I think it's worse than this article implies. Unless Virginia gave Amazon a
heck of a lot more than New York did, then New York contributed more than
hundreds of millions. The grand total I heard this evening on the PBS
NewsHour was 2.5 billion dollars for both headquarters.
I remember exclaiming to my life partner when I heard the total, "Amazon
doesn't need that money!"
Evan
-----Original Message-----
From: Miriam Vieni
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 9:33 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] As 'Corporate Bribery' Lands Amazon HQ2 in
Queens, Ocasio-Cortez Says 'Outrage' Best Describes Community Response
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Published on
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
by
Common Dreams
As 'Corporate Bribery' Lands Amazon HQ2 in Queens, Ocasio-Cortez Says
'Outrage' Best Describes Community Response
The idea that Amazon "will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax
breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need more
investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
CEO and founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos participates in a discussion during a
Milestone Celebration dinner September 13, 2018 in Washington, DC. Economic
Club of Washington celebrated its 32nd anniversary at the event. (Photo:
Alex Wong/Getty Images)
After a year-long race-to-the-bottom competition to determine which city and
state lawmakers would most subserviently grovel at its feet and offer the
most generous taxpayer-funded gifts, Amazon on Monday reportedly chose
Queens, New York and the Northern Virginia suburb of Crystal City as the
split locations for its second headquarters, sparking anger among those who
believe the online retailer will drive up already soaring housing prices and
worsen unsustainable inequality.
"We shouldn't be giving billions away to one of the biggest companies in the
world when our schools are already at capacity and our transit crumbling
across the region."
—Alex Howe, Democratic Socialists of America
"We've been getting calls and outreach from Queens residents all day about
this," Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote in a Twitter
thread late Monday. "The community's response? Outrage."
Highlighting Amazon's enormous size and wealth—the company recently reached
a trillion dollars in market value—Ocasio-Cortez added that the "idea that
it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when
our subway is crumbling and our communities need more investment, not less,
is extremely concerning to residents here."
Amazon's search for a second home (HQ2) on top of its current headquarters
in Seattle—where the company has successfully crushed efforts by city
lawmakers to impose a small tax to fight homelessness—set off what the New
York Times described as a "frenzied bidding war," which produced such
debasing stunts as New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's suggestion that
he would be willing change his name to "Amazon Cuomo" to secure the
company's presence in his state.
In addition to the public pronouncements of city and state officials,
lawmakers have also been negotiating with Amazon behind closed doors and
offering tax incentives that have not faced public scrutiny.
"Every year, American cities and states spend up to $90 billion in tax
breaks and cash grants to urge companies to move among states. That's more
than the federal government spends on housing, education, or
infrastructure."
—Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
Amazon—which is headed by Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man—is expected to
officially announce the HQ2 locations on Tuesday, but it is unclear if any
details of the deals with Queens and Crystal City will be made public.
According to one report, Cuomo offered Amazon hundreds of millions of
dollars in state subsidies to set up shop in Queens.
"Citizens have no idea what their elected officials have promised to a
company headed by the richest person on earth," Greg LeRoy, executive
director of Good Jobs First, noted in a statement last week. "We don't know
what special new subsidies have been promised that will require state or
local enactments. We don't know if gentrification buffers—especially
affordable housing—are included. We don't know if clawbacks or other
safeguards are included. We don't know the cost per job. But we do know that
both deals were negotiated in secret, without any public input."
Some of the taxpayer-funded incentive packages that were made public during
the "bidding process" were eye-popping: According to the Washington Post,
Maryland offered $8.5 billion and Newark offered $7 billion.
"We shouldn't be giving billions away to one of the biggest companies in the
world when our schools are already at capacity and our transit crumbling
across the region," Alex Howe of the Metro D.C. branch of the Democratic
Socialists of America said in a statement. "We must hold a genuine process
of community input and enact strict safeguards, such as a significant annual
contribution toward a community land trust, to make sure HQ2 doesn't
displace our existing communities and increase already rampant inequality."
Derek Thompson, staff writer for The Atlantic, argued on Monday that
lawmakers' efforts to lure Amazon to their states constitutes a form of
"corporate bribery" that is deeply harmful to the public and should be
banned outright by Congress.
"Every year, American cities and states spend up to $90 billion in tax
breaks and cash grants to urge companies to move among states. That's more
than the federal government spends on housing, education, or
infrastructure," Thompson notes. "And since cities and states can't print
money or run steep deficits, these deals take scarce resources from
everything local governments would otherwise pay for."
"Corporate America is getting all the help it doesn't need," Thompson
concluded. "You and I may not like it. But executives such as Jeff Bezos
have no reason to care. They are winning by the rules of a broken game."
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