Yes, the stadium is on fire AND the teams playing in the World Cup final are being led by Chuck Blazer and Juan Ángel Napout.
So you're saying the US made a World Cup final led by the ghost of Blazer and we get to stand around making fat jokes? Nevermind. I'm staying to watch. Brummie would probably add that the fire is way over at the other end of the stadium anyway and the building is doing exactly what it was designed to do. It's holding just fine.
not sure which thread this actually fits in but I'm choosing this one This is either a twitter exchange I'd guess but has AOC throwing some good shade, as she is wont to do from time to time.
I'm sure there are people who tried when she was tending bar. Surprising that there's no documentation thereof, what with kids and that phone/camera thingy they use all the time.
AOC is raising tons of money on small donations: I intentionally built my campaign to rely on small-dollar grassroots support w/o any corporate $, because I felt that’s the best way to be accountable to everyday people.It has impacted how I work in Congress in powerful ways - ways I couldn’t fully appreciate until I got here.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 27, 2019
I disagree with her on many issues, but looking at the idiots who attack her on twitter, I cannot help but think that even the drunks at bars looking to pick up women who are too hot for them are likely to be much smoother than these people.
She is super young and the analogy to HRC is so far off only other than the fact they are elected female politicians from NY and alot of people hate them for what they stand for identity wise than their policies or accomplishments. I don't think at this point AOC could get elected statewide even in very blue NY but with age will come seasoning and I see her adapting and being more part of the establishment sooner rather than later.
Heavy cross reference with any income inequality or taxing thread: Me waiting on the haters to apologize after we were proven right on Amazon and saved the public billions https://t.co/AC64pG0nZI pic.twitter.com/xzCepkX4AV— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 6, 2019 Miami learned the lesson after gifting 400 million to the Marlins. They stood hard against Dolphins and Becks MLS team and at least they didn’t throw ridiculous amounts of money at them.
Hard to believe I am going to say this, and almost defend Amazon, but there is a huge difference between Amazon and a sports stadium. All sports stadia are bad long term investments. Almost all are bad short term investments. They are political vanity projects and extortion from the team owners. Investing in a new headquarters for one of the biggest companies on earth COULD be a decent investment...although I doubt it. My issues with the Amazon deal (I was against the Chicago bids) were: 1) Amazon does not need the incentives. They could do it with billions in incentives. It was extortion, pure and simple. 2) Long Island City is already one of the fastest growing areas in the country and horribly expensive. I interviewed for a job there the week they made announcement last year. It is already too expensive. It would be ridiculous with Amazon. 3) Any "new economy" investment like this is risky. Sure, Amazon is a behemoth now, but in 10 years? Who knows? There will likely be new technology and new ways to buy our cheap crap. Dropping 3 billion on a company that does not need it for an investment that would be a splash now, but not pay off in the long run, seems risky to me.
I'm almost always against these corporate welfare deals, especially for profitable multi-nationals. I don't like it for my sports teams either. Here's just one ridiculous local example: In addition to a $102.4 million tax credit from the state, Panasonic will receive incentives from Newark to move to the city from Secaucus in 2013. The Japanese-based electronics giant’s decision to move its North American headquarters to Newark, Mayor Cory Booker said at a news conference yesterday, is a “game-changing moment” for the city. “By far, this is the single greatest economic development accomplishment of my administration,” he said. “A company of this import has made the decision to come here is a sign that Newark has turned the corner, is standing strong and is looking boldly into what the future can bring.” At first glance, it might not seem extraordinary that New Jersey is offering Panasonic $102 million in tax breaks to relocate its corporate headquarters to Newark. Even today, at a time of tight budgets and taxpayer fury over government spending, state economic development departments spend lavishly to lure companies from other states, the idea being that the influx of jobs will justify the cost. Kenneth Thomas, associate professor of political science at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, says states collectively spend more than $70 billion a year on such wooing. What’s unusual in New Jersey’s case, though, is that Panasonic isn’t in another state. It’s in New Jersey, headquartered in Secaucus, nine miles from Newark. Taxpayers, in effect, will be giving Panasonic carfare of $10.6 million per mile to make the trip. These companies know how to extort states. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to those jobs, would we?" The real question here is how the state can afford to give companies that kind of money when we can’t make the budgets work now. Incentives have been going on for years and they are getting larger and larger due to competition with other states. It is not uncommon for a state to offer 20 years tax free residence for a business. So the company signs a 20 year lease and then when it is coming to an end, begin to look for the next city or state that will offer them tax free situations, tax credits and any other perks that may up the ante. The problem is that the large incentive packages are basically eliminating whatever benefits having the company there provides. Asks Bueckner, unimpressed, “What’s to prevent another company, now, from saying the same thing: I’ll move out of state unless you give me the same deal? It’s something the state is going to have to take a look at, moving forward — something that will cost us millions of dollars.” http://www.youdontknowjersey.com/20...t-for-moving-9-miles-from-secaucus-to-newark/
I thought the 3 billion was a tax exemption not an actual subsidy. I have friends who live in LIC and yeah, from what they said nobody there thought Amazon moving in would be beneficial. BUT it's a big disingenuous of AOC to ignore that Amazon is now moving in with a much smaller operation--1500 jobs vs. 25,000.
