Amazon Argues With US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on Twitter (thehill.com) 255
The Hill reports that Amazon engaged in "a heated Twitter exchange" with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren "after the lawmaker claimed that it and other large corporations 'exploit loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes.'"
The exchange began after Warren (Democrat - Massachusetts) tweeted a clip from Thursday's Senate Finance Committee hearing, in which she accused Amazon and other companies of "manipulating the tax code to avoid paying their fair share."
Hours later, the Amazon News Twitter account responded with, "You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them."
"If you don't like the laws you've created, by all means, change them," Amazon tweeted, adding that the tech giant "has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone...." The company added that since 2010, it has invested $350 billion in the U.S. economy and in 2020, added 400,000 new jobs across the country...
Warren later Thursday evening hit back at Amazon, tweeting, "I didn't write the loopholes you exploit... your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did."
"But you bet I'll fight to make you pay your fair share," she continued. "And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."
UPDATE: Bernie Sanders was recently called out on Twitter by the retail chief of Amazon. "I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that's not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace."
A recent article in Recode suggests the tweets may have been encouraged by Jeff Bezos: Amazon has long been at odds with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over their criticisms of the company's labor and business practices. But the discord reached a new height last week when Amazon aggressively went after both on Twitter in an unusual attack for a large corporation. With each new snarky tweet from an Amazon executive or the company's official Twitter account, insiders and observers alike asked a version of the same question: "What the hell is going on?"
Turns out that Amazon leaders were following a broad mandate from the very top of the company: Fight back.
Recode has learned that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos expressed dissatisfaction in recent weeks that company officials weren't more aggressive in how they pushed back against criticisms of the company that he and other leaders deem inaccurate or misleading. What followed was a series of snarky and aggressive tweets that ended up fueling their own media cycles.
The timing was likely not coincidental. Bezos and other Amazon leaders are on edge as the company is facing the largest union election in its history at its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse.
Hours later, the Amazon News Twitter account responded with, "You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them."
"If you don't like the laws you've created, by all means, change them," Amazon tweeted, adding that the tech giant "has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone...." The company added that since 2010, it has invested $350 billion in the U.S. economy and in 2020, added 400,000 new jobs across the country...
Warren later Thursday evening hit back at Amazon, tweeting, "I didn't write the loopholes you exploit... your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did."
"But you bet I'll fight to make you pay your fair share," she continued. "And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."
UPDATE: Bernie Sanders was recently called out on Twitter by the retail chief of Amazon. "I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that's not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace."
A recent article in Recode suggests the tweets may have been encouraged by Jeff Bezos: Amazon has long been at odds with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over their criticisms of the company's labor and business practices. But the discord reached a new height last week when Amazon aggressively went after both on Twitter in an unusual attack for a large corporation. With each new snarky tweet from an Amazon executive or the company's official Twitter account, insiders and observers alike asked a version of the same question: "What the hell is going on?"
Turns out that Amazon leaders were following a broad mandate from the very top of the company: Fight back.
Recode has learned that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos expressed dissatisfaction in recent weeks that company officials weren't more aggressive in how they pushed back against criticisms of the company that he and other leaders deem inaccurate or misleading. What followed was a series of snarky and aggressive tweets that ended up fueling their own media cycles.
The timing was likely not coincidental. Bezos and other Amazon leaders are on edge as the company is facing the largest union election in its history at its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse.
Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
"lawmaker claimed that it and other large corporations 'exploit loopholes"
Loopholes that said 'lawmakers' left in the tax legislation either by accident (incompetent) or by design (corrupt).
Just change the laws to close the loopholes but don't ask people to pay more than YOUR laws expect them to.
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That would require competence, not speeches.
It's easier to fundraise with video clips of speeches. A paragraph of text saying you were competent and didn't leave (or introduce) loopholes is not as flashy.
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"What are you talking about? Warren gets one vote, if you want her to change the laws by herself give her 100 votes."
It's lawMAKERS at fault, not lawFOLLOWERS, those have no power whatsoever for change!
What's so complicated to understand?
