Elizabeth Warren Wants To Break Up Amazon So It's 'Not Powerful Enough To Heckle Senators With Snotty Tweets'

She said the quiet part out loud.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) accused Amazon of not paying its fair share in taxes during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday, which prompted the company to respond that it merely follows the tax laws created by Congress.

"If you don't like the laws you've created, by all means, change them," reads a tweet from Amazon's account.

Warren did not appreciate the remark:

I didn't write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I'll fight to make you pay your fair share. And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets. https://t.co/3vCAI93MST

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 26, 2021

This is a classic example of saying the quiet part out loud. Warren inadvertently revealed that her crusade to hurt major tech companies is partly driven by personal animus: She wants to reduce the power of corporations so that they are no longer "powerful enough to heckle senators."

In fact, everyone enjoys the right to "heckle senators," if by "heckle," we mean engage in constitutionally-protected political expression. Senators are elected representatives: They are supposed to be accountable to their constituents and the public more broadly. It is not "cancel culture" when people criticize Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.) for her previous enthusiasm for QAnon; similarly, there's nothing sinister or harassing about Amazon clapping back at Warren.

On the crux of the matter, Warren is also wrong. It's not true that Amazon pays "close to nothing in taxes." It paid $162 million in federal taxes last year, and is on the hook for nearly a billion more. Amazon does take advantage of several pro-business policies that let it reduce its total tax liability: investing in research and development, tax credits and deductions, etc. The U.S. tax code is extraordinarily complicated, and it's not surprising that massive corporations are able to find creative ways to hold on to more of their profits.

As Amazon pointed out, it is within Congress' power to simplify the law. Better yet, local governments could cease the practice of bribing companies to get them to headquarter in specific cities. Neither of these options necessitates breaking up Amazon, which remains the second-most-trusted entity in the country after the military. Congress, the institution to which Warren belongs, has been ranked the least trusted institution for 14 straight years.

Comments

[Paul Masson's Champagne Collection]

Parler called. It says, "Tough shit."

[Paul Masson's Champagne Collection]

I resent the notion that I'm supposed to care when the state is mean to a state-backed institution.

[DarthHusker]

It is ironic how big tech keeps pandering to the left so hard only to get no credit for it. It's almost like appeasement doesn't work.

[Bluwater]

Appeasement just means they come for you last. Which may be the impetus to keep hard left. Like, 'I may be going to hell, but I'll go last'.

Now if you actually want to see management veer hard right, watch what happens when the inevitable happens and people like Warren start talking about seizing their personal assets and setting a cap on personal net worth.

[damikesc]

You assume the Right will oppose it rather than simply allowing the wealthy who have protected these movements to suffer their consequences.

[MatthewSlyfield]

Two men encounter a bear in the woods. The bear starts acting aggressive.

Man 1 says, "Don't move. If we don't move it won't attack."

Man 2 turns and starts to run. Man 1 turns and runs after him. The bear chases them.

Man 1 yells from behind, "Why did you run? We can't outrun a bear."

Man 2 yells back, "I don't need to outrun the bear, I only need to out run you."

[ElvisIsReal]

"I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did."
----------
Why did Warren allow this to happen? Isn't it her job to write laws?

[Brandybuck]

What a cunt. Amazon didn't write those laws, the Congress of which she is a member did.

[B G]

Congress outsourced the actual "writing" part of "writing the laws". Very few members of either house can even be bothered to read most bills before voting on them.

[ElvisIsReal]

Which is the fault of CONGRESS, and thus Warren.

[B G]

Exactly

[Cronut]

Lulz. Her job is to go on Twitter and engage in performative outrage about lawyers and lobbyists writing bills, and then enjoy a lovely expensive lunch on the lobbyist's tab, while they discuss their client's donations, in exchange for favorable tax loopholes and regulations.

[Compelled Speechless]

That may be the single best summary of a legislator's job description that I've ever read.

[ElvisIsReal]

Sadly true.

[R Mac]

^

[Unicorn Abattoir]

"armies of lawyers and lobbyists"

So...Congress?

[Bluwater]

Ironically, the guy in charge of Amazon News is Jay Carney, Obama's former press secretary. His current position is senior vice president of global corporate affairs at Amazon since March 2, 2015. He oversees public policy and public relations for all of Amazon's businesses around the world.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Again I will cite OpenBordersLiberal-tarian's First Law. Warren is simply doing what modern Democrats often do — pretending to oppose "the rich" or "big corporations," in an effort to trick a handful of poor voters into remaining in the Democratic coalition.

But to those of us who pay attention, it's clear Warren is on the same side as Amazon in every way that matters. Jeff Bezos himself obviously wants Democrats in charge. Just look at the newspaper he owns. If he truly feared Democratic government, would he allow his WaPo employees to so consistently promote that party?

#VoteDemocratToHelpBillionaires

[Bluwater]

"If he truly feared Democratic government, would he allow his WaPo employees to so consistently promote that party?"

Yes. Let's understand that Bezos is a narcissistic pragmatist. With that in mind:
1] Keep feeding the beast. Because if you stop he eats you next.
2] Most German companies of the Nazi rise to power era supported the Nazi government who had the power to destroy them if they didn't. In fact it got you big kudos if you assisted propaganda efforts. WaPo is nothing but propaganda that the Democrats don't have to pay for. Which means at least for the moment, he knows he's more valuable to them alive than dead. That can change quickly if the balance swings.

3] Not being on the right won't get you attacked by the right but not being on the left probably means someone is likely to force a union. Again, pragmatism, not lack of fear.

4] Any time Bezos or Amazon does something that benefits them in the marketplace, they can say.... "But WaPo".

5] It's the left that is known to burn businesses and destroy private property. Amazon has 110 warehouses, hundreds of thousands of vehicles, and 1.3 million employees. That's a lot of costly territory to protect.

That said, I do believe that Bezos is a long term committed leftist so long as it doesn't apply to him. But it doesn't mean that he doesn't fear those he sleeps with.

[Inigo Montoya]

To your point #2: Just look what happened to Junkers Aircraft and its founder and brilliant aircraft engineer, Hugo Junkers, when he declined to help the Nazis by fulfilling their airplane orders.

[Squirrelloid]

Is this even parody anymore? I'm confused, OBL, what's happening here?

[Union of Concerned Socks]

What a mendacious cunt.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

She supported the lockdowns that made Amazon more powerful than ever, while tanking small businesses and retail outlets. This useless bitch is in no position to be griping about anything Amazon does, especially when it tells her to do her fucking job.

[Talcum X]

Warren will now have the FBI arrest and jail Bezos, then install an 8 year old trans child as the CEO of Amazon. It is the only logical solution Warren has to solve this problem.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Amazon and the feds are symbiotic organism at this point, and Bezos is untouchable now that he's doing the Bill Gates "philanthropy" bullshit.

[mad.casual]

In fact, everyone enjoys the right to "heckle senators," if by "heckle," we mean engage in constitutionally-protected political expression.

Everyone? What if by "heckle" we mean the constitutionally-protected right to petition for redress of grievances?

[Longtobefree]

Sounds like insurrection - - - - - -

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Constitutionally protected speech?!?

Do you want federal troops quartered in your home?

[Number 2]

“And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets.”

Hmmm. I wonder if this brilliant Harvard Law professor understands that she has just handed Big Tech evidence that any law she supports to “break up” Big Tech would be a First Amendment violation designed to retaliate for the exercise of Free Speech rights?

[Compelled Speechless]

You still think that wrinkly old piece of paper written by white supremacists is going to prevent the empire from doing whatever the fuck it wants. That's adorable.

[CE]

they are not respecting mah authoritay....

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Hey, now! Even cartman doesn’t whine about tax “fairness”.

[Rich]

Warren (D–Mass.) accused Amazon of not paying its fair share in taxes

"Well, Senator, you're entitled to your snotty opinion. You don't pay your fair share, either!"

[buckleup]

What a thin skinned brittle white supremacist.

[Inigo Montoya]

Hey now, 1/78 of Warren resents that characterization...or one of those words, anyway. Thin skinned, brittle and supremacist applies even to that 1/78 portion.

[Liberty Lover]

Remember liberals, just like Jeff Bezo, they will come for you too.

[Compelled Speechless]

In what way have they gone after Bezos? By encouraging lockdowns that resulted in him shatter all previous wealth records and ravaging all his small local competition?

All this "going after big tech" is pure theater. They wag a finger at these organizations while basically doing everything they can to make sure that they get such big market shares that they basically become quasi-governmental monopolies that directly do the bidding of the political party in charge.

Listen to the Amash interview on Malice's podcast a few weeks back. These "hearings" are literally, no exaggeration, legislators reading from a script that they were handed and are not allowed to stray from. Do you suppose that Zuckerberg's people might get some input on that script when it's being written behind closed door?

[Cronut]

The hearings are theater. Everything important is going on between those "armies of lobbyists and lawyers" and congressional staffers, behind the scenes. Zuck's appearance is just the relatively small cost to secure favorable terms for himself and his company. If senators and their mean tweets hurt his feelings, he can wipe his tears away with $100 bills on the way back to his enormous mansion.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

It's complete theater. The government is Facebook's sponsor, for fuck's sake. Snowden showed just how much the NSA and CIA use it to invade our privacy--and why shouldn't they? Those orgs funded Facebook's ascent. Facebook and Twitter work directly with the Democratic party to push their narratives, hide anything that might actually hurt the Democrats, and elect their candidates.

Facebook is untouchable, and everyone who's actually in a position of government authority knows it.

[Liberty Lover]

Quote: "Break Up Amazon".

[Compelled Speechless]

Yep, they're totes going to do that for realsies. You know why the evil people win all the time? Because they put on these productions and useful idiots like you believe it's real and copy the lines of these bad actors as if they deserve to be taken at face value. How do you not understand that this is a game?

[Don't look at me!]

I AM THE SENATE!

[Ra's al Gore]

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2021/03/26/pelosis-wild-declaration-regarding-the-iowa-house-seat-democrats-tried-to-steal-n2586936

Speaker Pelosi says it is her “right as Speaker” to seat or unseat any member of Congress she wants even if the election is certified

[Longtobefree]

Well, it is now that the democrats had such a huge landslide victory in the most honest election ever.
Remember, Hitler got elected.

[Enemy of the State]

Hitler never won political office. He was appointed Chancellor, then given dictatorial powers by the Reichstag...

[This Is The Zodiac Speaking]

Genau!! Gesichte studieren?

[Mickey Rat]

In a parliamentary system, nobody is ever directly elected to chancellor or prime minister. The problem was that the Nazis were winning pluralities with communists not far behind. The more moderate factions could not keep both of them out of a governing coalition.

[Cronut]

#allvotesmatter. Except those 6.

[LibertyWeeb]

Fifty percent plus six.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I've said plenty of mean and snotty things about Lizzie Warren over the years! Why doesn't she call me out?

Fucking classism, that's why.

[R Mac]

Democrats have been saying the quiet part out loud for awhile now, Mr. Goodhair, and most of your colleagues have been pretending otherwise.

[CE]

they've been saying it out loud too

[MakeOrwellFictionAgain]

Warren is a foul human being. She is a hypocrite and a demagogue who is fueled by anger, hatred and envy.

[Compelled Speechless]

You forgot insatiable lust for power.

[Ken Shultz]

We should note that the Democrats in the House released a plan to break up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google back in October of 2020.

"The proposals in a report issued Tuesday follow a 15-month investigation by a House Judiciary Committee panel into the companies’ market dominance.

Those kinds of forced breakups through a legislative overhaul would be a radical step for Congress to take toward a powerful industry. The tech giants for decades have enjoyed light-touch regulation and star status in Washington, but have come under intensifying scrutiny and derision over issues of competition, consumer privacy and hate speech.

----Associated Press, October 6, 2020

https://apnews.com/article/technology-50e69e921c6699a3edbd730c12292436

When we consider the actions of Amazon, Facebook, Google, and others in the wake of January 6, we really shouldn't ignore the fact that the most significant event for those companies on January 6 wasn't the Capitol riot. The most significant event for those companies was the results of the Senate runoff in Georgia, the results of which were called for the Democrats by the networks on January 6th.

In other words, once it became clear that the Democrats, who had already publicly released a plan to break up these companies, had control of not only the White House but also both chambers of Congress, the Big Tech companies had no choice but to do anything and everything the Democrats had been screaming at them to do since before the election.

Amazon refusing to host Parler and Apple and Google dropping Parler from their app stores were just the beginning. The war on "hate speech" (opposition to gay marriage, opposition to affirmative action, support for a border wall, and opposition to abortion) and "conspiracy theories" (Biden's crooked son and contesting the election results) was always fueled by the Big Tech companies' fear of government--be it the antitrust suits against Facebook and Google or the Democrats' plan to break up Big Tech.

Anyone who discusses the rights of social media and Big Tech companies to associate with whomever they please in terms of deplatforming people and censoring content is necessarily blinding themselves to the context of what was happening before January 6 and why. The Democrats have been promising to break up Big Tech and regulate social media since long before the 2020 election, and on January 6, the Democrats were able to grab the Big Tech companies by the cojones and start squeezing.

This situation never fit a theoretical argument about whether tech companies should be free to make choices for themselves about with whom they will and won't associate. In reality, this was always about the Democrats using the coercive power of the antitrust divisions of the Justice Department and the FTC and the Democrats using the coercive power of Congress--to break up Big Tech companies if they didn't disassociate from whomever the Democrats wanted in the name of censoring speech they didn't like.

[Number 2]

You have a valid point. And do not forget the remarkable “open letter” from Sen. Wyden to Big Tech that the rest of the world seems to have memory-holed. He claimed that he was “fighting as hard as he could” to keep the evil Republicans from repealing Section 230 and destroying Big Tech overnight, but that he would not be able to succeed until Big Tech took action against “fake news.” One need not be a genius to interpret what that hint meant.

[DarthHusker]

How much do you need to break up a company that it can't even afford to make snotty tweets? I'm a snotty twit who tweets sometimes, and I don't even have a corporation.

[Bluwater]

Sure, but I'll bet yours doesn't go out to their 3.6M and her 7M.

This isn't about breaking up Amazon. It's about a childish outburst from the head mean girl of the elite ruling class who got her ass towel-snapped in public by someone she thinks that she personally allows to exist.

[This Is The Zodiac Speaking]

Excellent description.

[Brian]

Elizabeth Warren: she’s like that girl who went to college, having learned nothing about economics or public choice theory in high school, yet immediately starts explaining the way the world works to everyone, before channeling that energy into a career in politics.

[CE]

and now she's busy making "plans" for people who have actually accomplished things

[NJ2AZ]

dated a girl like this freshman year. poly sci major (i didn't know better at the time..) telling us all how if only we were communists the world would be a much better place

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Well, to be fair, her gaming of the minority pandering system for college admissions actually did give her some insight into “the way the world works.”

[B G]

Bezos owns the Washington Post. If he really wanted to "heckle" a Senator, he's got a hell of a lot bigger platform to do it from than a twitter account.

Do they not still teach the old thing about not picking a fight with anyone who buys ink in rail-cars? Or maybe Comrade Warren just doesn't see a future in non state-run media of any kind?

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Do they not still teach the old thing about not picking a fight with anyone who buys ink in rail-cars? Or maybe Comrade Warren just doesn’t see a future in non state-run media of any kind?

Warren's nothing more than a jobber, just like Bernie Sanders. Both of them talk a big game about their pet projects, but they will ALWAYS lay on their back for the 1-2-3 when it really matters.

[Compelled Speechless]

Comrade Warren knows there's no future in non state run media because she's going to be one of the people who legislates it out of existence by creating ministries of truth that criminally punish all narratives that are pushed by any organization that isn't part of the public-private partnership we currently know as the corporate media.

[Political McGuffin]

I've heard it said that Bezos bought the Washington Post because it was cheaper than playing the lobbyists game.

[CE]

Comrade Warren isn't worried about the Washington Post. It's on her side.

All the big tech companies are run by leftists and full of leftist employees and Democrat donors. I think it's all just posturing and outrage theater when the Dem politicians complain about them.

[Number 2]

People lose their jobs over nonsense they tweeted out as teenagers that, at the end of the day, hurt nobody. But a sitting Senator who tweets that she wants to destroy private companies because they say annoying things about her suffers no consequences.

[Gregdn]

Watched the video clip and was surprised at Yellen's performance. She seemed unwilling or unable to grasp what Warren was asking.
It was funny to see Warren grow more and more exasperated.

[CE]

Yellen doesn't seem all that bright.

[Echospinner]

Snotty is one step beyond snooty. I mean snooty we can deal with. Snotty is just too far.

[SQRLSY One]

"Snotty is just too far."

Well, there's ONE special exception to that, and that applies to a little-known, fearsome creature of the night, who likes to stay the night, and have a bite... OR a slurp... Who is known as a "mucus vampire"!

[Vernon Depner]

She said "fight" three times. Shouldn't she be arrested for insurrection?

[B G]

She said it from behind a fence topped with razor wire and a few thousand troops with rifles. It's only "sedition" when Congress decides to leave the Capitol so open that a few hundred unarmed people can force their way inside..

[NJ2AZ]

i'm going to take a shot every time some moron politician refers to an intentional exception or carveout in a law as a "loophole"

aaaand, i'm dead from alcohol poisoning

[BigGiveNotBigGov]

“Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.” ― Milton Friedman

Friedman had it right, but he should have expanded it to all in government. Every government office should have a free pacifier dispenser to help quiet those pampered crybabies.

[Brian]

And here I thought fascism was bad.

[B G]

It's only "fascism" when the other side does it...

[Echospinner]

Dear senator Warren,

I heckle thee, i heckle thee, I heckle thee.

[SQRLSY One]

Echospinner, you are obviously a monopoly! There are NO other places to turn to, for Echospinner's specific services, other than Echospinner, so you MUST be a monopoly! Take off your top hat and monocle, and UNMASK yourself! Government Almighty has NO other choice, other than to BREAK YOU UP, into tiny little pieces, for the pubic good! Government Almighty... The religion of pieces! TINY little pieces!

[This Is The Zodiac Speaking]

Dock this chink a day's pay for blathering on the job

[Bluwater]

You wouldn't say that if she wasn't a Native American. Hater!

[Inquisitive Squirrel]

he speed at which the left has fully adopted horrendous governmental authoritarianism is just astounding at this point. And the irony in do so thinking they will never be out of power again.

[retiredfire]

They figure they've got this election stealing down to a science.
When they can "cancel" anyone who even brings the subject up, they may be right.

[Iridium]

"It is not "cancel culture" when people criticize Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.) for her previous enthusiasm for QAnon"

No, but using House rules to override the minority's traditional right to make committee assignments sure as heck is. Particularly given that she left those beliefs behind even before running for office.

Has anyone gotten up in arms about Rep. Greene getting criticized? If so, fine, yeah, silly objection. But that really isn't the main thrust of why people are upset with the Rep. Greene situation.

[retiredfire]

Meanwhile Zhou Bai-din is on video praising the life of a former Grand Kleagle of the KKK, at Byrd's funeral, and he doesn't seem to be in danger of being "cancelled".

[JJANAVYVET]

Amazing. Not one bot extoling to virtue of working from home on a computer, earning $$$ per week.

[CE]

everyone already left ShopRite and is driving a used AlfaRomeo and has buckets of cash

[Chasman1965]

We dodged a bad one. So glad that Warren isnt POTUS or VPOTUS. Not saying that the current two are good, but the Senate should move to censure her for her attacks on free speech, and her wish for a tyranny of the Senators. "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."

[NM Dave]

Amazon, like most huge companies, collects information on all of us, as does Google, Facebook, and many others. The purpose of this data collection is to convince us to voluntarily part with our money in exchange for something they offer. i have no problem with this, since ultimately, I am in charge of my own financial decisions. All they can do is ask for my business, I can direct my dollars as I choose.

The Federal Government, of which Warren is an influential part, also collects information on all of us. Their motives are much more sinister, and this data collection exists only to damage or destroy us. So yes, I trust Amazon far more than I trust congress.

[Ruger09]

Another great example, like we needed one, of the arrogance of the Ruling Class. They shall not be criticized saith Professor Warren. The major battle of our time is not conservatives vs. libertarians vs. progressives, it’s the political class as a whole vs. everyone else. The sooner everyone figures this out the better. And right now “everyone else” is getting its ass kicked.

[Spookk]

Good for her. And fuck Amazon, and Google, and every other big corporation - and KEEP fucking them until they are broken up into tiny, unpowerful bits. Meantime, tax the holy shit out of them, and mandate fat wages, etc.

[Aktenberg78]

Why the fuck are you "conservatives" defending Amazon? The same Amazon that espouses one leftist crusade after another? The same Amazon that prohibits the sale of gun parts, confederate flags, and anything else they deem offensive?

[perlhaqr]

We're not conservatives, we're libertarians. (Well, some of us, anyway.) Which means we criticize the people who are wrong in a given situation. It's called having principles, and not just "a side".

In this particular scene, that's Warren. When Amazon fist fucked Parler, I criticized them for it, and in fact stopped giving them my money. A thing I'm not allowed to do with Warren.

[Aktenberg78]

Ever since the "libertarians" decided that a man who likes to shoot off in another man's anus deserves a mandatory "wedding" cake, I decided they're unprincipled liberals.

[B G]

Which libertarians were those? All the ones I've seen think that such a man should be allowed to have a cake if he wants one, but that the State shouldn't compel any proprietor to bake it who doesn't consent to taking the order.

I know that part of the purpose of leftist newspeak is to eliminate the concept of connections between words and meanings being relatively fixed, but if you want any kind of meaningful response to these rantings, you're going to have to start making some sense.

[John C. Randolph]

Sure they suck, but they still have the right to call Fauxcahontas out when she's talking shit.

-jcr

[yoinks]

Amazon fired back today: “This is extraordinary and revealing. One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she’s going to break up an American company so they can’t criticize her anymore.”

Is she just going to take that??! (I enjoy seeing these asswipes feed on each other)

[TangoDelta]

Wow, here I thought AOC had the temperament of a thin skinned 13 yr old. Sounds like Liz wants to be a contender for the tantrum crown.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

AOC did this hilarious interview where she claimed her primary opponent last year was picked by "cynical shadow forces" because her opponent was a Latina with two last names.

This bitch literally got picked to run for her seat via a casting call from the Justice Democrats and Young Turks, and she actually has the gall to accuse her opponent of being hand-picked by elites.

[nuncad]

It’s best not to get involved with politics in business

[Uomo Del Ghiaccio]

I dislike Big Tech using their power to silence speech, but fully in support of Big Tech heckling Senator Warren.

[D.D. Driver]

Maybe it's also not a hot idea to hand out stimmies and then close every business that isn't Amazon and Walmart.

[Fats of Fury]

" Buy My Bitter" - Lizzie Warren

[John C. Randolph]

Fuck you, Fauxcahontas. I don't need a billon dollars to call you a tax-dependent parasite and hypocrite.

-jcr

[jack murphy]

ms. warren, they're not "loopholes"...they're the tax law. ignorant dimwits and panderers like you use the word to drive wedges but we have learned your schtick and tire of it. even your own party gave you the door in the primaries...they shit on you then and then again when you didn't get a plum position in bidens posse. you're a blathering hack. just fucking shut up

[Sympatica]

YES

[Sympatica]

America's Irma Griese in red.

[Sympatica]

America's version of Irma Grese