‘Heartbroken’ Trump Critic Ann Coulter: He’s a ‘Shallow, Lazy Ignoramus’
Whenever I hear complaints from any government about a corporation "evading" taxes, I wish the media would ask, "and whose fault is that, then?"
Yes, the corporations enlist the help of their favorite representatives (no matter what country) to make sure that's so. But the answer is still in the lawmakers' hands.
(BTW, in Pennsylvania, we pay state sales tax on Amazon purchases. A number of states do so.)
cubanbob,
"With Obama the Left was obsessed with what he said as if words were deeds....Trump natters like crazy and the Left focuses on that but not on what he is actually doing."
I keep thinking of this with respect to Trump's supposed fondness for Putin and soft spot for Russia.
He has said things I find objectionable in praise of Putin. He has chosen not to say things I think he should.
He's also taking quite a few substantive actions that are decidedly in our interest at the expense of the Russians', while his UN ambassador keeps giving them holy hell and for some reason hasn't been fired yet.
And still I hear people on the left demand: Why won't he personally tell off Putin in exactly the terms and tones I demand? Does he owe him for getting him elected? Is Putin blackmailing him? Is he just afraid to?
The possibility that he is moving to counter Russia in the real world, while saying [sometimes sickeningly] nice things in a [probably vain] effort to assuage their mistrust, just doesn't compute. We don't have to consider that, because we KNOW he's a Russian stooge.
If you aren't concerned about the reach of Amazon, you haven't been paying attention.
Amazon in particular and online commerce in general has been a huge boon to the consumer, I don't think anyone really questions this. It is killing a lot of retailers in the process, such as Borders and Barnes & Noble. This is less good, but they are being outcompeted. Even Walmart, which has the financial resources, has failed to match the quality of Amazon's site for convenience.
My understanding is that Amazon currently pays sales tax in every state that requires this and is in all respects on an equal footing with Walmart.
"Of course, Ann and many her readers get their news from Powerline and the Daily Mail, and only read the WaPo for its fashion and media coverage."
What a bald-faced lie!
I have been linking to the NYT and WaPo practically every day for 14+ years. It is obvious to anyone who reads this blog that I get nearly everything from mainstream liberal media. What else do I link to? The New Yorker, Politico, CNN... it's all liberal mainstream media and little else.
Get news from Power Line? That's an idea that has never even occurred to me.
The Dems and neverTrumpers are making an example of Zuckabug and Facebook. They don't want any body in tech/big data giving Trump access in 2020.
But Facebook will survive because it's all bound up with US intelligence. The line between the intelligence community and Silicon Valley is very blurry. It's the modern day "military-industrial complex" only worse. IMHO.
What a bald-faced lie!
He left out Faux News.
Wait a minute, Althouse, you mean that you're not getting your information and marching orders from Trump's dog whistle?
I’m one of Amazon’s best customers. The ease of shopping, price comparison, free quick delivery with Prime, worth every penny. Even grocery shopping online becomes fun, delivery and no dragging in bags and bags of heavy groceries. I never was overly thrilled with shopping in brick and mortar stores when younger and still working, never enough time to really spend looking at prices and bargains. Now that I’m retired, I appreciate shopping online and not having to drag home packages. Grocery shopping was a pain in the ass. Have I said how much I love Amazon?
Trump obviously doesn’t give a shit about people who depend on Amazon’s services.
Chaos, I say, Chaos! That Terrible Trump is driving everybody mad. Is he actually a stable genius working 20 hours a day on our side, or is he a clown doing every evil deed the Dems and Clinton need covered up for them by their FBI apparatchiks.
Stay tuned.
My impression was that Trump's antipathy to Amazon came from his antipathy to WP, both Bezos entitites.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Trump certainly knows how to piss off blondes:
‘Heartbroken’ Trump Critic Ann Coulter: He’s a ‘Shallow, Lazy Ignoramus’"
That well maybe true. Still, the November 2016 election was between Trump and Hillary so given the choice between a shallow and lazy ignoramus and a grifter, criminal and traitor, the country chose wisely.
Speaking of your comment that Amazon pays sales taxes in every state, well first it collects and remits sales taxes but it doesn't pay them nor does it pay real estate and corporate income taxes in most states like brick and mortar stores. I like Amazon and I use Amazon and Amazon Prime but let's not overlook that it does have a huge tax advantage over its traditional rivals.
