Posted on 11/13/2018 1:36:03 AM PST by Trump20162020
The rumored announcement has emboldened Amazons army of critics. Did the worlds smartest company really need 13 months, and applications from 238 cities, to reach the striking conclusion that it should invest in New York and D.C.? The former is Americas heart of capital, and the latter is Americas literal capital, where chief executive Jeff Bezos already owns a house and a newspaper.
Was this national auction nothing more than a scripted drama to raise the value of the inevitable winning bid? And did the retailer miss an opportunity to revitalize a midwestern city by choosing to enrich the already-rich east coast?
All good questions. But heres the big one: Why the hell are U.S. cities spending tens of billions of dollars to steal jobs from each other, in the first place?
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
... to pay government workers.
Why the hell are U.S. cities spending tens of billions of dollars to steal jobs from each other, in the first place?
A very good question.
tax revenue
He wanted to turn VA even bluer. We have seen this before. Anyone remember Gateway Computers? We still have a huge white elephant of commercial real estate left over from that.
...did the retailer miss an opportunity to revitalize a mid-western city by choosing to enrich the already-rich east coast?”
The “retailer” - Amazon - is just doing what some business types do, cut the best deal at any cost. Shame on local government for allowing this. Let them live and commute in the heart of “Amazonia”.
Locating Amazon in the Arlington County area of Northern Virginia simply creates another “blivet” in an already overpopulated area. And politely put, a blivet is 10-pounds of dirt in a 5-pound bag.
If Oak Ridge, Tennessee could be built from scratch and be up ‘n running in 18-months to two years, I’m confident an “Amazonia” could be completed in near time anywhere in the US.
It doesn’t work.
Tell that to the cities who are offering huge tax incentives to get it.
Those huge bribes...er, tax incentives, come out of taxpayers’ hides. If this kind of crony capitalism worked, Upstate NY would be thriving. Instead it’s a ghost town and taxpayers are screwed.
BTW, last I knew Albany was REFUSING to tell taxpayers how much money was being offered to Amazon. Taxpayers are still in the dark.
Whenever someone says, There should be a law, they should be flogged. I am pretty sure weve covered most of the laws by now.
“...did the retailer miss an opportunity to revitalize a mid-western city by choosing to enrich the already-rich east coast?”
High likeliness that if they did, they’d be filling it with H1-b/PERM candidates, unfortunately.
“If Oak Ridge, Tennessee could be built from scratch and be up n running in 18-months to two years, Im confident an ‘Amazonia’ could be completed in near time anywhere in the US.”
The trouble is how do you justify building in the relative middle of nowhere, or low-medium population cities (100-200k)? Doubly so in regions with employers leaving.
Blivet was one my Dads saying. I love that term.
Is Virginia irredeemable enough that the conservative portion would do better as a part of West Virginia?
I like your attitude!
Its a consideration. I was up there on Snowy Mountain Road a couple weeks ago. It is pretty.
Selling Amazon web services to the Pentagon and Wall St. They will gradually assert control over the data by “helping” to curate.
Right. Amazon is not moving to DC/VA to sell tp to the government. They plan to do everything the Beltway bandits are doing.
I have heard people from western Virginia say they would be better off becoming part of WV... "The real Virginia is west of Roanoke now."
Newark NJ still wants a piece - even a small piece - because they are entitled.
Nobody wants to live in Newark NJ; pretending they were in the running was just a cruel joke. They are a transit hub surrounded by a welfare reservation/refugee camp, and the airport and trains are constantly in the news because of problems, delays, etc..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.