@HenryAWallace

Wealth tends to corrupt, and absolute wealth corrupts absolutely.

Bezos at this point must be a very odd individual. Living in his own 'Glorious' world no doubt.

almost enough money for the likes of Bezos and the Waltons.

@WaterLily @WaterLily @WaterLily
The women that I would see on 6th avenue near 43rd(?) were much more honest than Cuomo and undoubtedly harder working.

(Think I got the corner right. it's been decades since I was last in NYC. Anyway, near Times Square and their profession was obvious.)

P.S. not objecting to the word, just the tribute to Coumo.

I missed that stunt.

What a whore.

@Mark from Queens I am a retired land use planner who worked my entire career in local government, and from my personal and professional perspective, Ocasio-Cortez is right on the money when she said this.

"Displacement is not community development. Investing in luxury condos is not the same thing as investing in people and families. Shuffling working class people out of a community does not improve their quality of life."

We planners constantly fought with our elected officials over this concept. When developers wave a bunch of money in the faces of public officials, it is often game over for the residents in the affected areas. In a way, this is reminiscent of Urban Renewal which devastated many inner city communities and displaced mostly poor and often people of color.

Urban renewal is a process where privately owned properties within a designated renewal area are purchased or taken by eminent domain by a municipal redevelopment authority, razed and then reconveyed to selected developers who devote them to other uses.

joint statement on this ludicrous corporate hijacking ransom.

“New Yorkers have real unmet needs from their government. Our subways are crumbling, our children lack school seats, and too many of our neighbors lack adequate health care. It is unfathomable that we would sign a $3 billion check to Amazon in the face of these challenges.

“We are witness to a cynical game in which Amazon duped New York into offering unprecedented amounts of tax dollars to one of the wealthiest companies on Earth for a promise of jobs that would represent less than 3% of the jobs typically created in our city over a 10 year period.

“Too much is at stake to accept this without a fight. We will continue to stand up against what can only be described as a bad deal for New York and for Long Island City.”

Long Island City is right next to me in Queens. It has become one of the most loathsome places around, like an urban-style gated community of high-rise luxury living, occupied by yuppie, transient, international office workers taking paychecks from the financial speculators and their associated enterprises, and never having to leave their little, safe and plastic world at the riverside.

I don't know if these pols are doing anything more than getting a little publicity in a attempt to get some prog credentials (Van Bremer has signed off on other corporate stuff in the past, though of course a social lib).

Haven't looked into this at all, though we talked about it in passing last night on the couch here. Cuomo to me is the ultimate Neoliberal Nightmare scumbag, so I'm pretty sure something nefarious is being cooked up or is fait accompli.

Ocasio chimed in with similar sentiments to the two above.

"Amazon is a billion-dollar company. 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..."

"Displacement is not community development. Investing in luxury condos is not the same thing as investing in people and families. Shuffling working class people out of a community does not improve their quality of life."

Unregulated capitalism (the Free Market," one of the greatest lies perpetrated by the RW) only ends one way - in Monopoly.

The phony and bogus "fiscal conservatives" have to be forced to cop to this ruse.

Gotta break up the banks, and these global conglomerates, if we're going to be anything other than serfs in a feudalistic world.

@Mark from Queens
in Wisconsin.

This is some legislation from @rontkim:

‘If we have $1.7b to give to Amazon, then that means we have $1.7b to forgive NY student loan debt.’ https://t.co/gPMmQ7QoZz

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 13, 2018

David Sirota, "Will New York Fund Amazon Subsidies or Student Debt Relief?
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made headlines begging Amazon to site its second headquarters in the state. Now, however, prominent Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly have slammed the idea of offering taxpayer subsidies to the retail giant.

A day before last week’s midterm elections, when Amazon’s choice was still up in the air, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made headlines begging Amazon to site its second headquarters in the state. “I’ll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that’s what it takes,” said Cuomo, as reports surfaced about Amazon potentially moving in to Long Island City.