Amazon in particular and online commerce in general has been a huge boon to the consumer, I don't think anyone really questions this. It is killing a lot of retailers in the process, such as Borders and Barnes & Noble. This is less good, but they are being outcompeted. Even Walmart, which has the financial resources, has failed to match the quality of Amazon's site for convenience.
My understanding is that Amazon currently pays sales tax in every state that requires this and is in all respects on an equal footing with Walmart.
Exactly correct. And the same people who shout about Evil WalMart destroying local Mom and Pop stores use Amazon. Amazon not only affects Mom and Pop, they will kill the big guys too. Latest, Toy-r-Us
I attended City Council meetings when a WalMart wanted to expand. Pretty interesting to hear exact same arguments against WalMart that I had read about on the internet. Same argument every place W.M wanted to open.
City Council meeting had union reps and small town politicians from twenty five miles away there to complain.
Trump also resents that Bezos worth 100 times as much as him.
It will be interesting how the US media handles the working out of the Korean situation. The latest news seems very good indeed - though you should go to foreign sources to get it, notably the Chinese Xinhua news agency, to get the official Chinese line.
It is not being played up in the US and I suspect all efforts will be made to turn it into a footnote.
This is not going to be a surprise. Consider that the US MSM gave GHW Bush and his administration no credit for the great US victory in the Cold War. That cause of existential anxiety for generations, removed and resolved through the collapse of the Soviet Union, that figured so much in US politics post 1945, was suddenly uninteresting in 1992.
JPS why people can't understand that Trump is what he is, a New York City property developer and hustler is a mystery to me. Especially NYT readers and commentariat who don't get it. Par for the course the guy had to make nicey with the unions, the politicians and the special interests which meant a nice big smile, a warm hug and a strong handshake while plunging the knife in the back. Tell Mike it's nothing personal, just business. Of course he makes nicey nice with Putin by congratulating on Puttin winning his election in the meantime his trying to knife him in the back. Putin knows this as well but that is how the game gets played. In the meantime, where is the Leftist outrage over Obama going to Cuba to meet with an even less legitimately elected president than Putin with nothing to show for it?
Walmart is no longer quite so much the political enemy these days as its corporate policy and political contributions are now pro-Democrat. Like Microsoft it got with the program.
And, of course, the business victims of both Amazon and Walmart are mostly "deplorable" small and medium business.
Pickering is a purely malicious entity.
Angle-Dyne, Angelic Buzzard said...
cubanbob: It doesn't occur to the morons at Axios empty stores and dead malls equal less tax revenues for state and local government which goes to show how far TDS has gone when they are willing to damn Trump at the cost of financing progressive things.
It may or may not have occurred to them, but it isn't what their paymasters want them to write about."
You have encapsulated the difference between a socialist and a corporatist. Hillary always had more than a touch of Evita in her if one stripped out Evita's looks and charm.
There is plenty of room out there for others to compete with Amazon. It just happens that Amazon excels and when others excel more than Amazon, they will start pushing Amazon aside. It is called capitalism and the leftists who say they use and like it, should acknowledge that it occurs because capitalism excels in the marketplace.
Thanks for noticing Ann, but you might avoid the personal vituperation, for someone who regards the President as a subtle humorist I'm surprised you react so strongly to a little fun 'n' games.
But seriously, search your blog, you've mentioned Hinderaker and Powerline on March 15, March 5, Feb. 16, and Feb. 14 so far this year that I can easily see. I wouldn't call you a bald-faced liar, because that would be uncivil, but your remark that you wouldn't get news from Powerline is belied by the frequency with which you cite it. As for the Daily Mail, well, that's just funny. You really should YouTube the Daily Mail Song.
Of course you read the NYT and the WaPo, the non-humorous gist of my point is that what attracts you to those publications aren't what their editors regard as the most important news. So that's why my view is that you tend to focus on tangential things and never the lead stories. It also explains your bafflement at why editors at big-time news organizations do the things they do and why we never hear from you on issues like why Trump can't get a loan or find a lawyer. It shows in this bit about Amazon, in which you seem to be pretending that you don't know that the owner of Amazon also owns the Washington Post.
