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Trump attacks Washington Post as ‘guardian’ of Amazon’s tax practices

AliHajiSheik said:
If Freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism, then Freedom of the Press is not prevention from criticizing the press. Of course you didn't say press, you said media. I remember when that used to be clearly delineated.

When he starts talking about jailing journalists and shutting down the press, then I'll be plenty worried.
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Obama already did that though.
 
It's more than a bit unsettling to realize the nuclear football is never far from this authoritarian ignoramus.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
If Freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism, then Freedom of the Press is not prevention from criticizing the press. Of course you didn't say press, you said media. I remember when that used to be clearly delineated.

When he starts talking about jailing journalists and shutting down the press, then I'll be plenty worried.
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He hasn't gone that far yet. He's just trying to undermine confidence in the media. Anything that is critical of his administration is "fake news."
 
Dittohead not! said:
He hasn't gone that far yet. He's just trying to undermine confidence in the media. Anything that is critical of his administration is "fake news."
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Has your confidence in the media been undermined? Do you know anyone else whose confidence has been undermined?

Realistically, think about what that would look like. I view the press as I do the government, neither should be surprised when either takes a side that there are people who take the opposing side. In baseball, no one likes an umpire who wants to has a rooting interest.
 
Top Cat said:
This from the article...



Here's a picture of it.

screen%20shot%202017-06-27%20at%2044734%20pm.png



That is so Trump. Wow.
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The barcode is for an album from Greece by a musical group called Ishq. The album is named Sama. I'm pretty sure there is a hidden message in that.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
Has your confidence in the media been undermined? Do you know anyone else whose confidence has been undermined?

Realistically, think about what that would look like. I view the press as I do the government, neither should be surprised when either takes a side that there are people who take the opposing side. In baseball, no one likes an umpire who wants to has a rooting interest.
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The fans always seem to think the umpire is against their side. Same with the media and the voters. There are sites that are pro Democrats, others that are pro Republicans. The best thing is to listen to both, then make up your own mind, buy the Trumpeteers don't want to hear anything that is at all critical of the Trump administration

But no, his strategy hasn't changed my personal opinion of the media one way or the other.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
The barcode is for an album from Greece by a musical group called Ishq. The album is named Sama. I'm pretty sure there is a hidden message in that.
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LOL. So did Pail murder John?
 
Bucky said:
Trump attacks Washington Post as ‘guardian’ of Amazon’s tax practices - POLITICO

I apologize, but what is an internet tax???
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It's the sales tax. If a buyer is located in a state where Amazon has no physical presence, or nexus, like a warehouse or office space, it's not required to collect sales tax on those orders. The same thing applies to all online or catalog sellers - no physical presence, the seller isn't required to collect sales tax. When the seller does not collect sales tax, buyers like you and me are required in every state to calculate and submit equivalent "use" taxes on all our internet purchases, but pretty much no one does that, and the states don't enforce the law, at all, except for big purchases like furniture in some cases, cars, boats, etc.

Various members of Congress have made various attempts to solve the problem, with the latest being a proposal to make ALL internet sellers over a certain threshold (such as $1 million in annual sales) collect sales taxes in all 50 states regardless of physical presence. Here's an article from a few years ago about Sen. Alexander's efforts: Sen. Lamar Alexander out on limb by advocating an Internet sales tax in Tennessee | Times Free Press

The holdout at this point is Congress. For understandable reasons, they are hesitant to pass a law that would effectively raise sales taxes on a bunch of their constituents, even though the law requires all of us to pay the use tax anyway. IMO, they should change the law and require it of large e-tailers because it gives them a price advantage over bricks and mortar stores who do all have to charge and collect sales tax. But if Trump has a problem, he needs to point fingers at Congress, not Amazon. The law has been the same for decades now, it's just gotten bigger as internet sales have grown.
 
Carjosse said:
Covfefe. Who knows what he could be raving about now.
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I think I know...

This is just the latest in a series of attacks against Jeff Bezo from The Donald. They've been sparing against each other ever since Trump became President-Elect. What lay beneath this "Internet tax" dig is Pres. Trump trying to pursued Congress to implement a tax on goods and services sold over the Internet. But isn't that suppose to be a "state's rights" issue?

Dittohead not! said:
Either something from the fevered imagination of Trump, or something he wants the Congress to pass.

Does anyone else find the constant attacks on the media unsettling? Discredit the media, and we have to rely on the Ministry of Truth for information.
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See above...
 
Objective Voice said:
I think I know...

This is just the latest in a series of attacks against Jeff Bezo from The Donald. They've been sparing against each other ever since Trump became President-Elect. What lay beneath this "Internet tax" dig is Pres. Trump trying to pursued Congress to implement a tax on goods and services sold over the Internet. But isn't that suppose to be a "state's rights" issue?
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The Supreme Court set the precedent years ago about nexus and sales taxes in a case dealing with catalog sales. They said at the time that it was Congress who set the rules on this stuff, and who could if they want direct companies to collect sales taxes wherever they did business. Until Congress acts, states in fact cannot unilaterally require Amazon or others to collect sales taxes unless Amazon has "nexus." A lot of states have made increasingly creative arguments to establish nexus for Amazon (and others) but that's because Congress won't act.
 
