One City at a Time
That’s not a massive over-contribution at all.
We’ve oft written about huge companies using their huge wallets – to dictate huge cronyism from huge governments.
No gaggle of companies has done it more and more effectively – than the Big Tech companies.
Silicon Valley Robber Barons Are Using Government As a Weapon Against Us
Silicon Valley Gets Government Favors – While Boosting Leftists And Blocking Conservatives
The Obamas’ $50 Million Netflix Deal: Cronyism Comes Full Circle
Google, The Barack Obama Administration – And Even More Questionable Policy
Obama 2012 and Facebook: Your Privacy, Diminished
Sometimes Big Tech companies screw up – and demand the wrong cronyism. So they demand more cronyism – to get themselves out of their self-inflicted jams.
Facebook Looks to Cronyism Its Way Out of Its Cronyism
And no Big Tech company has mastered the art of cronyism – quite like Amazon.
We have written a lot about Amazon – over a lot of years. One of the conclusions we’ve reached?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ goal from the outset – was to get huge enough to bend governments everywhere to his will. And part of that the process was – in anti-competitive fashion – to murder every other retailer on the planet.
It’s why Amazon has gone decades – rarely turning a profit.
The Amazon Era: No Profits, No Problem
Why Amazon Has No Profits (And Why It Works)
Amazon Never Makes Money But No One Cares
Amazon’s No-Profit Model: Bleed Competitors To Death – Then Do Exactly What They Did
Amazon Killed Toys ‘R’ Us – But Much More Dishonestly Than The Way You Think
Again, Bezos’ objective wasn’t profits – it was growth. And it worked – like a charm.
Now Amazon is gi-normous (Market Cap: $874 billion). And gi-normous Amazon is dictating terms to governments…everywhere.
And the government reciprocal gifts – keep getting bigger and bigger and….
Amazon: One of the Biggest of Bigfoot Cronyism-Recipient Lobbyists
Something Is Rotten in Amazon’s Request for HQ2 Proposals
Why The Post Office Gives Amazon A $1.46 Subsidy on Each Box
Top Amazon Boss Privately Advised US Government on Web Portal Worth Billions to Tech Firm
The ‘Amazon Amendment’ Would Effectively Hand Government Purchasing Power Over to Amazon
Uber-Crony Amazon – Is About To Get The Biggest Crony Deal In DC’s Awful History
How does over-sized Amazon secure such over-sized cronyism from over-sized governments?
By dumping over-sized money into political races…everywhere.
Heads up, HQ2 recipient Arlington, Virginia.
Amazon Drops Additional $1 Million-Plus into Seattle City Council Races, With Ballots Out This Week:
“Amazon is dropping an additional $1 million-plus into Seattle’s pivotal City Council races, boosting its spending on politics in its hometown this year to an unprecedented $1.45 million.
“The corporate giant has now shelled out more on the council races than any other business or union….
“Amazon’s outlay is the largest ‘in anyone’s memory’ by a single entity in a Seattle election cycle, said Wayne Barnett, executive director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.
“The record-breaking sum is the latest sign that the company with 53,000 local employees, once content to stay on the political sidelines, is now throwing its weight around….
“Amazon alone has contributed more money to the Chamber’s PAC than the candidates the Chamber opposes have collectively raised with their own campaigns….”
We ain’t the hugest of union fans – but this woman ain’t just whistling Dixie:
“‘One of the richest corporations in the world just invested an unprecedented amount of money to attempt a hostile takeover of Seattle’s local government,’ Rachel Lauter, executive director of the union-backed Working Washington advocacy group, said in a statement.”
It is indeed Amazon’s attempted wholesale purchase of…Seattle. But it’s even bigger than that:
“‘This isn’t just about Seattle, it’s about the 2020 national elections. Amazon is warning presidential candidates who say they share Seattle’s values that it will stop at nothing to protect its power and profits.’”
It is indeed about the 2020 national elections. And then some.
Because Amazon has cronyism everywhere to preserve, protect and defend.
“‘We are contributing to this election because we care deeply about the future of Seattle,’ Amazon spokesman Aaron Toso said Tuesday in a statement.
“‘We believe it is critical that our hometown has a city council that is focused on pragmatic solutions to our shared challenges…’”
Yeah. Ok.
Except…Amazon always ends up getting massive un-shared government cronyism.
The massive cost of which – is force-shared by all the rest of us.
Over and over and over and over again….
None of which is good for anyone.
Except, of course, Amazon.
This first appeared in Red State.