Anyway, it's all in fun. You must be laughing your head off, for example, at the clever and humorous way President Trump interacts with his wife and adolescent son! So funny!
The comments about sales taxes are a deflection from Jack Wayne's point about Amazon not paying taxes. Sales taxes are pass through taxes that are levied on the consumer taxes that we pay.
What Jack is talking about are real taxes levied on the corporation, and if what he says is true (I do not understand finance very well), it is indeed a kind of Ponzi scheme that must someday, if it has not already, reach its limits, and the bubble will burst.
However, Bezos is a pretty smart man and he may have figured out a way to smoothly transit Amazon into some other business model? Or bankruptcy and reorganization is part of the plan?
We would all profit from following John Pickering's own blog.
cubanbob said...
Speaking of your comment that Amazon pays sales taxes in every state, well first it collects and remits sales taxes
Yes I mistated this. But in this respect they are now no different to Walmart.
nor does it pay real estate and corporate income taxes in most states like brick and mortar stores.
Like a lot of other businesses, and that was before the corporate tax cut.
it does have a huge tax advantage over its traditional rivals.
This is unclear to me. What, if any, advantage does it have over Walmart's online business, which is not terrible, just not as good as Amazon, and sometimes cheaper.
"Pickering" seems to be a particularly nasty troll.
Trump obviously doesn’t give a shit about people who depend on Amazon’s services.
The usual contentless comment by Inga.
I use Amazon all the time and appreciate the convenience.
I also lament that Sears missed the opportunity to be the Amazon alternative.
Amazon has built the business on a pyramid of tax losses and that may be a problem when the carried for ward losses run out.
They will have to have the cash flow at that time.
@Inga (11:38), are you saying Amazon should not pay its fair share of taxes?
I wonder what the net is on how many mom & pop stores Amazon has put out of business and how many have been able to expand from main street to the world because of Amazon? Both because they provide a place to sell your product and because they handle all the logistics?
Also, how many new mom & Pop businesses have been started because Amazon made it possible?
I am seriously considering starting a book publishing company as a side-hustle.. It will be virtual through Amazon. I've published several books through them and most months the royalties cover the car payment (A Hyundai, not a Mercedes, but still...) I am working on another project with an Australian author and have a couple of other ideas. I think it may be time to create a brand identity as a publisher.
Michael K, are you listening?
In the Roseann thread I mentioned that I am working with an Australian author republishing his 4 books on quality. Best books ever written on quality, IMHO, and I've been bugging him to get them back in print for years. Finally he asked if I would edit them into a single volume.
We will be publishing it through Amazon. 30-70% Royalty, royalty statements on demand and in real time, monthly direct deposits, dirt cheap author copies global distribution. We have not decided if we will publish a Kindle version.
As opposed to 10-12% royalties, little discount on author copies, semi-annual payment and opaque royalty reporting with a regular publisher.
Jeff Bezos is my hero.
All the graphs and tables, about 200 of them, will be redrawn from scans by a guy in Pakistan for $250. Found him via freelancer.com which handles the entire transaction for next to nothing.
I love the internet.
John Henry
readering said...
Trump also resents that Bezos worth 100 times as much as him.
3/28/18, 11:50 AM
Oh, sure.
And Bezos resents Trump for being virile enough to satisfy Playmate, porn star and wife day after day. And secondly, for being leader of most powerful nation in history.
John said...
I wonder what the net is on how many mom & pop stores Amazon has put out of business and how many have been able to expand from main street to the world because of Amazon? Both because they provide a place to sell your product and because they handle all the logistics?
Also, how many new mom & Pop businesses have been started because Amazon made it possible?
Good question. Things change and life goes on
I think of E-Bay as business creator. I know people who supplement income using E-Bay.
This is unclear to me. What, if any, advantage does it have over Walmart's online business, which is not terrible, just not as good as Amazon, and sometimes cheaper.
For one thing, people are far more used to using Amazon to order stuff. This may seem like a small and not insurmountable thing, but it's actually very difficult to retrain potential customers to not just automatically search then buy from Amazon rather than looking elsewhere. If the modern world has driven home anything to me, it's that convenience trumps most other concerns. And part of convenience is not having to think. Things like "one click" purchasing and other innovations designed to remove barriers have granted Amazon a victory in the convenience war. Ultimately Wal-Mart is going to have to offer an experience that is even more convenient and thoughtless to win mindshare over Amazon. One way many be to leverage their many physical locations to greatly reduce shipping times.
