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posted by mrpg on Wednesday September 05 2018, @11:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the corporations-are-people-too dept.

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?


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 06 2018, @12:22PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 06 2018, @12:22PM (#731259) Journal

    These jobs should be a starting point, not a goal in your career aspirations, shouldn't they?

    Yet, that's not what's happening, because lots of people depend on these jobs.

    My employer is a near minimum wage employer in the US. I see plenty of people use those jobs as a starting point contrary to your assertion. And virtually everyone I know who holds a nice job has held minimum wage jobs in the beginning. One wonders why you continue to insist on this viewpoint. Is life too easy for you and the people you care about, that you need to invent false problems?

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 06 2018, @04:40PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 06 2018, @04:40PM (#731387)

    "Lots of" != "all"

    Dont worry, your agenda is an illusion and nothing willl be lost when it dissipates.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 07 2018, @03:41AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 07 2018, @03:41AM (#731628) Journal

      "Lots of" != "all"

      In a population of over 300 million you can always find "lots" of exceptions to anything. Doesn't mean a thing until we know how big that group actually is.