In 10 seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year. An entire year. thousands of Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing because..

[merrill]

Amazon is a tax dollar leech ,,,,,,,,

 

I want to ask you to clear your mind for a moment and count to 10.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…

6…

7…

8…

9…

10…

In 10 seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year. An entire year.    Think about that.

 

Think about how hard that family member has to work for an entire year, the days she or he goes into work sick, or has a sick child, or struggles to buy school supplies or Christmas presents, to make what one man makes in 10 seconds.

 

According to Time magazine, from January 1 through May 1 of this year, Jeff Bezos saw his wealth increase by $275 million every single day for a total increase in wealth of $33 billion in a four-month period.

 

Meanwhile, thousands of Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing because their wages are too low. And guess who pays for that? You do. Frankly, I don't believe that ordinary Americans should be subsidizing the wealthiest person in the world because he pays his employees inadequate wages.

 

But it gets remarkably more ridiculous: Jeff Bezos has so much money that he says the only way he could possibly spend it all is on space travel.

Space travel. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It is absolutely absurd.

 

Well here is a radical idea: Instead of attempting to explore Mars or go to the moon, how about Jeff Bezos pays his workers a living wage? How about he improves the working conditions at Amazon warehouses across the country so people stop dying on the job? He can no doubt do that and have billions of dollars left over to spend on anything he wants.

 

So today, whether or not you use Amazon, I want to ask you to join me in sending a message to Jeff Bezos:

 

Sign my petition to Jeff Bezos: It is long past time you start to pay your workers a living wage and improve working conditions at Amazon warehouses all across

the country. He needs to know that you are aware of his company’s greed, which seems to have no end.

 

Thanks for your time,

Bernie Sanders

 

Now, I have never understood how someone could have hundreds of billions of dollars and feel the desperate need for even more. I would think that, with the amount of money he has, Jeff Bezos might just be able to get by.

 

And I think there is something weird and wrong with people who have that much and are willing to step over working people, many with families and young children, in order to get more and more.

 

But this is not just about the greed of one man. These are policy failures as well.

 

Last year, Amazon made $5.6 billion in profits and did not pay one penny in federal income taxes. The Trump tax cuts rewarded Amazon with almost $1 billion more. And city after city is offering additional tax breaks, mostly in secret, for the right to host Amazon’s second corporate headquarters.

 

In my view, a nation cannot survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little. Millions of people across this country struggle to put bread on the table and are one paycheck away from economic devastation, and the wealthiest people in this country have never had it so good.

 

[king of the county]

Ok so what do you propose?

[splunch]

It may be that there is no system that can address the moral bankruptcy that this sort of excess represents.  Last time Americans large and small behaved as if they understood that we are all in this together was in the years following the greatest catastrophe in the history of humankind, WWII.  

 

I wonder what it will take next time.

[jerrykramer64fan]

16 minutes ago, merrill said:

Amazon is a tax dollar leech ,,,,,,,,

 

I want to ask you to clear your mind for a moment and count to 10.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…

6…

7…

8…

9…

10…

In 10 seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year. An entire year.    Think about that.

 

Think about how hard that family member has to work for an entire year, the days she or he goes into work sick, or has a sick child, or struggles to buy school supplies or Christmas presents, to make what one man makes in 10 seconds.

 

According to Time magazine, from January 1 through May 1 of this year, Jeff Bezos saw his wealth increase by $275 million every single day for a total increase in wealth of $33 billion in a four-month period.

 

Meanwhile, thousands of Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing because their wages are too low. And guess who pays for that? You do. Frankly, I don't believe that ordinary Americans should be subsidizing the wealthiest person in the world because he pays his employees inadequate wages.

 

But it gets remarkably more ridiculous: Jeff Bezos has so much money that he says the only way he could possibly spend it all is on space travel.

Space travel. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It is absolutely absurd.

 

Well here is a radical idea: Instead of attempting to explore Mars or go to the moon, how about Jeff Bezos pays his workers a living wage? How about he improves the working conditions at Amazon warehouses across the country so people stop dying on the job? He can no doubt do that and have billions of dollars left over to spend on anything he wants.

