Class warfare summed up in a simple joke (with an accompanying cartoon)

I monitor my mutual funds and look to see which companies they are invested in. If they are invested in a corporation I disagree with or don't believe in, I change the mutual funds I'm invested in.

Oh, and I don't mind paying my fair share of the taxes. I like having roads that aren't torn up, schools that educate and other things that taxes go to. I don't want to live in the Third World.

 

Crap. I don't make a lot of money AND I'm misinformed. Charlie, help me!!

 

You can't process me with a normal brain.

 

Wow. So Amazon doesn't employ anyone? That's a neat trick to have the company run totally by computers.

 

You should really do some more research. Amazon goes out of their way to not establish nexus in states as a strategy to not have to collect sales taxes.

Here is one of many examples of what happened in Colorado. Part of reason Borders shuttered their in state stores was because they could not compete with Amazon.

http://www.americanindependent.com/169945/borders-shutters-200-stores-in-bankruptcy-reorg-amazon-avoids-state-taxes-posts-record-profits.


"Borders Group will close six book stores and layoff 158 employees in Colorado this month. The news comes in the wake of a court order preventing online bookselling juggernaut Amazon.com from paying any sales tax in the state and a month after Amazon reported raking in eye-popping record profits."

"Amazon sales hit $34.20 billion in 2010, a 39.5 percent increase from the year before. Financial analysts estimate that Amazon sales account for more than 10 percent of all online retail sales in North America. The company likely takes in hundreds of millions in annual sales to Colorado residents.

Yet, faced last year with the prospect that after more than a decade of doing business in Colorado it would have to begin to pay sales taxes, Amazon fired its negligibly paid online “affiliate employees” in the state. Those “employees” were essentially website owners who linked to Amazon to sell merchandise. Firing the affiliates was part of a nationwide legal strategy through which Amazon cuts physical ties to states in order to dilute arguments that Amazon should charge customers who live in those states sales taxes, just as all other retailers conducting business have to do."

One of problems with liberal populism is that too many are willing to drink the kool aid without doing their own research.

 

It was Ragu. I should have spelled out further but I expected that magic would be able to apply intuitive thinking.

Amazon is built on a business model designed to limit their need to collect state taxes. To do this they have limited the states in which they have offices. ( in tax parlance called establishing nexus). Where they can they use contract distribution centers.

They are only obliged to collect tax in 5 states. Here is info right from their site:

Orders Subject to Sales Tax

The amount of tax charged depends upon many factors, including the identity of the seller, the type of item purchased, and the destination of the shipment.

Items sold by Amazon.com LLC, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to destinations in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington are subject to tax.

For sales tax purposes, electronically delivered products (e-books, e-documents, and electronically delivered software) are considered to be shipped to your credit card billing address.

When you no longer have a book store to browse in your neck of the woods you can place the blame square on Amazon.

 

This is awesome.

 

Same as when the locally-owned pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations, etc. begin shutting their doors because Walmart drives them out of business.

 

Speaking of liberal populism gone astray, this story really tickles me:
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/wisconsin-teachers-union-pensions-funded-by-koch-brothers-should-teachers-divest-from-koch/question-1553441/

Turns out that the Wisconsin state teachers pension fund has invested 5 mil with Koch Industries.

 

But Walmart probably hires many who lost their jobs with Ma Pa and also collects millions in taxes for the state. You can't say the same for Amazon.

Being the good liberal that you are I trust that you don't shop at Amazon inky.