“Everybody Immediately Knew That It Was for Amazon”: Has Bezos Become More Powerful in D.C. Than Trump?

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 8:21pm

This guy is a freaking boil on the butt of the universe. What is his thing about control? Bastid wants EVERYTHING run through him. Am I simple minded because I think this is a TERRIBLE idea?

“Everybody Immediately Knew That It Was for Amazon”: Has Bezos Become More Powerful in D.C. Than Trump?

There’s a new scandal quietly unfolding in Washington. It’s far bigger than Housing Secretary Ben Carson buying a $31,000 dinette set for his office, or former EPA chief Scott Pruitt deploying an aide to hunt for a deal on a used mattress. It involves the world’s richest man, President Trump’s favorite general, and a $10 billion defense contract. And it may be a sign of how tech giants and Silicon Valley tycoons will dominate Washington for generations to come.

The controversy involves a plan to move all of the Defense Department’s data—classified and unclassified—on to the cloud. The information is currently strewn across some 400 centers, and the Pentagon’s top brass believes that consolidating it into one cloud-based system, the way the CIA did in 2013, will make it more secure and accessible. That’s why, on July 26, the Defense Department issued a request for proposals called JEDI, short for Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure. Whoever winds up landing the winner-take-all contract will be awarded $10 billion—instantly becoming one of America’s biggest federal contractors.

But when JEDI was issued, on the day Congress recessed for the summer, the deal appeared to be rigged in favor of a single provider: Amazon. According to insiders familiar with the 1,375-page request for proposal, the language contains a host of technical stipulations that only Amazon can meet, making it hard for other leading cloud-services providers to win—or even apply for—the contract. One provision, for instance, stipulates that bidders must already generate more than $2 billion a year in commercial cloud revenues—a “bigger is better” requirement that rules out all but a few of Amazon’s rivals.

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Congressional insiders who have reviewed the process question whether Donnelly violated a federal law that bars executive-branch employees from participating in government decisions that affect their personal interests. “We recently became aware of serious and possible criminal violations related to the Amazon cloud DOD contract process,” says a high-ranking congressional staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We are concerned about the implications of the appearance of conflicts of interest and impropriety related to how Pentagon personnel with close ties to Amazon may have influenced multi-billion-dollar cloud contracts.”

A pleasure to host #SecDef James Mattis at Amazon HQ in Seattle today pic.twitter.com/JnQZoSOnFN

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) August 10, 2017

Amazon insists that Bezos and Mattis did not discuss the cloud bid during the visit. But the defense secretary reportedly returned from the visit convinced that the Pentagon needed to turn its data over to a commercial cloud provider. A month after Mattis met with Bezos, on September 13, 2017, the Pentagon put out a memo citing the defense secretary’s visit to Seattle, which it hailed as an “epicenter of innovation.” The memo then called for a cloud bid that would cover all of the Pentagon’s data for its 2.3 million employees and service members. Amazon, it appeared, was suddenly in prime position to land a $10 billion defense contract.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/has-bezos-become-more-powerful-i...

Maybe Jeff can run the Space Force too?

“Don't be evil" is a motto used within Google's corporate code of conduct.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil

Yeah, right. /s

Tags:

This guy’s greed is insatiable.

Vote

Comments

Submitted by Pricknick on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 9:39pm

Such a silly question.

Has Bezos Become More Powerful in D.C. Than Trump?

As many have known for many years, those with money own D.C.
Always remember how much your vote counts.

—

Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Submitted by Big Al on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 9:57pm

End U.S. imperialism.

Boycott the imperialist duopoly. Demand democracy.

Submitted by mimi on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:00pm

I bet you Bezos will deliver the boycott

@Big Al
of ghe imperialist duopoly in prime time. No problem, BA. The only thing Bezos will never deliver is democracy.

Bezos is money, power and control. He controls the deep state. He controls everything. Listen to Bill Binney.

To answer the question of Amanda. Yes, of course, Bezos is more powerful than Trump. Trump is his leading role actor to deliver the good show of a country playing democracy and capitalism on his own stage.

I wanna good fight, Trump against Bezos, mano a mano. Can you see it? Can you see who wins? I can.

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Submitted by ggersh on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 9:57pm

Bezos = CIA

or is it CIA = Bezos

Just guessin here

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by mimi on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 7:49am

no guessing here - Bezos is God of the universe -

@ggersh
you better pray that the devil will catch him and send him to hell.