 

So today, whether or not you use Amazon, I want to ask you to join me in sending a message to Jeff Bezos:

 

Sign my petition to Jeff Bezos: It is long past time you start to pay your workers a living wage and improve working conditions at Amazon warehouses all across

the country. He needs to know that you are aware of his company’s greed, which seems to have no end.

 

Thanks for your time,

Bernie Sanders

 

Now, I have never understood how someone could have hundreds of billions of dollars and feel the desperate need for even more. I would think that, with the amount of money he has, Jeff Bezos might just be able to get by.

 

And I think there is something weird and wrong with people who have that much and are willing to step over working people, many with families and young children, in order to get more and more.

 

But this is not just about the greed of one man. These are policy failures as well.

 

Last year, Amazon made $5.6 billion in profits and did not pay one penny in federal income taxes. The Trump tax cuts rewarded Amazon with almost $1 billion more. And city after city is offering additional tax breaks, mostly in secret, for the right to host Amazon’s second corporate headquarters.

 

In my view, a nation cannot survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little. Millions of people across this country struggle to put bread on the table and are one paycheck away from economic devastation, and the wealthiest people in this country have never had it so good.

 

My guess is he made money on PAPER! You know, stocks and such. My guess is he owns a sht pot of Amazon stock. You do know what happens if Amazon goes under right? He loses ALL of that money. So you think he should give employees money that he doesn't actually have in the bank?

[Skans]

Quote

In 10 seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year. An entire year. thousands of Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing because..

You leftist-socialists are a jealous lot.  A man invents an entirely new way of doing business; provides thousands of people with jobs and millions of people with an opportunity to make money selling through Amazon, and if he becomes incredibly rich because of his efforts, you blast him for making too much money.  You people are sick.  You would reward free-loaders with free money and penalize innovators by taxing them at 99% if you could. 

 

Socialists are sick, sick, people.

[benson13]

Bezos needs the gop to give him another Billion Dollar Tax Break.....F all those employees....they should work for free...right rednecks?????

[king of the county]

16 minutes ago, benson13 said:

Bezos needs the gop to give him another Billion Dollar Tax Break.....F all those employees....they should work for free...right rednecks?????

Who pays?

[benson13]

YOU do Weirdo

[Golfboy]

1 hour ago, merrill said:

In 10 seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year.

 

Damn liberals, they should be drawn & quartered. 

 

[king of the county]

13 minutes ago, benson13 said:

YOU do Weirdo

What happens when my money drys up?

[impartialobserver]

It is much like Alabama football, the New England patriots, Duke Basketball, or Lebron James. They rise to the top but when they stay there, it is time to knock them down. Success is ok for the short term apparently. 

[duck33]

33 minutes ago, benson13 said:

Bezos needs the gop to give him another Billion Dollar Tax Break.....F all those employees....they should work for free...right rednecks?????

How many jobs does amazon provide? Would these people even have any job? Screw you, and Bernie can burn in hell too

 

 

 

 

[fishhead]

Bezos is trumps good friend.

[bigsky]

2 hours ago, Skans said:

You leftist-socialists are a jealous lot.  A man invents an entirely new way of doing business; provides thousands of people with jobs and millions of people with an opportunity to make money selling through Amazon, and if he becomes incredibly rich because of his efforts, you blast him for making too much money.  You people are sick.  You would reward free-loaders with free money and penalize innovators by taxing them at 99% if you could. 

 

Socialists are sick, sick, people.

bezos is a socialist

[rippy38]

10 minutes ago, bigsky said:

bezos is a socialist

Bezos is a Chinese Capitalist.

[bigsky]

10 minutes ago, rippy38 said:

Bezos is a Chinese Capitalist.

bezos donates to bernie

[bigsky]

1 hour ago, impartialobserver said:

It is much like Alabama football, the New England patriots, Duke Basketball, or Lebron James. They rise to the top but when they stay there, it is time to knock them down. Success is ok for the short term apparently. 

bezos is a corporation....he needs trust busted.....he needs split again and again....

[Neomalthusian]

3 hours ago, merrill said:

Amazon is a tax dollar leech ,,,,,,,,

 

I want to ask you to clear your mind for a moment and count to 10.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…

6…

7…

8…

9…

10…

In 10 seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year. An entire year.    Think about that.

