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Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

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Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#121

Post by missedthecue »

RIMR wrote: post #116
missedthecue wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He pays all of his employees no less than what Bernie Sanders considers a living wage. At what point would people be satisfied that Bezos pays enough?

Why is Bernie Sanders the authority here? Given inflation and a year-after-year growth in productivity, the minimum wage should be closer to $25/hour. Sanders falls way short of reality - but likely because the powers that be are more likely to compromise with a half-measure than give up more wealth to meaningfully improve America's economy by paying people equitably.

I never said he is the authority, but is probably the most prominent and well known Amazon critic on the planet today, and leads a huge populist movement that has been pushing for a 'living wage', which Sanders defines as $15/hr.

My question remains - at what dollar amount will people be satisfied that Bezos is being fair?

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#122

Post by gameswithgo »

kypro wrote: post #115

Kind of genius… My understanding as a Brit is that CNN are known to be supportive of progressive economic policies. I suspect they’re also critical of the existence of billionaires like Bezos in a society where many struggle to feed their families. Bribing influential CNN contributors who hold progressive or far-left economic policies is probably one of the better ways to help shift the media narrative towards one th…

orrr, maybe bezos is also very progressive?

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#123

Post by omegaworks »

missedthecue wrote: post #119
omegaworks wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. From 2014 to 2018 his wealth grew by 99B, and he paid under 1B in taxes. Would love a sub 1% effective tax rate.

It's a real curiosity how not having any income will result in not paying any income tax. Jeff Bezos did not sell any Amazon shares in 2007 or 2011. https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1018724-25.htm https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1018724-18.htm And a stock you own going up in value is not income. It does not trigger tax liability. If he doesn't sell shares right now, he is simply deferring tax liabili…

Such a curiosity that poor people without an income starve to death or are made homeless but rich people without an income can take vanity rocket trips!

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#124

Post by ohgodplsno »

ironrabbit wrote: post #118
cassac wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

Genuine question because I'm out of the loop: it looks to me like the "Bezos doesn't pay taxes" argument is just pointing out that most of his wealth sits in unrealized gains in amazon stock. When he sells stock, he pays taxes. Is there more to it that I'm missing? Is the prevailing argument that we should be paying taxes on unrealized capital gains?

Bezos doesn't sell stock. What little he does goes into Blue Origin and is written off again. When Bezos needs cash, he just borrows from the bank using his shares as collateral. No taxes.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#125

Post by pb7 »

Hokusai wrote: post #92
havetocharge wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His employees are free to seek a better paid employment if a jerk they work for underpays them. What's up with this nonstop handout mindset lately?

> His employees are free to seek a better paid employment if a jerk they work for underpays them. So, people have options to stop being poor, people have options to not have to pee in a bottle at work, but they chose to do it, why? Poverty removes many options, lack of good education removes many options, abusive corporations keep options far away. The system is the problem, people is just living in a system manipula…

>people have options to not have to pee in a bottle at work

Just because a few weird individuals chose to do this doesn't mean you have to do it. It's a folk tale used as a rallying cry against Amazon. It has as much meaning as Googlers earning $300K/year choosing to live in vans parked outside the office. Some people make questionable decisions. It doesn't speak at all to any sort of environmental problems.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#126

Post by Salgat »

pb7 wrote: post #108
Salgat wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who pays for the roads that Amazon depends on for deliveries and employee commutes? Who pays for the k-12 educations and public universities that these employees used to become educated? Who pays for the entire social infrastructure that allows Amazon to even exist? That's what people mean when they say Amazon isn't paying their fair share. They depend on us and taxpayer benefits more than almost any other company in…

They are paying exactly what they owe otherwise the IRS would come after them. You have equal access to the same infrastructure. Feel free to start a trillion dollar company.

No ones saying otherwise, what we're saying is raise the taxes to something reasonable.

>You have equal access to the same infrastructure. Feel free to start a trillion dollar company.

And this is such a lazy cop-out that ignores that Bezos had parents who funded his company (to the tune of half a million in today's money) during a time where he was in the right place at the right time. It insane how ignorant people are to how much luck in one's situation plays into their success. I'm not saying he isn't a talented businessman, but that alone is never enough to reach his level of success.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#127

Post by prepend »

cassac wrote: post #81
catillac wrote: post #2

There will be a lot of cynicism on this post from the HN crowd, but these are unbelievably good recipients. I have interacted with Jose Andres many times, and go to his DC restaurants when I visit, and he is truly a wonderful soul who spends all his effort helping others. I don’t know much about Van Jones beyond what I see on TV, but if he’s of the same character as Jose Andres, that is stellar and they will both do…

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

> pay his employees more

Doesn’t Amazon pay highest in its industry? I suppose people always want more, but it seems like they are already among the best.

Of course pay varies by location and what’s good in one state is good in another. But it seems the average warehouse worker pay is $12.61 [0] with states ranging from $9.66 for North Carolina (holy cow) to $14.84 in Washington [1].

Amazon pays $16/hour [2] so that’s quite a big higher than the average and even the highest state.

So it seems like an odd complaint, “the company with the highest pay should pay even more.” And would be more appropriate if they paid crap wages.

Warehouse worker isn’t the easiest job, but I’m not sure how a warehouse worker job for Amazon is harder than other employers.

[0] https://www.indeed.com/career/warehouse-worker/salaries [1] https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/What-Is-the-Average-Wa... [2] https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/Amazon-Warehouse-Worker...

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#128

Post by [deleted] »

xibalba wrote: post #107
cassac wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

Wage growth is starting to take off in the US due to extremely fierce competition over job applicants. If, as you say, Amazon doesn't pay employees enough, they will leave in droves for better paying jobs. Of course, if your facts aren't correct, they won't. To wit, 71% of Amazon workers in the recent unionization drive in Alabama voted against a union, citing, of all things, the good pay and strong benefits of the j…

[deleted]

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#129

Post by pb7 »

015a wrote: post #91
havetocharge wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His employees are free to seek a better paid employment if a jerk they work for underpays them. What's up with this nonstop handout mindset lately?

So its alright for rich CNN contributors to get handouts from Bezos, but unacceptable for average Americans?

It's his money, he can do whatever he wants with it. It's the same freedom afforded to everyone in this country.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#130

Post by beerandt »

ironrabbit wrote: post #118
cassac wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

Genuine question because I'm out of the loop: it looks to me like the "Bezos doesn't pay taxes" argument is just pointing out that most of his wealth sits in unrealized gains in amazon stock. When he sells stock, he pays taxes. Is there more to it that I'm missing? Is the prevailing argument that we should be paying taxes on unrealized capital gains?

You or me would sell stock and pay taxes.

He borrows against the shares, which keeps his votes while cashing out non-taxable income.

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