Good or Bad for the Jews

"Good or Bad for the Jews"

Many years ago, and for many years, I would travel to Morocco to visit uncles, cousins, and my paternal grandmother. Some lived in Tangiers;...

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez & Co: Jump the Amazon Piranha?

Some time back, April 30, 2013, I wrote a piece that has proven quite accurate given events of the last few days in Progolandia,
The political philosophy of this "liberalism" is one which portrays life as a series of problems that needs addressing by the state--the state guided and run, mind you, by the "well-educated liberal elite" produced by our increasingly decrepit "liberal" universities and informed by "liberal" Hollywood and "liberal" Big Media. Modern U.S. liberals are a variant of European social democrats who believe in a big state and mistrust the individual; the big difference being that US liberals have much more power in the world than their European co-religionists ever could hope. They advocate the "positivist" attitude so aptly summed up in the motto emblazoned on the national flag of Brazil, "Ordem e Progresso," so long, of course, as they are in charge of imposing the order and defining the progress. They take positivism's emphasis on rational thought and logic, and its opposition to superstition and fantasy, and turn it on its head into a "science-based" fantasy that somehow just so happens to lead to more power for them and their state. Global climate change is one sterling example of how liberals have taken a legitimate scientific-based concern over pollution, and turned it into a monumental hoax, known as Manmade Climate Change. That hoax somehow, just somehow ends up demanding more money and power for--guess who?--the liberals and their state . . . this philosophy comprises followers who proclaim a great love for humanity while in practice exhibiting a great hatred for people. <...>
Liberals hate all sorts of people but their special, most lethal hatred is reserved for the poor and the "uneducated." They kill the poor by the bushel, by the ton, by the hectare . . . they kill them at home and abroad. No poor person is safe from the lethal loving embrace of the liberals.
The Green Deal proposed by Progo Congressional Representative Alexandria "Sandy the barkeep" Ocasio-Cortez (related to the killer of the Aztecs? Just wondering) and Progo Senator Ed "Global Warming Hoax" Markey proves a classic example of that mentioned in that ancient blog post. In the name of love for Gaia and humanity, the "Deal" exhibits great contempt for people, and advocates an extraordinary expansion of Progo-run government into every facet of the economy and our lives. It would firmly entrench the Progos as our overlords and masters, and bring untold misery to hundreds of millions of real, living persons.

We got a little taste of this hatred for people over the past week as we watched the Amazon HQ debacle unfold. As you all know, Amazon, which goes out of its way to be Progo-symp, run by the world's richest man, who also owns the Progo Washington Post, had negotiated for some time with the authorities in New York City to open a major HQ and distribution operation in that Progo city. At a time when firms and investors are fleeing my natal city, one of the world's biggest companies sought to undertake a major investment in a poorer part of NYC, much of it within AOC's district. You would think Amazon should have their heads examined, or, at least, welcomed with open arms by the masters of the Big Apple. No? It seems Amazon was promised some state and city tax incentives (totaling perhaps $3 billion) in exchange for establishing an operation in NYC that would employ initially some 25,000 persons, expanding eventually to some 40,000, allow unions to get into the operation, and undertake some other development projects in the area that would generate additional employment and revenues for the state and the city of New York. The old machine Demos, e.g., Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and assorted Dem-controlled unions were all for the deal, as were, according to polls, the vast majority of people living in the area. But, no. The mad Progos captained by AOC and a handful of "community activists" led the charge against it, denouncing the deal as corporate welfare, and blasting Amazon as, essentially, a slave owner. Amazon walked. AOC & company put out triumphant tweets and statements boasting of how they had stopped the project, and that now NYC would be able to "spend" those $3 billion on something more Progo oriented than jobs for working people.

Well, of course, there is no $3 billion to spend, AOC not understanding the difference between giving somebody money and just reducing their costs. If, for example, you have a 20% discount coupon from Pizza Hut, you can't decide not to buy at Pizza Hut, and then use the "money" from the coupon to buy a car. It doesn't work that way, Sandy. Amazon was going to pour in lots of investment and tax money and create jobs which create other jobs that create more tax revenue. Amazon decided not to put up with the Progo abuse and announced that, instead, it will expand operations in Virginia, Tennessee, and elsewhere across the USA and Canada.