Re: Really? (Score:5, Informative)
Its everybody's fault, lawmakers for not passing the correct laws, followers like amazon that spend money lobby and funding for these laws, the system which means law makers need donations from the rich in order to get re-elected. The people for letting it happen.
The entire system is broken, and each individual blaming the other. Amazon could simply pay taxes fairly and not use loopholes, treat its employees fairly, but then it would be behaving unethically to its share holders, it has a duty to maximize profits. Lawmakers could have some backbone and ignore lobbyist but probably won't get funding and won't be re-elected so won't be able to change any laws. Voters could vote for an independent, but that would mean throwing away the infinitesimal amount of power they have to stop the person they like the least get into power.
We need to stop finding someone to blame and fix the system.
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There are generally good reasons for most tax loopholes— properly termed carve-outs. Businesses being taxed on profits vs gross income is one simple example— the alternative favors larger, established companies vs giving new entrants a chance to create a foothold. Many others are done to stimulate the economy, create social and economic stability, etc.
The problem is you cannot effectively tax a trillion dollar company the same way as a million dollar company. Figure out a way to address that gap
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The problem is you cannot effectively tax a trillion dollar company the same way as a million dollar company. Figure out a way to address that gap and you solve the fairness issue.
We use progressive taxation on individual income taxes. If that could apply to companies you might reach your goal.
As if, they'll by back stock instead to not only reduce taxes but increase stock prices.
Re: Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
Amazon could simply pay taxes fairly and not use loopholes, treat its employees fairly, but then it would be behaving unethically to its share holders, it has a duty to maximize profits.
No, treating your employees fairly is not "unethical" towards the share holders. There is no duty to maximize profits at all costs.
This is just an opinion among some sociopaths on Wall Street but there is no law that says this.
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All law makers are democratically elected, representing the majority of voters (unless you agree with Trump about election fraud, but given your comment I suspect you don't). If Warren wants something which the rest of elected law makers are not willing to support, that means she represents an insignificant (on the scale of democratic governing) portion of the voters. "Make the person I voted for a dictator!" is not democracy.
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In some cases, sure, but offshoring profits to tax havens isn't a legislative loophole, but an accounting trick that multinational companies can use.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Informative)
offshoring profits to tax havens isn't a legislative loophole
Yes it is.
The tax code is written to allow the offshoring of profits.
The most obvious way to fix it would be to tax revenue, payroll, or dividends rather than profits.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Informative)
The code is not written *specifically* to allow for it, in the way that legislators slip perks in for their supporters. It's more a bug in the concept of taxing income when applied to a multinational entity.
Standard accounting practice makes it easy to create fictitious expenses and income. This is a feature, not a bug; it enables you do do things like charge back departmental services for example to justify the money spent on them. It's a management tool. But doing this necessarily creates fictitious profits and losses in various departments. For a single nation company it doesn't affect anything because all those fictitious profits and losses are in the same country and they cancel each other out. For a multinational it creates a tax dodge that was never intended to exist.
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Neh, the concept is even simpler than this and it really cannot be fixed. Imagine you make a product which costs you a dollar, and you can sell it for $10. You can sell it yourself and book $9 revenue, or you buy a company in a low tax jurisdiction, and that company strikes a massive volume discount price of $1.50, then you book $0.50 revenue per product, while the other company, which you own 100% but is abroad, books $8.50. Your revenue is low, but your stock value goes up because your company owns 100% s
Liz Warren didn't leave those loopholes (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously, if we'd just listen to her we'd stop having these cyclic crashes. Economists figured out in the 20s what causes them, but since the folks at the top can always count on a bail out (since if we don't they'll take the entire economy with them thanks to all the power they have) voters keep letting
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When you let basically anyone vote, how educated do you think your voters will be? Of course they are being hoodwinked into believing whatever the politicians say. Politicians aren't really dumb, they are just corrupt.
The reason you let everyone vote (Score:3)
Mind you, education is important. But there's nothing special about individual humans. So you can get better results just by extending education to everyone.