We have a sick corporate tax system where local taxes all fall on small/medium businesses while states/counties/cities pay giant corporations to move to their location.
Anywhere Boeing or Amazon go they pay no property taxes. It pays to be a big guy in the swamp when you donate to democrats/GOPe uniparty critters. Obama was the king of corporate cronyism.
Inga and ARM love themselves some corporate cronyism.
how many have been able to expand from main street to the world because of Amazon? Both because they provide a place to sell your product and because they handle all the logistics?
Excellent point. My two books are still selling through Amazon and I switched one to POD since I was tired of doing the fulfillment myself. The history book sold 20,000 copies before I turned it over to Amazon. It now sells about 10 to 20 copies a months with no effort from me. The other is Kindle only.
I wouldn't call you a bald-faced liar, because that would be uncivil, but your remark that you wouldn't get news from Powerline is belied by the frequency with which you cite it.
For a guy who bends backwards to make sure his grammar is perfect, you certainly have a hard time with reading comprehension. The fact that she cites PowerLine DOESN'T mean she gets her news from there. But in fairness, I should cut you some slack. There USED to be a bright line between news and opinion, but that bright line has turned into a sometimes thin, sometimes invisible line.
That said, you can get opinions from websites without getting news from them.
Althouse I think you've alighted upon a way to read and interpret articles on Trump, especially articles written in such an emotive and jargoned way. Instead of a Fisking, as the technique of quote-and-rebut with wit is known, this should have its own name. Perhaps a hyperfocused monomaniacal and emotional screed when analyzed in your style should be called a Chucking, because such charged language does seem to occur only when people discuss Trump, especially "only treat[ing] Trump this way" as they say.
In the meantime the antitrust case against AT&T and Time Warner is on trial. CNN is a big supporter of vigorous antitrust enforcement so long as it doesn't involve them.
Fortunately it is not illegal to be more efficient than the competition so Amazon should be okay.
Anyway, it's all in fun.
Every bully's defense. "Aintchoo got no sensayuma?"
Althouse, I'm not telling you to terminate John Pickering, but if you don't, you deserve everything he throws at you.
Get news from Power Line? That's an idea that has never even occurred to me.
Oh I do it all the time. I just like the way lawyers write and think, so long as they are not reflexive leftists. I often encounter ideas and articles and events that the PowerLine guys write about that's "news to me." That's news. Real news too, not fake. I can also click through to their source and often to the source docs for the people they quote. There's many a time that the PL blog will have original memos or court docs or whatever attached via Scribd to their articles, much more transparent than real "news" orgs do.
If you rethink your comment, haven't you seen real new news there before?
It is particularly interesting to me that so many of the media people who are always claiming to know what Trump is thinking, have demonstrated repeatedly that they have zero understanding of him or anyone who could support him.
I mean, of all people who should NOT claim to understand what motivates Trump or how he thinks, the people at Axios and CNN etc., are at the top of the list.
Re Facebook: Upon review of analytics and subscriber #s, conservative Radio hosts have found forms of obvious suppression.
I like reading this as if Axios were an actual person who talked about himself in the third person.
Of course you read the NYT and the WaPo, the non-humorous gist of my point is that what attracts you to those publications aren't what their editors regard as the most important news. So that's why my view is that you tend to focus on tangential things and never the lead stories. It also explains your bafflement at why editors at big-time news organizations do the things they do and why we never hear from you on issues like why Trump can't get a loan or find a lawyer.
Great Advice!
Althouse, just imagine how wildly successful your blog would be if your focus was on regurgitating DNC talking points and topics like WaPo, NYT, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, etc., etc., etc.
One shudders at the possibilities.
The Church's progressive and liberal sects receive their testimony from the twilight fringe.
Grocery shopping was a pain in the ass. Have I said how much I love Amazon?
Trump obviously doesn’t give a shit about people who depend on Amazon’s services.
Yeah. Because as we know - every day - the entire fucking world revolves around you, Inga.
AA: "What a bald-faced lie!
I have been linking to the NYT and WaPo practically every day for 14+ years..."
Oh, is Pickering a serious commenter? I thought he popped in now and again for comic relief.