 

Think about how hard that family member has to work for an entire year, the days she or he goes into work sick, or has a sick child, or struggles to buy school supplies or Christmas presents, to make what one man makes in 10 seconds.

 

According to Time magazine, from January 1 through May 1 of this year, Jeff Bezos saw his wealth increase by $275 million every single day for a total increase in wealth of $33 billion in a four-month period.

 

Meanwhile, thousands of Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing because their wages are too low. And guess who pays for that? You do. Frankly, I don't believe that ordinary Americans should be subsidizing the wealthiest person in the world because he pays his employees inadequate wages.

 

But it gets remarkably more ridiculous: Jeff Bezos has so much money that he says the only way he could possibly spend it all is on space travel.

Space travel. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It is absolutely absurd.

 

Well here is a radical idea: Instead of attempting to explore Mars or go to the moon, how about Jeff Bezos pays his workers a living wage? How about he improves the working conditions at Amazon warehouses across the country so people stop dying on the job? He can no doubt do that and have billions of dollars left over to spend on anything he wants.

 

So today, whether or not you use Amazon, I want to ask you to join me in sending a message to Jeff Bezos:

 

Sign my petition to Jeff Bezos: It is long past time you start to pay your workers a living wage and improve working conditions at Amazon warehouses all across

the country. He needs to know that you are aware of his company’s greed, which seems to have no end.

 

Thanks for your time,

Bernie Sanders

 

Now, I have never understood how someone could have hundreds of billions of dollars and feel the desperate need for even more. I would think that, with the amount of money he has, Jeff Bezos might just be able to get by.

 

And I think there is something weird and wrong with people who have that much and are willing to step over working people, many with families and young children, in order to get more and more.

 

But this is not just about the greed of one man. These are policy failures as well.

 

Last year, Amazon made $5.6 billion in profits and did not pay one penny in federal income taxes. The Trump tax cuts rewarded Amazon with almost $1 billion more. And city after city is offering additional tax breaks, mostly in secret, for the right to host Amazon’s second corporate headquarters.

 

In my view, a nation cannot survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little. Millions of people across this country struggle to put bread on the table and are one paycheck away from economic devastation, and the wealthiest people in this country have never had it so good.

 

I find this rhetoric is extremely annoying.  Whoever is the wealthiest retailer out there is always going to be made a target of this rhetoric.  For so long it was Walmart, and now that Bezos is catching headlines for being the wealthiest person in the world, the crosshairs just seamlessly shift to him and Amazon.  I really don't know why Democrats and their operatives insist on making it a fundamental core of their political platform to vilify one company or another.  

 

From a consumer standpoint, the entire country loves Amazon.  They boast 310 million active customers, so basically as many customers as there are people not in diapers in this country.  People who buy from Amazon do so willingly and happily.  They seem to quite enjoy the cost-savings and convenience and the ability to find almost any item they could imagine wanting or needing.  

 

Because retail shoppers deal-seek, we can easily assume that if it weren't Amazon being so successful, it would be because customers were shopping elsewhere, and therefore it would instead be that company that was becoming wildly successful, and that company's major stockholders would be the ones getting wildly rich, and then it would be these people and their companies that Democrats would be attacking.  Why does the foundation of the Democratic Party need to be vilification of the private sector, especially the most successful companies in the private sector?

 

Imagine Amazon and every other retailer had to pay median wage salaries and full benefits to all of its employees.  Would there still be a winner in the retail game?  Would you eventually see one company out in front of all the others in terms of its growth and success?  Almost certainly.  And would those dominant companies have wildly rich owners and executives?  Almost certainly.  And however many employees those companies have, sure they would be a more middle class bunch.  But who would pay for additional personnel cost?  Customers generally.  The whole country.  Taxpayers.  Everyone that buys retail goods, which is basically everyone.  So why are we acting so salty that "we have to pay for these workers' government benefits" when the alternative is that we (customers) would have to pay for these workers' wages and benefits?  We're going to pay one way or the other, there's no way around it.