Finally the main reason you never take away the right to vote from _anyone_ is that once you start it's difficult to stop, and it ends in a dictatorship. You m
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No. They didn't. They thought they did, but those things have been tried, put in action in various places, and other things hit the boom and bust instead.
If you listen, you have another experiment. There's nothing wrong with an experiment done correctly, but it's very unlikely to be this 'magic bullet' you think it is.
Re:Liz Warren didn't leave those loopholes (Score:4, Insightful)
Warren doesn't understand even basic micro-economics, like supply and demand, let alone macro-economics. Her proposed Wealth Tax has already been attempted and failed miserably in other countries, resulting in repeals. She's either clueless, or just pandering to her ignorant left-wing base.
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Wait, let me go find the biggest eyeroll gif.
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"Warren gets one vote, if you want her to change the laws by herself give her 100 votes."
Musk and Bezos won't do it ever, even if they find 98 other people.
It's not their job, it's the lawmakers'.
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I wanted a lobotomy, but it was cheaper to visit https://twitter.com/home [twitter.com]
Re: Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
While I am not a big fan of social media, it IS for the most part, a forum where anyone at any strata of life can have a more or less equal voice.
ANYONE should be able to heckle a senator with snotty tweets.
It doesn't make anyone special...and SHOUILD NOT take anyone special to talk to or talk back to a US senator.
You fucking work for US...not the other way around Warren.
Elizabeth you are elected to work for the citizens of these United States, please don't forget that.
Being a senator does not put you up on a pedestal.
Re: Really? (Score:4, Interesting)
I think you mis-understood. Any one of us can heckle a judge, representative, or the president at will on twitter. OTOH, if the judge, representative, or president is currently involved in a legislative or judicial process that could affect your future, you would be well advised to keep the conversation civil. Only people who see themselves as too big to control and too big to fail would not see good reason to keep it civil under those conditions.
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Yes, exactly that. Thanks for the link.
Re: Really? Childish senator elizabeth warren (Score:4, Insightful)
So now telling the truth is 'heckling'? Wow, Senator EW sure doesn't like the truth that Congress makes the laws.
How childish and disrespectful for a US Senator to belittle and dismiss truth from the people they are supposed to serve.
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Re: Really? (Score:4, Insightful)
Amazon feels like it can heckle with impunity, and no fear of repercussions.
As they should. Your post implies that I would suffer repercussions for similarly heckling (heckling? really?), for contradicting the grandstanding senator with basic and 100% accurate facts. I find your implication very disturbing.
She's grandstanding, as she ALWAYS is, and again claiming that they aren't playing fair. They plainly pointed out that they are following the rules that she created. You think there should be repercussions? For what? Their nerve?
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Except the problem is that Senator is similar to Judge, in many ways. If you're in court you don't start taunting the Judge. If you're being investigated by Congress you don't start taunting the Senators.
And Amazon isn't just posting facts - there would be no problem if that were the case. The issue is that they're intentionally tweeting in a way to insult the Senators, to try provoke a response.
Re: Really? (Score:2, Insightful)
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Amazon and its "army of lawyers and lobbyists" have zero votes.
Not of their own but how many have they bought?
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Re: Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I like Warren generally, but this is just straight up BS. Amazon is 100% correct. They follow the laws that Congress makes. To the letter. Warren is part of that body, and she and the other members of the house and senate make the laws. As someone else pointed out, if those votes are for sale, and, it's legal to buy them, as a business who's fiduciary responsibility IS to make money for the shareholders, which, I might point out is a LEGAL responsibility defined by congress; then they must do everything the
Re: Really? (Score:2, Insightful)
Warren gets one vote, Amazon gets no votes - see the difference?
Politicians need to stop getting away with blaming nebulous "others" for their failed legislation.
So-called loopholes are exceptions politicians explicitly wrote into the tax laws.