JasperL said:
The Supreme Court set the precedent years ago about nexus and sales taxes in a case dealing with catalog sales. They said at the time that it was Congress who set the rules on this stuff, and who could if they want direct companies to collect sales taxes wherever they did business. Until Congress acts, states in fact cannot unilaterally require Amazon or others to collect sales taxes unless Amazon has "nexus." A lot of states have made increasingly creative arguments to establish nexus for Amazon (and others) but that's because Congress won't act.
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Congress doesn't want to act because:

1) It doesn't want to infringe on state's rights (whether or not any given state wants to implement a state sales tax on eCommerce sales); and,

2) It knows doing so would likely kill Internet sales and, thus, harm a growing segment of the free market.
 
Objective Voice said:
Congress doesn't want to act because:

1) It doesn't want to infringe on state's rights (whether or not any given state wants to implement a state sales tax on eCommerce sales); and,
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I'm not trying to be difficult, but that's not right. All the proposals I've seen would allow, but not require, states to compel Amazon and others to collect sales tax. It might be that once states CAN collect the tax, local bricks and mortar sellers would sue and require that online sellers collect it, but at least in the beginning states are given the OPTION.

2) It knows doing so would likely kill Internet sales and, thus, harm a growing segment of the free market.
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I don't think at this point that concern is legitimate. Nothing will kill off online sales, and there are plenty of thriving online sellers who collect sales tax in most or all states. Amazon, the biggest, now collects sales tax in every state with a tax. Amazon to start collecting state sales taxes everywhere - Mar. 29, 2017

To me it's a fairness issue. If seller X doesn't collect sale tax, the law requires me to pay it through a use tax. So the argument that forcing seller X to levy and me to pay sales tax already legally owed on that purchase will harm online sales is an argument for taxpayer subsidies of online sellers, and in 2017 there is no argument they need to be subsidized to survive.

The argument used to be that complying with sales tax for 50 states, thousands of local jurisdictions, was too burdensome, but technology has made that argument increasingly weak - firms will handle this for internet sellers and for a small price.
 
Carjosse said:
Corporate tax cuts, not so much especially when compared to companies like Google or Apple. Amazon does not really produce profit, they always just reinvest, which is the whole point of the corporate tax. Like a marketing expert I follow on YouTube said Amazon never did and does not want to get its shareholders hooked on the crack that is profit.
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That used to be the case, but that changed years ago. They started turning a profit in 2003, and although their margins are thin (around 1-2%), their revenues have become huge. 1% of $100 billion is $1 billion in profit.

Amazon also pulls all sorts of stunts to avoid paying taxes, in the US and abroad -- e.g. setting up Luxembourg as a corporate HQ, and parking international capital there. I am highly confident they would fully exploit any changes in tax laws to the fullest, including any breaks they could get on repatriation of foreign profits.
 
Top Cat said:
This from the article...

Here's a picture of it.

That is so Trump. Wow.
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Sometimes I almost feel sorry for they guy. He's supposedly worth $billions but is so insecure he has to frame and hang fake Time covers, on properties HE OWNS. It's pathetic, really.
 
Visbek said:
It's just another example of Trump idiotically attacking his political antagonists, and foolishly thinking the media will just go away if he keeps punching down at them.
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So you're acknowledging that Bezos is a political antagonist of Trump?
 
Visbek said:
Yep, pretty much. It's a classic authoritarian tactic.

Granted, the media occasionally shoots itself in the foot, and the illusion of neutrality is gone. At the same time, anyone who expected anything else from Commandante Triunfo was not paying attention last year.
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And yet the media has had its feet held to the fire when getting it wrong, especially by Trumpsters. Trumps lies, thats ok, no accountability by his supporters, free passes. If his,supporters and the GOP will not hold Trump accountable, then yes its up to the media to do the job.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Either something from the fevered imagination of Trump, or something he wants the Congress to pass.

Does anyone else find the constant attacks on the media unsettling? Discredit the media, and we have to rely on the Ministry of Truth for information.
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Not anymore than the constant attacks on the President
 
fmw said:
Amazon charges state sales tax for everything it sells (states without sales tax excepted, of course.) It does not charge sales tax for products sold by third parties. Since there is no internet tax, this action by Amazon is voluntary. I fail to see the issue.
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For the vast majority of states for which it collects tax, it really isn't voluntary because Amazon has nexus in those states. But I agree, there is no issue and Trump is using years-old talking points. Probably ought to update them....
 
holbritter said:
Not anymore than the constant attacks on the President
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No one actually attacks Trump on policy and if they do it's because it's a stupid broad policy that won't actually do anything in the long run. They attack his mannerisms because he throws a hissy-fit every other month. It's ALL entirely on him why he gets attacked. I wish people would get back to policy, but then he does stuff like this. Trust me if Trump never tweeted this, we wouldn't be talking about it :shock: Shocker I know, but it's true!
 
ModerateGOP said:
No one actually attacks Trump on policy and if they do it's because it's a stupid broad policy that won't actually do anything in the long run. They attack his mannerisms because he throws a hissy-fit every other month. It's ALL entirely on him why he gets attacked. I wish people would get back to policy, but then he does stuff like this. Trust me if Trump never tweeted this, we wouldn't be talking about it :shock: Shocker I know, but it's true!
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If Trump would close down his Twitter account, then his opponents would have a lot less ammunition to shoot at him, but attacking the president has been an American tradition for a long time. Who was the Muslim Kenyan socialist? Who lied and people died? Who was the "rapist?" Spurious accusations launched at the president have been going on a long time, and aren't about to stop any time soon. Trump just makes himself an easy target.
 
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