The Dem machine is not happy. Cuomo blasted the AOC crowd, the unions expressed their unhappiness and--mirabile visumirabile dictu--even Cher, tweeting apparently from her mansion in Malibu, expressed the belief that jobs were good for people. When you're a Prog and you lose Cher . . . it's over, baby. AOC's antics have offended Nancy "Get Even" Pelosi, put the party in the position of voting for the absurd Green Deal--a gift to the Trump re-election effort--and now it must explain why 25,000-40,000 jobs in NY is bad.

Bold Prediction: Paraphrasing Churchill on the Anglo-American landings in North Africa, this might not be the beginning of the end, but it certainly is the end of the beginning for AOC. She might have jumped the Amazon piranha.

Popcorn is available in the lobby.

38 comments:

  1. "... but it certainly is the end of the beginning for AOC."

    One certainly hopes, one certainly hopes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like ~~~Round 2~~~ to me!
      She also sounds like an empty barrel
      with a glass jaw, my bet has her on the canvas,
      in 5 rounds? Her handlers throw in the towel~~~
      On Watch~~~

      Delete
  2. My 'news' moratorium is now at almost 4 months and I appreciate the update.
    It is... unsurprising. I have high hopes that this AOC will continue to receive accolades from the new-rich-left, even if not the traditional rich left.
    Bezos is probably publicly cursing her and privately applauding her for "standing up to his big money".... heh. It's amazing how lame this massive left movement can be.
    With any luck, AOC will sweep the nomination to make things extra-easy for Trump in the generals.

    and.. *cough*.. this is a 'sterling example' of how to incorrectly spell it 'stirling'... :)

    - reader #1482

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    1. oh... AOC expected that Amazon would still build their HQ2 there even without the tax compromise? And then was surprised when they didn't? Because there's no other way they could have expected to have that extra $3b in revenue... they *must* have figured that their location was indispensable to Amazon and therefore required no negotiation, only acceptance of Amazon's submission? What's next? The green-church of NYC will BDS Amazon for not paying their blackmail?

      Delete
    2. Alexandria Donkey-Chompers has to wait a bit to run for president - she's 29-years-old now. She can run after Trump leaves office in 2024.

      Delete
    3. 1482, Sorry, but the statute of limitations on catching typos has expired. That typo is over five years old. I will fix it only because I don't want to be accused of being RACIST!!!

      Delete
    4. the shame.. the shame... the whole of the Internet Hate Machine rages in bright, sterling flashes of stirling silver! :)

      Delete
  3. Cher?!! Are you certain?

    Last I heard anything from her was back a couple years ago saying she was moving to Jupiter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Considering that Cher's been living in another galaxy for quite some time now, you're telling me she's getting closer to Earth? Time to put up a wall around the Moon and the Earth!

      Delete
  4. Well, of course, there is no $3 billion to spend, AOC not understanding the difference between giving somebody money and just reducing their costs.

    There's still $3 billion in tax credits to offer companies that pay better wages and are better for the local economy, at the very least.

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    1. That's not what AOC said, which is what I was noting. So what other companies are out there that want to make that sort of investment in overtaxed, over regulated NYC? Maybe NY should just lower its taxes, period, and not be so hostile to business.

      Delete
    2. Oh heck Diplomad, that's One Brow you're replying to.

      Wouldn't you (and me ... us) be better off doing something productive [ie *capitalistic] like emptying the wastecans over at the shooting range?

      Hell I think even Sun-Tzu said something about "doing only that which, is worthy of doing."

      But let us test my memory by all means ... you deny replying to One Brow and meanwhile I'll allow him the last word ... We both can check back on this thread about a year from now to reckon whether he's ranged fruitless and's still bracketing.

      This being the Internet ...

      JK

      Delete
    3. DiploMad,

      You are correct, that's not what she said.

      Since NYC has a fairly similar unemployment rate compared to the rest of the country, I'm not sure they need to change all that much.