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Submitted by Big Al on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 10:08pm

Notice the "2.3 million employees, including service

members" figure. There are about 2 million federal employees not including the postal service. DOD has about 750K, Homeland Security about 230K, VA about 380K, then add in the CIA, NSA, Dept of Energy nuke divisions, etc. and you're looking at over 3 million employees for imperialism, war, police state, spying and weapons of mass destruction and about 500K for everything else.
Roughly.

Submitted by Big Al on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 10:17pm

And that doesn't include all the contracts and contractors.

@Big Al Imagine our federal government basically being about 80% devoted to war, imperialism, police state, control, propaganda, spying, incarceration, and a corrupt and oligarchy controlled political system.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 10:52pm

Stat I heard was that one out of four Americans

@Big Al

... is somehow commercially connected to the Pentagon. Working for the man....

I've also heard that the Pentagon was the largest employer in the world. That may have changed recently, though.

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 5:55am

Replace the concept of people

@Big Al with the notion of pentagon in this little ditty...

We the Pentagon of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect monopoly, enforce Justice, insure domestic surveillance, provide for the defense contractors, prevent the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Empire to ourselves and our Masters, do ordain and establish this Contract for the Ownership of the World.

—

question everything

Submitted by snoopydawg on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 10:22pm

The United States of Oligarchy

Isn't it the definition of fascism when corporations have power over the government? If it's not too late already congress better wake the Hell up and see that they will have no control over anything in this country if they don't break up the big companies. Especially Amazon.

Gee. Remember when people were thinking that Walmart was the worst company ever because they put so many mom and pop stores out of business? Now they're less than a fart in the wind compared to Amazon.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Bezos wasn't such a shit and paid his workers a living wage, helped with the homeless problems and acted like a human being. Maybe ...

Submitted by mimi on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 7:48am

no, no amount of philanthropic donations will make a guy

@snoopydawg
like Bezos any better or more human, au contraire, he became even more dangerous, if that is still possible, imo.

What don't you understand about Bezos? He abused the internet, www technology the moment it became available, to exercise his power. There was no one who could prevent him from doing so. He owns the media, Trump is his little joke in the context of letting the government run its course.

The buck stops with Bezos. I hope he disappears himself in this rockets to never ever land and stays there.

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by mimi on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 5:46pm

@snoopydawg - My Bezos bias shows -

@snoopydawg
There are a couple of people I disliked, if not almost hated (though I would say I don't hate people at all) from the very beginning.

Bezos was unfortunately one of them, originating from times most people didn't know him. So, it is my personal thing, when it comes to Bezos.

Mark Zuckerberg I never liked from the beginning too. I had once a facebook account for a couple of weeks and then never again. When two family members tried to communicate with me over facebook, I dropped them. They can use email.

I hate it when I open a link whose content is posted on facebook, because it makes my boycott ridiculous. But still I won't use facebook or any other social media platforms. I am happy to live an analog life again, if I could.

Just trying to explain my strong allergic reactions I have towards the two guys.

Nothing for Ungood.

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 10:37pm

My thought, too, Amanda.

Maybe Jeff can run the Space Force too?

It makes sense. Bezos recently declared he was re-amping his rockets, so you know it's coming.

Bezos is going to be Earth's version of Lando Clarissian, the Baron-Administrator of Cloud City on the gas planet Bespin.

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 5:17pm

Lando had hair and was good looking

@Pluto's Republic

Lando was one of the ‘good guys’.

Bullet-head’s smug, arrogant demeanor and the hardships he's causing for workers, both those he employs and those who suffer job losses because of him, puts him on the bad guy’s list. He’s probably a good fit for Head Space Commando.

As long as he’s safe, well-fed, and comfy in the meantime.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 5:26pm

Hey, Lando was in a Bad spot.

@Amanda Matthews [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMJNQT2w7yc]

Of course, this is coming from a guy who thought Johnny Lawrence was the good guy in 85... so YMMV

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 6:03pm

Ewwww! Johnny Lawrence a good guy?

@detroitmechworks

My kids cheered when he got his comeuppance.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 6:20pm

Well, recently he got to tell his side of it. :)

@Amanda Matthews [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZxhX_nOoiQ]

Of course, I may be a fan Of Cobra Kai...