Remember Sen. Charlie Rangel? He literally had the gall to claim ignorance of the tax laws he was in charge of writing for years! He said he didn't believe he had to report rental property income on townhouses he owned.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/0... [nytimes.com]
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No. The implication is that Amazon is taunting Senators because they feel above the law. Nobody is pushing for them to be unable to tweet what they want. The issue is that Amazon is doing so with no fear of repercussions, because they believe themselves so big that they should be immune to them.
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Apparently, Warren wants to follow in the footsteps of the con artist, someone I'm certain you fully agreed with.
I imagine you're wrong about a great many things in life, not just this.
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If the laws were written so normal people could read and understand them, it would be much harder to find loopholes. The problem is corruption of our political systems. You can't blame the wolf for taking bites at the herd when the herd sold them the tools to control them, now can we?
How Dare They (Score:5, Insightful)
How dare they heckle senators.
She's a Senator, you know!
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Re: How Dare They (Score:2, Troll)
She'll forever be known as Pocahontas or Fauxahonthasx after claiming she was native American and it turned out "the results of the DNA test, showing that she had between 1/64th and 1/1024th Native American ancestry" which is less than the average among white Americans
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2019/08/19/elizabeth-warren-scrubs-website-of-cherokee-ancestry-claims/amp/
And indeed she used her fake identity for carreer advancement : https://www.google.com/amp/s/a... [google.com]
" Warrenâ(TM)s 1986 regis
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I couldn't believe she actually wrote this:
"And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."
It makes her sound like an entitled senator princess. After reading it several times,
I think she was actually trying to make a joke. That only makes sense as a joke if she considers herself as one of the little people, not as one of the most powerful people in the country. She is firmly in the 1%.
Re: How Dare They (Score:4, Informative)
Elizabeth Warren needs to be mocked. She doesn't represent anyone but herself. She's the last person you want in your movement if you want it to have any chance of success.
She'll forever be known as Pocahontas or Fauxahonthasx after claiming she was native American but it turned out "the results of the DNA test, showing that she had between 1/64th and 1/1024th Native American ancestry" which is less than the average among white Americans
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2019/08/19/elizabeth-warren-scrubs-website-of-cherokee-ancestry-claims/amp/
And indeed she used her fake identity for carreer advancement : https://www.google.com/amp/s/a... [google.com]
" Warrenâ(TM)s 1986 registration card for the State Bar of Texas could put an end to all that. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the signed document in which she wrote that her race was âoeAmerican Indian.â This supports the two critical charges against her: that she knowingly and personally claimed Native American heritage, and that she did so for the purpose of career advancement. "
So yes she should be mocked. As should anyone who voted for her.
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She is your elected representative.
That's not how the US works. She is an elected representative, but she is not my elected representative. She represents the great state of Massachusetts.
My representatives in the senate are Feinstein and Padilla.
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Exactly. Generally speaking, I like Senator Warren. But that last sentence, "And fight to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets," I'm like "Excuse me?"
That sounds very Trumpian.
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I really feel that the implication was to have an implied "with impunity" at the end of that sentence. The comment really reads that way to me, but was left off by her because people typically don't say it while speaking because it's implied by the tone.
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How dare they heckle senators.
She's a Senator, you know!
Well they're welcome to do it, but all it does is make the Amazon PR team look like a bunch of idiots. Here's a pro tip, don't get into public slapfights with elected representatives, wtf.
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Because she's going to pass a law, right? Sorry, but twitter is the perfect place for anyone to heckle a Senator. Freedom of speech before we give that up completely as well. Clearly, princess warren would be happy with some speech control.
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Frankly - freedom of speech at the level the US has chosen it seems pretty damn overrated right now. Half the country voted for an idiot who probably made more false claims than true ones and killed 500k Americans with incompetence. Maybe it's time to start having some laws that restrict Libel, Slander and false claims in a useful way. It's pretty awful that Fox & Friends can just say whatever the heck they want with no consequences for misleading the American people except the country going to hell. Mo
Re:How Dare They (Score:5, Funny)
How dare they heckle senators.
She's a Senator, you know!
Also, this is the War Room.
why not? (Score:5, Insightful)
a person or a company would be crazy not to exploit loopholes. I wonder how many loopholes Warren exploits to save money? The reality is, why is she not sponsoring bills, rules or laws to close those loopholes?
