Amazon Canceled Second Headquarters Because of Politicians like Cortez

[GreenJesus]

I'm not a fan of giving tax breaks to draw in multi billion dollar corporations. the corporation should choose its location based on economic factors, demographics, geographic location, etc. not based on if the government gives you a subsidy or not because that isn't part of a free market. Additionally, Amazon in its benefit PR it touts only future cash values it will return instead of what that cash is valued at today as well as not actually promising if it will keep those people hired forever due to automation. The benefits to the community such as a more wealthy tax base and revitalizing the surrounding area and creating a thriving business environment are huge. However, would the people that in that area NOW that voted Oscacio actually benefit? If they own a home, yes. But if they rent, then their rents would soar and they would probably be priced out of the area. However, polls suggest 70% in New York supported amazon having HQ there.

Was it a good idea for her politically and her district economically to force out one of the strongest businesses in the world? Is it worth it give subsidies to businesses in order to get tax revenue that pays for it maybe 10-20 years down the road? Should we not do it on principle that small businesses don't get this benefit and multi-billion dollar businesses don't deserve our tax dollars?

[Nellise]

Did you read the letter from Amazon explaining their decision? That was one of the most entitled pieces of crap I've ever seen. I don't live there so didn't care one way or another, but after reading that, it's probably good they got pushed away.

Also seems weird that Amazon isn't intending to pick another place. Makes me wonder if they were ever going to go through with their full plan.

[GreenJesus]

Did you read the letter from Amazon explaining their decision? That was one of the most entitled pieces of crap I've ever seen. I don't live there so didn't care one way or another, but after reading that, it's probably good they got pushed away.

Also seems weird that Amazon isn't intending to pick another place. Makes me wonder if they were ever going to go through with their full plan.

I like how the tax subsidy works so that the corporation doesn't pay taxes but DONT WORRY! The employees pay for that subsidy through their income taxes. Really great system. Are the problems amazon was facing that big a deal if the mayor and governor and 70% of the citizens in New York support it? Although if more representatives become people like Ocasio and centrist democrats get outed Amazon could gen in a bad position.

[Blur4stuff]

If someone doesn't finally stand up to these enormous companies we'll eventually have to sacrifice first born in exchange for a few jobs instead of just obscene tax breaks.

[Belize]

Did the marching orders come in?

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...8#post50858598

Hmmm.

[GreenJesus]

Did the marching orders come in?

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...8#post50858598

Hmmm.

Sorry I didn't see it. That topic should have been in the politics section. It even has politics in the title. I'm on my phone. And I thought I was being pretty fair in my post and even halfway supporting Ocasio. What do you mean marching orders? Why do you have to be so condescending? I literally clicked on forums clicked on politics and scrolled down and didn't see anything.

[Drutt]

Governments giving incentives/tax breaks/subsidies to encourage a business to relocate to or stay in an area should be illegal. It's absolute bullshit.

[s_bushido]

Strange. Here I thought politicians shilling for corporations was a bad thing. Or was it just Hillary?

However, polls suggest 70% in New York supported amazon having HQ there.

You have any source for that other than Amazon themselves?

[daytonbrown]

I live in NY and I find this to be a disaster. The taxes on Long Island are pretty high to start with, which is why generally new businesses don't come here. The only way to attract new business is to offer these tax breaks. It happens all the time. The reason it's done is because income from jobs generated far outweigh any tax breaks lost. Think of all the taxes that are generated from 25,000 jobs, not to mention now those employees are no longer draining unemployment or welfare if they were on it. And all the trickle down jobs and businesses that spring up from an employer like this entering an area. It's a huge loss to the region.

[GreenJesus]

Strange. Here I thought politicians shilling for corporations was a bad thing. Or was it just Hillary?



You have any source for that other than Amazon themselves?

Did you even read my post? I don't support it. Read the first 3 sentences. The 70% was the mayor or governor I think that said that. I'm on my phone so it's kind of hard to link stuff.

It seems like no one is reading my post and just attacking me personally. I feel like I covered both sides pretty well.

[Omega10]

Amazon left New York because AOC said some bad things about Amazon?

I am not buying it at this point.

My personal belief is that the bean counters started tallying up the costs of having 2 extra headquarters, made the corporate decision to axe one of them, and then once the corporate decision was made, went into PR mode to blame people that said bad things about Amazon.


Another issue to consider is that Bezos in going through a public divorce, and is in a very agitated state. So this is his way of lashing out at people that oppose him.


As someone who lives near Seattle, his current HQ, I think that overall the decision will be good for NY. The amount Amazon pays in taxes and new jobs, in my opinion, will be outweighed by the amount of city services his company requires and the increase in housing prices. Higher rents is bad news for the non-home owners, and for the home owners... it mostly means higher property taxes since your home is evaluated for a higher amount. And you never really benefit from the increase in housing value because... the house you would buy to move TO will be just as high in price.