That high-camp style (de haut en bas pomposity + highly exaggerated wrist-flapping) can't be for real, can it?
Walmart is no longer quite so much the political enemy these days as its corporate policy and political contributions are now pro-Democrat.
Not quite. As long as Wal*Mart continues to tells unions to pound sand, it will still be Enemy #1 on the left.
Inga: "Trump obviously doesn’t give a shit about people who depend on Amazon’s services."
LOL
The "irredeemable deplorables" and let all the midwestern red states die crowd checks in to lecture others about "caring" about people who depend on Amazon's services.
You can't make this stuff up.
The people who depend on Amazon services know perfectly well what's in their interests, and they voted for Trump.
And Inga and company call them nazi's and murderers.
The lack of self-awareness is absolutely priceless.
Amazon, Google, Twitter etc have reached the scale, market power and behavioral characteristics of monopolies and need to be broken up to reinvigorate competition.
This is an observation that crosses party and ideological boundaries.
An antitrust action at this point, while the companies founder is alive and active, seems premature. He built the company from nothing and should be allowed to see how far he can go. Once the creative force of the founder has been exhausted, however, then Amazon is a good candidate for antitrust action. It looks like it is going to become a very dominant monopoly and that won't be a good thing in the long run. Not sure how you would break up however. You can't create baby Amazons restricted to a particular region.
As for whether or not Amazon should be "broken up" or whatever, it's far too early to make that determination imo. There's still so many unknowns in the market. For one thing, Amazon still has a number of very viable competitors. The two biggest and most notable being Wal-Mart and Alibaba, not to mention the various secondary market competitors like eBay and Craigslist. We're kind of in a transitional period still.
ARM: "Not sure how you would break up however. You can't create baby Amazons restricted to a particular region."
ARM cant see any way to do it, so therefore its "un-posdible".
Plus, the founder is still alive and we must not disturb his bliss.
LOL
Yeah, thats an actual argument ARM just made against potential anti-trust action.
JP Morgan just rolled over to say "What?!"...
Not sure how you would break up however. You can't create baby Amazons restricted to a particular region.
You break it up by function.
A web hosting cloud company
A general online retailer
a food service logistics company
a book logistics company
a movie company.
etc, etc.
I'm not advocating that, just illustrating how it could be done.
There is differential treatment from the Left because their goal isn't really to prevent companies like Facebook from being used for political campaigns- their goal is to make sure that Facebook (and Google) are only used to help the Left in political campaigns. As I wrote earlier- the Clinton Campaign, and Obama's before it, did the exact same things with Facebook's databases, but the difference between today and 2013 is that Clinton lost her campaign.
The goal, then, is this- government regulation to prevent an overt and open attempt to use the social media networks by Republicans, while knowing full well that the companies themselves will help the Democrats under the table and around the new regulations. It is a facade to give the companies the legal right to refuse to take and aid political ads by Republicans.
This is Trump saying, keep it up. I can tank your stock with a Tweet.
Brian said...
just illustrating how it could be done.
I thought of this but each child company would presumably inherit the software and database of the parent so it would be just as dominant, just in a smaller market.
Charlie Currie said...
This is Trump saying, keep it up. I can tank your stock with a Tweet.
I will be patiently waiting for Drago to call Trump a fascist.
The point isn't if you like or dislike Amazon, the point it that Amazon must pay the same taxes everyone else is paying.
For anybody think they are getting something by buying untaxed merchandise from Amazon or some other internet/mail order retailer, I refer you to the sales and use tax requirements of your state. In most instances, you are required BY LAW to file a return and remit the tax that would have been collected if you had purchased it from a local retailer. FYI, a business will generally be required to collect sales taxes in states in which they have what is called "nexus." I almost regret that Tennessee got an Amazon warehouse a while back which triggered the need to collect sales taxes.
States typically have a roving band of auditors who go around to businesses and go through their accounts payable invoices to check on whether sales taxes were paid, and if not, whether the businesses filed a return. I assume this is lucrative and not just done for compliance purposes.
As a side note, if you purchase a car from out of state, you must pay sales taxes in your state before you title it. In Illinois specifically if you buy a car in a surrounding county with lower sales tax than Chicago/Cook County, they charge you the Chicago/Cook County amount.
Lefty conspirators claim Mr and Dr Zukerberg are closet Republicans.
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