Re:why not? (Score:5, Insightful)
The reality is, why is she not sponsoring bills, rules or laws to close those loopholes?
Because complaining about problems energizes the political base more than taking credit for solving problems. (And that's assuming you can actually solve the problems, or at least create the appearance of solving them.) Amazon and Warren are both acting in their own interests based on the incentives surrounding them.
Warren is TRYING to solve problems (Score:5, Insightful)
What we need to do to stop economic crashes is well understood. Warren has written several books on it. She has spoken extensively on the topic, especially on bringing back Glass-Steagal and separating Main Street and Wall Street banks. We've ignored her because of reasons that I'll get down modded for bringing up, so I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.
We massively deregulated Wall Street during the Trump era. A reckoning is coming. Another huge crash that'll hit the
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Save your money and invest after the crash. Sounds like opportunity to me.
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Except all those western European and Scandinavian countries which are socialist under the definition of socialism used by conservatives, but not socialist when it's pointed out that they're economically doing at least as well as the US and tend to produce better outcomes for workers.
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In 2019, it seems not many [ctfassets.net]. She paid 28% federal tax on $692k of income.
In 2011, she exploited more loopholes, it seems mostly from home office and business travel deductions [elizabethwarren.com]. She paid 25% federal tax on $616k of income. She also claimed a deduction for moving expenses.
Other interesting things, she owns a lot of IBM stock, presumably for a while, but no other stock (at least not mentioned on the return). She has a lot of money in an obscure Mormon bank (Zions First), and she has a giant ($300k) capital gain
Not powerful enough to heckle? (Score:5, Insightful)
Really? She thinks Amazon (or anyone else) should be so terrified of her Senatorial power they dare not heckle?
This isn’t someone with a strong commitment to free speech. Or, indeed, to the democratic idea that elected officials serve rather than reign.
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I think they should do a page-one rewrite on the Senate. Let the Senators represent the money. Let's just do it up front.
Each new and improved Senator will represent 1% of the federal tax revenue. If you want to go complain about Amazon (or the google or whoever), then you would know to contact the Senior Senator of Amazon.
Whoops.
I forgot that Amazon don't pay no stinkin' taxes. No Senator for you!
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In 2019, Amazon paid $162 million in income taxes, plus $9 Billion in Sales and Use taxes, and $2.4 Billion in payroll and customs taxes.
I'm pretty sure all of those are more in taxes than you personally paid to the tax collectors...
Re:Not powerful enough to heckle? (Score:5, Interesting)
Her days are numbered and she knows it. In her 2018 Senate campaign, she essentially promised that she would serve as a senator for Massachusetts and not run for President. Once elected, she immediately started running for President, with such a poor campaign that in the Massachusetts primary she not only lost to the front-runner, Biden, but she also lost to Bernie Sanders. In her own state.
She's also getting older and has accomplished nothing of note for her past two terms, and there's a Kennedy (remember: Massachusetts) that's seeking a Senate seat that only just lost his last attempt but can probably bump an unpopular Senator who's known more for running her mouth than accomplishing anything of note.
Which means it isn't that surprising that she's trying to get into fights with major companies that don't have a large presence in Massachusetts, because her little Presidential campaign stunt went over incredibly poorly at home. (It's also worth noting that she basically burned bridges with two major groups: the establishment voters went for Biden, the progressive wing went for Bernie, so the fact that she lost both groups in her own state has to be incredibly worrying to her.)
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Eh if she runs again she could get bumped out in a primary but chances it will not be by Joe Kennedy III who is really a charisma vacuum with no real idea's and all he accomplished was proving his namesake does not have the weight it used to years ago. In a Presidential election year it'll be someone running to her left.
And if "not accomplishing much" in a Senators term was a real issue in getting re-elected we would have a much different looking Senate right now, how much can any of them say they have "ac
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I find it hilarious that you think a corporation that basically writes its own laws is a great idea.