The next day, though, Democrats won control of the state Assembly and state Senate. Now, prominent Democrats in those chambers have slammed the idea of New York offering taxpayer subsidies to Amazon. And one lawmaker wants the legislature to decide between giving Amazon taxpayer largesse or addressing the state’s student debt crisis.

Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim announced that he will introduce legislation to slash New York’s economic development subsidies and use the money to buy up and cancel student debt — a move he said would provide a bigger boost to the state’s economy. The legislation, says Kim, would halt any Cuomo administration offer of taxpayer money to Amazon, which could reap up to $1 billion in tax incentives if it moves to Long Island City. The deal is a goodie bag for Amazon: It includes everything from a $325 million cash grant to a promise that taxpayers will help secure a helipad for Amazon executives.

“Giving Jeff Bezos hundreds of millions of dollars is an immoral waste of taxpayers’ money when it’s crystal clear that the money would create more jobs and more economic growth when it is used to relieve student debt,” said Kim, who recently published an op-ed with law professor Zephyr Teachout criticizing the Amazon deal. “Giving Amazon this type of corporate welfare is no different, if not worse, than Donald Trump giving trillions in corporate tax breaks at the federal level. There’s no correlation between healthy, sustainable job creation and corporate giveaways. If we used this money to cancel distressed student debt instead, there would be immediate positive GDP growth, job creation and impactful social-economic returns.”

And more about the student loan crisis (not anywhere to be found among the pathetic empty platitudes muttered by the Neoliberal set):

In New York, student debt has ballooned. A 2016 report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found that “the delinquency rate among New York student loan borrowers rose by more than a third over the past decade while average borrower balances in the State increased by nearly 48 percent, to $32,200.” A memo outlining Kim’s bill says the legislation would empower New York officials to “exercise their eminent domain powers to buy, cancel, and/or monetize the state’s out of control student debt,” which the memo says totals more than $82 billion.

Forgot this too. Like the Occupy language used in the aforementioned joint statement by locals Van Bremer and Gianaris:

“The burden should not be on the 99 percent to prove we are worthy of the one percent’s presence in our communities, but rather on Amazon to prove it would be a responsible corporate neighbor.”

Fucking Cuomo is the poster boy for Neoliberal corporate whore. That pathetic statement is exactly who the people are who run the modern Democratic Party of Clinton/Obama. Expedient, soul-dead lapdogs of the Wealthy.

And in the end if this goes through Amazon Andy will be rewarded some years from now when nobody is paying attention anymore. Quid pro quo. Bribery.

American governance is pure bribery, plain and simple.

One legislator I spoke with said Amazon avoids criticism it would normally get for hoarding power, tax breaks and market share because it exudes a “facade of progressivism.” https://t.co/XBOx9J96mO

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) November 15, 2018

A facade; that's all this whole governing/democracy/freedom thing is.

Taibbi's piece, "Amazon’s Long Game Is Clearer Than Ever
Why bother with these middling steps in between? Let’s just fast-forward to the inevitable Amazon-led oligarchy"

@DonMidwest I'm always happy to see Matt, who has always been a bright light.

Last time I saw him was at the opening of "The Internet's Own Boy," a good movie with a somewhat (IMO) unfortunate title.

It was in the New America Institute (I think that was the place) but by having coroportions as their target, they were run out and set up their own shop.

They are fighting monopolies which have taken over more and more of our economy, which means, more and more of our country and in continue to deny citizens the voice to change the monopolies by reducing political control.

They had a project, FaceBookBreakup , which shows why they are a target, and it may still be going on,

Glenn Greenwald re -tweeted Matt Stoller

@matthewstoller
Follow Follow @matthewstoller
More Matt Stoller Retweeted Matt Stoller

I'm really tired of the weaponization of our Jewish ethnicity by plutocrats. Sheryl Sandberg would resign in shame if she had any. And heads at the ADL should roll. This is not ok.Matt Stoller added,

@matthewstoller
Follow Follow @matthewstoller

Facebook is an impressive company. They both went after our coalition group @FacebookBreakup as Soros-funded AND worked with the Anti-Defamation League to accuse us of anti-semitism.

**88
Then Matt links to a NYT Article

Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-elect...