ON TARGET

2/28/19     By Dave Gunn

S.S. Amazon Scuttled

      It was a dream deal, and New York needed it. Due to high taxes and

burdensome regulations the state of New York had been hemorrhaging businesses for decades. It seemed that every business that could leave did leave. Nor did a massive nationwide advertising campaign promising tax breaks to businesses that moved to New York or started up in the Empire State yield any appreciable increase in businesses. Everyone knew that after the introductory period of tax breaks expired there would come the heavy tax increases. And the regulations would still be there from the beginning. Liberal New York politicians were fooling no one.

     Then, like a western hero riding in to save the day came Jeff Bezos, who actually wanted to move the “second” headquarters of Amazon to Long Island City, in the Borough of Queens, New York, which is just across the East River from Manhattan. All that was necessary was for circumstances to be made right. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, himself a leftist, would be happy to help New York pull out of the consequences of its own leftist policies.

     New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill “Comrade” DeBlasio worked feverishly on a deal that would bring the corporation, which did $233-billon of business last year, to New York. They negotiated a deal that would give Amazon a $3-billion tax break over 10 years. This seemed reasonable. After all, the normal taxes on Amazon would have been $30-billion, so forgiving $3-billion to get $27-billion seemed like a good deal for New York. Add to that the 25,000 jobs that would come with the deal, workers who would pay state and city income taxes. Cuomo and DeBlasio were salivating over the prospect.

     Then Alexandra Ocasio Cortez came to the “rescue” of New York. This holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Boston University scuttled the deal, due to a total misunderstanding of how it would work. Said Cortez, “If we were willing to give away $3-billion on this deal, we could invest those $3-billion in our district ourselves, if we wanted to. We could hire out more teachers. We can fix our subways. We can put a lot of people to work for that money, if we wanted to.”

     Now perhaps we know what an economics degree from Boston University is worth. Cortez obviously cannot understand the difference between a tax reduction and a grant. New York did not save $3-billon, but lost $27-billion! Add to that the 25,000 jobs, the income taxes off those jobs, and the economic stimulation resulting from those jobs, and the cost to New York over the next ten years is astounding.

     Stupidity seems to be contagious. After Cortez took her public stand against the Amazon deal, local New York City politicians hopped on her bandwagon. City council Member Jimmy Van Bremer and State Senator Michael Gianaris issued a joint statement that read, “We were not elected to serve as Amazon drones.” Apparently, they were elected to oppose new jobs and new tax revenue.

     Speaking of jobs, Cortez commented that the lost jobs were no big deal because they were not good jobs to begin with. Amazon said that the average salary would be $150K per year. I would imagine that most Americans would love to have a job that paid as much.

     The opposition was enough to dissuade Amazon from completing the deal.

Amazon released a statement that said, “. . . a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project.”

     So the deal with Amazon was scuttled by Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. The tax money was lost to New York, the jobs were lost to New York, and the economic stimulus was lost to New York. And while Cuomo, DeBlasio and many New York citizens are seething, Cortez is moving on to the next good thing she can ruin.

     Here is a scary thought for Democrats: Cortez is a “rising star” in their party. She is adored by young Democrats and by the liberal lap-dog media. And she is the gift that keeps on giving to Republicans who want to say there is a real difference between the parties.

[Dave Gunn is the nom de plume of Dr. David E. Gonnella, Pastor of the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, Alabama. The opinions expressed are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the church or its membership.]