I fail to see how a reasonable person can read what was posted by parent and draw such conclusions from it.
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I find it hilarious that you think a corporation that basically writes its own laws is a great idea.
Which tax law did Amazon lobby to have written? Serious question.
That got to her (Score:5, Insightful)
> And fight to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."
a) she is assmad - must have hit pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that.
b) does she really think somebody has to be powerful to heckle a senator on Twitter? She wants to break up Big Tech but doesn't even understand what Twitter is? I imagine she's being mercilessly heckled right now.
Re: That got to her (Score:2)
Itâ(TM)s clear she did not expect to be challenged. How dare Amazon respond to her attacks!
Seriously, in most cases, politicians tweeting and âoequestioningâ during hearings are simply grandstanding opportunities. How many times have we seen politicians speak abusively to witness for five minutes without asking questions then getting mouthy when their assertions are challenged?
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I'm not on Amazon's side on this debate, but - lots of politicians (and their aides, who I assume handle the politicians' social media accounts):
1) really don't understand social media - they see it as a megaphone, and don't seem to grasp other people have the same megaphone (and love to use it).
2) are surprisingly thin-skinned - if you make a habit of "dishing it out", you should expect others to send it back (especially on social media).
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His company is supposed to cover for Democrats, not use facts to reveal their incompetence.
That's only during election years. Once the party is in power you have to exploit intra-party rivalries to get the laws you want passed.
Or, I don't know... (Score:3)
You know, the only reason we're not in a depression right now is, ironically, CO
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maybe she's upset that such an obviously false statement ("You make the tax laws" when in fact nothing she supports has passed since the 2008 crashes and all those were repealed weeks after Trump and the GOP took Congress & the white house)
It sounds like she's angry because she's an ineffectual Senator.
Changing the law is her job (Score:3)
If she doesn't like the law she can try and change it. That's literally part of her job.
But "she didn't make that."
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But that would require her to actually do something.
Well ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Warren later Thursday evening hit back at Amazon, tweeting, "I didn't write the loopholes you exploit... your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did."
That's most likely true, but... the Senate and the House then voted "Yes" for them with enough votes to pass and the President signed those bills into law. The initial blame may be on the lawyers and lobbyists but the responsibility is on you and your colleagues. Passing the buck here is disingenuous.
Who actually pays the taxes? (Score:2)
I know it's popular to think that companies should pay their fair share, but the reality is that any taxes that are successfully levied on a company are simply passed on to their customers. So really it's all of us who pay those taxes anyway. If Amazon is forced to cough up more taxes they'll just raise prices by that same percent. Except for some sectors like agriculture that can't pass their costs on.
Re:Who actually pays the taxes? (Score:5, Insightful)
It is not all of us at all, it is all of us who shop there, and only to the degree to which we do so. I for one go out of my way to avoid shopping with Amazon, so not only am I perfectly content to have their prices go up, I actually welcome it because when Amazon pays a lower tax rate they get an unfair advantage over other businesses and I like more choice in the market.
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Whether it's all people or some people is relatively immaterial. The fact is *people* pay the taxes in one form or another. So while you're correct that companies are hesitant to raise prices too much to cover taxes, the fact is that tax still has to come from somewhere, meaning from *someone*. I read a study recently that estimated nearly 70% of US corporate tax paid by a company is ultimately borne by the workers of that corporation in the form lowered pay. As you pointed out, companies are hesitant t
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Whether it's all people or some people is relatively immaterial
No, it's the entire point. When Amazon dodges tax, everyone else has to pay for it. When they pay tax then their customers have to pay it or their staff have to pay it. Either way it's their choice to shop or work there.
I'm very happy if Amazon goes bust. Whether it's because they have to pay their tax or their staff I really don't care. Other companies manage to do both; if Amazon is so incompetent that it can only survive on subsidies (which is what it's getting now) then fuck 'em.
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but the reality is that any taxes that are successfully levied on a company are simply passed on to their customers.
That's not really true, companies have two options: subtract the extra taxes from their profits, or raise prices. Typically they do a mix of both. First they reduce their profits (a lot of times the CxO suite doesn't care, since they get their salary either way, unless they have too much stock).
