4 ms·

I am pro-free market and fiscally conservative and don't get why Trump is picking this fight with Amazon. Amazon is fantastic for consumers. Sure they have put

I am pro-free market and fiscally conservative and don't get why Trump is picking this fight with Amazon. Amazon is fantastic for consumers. Sure they have put ton's of American small brick and mortars out of business and even brought down retail institutions such as Sears and perhaps next Macy's. Yet they provide an outlet for small niche makers to sell their products to a huge online market for essentially no-overhead. Market decides, and the market has chosen the Amazon model. In terms of them "dodging" state taxes, as far as I know they are fully compliant. If president Trump wants to make them pay their fair share, then adjust the laws. Wasn't this the same argument Trump made about not paying a ton of taxes, he said it is just smart business and he is totally compliant within the law.

kelukelugames 9y ago
I don't think it's hard to get why. Punishing Bezos for Washington Post. Edit: I dislike Bezos and am boycotting Amazon. I quit my prime sub and stopped buying from my Amazon account. And this is still obvious to me.
- nodesocket 9y ago
  I don't buy that. That is what the media wants you to believe that it's a petty personal vendetta. Think about the conflict of interest there from the media.
  - state_less 9y ago
    I don't think Trump thinks attacking back is petty. He pretty reliably attacks anyone who attacks him. http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/322878-the-presidency-hasnt-changed-the-donald http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/322...
    - alphabettsy 9y ago
      When you’re POTUS that’s petty.
  - danso 9y ago
    OK, so why do you believe Trump is picking this particular fight with Amazon?
    - nodesocket 9y ago
      If I had to speculate because Amazon is hurting and putting lots of small American businesses out of business. Many workers and owners are part of his base.
      - 1stranger 9y ago
        Why isn't Walmart drawing his ire as well then?
        alphabettsy 9y ago
        Because Walmart doesn’t have a newspaper that’s been critical of him.
  - code_duck 9y ago
    Trump attacks the Washington Post and complains about Amazon pretty much in the same breath. It is easy to draw one’s own conclusion that he is attempting to ‘punch back’, as his wife described his tendency.
dboreham 9y ago
>don't get why Trump ... Time to read up on Narcissistic Injury.
sime 9y ago
I think m52go's comment above is in the right direction. If Trump just announced a review of the postal service, or went on about what poor shape it was in, it wouldn't get much traction in the press and therefore in the publics' minds. So Amazon is a useful scapegoat to drum up publicity about the state of the postal service. If meaningful beneficial changes come out of this review then they will be reported in the media in the context of his spat with Amazon, regardless of the impact on Amazon itself. Otherwise it's unlikely that those changes will be deemed newsworthy (because they aren't salacious and they don't directly affect people's lives), or if they are reported that they will be easily absorbed. Linking any changes to the fight with Amazon provides a mental anchor with previous coverage given that any changes may take months to be put into place.
- alphabettsy 9y ago
  Do you actually believe he would care about the USPS if not for his spat with Bezos? I don’t.
  - sime 9y ago
    Yes, if he feels that changes to it would affect how his performance is ultimately perceived in some tangible way. I suspect he cares more about that than the spat with his Bezos because it affects his legacy (brand). The spat with Bezos is just an added bonus.

kelukelugames 9y ago

I don't think it's hard to get why. Punishing Bezos for Washington Post. Edit: I dislike Bezos and am boycotting Amazon. I quit my prime sub and stopped buying from my Amazon account. And this is still obvious to me.

nodesocket 9y ago
I don't buy that. That is what the media wants you to believe that it's a petty personal vendetta. Think about the conflict of interest there from the media.
- state_less 9y ago
  I don't think Trump thinks attacking back is petty. He pretty reliably attacks anyone who attacks him. http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/322878-the-presidency-hasnt-changed-the-donald http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/322...
  - alphabettsy 9y ago
    When you’re POTUS that’s petty.
- danso 9y ago
  OK, so why do you believe Trump is picking this particular fight with Amazon?
  - nodesocket 9y ago
    If I had to speculate because Amazon is hurting and putting lots of small American businesses out of business. Many workers and owners are part of his base.
    - 1stranger 9y ago
      Why isn't Walmart drawing his ire as well then?
      - alphabettsy 9y ago
        Because Walmart doesn’t have a newspaper that’s been critical of him.
- code_duck 9y ago
  Trump attacks the Washington Post and complains about Amazon pretty much in the same breath. It is easy to draw one’s own conclusion that he is attempting to ‘punch back’, as his wife described his tendency.

dboreham 9y ago

>don't get why Trump ... Time to read up on Narcissistic Injury.

sime 9y ago

I think m52go's comment above is in the right direction. If Trump just announced a review of the postal service, or went on about what poor shape it was in, it wouldn't get much traction in the press and therefore in the publics' minds. So Amazon is a useful scapegoat to drum up publicity about the state of the postal service. If meaningful beneficial changes come out of this review then they will be reported in the media in the context of his spat with Amazon, regardless of the impact on Amazon itself. Otherwise it's unlikely that those changes will be deemed newsworthy (because they aren't salacious and they don't directly affect people's lives), or if they are reported that they will be easily absorbed. Linking any changes to the fight with Amazon provides a mental anchor with previous coverage given that any changes may take months to be put into place.

alphabettsy 9y ago
Do you actually believe he would care about the USPS if not for his spat with Bezos? I don’t.
- sime 9y ago
  Yes, if he feels that changes to it would affect how his performance is ultimately perceived in some tangible way. I suspect he cares more about that than the spat with his Bezos because it affects his legacy (brand). The spat with Bezos is just an added bonus.