The USA already has socialist policies like Medicare, Farm Subsidies and the biggest one of all were you build stuff you do not need called the Department of Defense

AOC is an idiot an Economics degree and just does not get that your not giving them 3 billion in cash

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be the dumbest Congressman you've never heard of.

I am catching up on this discussion but I had to step in and comment on your completely inadequate understanding of how and why local politicians make decisions and why they routinely make decisions that are financially not in their jurisdictions best interest. Since those chickens don’t come home to roost until after they have received all the media coverage and leveraged it into higher offices the reality is they care not at all if it’s financially viable. That doesn’t even take into account public officials being directly greased.

Your thinking that if so many cities put in offers it must be a great deal from Amazon shows a total lack of understanding of how local and regional politics work throughout almost the entire country.

Why wouldn't any city welcome Amazon? Thanks to AOC, Queens and NYC will have to make do without benefits like this.

https://twitter.com/ByRosenberg/stat...29725897834496

This is one reason why cities can’t play these games. Especially based on a threat with no contract or consequence. They can always just walk away.

Yep. What was that one business that got all the tax concessions and as soon as their lease was up moved operations overseas? It was a couple of years ago I think.

Hello violates,

Since you are back, can you fill me in on the research into posting history? I am sure you found tons of contradictions...proly just forgot to post em.

NYT article is nuts. His current skank gf was bragging about the affair to the other moms at her kids’ school while still married to her superagent husband. Lol LA.

Based on the article this doesn't seem nearly as bad as it sounds.

Cliffs:
-Amazon signed a lease that they're still on the hook for. They've got to pay whether they use the space or not.
-They're just going to sublet the space to someone else
-It doesn't look like there is going to be much problem filling the space. So somebody is going to be working there.

Amazon is staying in Seattle but not Seattle. They are expanding to Bellevue, 20 minute drive from its current HQ in Seattle.

This is what happens when you allow municipalities to compete like this and not force them to coordinate.

It doesn’t make it any less stupid for Seattle to (try to) impose an Amazon tax and think Amazon wouldn’t look for alternatives.

Huh? Should cities have been coordinating to avoid NYC offering concessions?

Federal level regulation. Barring that, local coordination to make it harder for AMZN to just move next door and not have to invest billions in an alternative HQ.

You need to make sure the businesses can't credibly threaten to move. A big part of it is just coordinating with municipalities nearby and/or geographic barriers. It's a big part of why NYC (which just annexed nearby munis that became boroughs of NYC) can tax financial institutions so heavily. Another part is to not try to institute a tax so costly rational firms will just bail at the first opportunity.

This coordination problem also shows up in public transportation area. You see it in DC with all the random bus lines that aren't really coordinated with each other. You also see it with schools not sharing resources and integrating when they should.

Honestly, I don't think Seattle has good options on its own. It's just too geographically small and (at least seemingly) all of its neighbors have been actively courting Amazon (and every other large tech firm) to move. Let Seattle annex everything around it and make it difficult and costly to move, and Seattle may be able to raise taxes on the margins.

Without annexing/coordinating with its neighbors, Seattle must get the taxes imposed on the state level then try to siphon it to Seattle. NYC and NYS have been doing this dance for decades where NYC uses the NYS to impose a tax while maintaining a level playing field. In return, state keeps some money. This isn't unique to NYC/NYS. You see it in LA(county)/CA and most major metropolitan centers of the world/their state/federal overlord.

I DO want corporations and businesses in general to pay their fair share and taxpayers to get more of the positive externalities generated by a big employer coming to town and creating agglomeration effects. I am just against doing it in a stupid way that hurts economic progress and still fails to achieve the goal of raising revenues.

That's a long article with lots of ppl. I didn't see how the brother got the texts from his sister tho.

So apparently Amazon/Bezos security team has determined Saudi Arabia leaked the Bezos texts to the Enquirer. The Enquirer is fighting hard to cover up that connection.

Some speculation SA was hitting back on the Washington Post coverage of the Khashoggi murder.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...-the-enquirer/

Should be a massive story, will be forgotten by sundown.

odds that kush is involved in this? seems unlikely but would be a sweet bonus

Hopefully Bezos buys it and shutters it

Still fairly amazed at the brazen skanktastic gold digging from the new squeeze. She was married with kids to a guy worth a few hundred million and instantly bolted (while passing around Bezos dick pics to her friends). That’s Trump level shamelessness!

^

paging crossnerd