      Delete
    4. My impression was that they were intending on renovating (effectively) and area that perhaps wouldn't be considered to be keeping up.. but I absolutely do not know New York.
      Yes, I'm pretty sure NYC doesn't need the jobs... until the next economic downturn.

      - reader #1482

      Delete
    5. I remember reading somewhere back when this was first announced that most of these 25k jobs were $80 - $120k range, this being an HQ and not primarily a dist. center. Over paid, over credentialed, under educated millenials guaranteed to unquestioningly voting Demo 'til the crack of doom.

      Delete
    6. I remember reading somewhere back when this was first announced that most of these 25k jobs were $80 - $120k range, this being an HQ and not primarily a dist. center.

      Because companies are always truthful about these things when trying to sell a tax break to the general public?

      Delete
  5. Her alma mater Boston College must be some sort of diploma mill...

    ReplyDelete
  6. She went to BU, not BC. The one question I do have about all of these kinds of things is the notion of “giving away the store”. I agree that encouraging business and business development is a good idea, but on the other hand should companies be allowed to hold out for what are essentially bribes to locate somewhere. In other words where’s the line between a business friendly environment and succumbing to blackmail?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I don't see any signs of this being a broken market. There are a reasonable number of companies that look to invest in a new employment market, and there are a reasonable number of jurisdictions currently having and interested in expanding their employment market.
      There doesn't seem to be a huge imbalance where employers always get their way without negotiation. Amazon had a list and looked at the benefits and drawbacks of each location. No doubt some locations offered better tax incentives than others. Perhaps NYC won out only by a small margin? Or perhaps someone in the NYC bid committee was unusually desperate to hook Amazon and *did* give away the store.

      But...
      The problem with all of this, is that no new headquarters means *no* new jobs or tax revenue from this... not even those offset in some part by incentives.
      I suspect this is what the democrats will look like in 2020... a big fizzle.

      - reader #1482

      Delete
    2. "...where’s the line between a business friendly environment and succumbing to blackmail?" - Gandy

      rightcheeritis________JOBS______JOBS_____JOBS______

      Course its arguable if having to piss in a bottle in between package drops amounts to 'good jobs', but then again filling cardboard boxes with Chinese stuff'n'stuff could be fun if you get a Christmas bonus or grab bag!?~~~ Sarc/off
      On Watch~~~
      "Let's Roll"

      Delete
    3. I've read at other sites that the tax break was not the real issue, after all that offer was never formally withdrawn before Bezos pulled the plug.
      It would seem that progressive Amazon realized that AOC and company genuinely veiw Gov't as the senior partner and would forever be hectoring them on the SJW issue of the day.
      Seems progs have a problem with the proletariat being in charge of their ox.

      Delete
  7. Jeff Bezos has had a bad couple of weeks. Upcoming expensive divorce, dick pics out on the Internet, and now AOC pees upon his NYC campus. He likely could have held out if he would have stepped up the kickbacks to DeBlasio and crew. Instead, he pulled out. Perhaps he was concerned that kickbacks could come out in discovery during his divorce.
    I will now be curious to see if Pravda on the Potomac has a sudden increase in negative stories about AOC, filled the usual “Sources close to AOC…” quotes. I did see they started hitting her on the time honor politician practice of nepotism.
    Seeing the Washington Post go after AOC, would prove the point President Trump always makes that the reporting in Post is driven by Jeff Bezos agenda.

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    Replies
    1. Remember that Bezos telegraphed that Amazon may soon go belly-up! A prophesy or Chinee bidness decision? Afterall the Chicoms have probably collected more than enough personal data, including bad habits, addictions, and IOUs on gullable Americans so as to tweak the collective psyche & economy to continue down the pathway to the pits!

      But, the critical question, the answer to which, should reveal the real FuManChu: "Who is paying for the NITWIT Slut's designer dresses and Penthouse palace in DC?"

      On Watch~~~
      MAGA if we dare!~~~

      Delete
  8. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's burn-out, if that is what is going on, is happening too soon. A year from now, the infatuation, the euphoria, the fawning over the Boston College starlet and her Green New Deal will be buried and forgotten. We will be dealing with a better camouflaged (more dangerous) totalitarian.

