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DannyB chased by a bunch of wild rabid kangaroos writes . . .
Bernie Sanders introduces 'Stop BEZOS' bill to tax Amazon for underpaying workers
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) have introduced a bill that would tax companies like Amazon and Walmart for the cost of employees' food stamps and other public assistance. Sanders' Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (abbreviated "Stop BEZOS") . . . would institute a 100 percent tax on government benefits that are granted to workers at large companies.
The bill's text characterizes this as a "corporate welfare tax," and it would apply to corporations with 500 or more employees. If workers are receiving government aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), national school lunch and breakfast programs, Section 8 housing subsidies, or Medicaid, employers will be taxed for the total cost of those benefits. The bill applies to full-time and part-time employees, as well as independent contractors that are de facto company employees.
Sanders announced his plans for the proposal last month. He emphasized today that "this discussion is not just about Amazon and [Amazon CEO] Jeff Bezos." But as the bill's name would suggest, he's been particularly critical of Amazon and Bezos who became the richest person in the world (and modern history) last year. "The taxpayers in this country should not be subsidizing a guy who's worth $150 billion, whose wealth is increasing by $260 million every single day," [ . . . rest omitted . . . ]
Food stamps, School Lunch, Medicaid, great . . . but what about employees who must shop at Walmart?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 06 2018, @12:36AM (11 children)
Thus speaks a low rank public servant**, paid every month a bunch of money enough to keep him alive, money taken from taxes.
** By his own admission, he works for a library, maintaining the 'smut filters'.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jmorris on Thursday September 06 2018, @02:10AM (10 children)
Worked a lot of jobs. Worked minimum wage to buy my first computer and teach myself how to program. Took a bit more effort to save up $400 when the minimum wage was ~$2/hr. Now the min is more like $~8/hr and a perfectly good computer can be had for $250 and you don't really need a single book since the Internet has tons of teaching material free for the taking. You don't even need a computer at all, I admin a lab full of em free for anyone to come use. Not only can you use any of the online resources they all have the entire GNU toolchain installed along with Eclipse, etc. If ya don't feel like becoming a programmer you can use the same machines to learn Blender, GIMP, take an online course in damned near anything, etc. We are awash in free knowledge and opportunity.
Which is why I have little patience for people who try to explain how the poor are trapped. Bullshit, been there, done that, have the t-shirt and every day I watch people on Facebook, watching anime on YouTube, etc. who could be learning skills that would put money in their pocket. Hell, they could come in and work Mechanical Turk and make coins. People have no excuse other than lack of motivation. People don't expend the effort because being a loser is now fairly painless. This is not compassion.
First jobs tend to be crappy low paying jobs, that is just a fact of life. Nobody who wasn't born rich starts out in the corner office, doesn't start out with a "deeply meaningful" job where they can "make a difference" or any of that, it will be grunt work that needs doing but doesn't require a lot of experience. But if people can't get a first job they will stay on public assistance forever. Bernie wants that of course, because that person will vote Democrat until he dies. Everyone votes Democrat after they die of course.. :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 06 2018, @02:53AM
This!!!
In todays world, much of the poor remaining trapped in poverty is simply not having the gumption to get up and do something about it. Nothing more, nothing less.
(Score: 2) by julian on Thursday September 06 2018, @04:39AM
I'm happy things are going well for you.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 06 2018, @05:53PM (1 child)
Lucky for you mommy and daddy were providing you room and board because that luxury-item of a computer would have been a bit harder to save up for if your money was being spent on those items instead.
I love the suggestion that people pull themselves up by the bootstraps their parents bought for them.
(Score: 2) by Tara Li on Thursday September 06 2018, @09:33PM
*laughs* Um - no. Not a case of Mommy & Daddy providing his room & board. I know him F2F - that was *not* how it worked.
(Score: 2) by Pav on Friday September 07 2018, @12:34AM (5 children)
Congratulations on being first among your particular crop of losers.
Your flaw is your contempt for your own class, and (probably unconsciously) yourself. If you were black they'd call you an uncle tom. Congratulations though - you managed to get by on contempt/hatred for others and yourself... and STILL "succeed" by certain measures. That's somewhat remarkable... like placing well in a race using only the bottom three gears. How did you over-rev and not blow your engine? Statistically I suppose it happens, though not usually for overly long.
When you do crack though, and self-flagellation is not enough to make you succeed then your contempt will be waiting for you... and it will eat you alive from the inside. It will eat you just like it has already eaten those you judge so hashly. Surely then your failure will be clear for even you to see. Much more likely though is that you won't be able to face that reality, and you'll externalise the blame like most other failed koolaid-drinking neopeasants in that position - Damned Liberals! Chinese! Socialists! Mexicans! Damnit... anything so I can keep my hateful personal responsibility religion!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 07 2018, @04:01AM (4 children)
(Score: 2) by Pav on Friday September 07 2018, @08:31AM (3 children)
Who knows, but the country as a whole is largely there already.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 07 2018, @12:00PM (2 children)
[...]
But it should be quite clear to you that there isn't a race there. jmorris choose to better himself while most of his supposed cohort didn't even try. I think that implies how faulty a concept it is to lump the two together in the first place.
Why would jmorris "crack"? That implies stress or some such. The funny thing about a lot of peoples' lives is that they are where they want to be and are flexible enough to adapt to the routine disruptions that come their way.
(Score: 2) by Pav on Friday September 07 2018, @04:24PM (1 child)
Every society requires stress to succeed above expectations. I'm only referring to pointless and counterproductive stress... the kind that makes you weak. It's certainly possible for individuals to succeed despite that flaw while the society fails as a whole - own your outcomes!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:11AM
Depends on the expectations.