 

Here's the real kicker.  Federal government social benefits are funded by the government's ability to spend its own fiat currency, which is indirectly funded (in a sense) by federal taxes, which tend to be progressive relative to, say, a sales tax.  So requiring a greater cost burden be shuffled into the cost of consumer goods (by forcing retailers to spend more meeting their workers' needs) would actually be regressive compared to meeting those needs via federal government's expenditures.  The lower classes of our economic hierarchy pay very little in federal taxes, but spend a great deal of their means on consumer goods.  So anyone concerned with the general plight of the poor should be happy if consumer goods that the poor need are kept as low as possible.  Even if the feds are helping to take care of those low wage retail workers.  If you don't like the sound of a federal sales tax replacing federal income taxes (because the former are regressive and the latter more progressive), then you should be calling bull**** on Bernie's little anti-Amazon petition.

[LaughinAtLefty]

Not a fan of Amazon, but I see this as a purely financially jealous article. I don't recall the same rhetoric being applied to Bill Gates - am I wrong?

 

For better or worse, Bezos started a unique business - that has come to dominate the retail business world. Doing something of that nature has it's own rewards, and his company's success has earned him validation for his business concept. Pretty simple stuff.

 

The whole bit about "Amazon employees living on food stamps" is utter bullsh!t. Due to Amazon employee salaries, Seattle real estate has gone through the roof. 

 

Amazon salaries

Quote

Amazon average salary is $110,325, median salary is $110,000 with a salary range from $40,700 to $185,000. Amazon salaries are collected from government agencies and companies.

 

Not sure why the left is consumed with financial envy, I guess the obvious reason is they and their voter base is woefully lacking in that area.

[WolfGibbs]

5 hours ago, Skans said:

You leftist-socialists are a jealous lot.  A man invents an entirely new way of doing business; provides thousands of people with jobs and millions of people with an opportunity to make money selling through Amazon, and if he becomes incredibly rich because of his efforts, you blast him for making too much money.  You people are sick.  You would reward free-loaders with free money and penalize innovators by taxing them at 99% if you could. 

 

Socialists are sick, sick, people

With their only intent is being "entitled" to more.

[123urout]

7 hours ago, Neomalthusian said:

 

I find this rhetoric is extremely annoying.  Whoever is the wealthiest retailer out there is always going to be made a target of this rhetoric.  For so long it was Walmart, and now that Bezos is catching headlines for being the wealthiest person in the world, the crosshairs just seamlessly shift to him and Amazon.  I really don't know why Democrats and their operatives insist on making it a fundamental core of their political platform to vilify one company or another.  

 

From a consumer standpoint, the entire country loves Amazon.  They boast 310 million active customers, so basically as many customers as there are people not in diapers in this country.  People who buy from Amazon do so willingly and happily.  They seem to quite enjoy the cost-savings and convenience and the ability to find almost any item they could imagine wanting or needing.  

 

Because retail shoppers deal-seek, we can easily assume that if it weren't Amazon being so successful, it would be because customers were shopping elsewhere, and therefore it would instead be that company that was becoming wildly successful, and that company's major stockholders would be the ones getting wildly rich, and then it would be these people and their companies that Democrats would be attacking.  Why does the foundation of the Democratic Party need to be vilification of the private sector, especially the most successful companies in the private sector?

 

Imagine Amazon and every other retailer had to pay median wage salaries and full benefits to all of its employees.  Would there still be a winner in the retail game?  Would you eventually see one company out in front of all the others in terms of its growth and success?  Almost certainly.  And would those dominant companies have wildly rich owners and executives?  Almost certainly.  And however many employees those companies have, sure they would be a more middle class bunch.  But who would pay for additional personnel cost?  Customers generally.  The whole country.  Taxpayers.  Everyone that buys retail goods, which is basically everyone.  So why are we acting so salty that "we have to pay for these workers' government benefits" when the alternative is that we (customers) would have to pay for these workers' wages and benefits?  We're going to pay one way or the other, there's no way around it.

 

Here's the real kicker.  Federal government social benefits are funded by the government's ability to spend its own fiat currency, which is indirectly funded (in a sense) by federal taxes, which tend to be progressive relative to, say, a sales tax.  So requiring a greater cost burden be shuffled into the cost of consumer goods (by forcing retailers to spend more meeting their workers' needs) would actually be regressive compared to meeting those needs via federal government's expenditures.  The lower classes of our economic hierarchy pay very little in federal taxes, but spend a great deal of their means on consumer goods.  So anyone concerned with the general plight of the poor should be happy if consumer goods that the poor need are kept as low as possible.  Even if the feds are helping to take care of those low wage retail workers.  If you don't like the sound of a federal sales tax replacing federal income taxes (because the former are regressive and the latter more progressive), then you should be calling bull**** on Bernie's little anti-Amazon petition.