Later they raise prices to some degree, as everyone else in the industry does the same thing. In a perfect market, if one company raises prices to cover taxes and a second company does not, then everyone will
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It's a populist scheme, it riles up the rabble to rant about "fair shares". This problem has an easy solution - fuck corporate taxes for the most part, outside of e.g. land and resource use taxes. Instead, just tax rich people more. Tax stock sales more, tax capital gains more, tax high end real estate more, etc.. It's not hard. Then you're getting the money from a person, and it's a lot easier than getting it from a mega-corp.
But commies gonna commie and it's easy to rile up the rabble against large corpor
Amazon going through PR reps like Trump (Score:2)
There's been several of these foot-in-the-mouth tweets coming from 'Amazon News' (the other being the 'delivery deivers peeing in bottles' one) - I can only imagine they've fired one and hired another that's just as bad, much like all of Trump's Press Secretaries.
Their "argument" with AOC was much better (Score:2)
Freedom of association (Score:2)
Like it or not, there is still freedom of associate in the United States. And that includes the freedom to form for-profit companies.
And the congress is precisely the place making the rules for such associations. Her argument would only be matched if Bezos was complaining about drivers losing their packages. It is your job to make the rules, it is Amazon's job to deliver the packages.
Your job is to get heckled (Score:2)
I didn't write the loopholes... (Score:2)
I've got nothing against Senator Warren, but I am struck about her argument. At the local level a few of the members of my City Council have also invoked the "XYZ government problem is not my responsibility" and I don't understand it. At the city level, they are the government, just as at the federal level a Senator is the government. If not you then who?
Obviously one person doesn't get to make unilateral changes to the law, but I would suggest that it a legislator of any level is responsible for at lea
He doesn't double dog dare Warren on loopholes (Score:2)
Clark's Twitter ration could become brutal (Score:2)
plumbing the depths (Score:2)
I'm really not sure who to root for in this new nadir in american politics and discourse.
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I'd say Joe is pretty smart, and certainly powerful, but a Woman?
Jill would be pretty surprised to find that out, at this late date.
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What is it with strong, powerful women that brings out al the internet troll trash? Every post is either spam or veiled white suprematism?
Even powerless subhuman corporate stooges have every right in the world to "heckle" their representatives. It's called democracy. She deserves some incoming for her comments.
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The way we can tell you are a Democrat is the 'veiled white supremacism' bit. Tell your bosses they need to branch out. and address reality. Get some additional bullet points on the agenda. That one is getting stale.
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The latest CPAC had a stage shaped exactly like an Odic Rune, so I'd say it's still fresh.
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The latest CPAC had a stage shaped exactly like an Odic Rune, so I'd say it's still fresh.
Like that time Obama gave them all the secret White Power symbol: https://thefourthestate.net/12... [thefourthestate.net]
This conspiracy goes even deeper than we thought!
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Oh, the stage designed and built by a progressive stage company [businessinsider.com]? The folks who also did work for Biden? Who donated 98% to Democrats?
Yeah, I'm sure they're secret Nazis or whatever, since the stage designers are all progressive Democrats.
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Nothing. You're suddenly making it about women and the word strong. You've just engaged in a logical fallacy of "Deviation". Congratulations.
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What is it with strong, powerful women that brings out al the internet troll trash? Every post is either spam or veiled white suprematism?
Trump got voted out and smart, powerful women got voted in.
If you had anything of substance to say to defend Warren, you would have said it. Since you don't, you cry "RACIST" and "SEXIST!."
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What is it with strong, powerful women that brings out al the internet troll trash?
Lol.. the fact that you have to keep referring to them as 'strong and powerful' all the time, almost like you're trying to convince yourself.
All politicians are targets, it's part of the job. You only have to see how much vitriol the last president had aimed at him. But apparently women should be receive special treatment, because they're so 'strong and powerful'.
"Why are you picking on me?" is not the call of the truly strong and powerful. Actions and words etc...