    ReplyDelete
  9. D'Mad,

    In watching the commentary on CNBC of Amazon's decision I noticed that the NYC based reporters were thoroughly focused on just the NYC part of the episode. They talked about DeBlasio, AOC, Cuomo, et al., and how Amazon should have anticipated a little give and take on the ground.

    But they missed the part about what started Amazon searching in the first place. We saw Seattle try to impose drastic employment surcharges on the company in order to further the "Progressive" agenda, and the company reacted with the HQ2 search.

    So now they're getting, from AOC and others, the same song and dance as Seattle gave them. One should expect that, I suppose, but better to kill a deal to send a serious message than to stand by and get robbed repeatedly.

    Green Bear

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    1. Amazon should wise up and move South, even south of DC. This 'progressive'/pc crap should be a signal of hostile environs.

      Delete
    2. amazon *is* the progressive/pc crap... can't really separate 'seattle culture' from amazon, microsoft, and the rest.

      Delete
    3. Whitewall,

      It seems to me that the Northern Virginia site was chosen because it's near DC. That would be a excellent place to oversee lobbying operations. Look at the aims of the progressives, and you see that the current hired lobbyists are not performing to spec. Moreover, using hired firms might lead to being tarred as being in the same class as Fazebook.

      Green Bear

      Delete
    4. I live in Snohomish County, so I can comment with knowledge. Seattle is Twinkie Land even worse than AOC's district. Unfortunately the Seattle Progs can run the whole state. The part outside of the Everett-Tacoma pit is actually part of America (whatever it is now).
      _revjen45

      Delete
    5. It's Californitis... has affected the metropolitan areas of Portland and Seattle.
      All these bay area liberals see those states as nice, pristine, and down-to-earth, then they move up there, but they're already infected with progressivism and they bring it with them. Oregon and Washington are already done-for, their sane areas cannot raise enough children to keep up with the influx from California.

      - reader #1482

      Delete
    6. As an Oregonian, I concur that what reader #1482 is true. There are 3 counties here that run roughshod over the rest of us. Have you seen the gun laws they are currently trying to push through?

      We need the Electoral College at the state level...

      Delete
  10. We all know that the Far Left Media never gets the story right. Here is an hypothesis about the "rest of the story".

    Amazon started internally thinking about a new HQ some years ago, based on their then-predictions about growth. There followed many months of internal assessments, and many more months of tortured negotiations with many different cities. Ultimately, a decision was made.

    But while all this was going on, and time was passing, Amazon's staff was revisiting their growth forecasts. Some of the more astute executives might even have begun to wonder if the business could bear the overhead cost of an additional HQ with a staff roughly comparable in size to 2 army divisions. In light of today's circumstances, there was a better option -- modest incremental growth at existing sites.

    But how to get out of Amazon's announced public commitment to New York City? Easy, for a Leftist organization like Amazon, with many connections to the underbelly of the Far Left. And so a ditzy young woman suddenly found herself being encouraged & supported to protest Amazon's NYC plans -- and Amazon sadly had to wash its hands of the whole venture.

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    1. Kind of doubt it... there are still a number of traditional brick & mortar's that amazon can asphyxiate with their nearly infrastructure-less business model.
      They still have pretty much *no* competition.

      - reader #1482

      Delete
  11. Please do not move south. Thanking you in advance.

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    1. Makes me thankful I don't live on the Left Coast. For now at least my home state of North Carolina is the place to be. After all, Diplomad is here....

      Delete
  12. "US liberals have much more power in the world than their European co-religionists ever could hope." Is this just because the US has more power than Europe? I think you are saying that European liberals don't have as much power over their own countries governments. I thought they had more.

    ReplyDelete
  13. A little late to the party, but when you say:

    The political philosophy of this "liberalism" is one which portrays life as a series of problems that needs addressing by the state...

    That could probably be more accurately termed "Leftism" or socialism. Liberalism is a decent point of view.

    My favorite moral philosopher, Gabriel Marcel, gave 1970s college students one of their fave posters when he said "life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived".

    ReplyDelete