Great post and right on, the problem is there isn't a demorat in the world smart enough to understand  it.

[merrill]

13 hours ago, merrill said:

Amazon is a tax dollar leech ,,,,,,,,

 

I want to ask you to clear your mind for a moment and count to 10.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…

6…

7…

8…

9…

10…

In 10 seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year. An entire year.    Think about that.

 

Think about how hard that family member has to work for an entire year, the days she or he goes into work sick, or has a sick child, or struggles to buy school supplies or Christmas presents, to make what one man makes in 10 seconds.

 

According to Time magazine, from January 1 through May 1 of this year, Jeff Bezos saw his wealth increase by $275 million every single day for a total increase in wealth of $33 billion in a four-month period.

 

Meanwhile, thousands of Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing because their wages are too low. And guess who pays for that? You do. Frankly, I don't believe that ordinary Americans should be subsidizing the wealthiest person in the world because he pays his employees inadequate wages.

 

But it gets remarkably more ridiculous: Jeff Bezos has so much money that he says the only way he could possibly spend it all is on space travel.

Space travel. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It is absolutely absurd.

 

Well here is a radical idea: Instead of attempting to explore Mars or go to the moon, how about Jeff Bezos pays his workers a living wage? How about he improves the working conditions at Amazon warehouses across the country so people stop dying on the job? He can no doubt do that and have billions of dollars left over to spend on anything he wants.

 

So today, whether or not you use Amazon, I want to ask you to join me in sending a message to Jeff Bezos:

 

Sign my petition to Jeff Bezos: It is long past time you start to pay your workers a living wage and improve working conditions at Amazon warehouses all across

the country. He needs to know that you are aware of his company’s greed, which seems to have no end.

 

Thanks for your time,

Bernie Sanders

 

Now, I have never understood how someone could have hundreds of billions of dollars and feel the desperate need for even more. I would think that, with the amount of money he has, Jeff Bezos might just be able to get by.

 

And I think there is something weird and wrong with people who have that much and are willing to step over working people, many with families and young children, in order to get more and more.

 

But this is not just about the greed of one man. These are policy failures as well.

 

Last year, Amazon made $5.6 billion in profits and did not pay one penny in federal income taxes. The Trump tax cuts rewarded Amazon with almost $1 billion more. And city after city is offering additional tax breaks, mostly in secret, for the right to host Amazon’s second corporate headquarters.

 

In my view, a nation cannot survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little. Millions of people across this country struggle to put bread on the table and are one paycheck away from economic devastation, and the wealthiest people in this country have never had it so good.

 

 

And he is paying no income taxes or other taxes because of "tax incentives" and such. How many on this board feel good about being forced to take up the slack?

 

Yet his employees need Social Service assistance that also are funded by the 99%.   

 

WE 99% cannot afford tax dollar leeches ......not even some conservatives within the 99% can afford this crap so why do they keep voting against themselves?

[king of the county]

2 minutes ago, merrill said:

 

And he is paying no income taxes or other taxes because of "tax incentives" and such. How many on this board feel good about being forced to take up the slack?

 

Yet his employees need Social Service assistance that also are funded by the 99%.   

 

WE 99% cannot afford tax dollar leeches ......not even some conservatives within the 99% can afford this crap so why do they keep voting against themselves?

How do you know he is paying no income taxes?

[merrill]

6 minutes ago, king of the county said:

How do you know he is paying no income taxes?

 

IT'S IN THE NEWS!!! 

 

WHY DO YOU ENJOY PAYING WHAT OTHERS SHOULD BE PAYING? ARE YOU NUTS?

[king of the county]

1 minute ago, merrill said:

 

IT'S IN THE NEWS!!! 

 

WHY DO YOU ENJOY PAYING WHAT OTHERS SHOULD BE PAYING? ARE YOU NUTS?

I’m sure he is paying property taxes sales taxes etc etc etc