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 12:08pm

Amazon brings slew of Utah jobs

High-flying Amazon brings slew of Utah jobs, but most wages will hover in the basement

While Amazon.com has opened the gates on hiring some 1,500 to staff its sprawling new Salt Lake distribution center, a closer look at those openings reveal most new employees will barely earn a living wage from the online giant.
....
"To have a company like Amazon, as big as they are, choose Utah for a fulfillment center is a great win for us," Herbert said. "It's a big shot in the arm for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and the state."

While the company made a $200 million capital investment in the facility, which will rely heavily on robotics and automation to augment the efforts of human workers to fulfill and ship orders, who exactly is getting a shot in the arm is somewhat selective.

The incoming associates will receive "great wages" and "fantastic benefits," according to Taylor, despite starting wages that suggest otherwise. Amazon's online job posting for new "warehouse fulfillment associates," the positions that represent the majority of the new hiring in Salt Lake City according to an Amazon spokeswoman, advertises a starting wage of $12.50 per hour. That's an earning rate that falls far short of the state's median wage of just over $17 per hour and, for a worker that puts in a year's labor, will earn them a flat $26,000 — over $20,000 shy of Utah's $46,460 median annual wage.

A June report on housing affordability noted the minimum hourly wage for a full-time worker to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Salt Lake City is $18.85 per hour. A living wage calculator, developed by Amy K. Glasmeier at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, determined $11.48 per hour is the bottom line for a single adult resident living in Salt Lake County.

What did it cost Utah to lure Amazon to Utah?

City and state officials have been courting Amazon since 2017, offering the company an eight-year, $5.7 million tax incentive.

How many of Amazon's workers will cost the government additional money when those worker-bots qualify for social programs?

Add that crap on to the amount of water Amazon's new factory will further deplete Utah's water supply. The NSA built their huge fusion center that takes two million gallons of water a day to cool the computers. Great idea to build that center in a desert state.

Oh well. People here are excited because they will get their packages sooner. Umm no. Prime guaranteed shipping is still two days.

"I think its fair to say that Salt Lake City definitely provided 'Prime' service to Amazon to ensure you can be shipping on time," Biskupski said.

Submitted by mimi on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:05pm

oh, couldn't one drop something on those thingies?

@snoopydawg
this alone would justify it.

Add that crap on to the amount of water Amazon's new factory will further deplete Utah's water supply. The NSA built their huge fusion center that takes two million gallons of water a day to cool the computers.

High-flying Amazon brings slew of Utah jobs, but most wages will hover in the basement While Amazon.com has opened the gates on hiring some 1,500 to staff its sprawling new Salt Lake distribution center, a closer look at those openings reveal most new employees will barely earn a living wage from the online giant. .... "To have a company like Amazon, as big as they are, choose Utah for a fulfillment center is a great win for us," Herbert said. "It's a big shot in the arm for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and the state." While the company made a $200 million capital investment in the facility, which will rely heavily on robotics and automation to augment the efforts of human workers to fulfill and ship orders, who exactly is getting a shot in the arm is somewhat selective. The incoming associates will receive "great wages" and "fantastic benefits," according to Taylor, despite starting wages that suggest otherwise. Amazon's online job posting for new "warehouse fulfillment associates," the positions that represent the majority of the new hiring in Salt Lake City according to an Amazon spokeswoman, advertises a starting wage of $12.50 per hour. That's an earning rate that falls far short of the state's median wage of just over $17 per hour and, for a worker that puts in a year's labor, will earn them a flat $26,000 — over $20,000 shy of Utah's $46,460 median annual wage. A June report on housing affordability noted the minimum hourly wage for a full-time worker to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Salt Lake City is $18.85 per hour. A living wage calculator, developed by Amy K. Glasmeier at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, determined $11.48 per hour is the bottom line for a single adult resident living in Salt Lake County. What did it cost Utah to lure Amazon to Utah? City and state officials have been courting Amazon since 2017, offering the company an eight-year, $5.7 million tax incentive. How many of Amazon's workers will cost the government additional money when those worker-bots qualify for social programs? Add that crap on to the amount of water Amazon's new factory will further deplete Utah's water supply. The NSA built their huge fusion center that takes two million gallons of water a day to cool the computers. Great idea to build that center in a desert state. Oh well. People here are excited because they will get their packages sooner. Umm no. Prime guaranteed shipping is still two days. "I think its fair to say that Salt Lake City definitely provided 'Prime' service to Amazon to ensure you can be shipping on time," Biskupski said.