But they are jobs. For folks that cannot find better for one reason or another those shit jobs are necessary. YMMV
While there is truth to this I would argue we should put pressure on companies like Amazon not to be greedy dickbags and only offer shit jobs. They've got the money to make these livable and allow for things like....breaks, full healthcare, retirement, etc.
Fair enough but if those “shit jobs” are the only positions needing filled then what should they do? Sure you could raise the hell out of the starting salary but that won’t change the fact it’s a shitty position/role. Initially the bump in wage is nice but ultimately the reality of the role returns. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Amazon. After they purchased the company I worked for I gave them 18 months to show me all encompassing improvements. When I didn’t see them I opted to leave after 25+ years. No regrets, I took advantage of what was in front of me and came out further ahead than I realized.
1. Tax exemptions ARE subsidies. There is no difference, other than how they are provided. 2. Agreed. It would cause huge congestion and would dramatically inflate the already dramatically inflated prices. 3. True, but there are no subsidies/tax exemptions being provided. I think she was being a bit obnoxious, to be honest. This was an entirely separate idea. It was not a scaled version of the LIC project. It was renting a few floors in an office tower, as I understand it. In reality, she should have kept her mouth shut and not asked for apologies.
Foxconn got several subsidies under the promise of several jobs. Since then, they have admitted they’re not going to meet job projections. They promised 13k, it’s going to be 1500 if the project ever gets off the ground. Thing is those numbers Amazon projected are incredibly high. It’s easy to take a look and go wow, but having grown up in a city where I’ve always heard this, the actual story is much different.
Oh, they very much are. Loads of empty rhetoric is involved, promises that the place will take off in no time, if you give us a tax break they will come. I heard this a lot when Ford Field and Comerica Park opened up. Then again when the Little Caesar’s arena opened up. And Amazon was using that playbook. I’m also glad AOC trolled them. Too many companies have been getting away with so long. I don’t want a socialist collective, but I don’t want a right wing utopia where these people would advocate child labor. So for me, it’s nice to see some of the companies get some pushback.
She added a follow up tweet addressing the claim about 25k jobs. Below is a tweet with a link to a economic impact study conducted by New York. As I said earlier, it’s the same rhetoric I heard when Ford Field and Comerica Park were built. Followed by Little Caesar’s Arena. While we’re here, let’s clear up some GOP disinfo:- “It’s 1500 jobs vs 25,000”: The 25,000 jobs figure was a 10-20 year fantasy # from Amazon, not a promise or agreement. In exchange for that lack of commitment, they wanted billions of public $. Their Y1 jobs projection was 700.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 7, 2019 And here's the study for Long Island City specifically (based on overly-rosy assumptions, as exposed by local media up there: https://t.co/1qlMMh0mot )Like I said in the prior tweet: the Congresswoman is righthttps://t.co/znkTqdP9o7 pic.twitter.com/LwB0OJ915s— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) December 8, 2019
Fair enough. And you're right, I often read "subsidy" and think DIRECT subsidy and assume that's what other people are seeing/thinking.