Many of the high paying jobs in the Seattle area ended up going to people from the Silicon Valley area, who take a pay cut to come to Seattle and can buy expensive houses for cash. This means not so many jobs for the people of Seattle, and is also one of the reasons for the sky high rents and housing prices.

[Adam Jensen]

Huh.

That's odd. It wasn't her district they were going to.

[Elegiac]

Amazon left New York because AOC said some bad things about Amazon?

I am not buying it at this point.

My personal belief is that the bean counters started tallying up the costs of having 2 extra headquarters, made the corporate decision to axe one of them, and then once the corporate decision was made, went into PR mode to blame people that said bad things about Amazon.

It sounds plausible, but I think it's unlikely; a second headquarters is a big deal and they probably would have done thorough cost-benefit analyses prior. This is supported by the fact Amazon made HQ2 such a big media deal.

I mean it's ultimately for the best, as you said. Amazon isn't a good employer and isn't the sort of business people should be bidding for having a presence locally.

[Omega10]

It sounds plausible, but I think it's unlikely; a second headquarters is a big deal and they probably would have done thorough cost-benefit analyses prior. This is supported by the fact Amazon made HQ2 such a big media deal.

I mean it's ultimately for the best, as you said. Amazon isn't a good employer and isn't the sort of business people should be bidding for having a presence locally.

I agree with what you said. On the other hand, something changed. And AOC saying bad things about Amazon is not it.

So all I see is a bunch of plausible but unlikely theories. The only thing that seems to be true is that Amazon has 1 HQ at this time, and will have 2 once the new one in Northern Virginia is completed. I have no idea when that will be fully operational.

[ati87]

I live in NY and I find this to be a disaster. The taxes on Long Island are pretty high to start with, which is why generally new businesses don't come here. The only way to attract new business is to offer these tax breaks. It happens all the time. The reason it's done is because income from jobs generated far outweigh any tax breaks lost. Think of all the taxes that are generated from 25,000 jobs, not to mention now those employees are no longer draining unemployment or welfare if they were on it. And all the trickle down jobs and businesses that spring up from an employer like this entering an area. It's a huge loss to the region.

Taxes wouldn't have to be so high if the biggest and richest companies paid there share instead shifting that burden to everybody else.

And you really need to stop believing basic propaganda. Amazon promised 25k jobs but just like Foxconn Amazon wouldn't have never delivered. When these kind of deals get announced there is always cherry picked study to justify the decision to shower that company with millions.

[Omega10]

It sounds plausible, but I think it's unlikely; a second headquarters is a big deal and they probably would have done thorough cost-benefit analyses prior. This is supported by the fact Amazon made HQ2 such a big media deal.

I mean it's ultimately for the best, as you said. Amazon isn't a good employer and isn't the sort of business people should be bidding for having a presence locally.

Here is a snippet from a commenter on the Yahoo comment section:

Talk about misinformed !! NYC minimum wage is 15 dollars a hour not 7.25 . Cortez is NOT the congressional representative of Long Island City . They didn’t push Amazon away they were asking for guarantees on jobs and monies to help improve mass transit . The 7 line is already busting at the seams everyone in LIC was wondering between Amazon and all the new development how all these people were going to commute . And many residents wanted to be guaranteed that imminent domain would not be used to acquire property.

So apparently a lot of new issues came up over the last year. And no good solutions were found to them. Well no solution that would lead to Amazon stays in NY. The imminent domain issues especially seem to not be solvable.

This does not seem to be a left vs right issue. It seems that it was Amazon vs the people who currently live where Amazon wanted to put its HQ. They could not come up with an amicable solution as to how to make this happen. So the deal didn't go through. This is just a highly politicized business deal that did not go through.

[Sunseeker]

Maybe.

But here's the world we live in: if you disagree with what some mega-corp does, then they'll close up shop and move away.

Does that sound like the world you want to keep living in?

[Felya]

This is really bad for the immediate future, but might be just as good for the long haul. Beyond what has been states, you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket.

[Fugus]

Maybe.

But here's the world we live in: if you disagree with what some mega-corp does, then they'll close up shop and move away.

Does that sound like the world you want to keep living in?

I understand the implied /s but had to respond.

Definitely. The company removing itself does not remove the consumer demand for that good or service, so another will come in to fill that void instead.

We really give these place far too much credit. They aren't job creators, consumer demand is.

[PACOX]

And many people in the area rejoiced, unless your were a business proactive business owner who invested in a auxiliary company.