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:20pm

You mean you want Bezos

@snoopydawg
to actually pay a living wage? Why? He's the only person who is worthy to live without worry on this planet. He's making that abundantly clear. What gets me is the fools who keep buying from Amazon and who boast to being Amazon Prime members. Fools all. Then again, people keep shopping at Walmart. Geez.

High-flying Amazon brings slew of Utah jobs, but most wages will hover in the basement While Amazon.com has opened the gates on hiring some 1,500 to staff its sprawling new Salt Lake distribution center, a closer look at those openings reveal most new employees will barely earn a living wage from the online giant. .... "To have a company like Amazon, as big as they are, choose Utah for a fulfillment center is a great win for us," Herbert said. "It's a big shot in the arm for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and the state." While the company made a $200 million capital investment in the facility, which will rely heavily on robotics and automation to augment the efforts of human workers to fulfill and ship orders, who exactly is getting a shot in the arm is somewhat selective. The incoming associates will receive "great wages" and "fantastic benefits," according to Taylor, despite starting wages that suggest otherwise. Amazon's online job posting for new "warehouse fulfillment associates," the positions that represent the majority of the new hiring in Salt Lake City according to an Amazon spokeswoman, advertises a starting wage of $12.50 per hour. That's an earning rate that falls far short of the state's median wage of just over $17 per hour and, for a worker that puts in a year's labor, will earn them a flat $26,000 — over $20,000 shy of Utah's $46,460 median annual wage. A June report on housing affordability noted the minimum hourly wage for a full-time worker to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Salt Lake City is $18.85 per hour. A living wage calculator, developed by Amy K. Glasmeier at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, determined $11.48 per hour is the bottom line for a single adult resident living in Salt Lake County. What did it cost Utah to lure Amazon to Utah? City and state officials have been courting Amazon since 2017, offering the company an eight-year, $5.7 million tax incentive. How many of Amazon's workers will cost the government additional money when those worker-bots qualify for social programs? Add that crap on to the amount of water Amazon's new factory will further deplete Utah's water supply. The NSA built their huge fusion center that takes two million gallons of water a day to cool the computers. Great idea to build that center in a desert state. Oh well. People here are excited because they will get their packages sooner. Umm no. Prime guaranteed shipping is still two days. "I think its fair to say that Salt Lake City definitely provided 'Prime' service to Amazon to ensure you can be shipping on time," Biskupski said.

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 4:40pm

We boycott Wallymart, Amuseon, Home Despot, and, and

@Raggedy Ann and we share our shunting to all listeners. Weird, huh?

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question everything

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 8:39pm

Good for you.

@QMS
That’s what it takes - each one of us can vote with our dollars.

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by edg on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 1:54pm

This is great news!

For hackers. Now they just have to hack into a single cloud-based data continent instead of 400 separate information islands. Woo hoo!!

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Tue, 08/14/2018 - 6:18pm

EXACTLY! And it isn’t bad for Bezos either.

@edg

How much does that guy earn from the US Government anyway? Directly or otherwise?

So, how much did Amazon pay in income tax on that bounty? Hang on, we’re getting some news...what? What’s this? Amazon effectively paid zero dollars in federal income taxes in 2017? Oh.

Amazon is projecting a $789 million windfall from Republicans’ tax bill, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which may have factored into its reason for witholding taxes this year. Bezos—like many other nominally liberal capitalists—claims to disagree with Donald Trump’s policies, while quietly lapping up the Republicans’ regressive tax breaks.

You may be asking: How is this legal? Isn’t Amazon an American company? Aren’t companies required to pay federal income tax? Hello?

Amazon’s global headquarters is not in Seattle, but in the tiny landlocked nation of Luxembourg (Amazon employs more than 40,000 people in Seattle, compared to 1,500 people in Luxembourg.). The European Union has accused Luxembourg of giving illegal tax breaks to Amazon and has ordered the country to recover $295 million in back taxes from Amazon.

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Jeff Bezos’ obsession with avoiding taxes goes back to Amazon’s inception. In 1995, Bezos originally wanted to build Amazon’s U.S. headquarters on a Native American reservation near San Francisco because it offered a tax break. But California stopped the deal from going through.

https://splinternews.com/amazon-made-5-6-billion-in-profits-last-year-an...

He’s a living breathing caricature of a cross between Ebeneezer Scrooge and Scrooge McDuck.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa