Make no mistake. President Trump’s attacks on Amazon have nothing to do with what he considers to be unfair practices, and everything to do with envy over Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos’ wealth.
Trump’s worship of the superficial is like a blade cutting to his core, when he sees Bezos’ name at the top of the World’s Richest list. The man has surpassed the wealth of even Bill Gates. In comparison to Bezos’ wealth, Trump is a pauper.
What’s more, Bezos wasn’t a child of privilege and didn’t start out with a rich daddy to hand off a multimillion dollar business to him.
Bezos was the child of a teen mom and a tight family unit, adopted by his Cuban immigrant stepfather while still very young.
He excelled in school, earned admission to Princeton (That’s “earned,” not bought for him by his daddy), and later entered the world of finance in New York City.
He built Amazon from the ground up, starting with just books, moving on to music and movies, and eventually expanded to the all-encompassing entity that it is, now.
Seriously. If you can’t order it from Amazon, it probably doesn’t exist.
It’s a successful business model, because it provides a service that is convenient and necessary.
I actually believe Bezos should at least mention my name and give a little thumbs up, at some point. Over the last couple of years, I’ve used Amazon on a near-weekly basis, to find those things I either can’t find nearby, or I don’t have the time to go out for.
My mom, who at 75 years old still works a 12 hour work day, full time schedule, as a nurse, actually uses Amazon to shop for grocery and household items regularly. It’s just more convenient for her.
I suspect we’re not alone, hence the success of Amazon.
And now Trump is trying to ruin that for all of Amazon’s customers.
Trump’s Saturday morning nonsense included lashing out at Amazon on Twitter.
While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars. The Failing N.Y. Times reports that “the size of the company’s lobbying staff has ballooned,” and that…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2018
…does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a “lobbyist” and should so REGISTER. If the P.O. “increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.” This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2018
Trump has been pushing for the postal service to raise rates on Amazon. A man with multiple bankruptcies and failed business ventures either doesn’t get how that will pass costs down to the consumers, or just doesn’t care.
The arrangement between Amazon and the USPS boosts the parcel delivery aspect of the USPS, in light of losses in recent years of income through mail delivery.
Online bill pay and email have taken a huge bite out of “snail mail” delivery.
A Citigroup analysis last year indicated that the post office subsidizes every Amazon package delivered by $1.46. But Amazon argues that the Postal Regulatory Commission has consistently found that Amazon’s contracts with the USPS are profitable.
“Amazon has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a network of more than 20 package sortation facilities that inject directly into the USPS last mile network bypassing most of USPS network,” Amazon said last year, according to Fortune Magazine. “This investment resulted in more efficient processes as well as thousands of jobs and related economic benefits in local communities.”
A recent report on Trump’s mania quotes sources who suggest Trump snaps whenever the Washington Post prints another unflattering picture of his presidency. Bezos owns WaPo, so, ipso facto, Bezos must be picking on him, right?
There’s no evidence to suggest Bezos is using the Washington Post as his personal weapon to target Trump.
Just as there is no evidence to support Trump’s claims of Amazon hurting the USPS:
“It’s been explained to him in multiple meetings that his perception is inaccurate and that the post office actually makes a ton of money from Amazon,” a source close to Trump told Axios.
Trump has also accused Amazon of failing to pay state and local sales taxes. In fact, the company does collect such taxes on products sold to consumers in states with sales taxes in place.
Trump doesn’t care about the details. He’s obsessed with bringing down Jeff Bezos, and when you have a president targeting private businesses because of personal vendettas, it’s a problem.
And just as a side note, if you’re an Amazon Prime member and you haven’t indulged in “Sneaky Pete,” yet, you’re missing out.
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