Amazon’s Secret Utility Discount

The growing tendency of corporations hiding details of their subsidy deals

Amazon also may have applied for a discount on the new facility’s power, but the relevant governing body—the New York Power Authority (NYPA)—refuses to either confirm or deny if Amazon submitted an application.This is the latest example of a troubling trend: noncompliance with public records law, in order to hide details of corporate ...
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Amazon’s Secret Utility Discount

Capitalism Uber Alles

After the collapse of Marx’s hopes for humanity, what’s left of the Left?

Though dominant for centuries, capitalism formerly coexisted with other economic forms, once alongside forms of feudalism, later among forms of socialism. This is no longer the case; with the demise of the Marxist regimes, the sway of capitalism is now universal....

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Capitalism Uber Alles

Semiconductor Subsidy Doom Loop

There’s an ugly state-federal feedback loop happening

That doom loop is happening because Congress is dangling large federal semiconductor subsidies out there, but hasn’t approved them yet, and states want those funds to land within their borders, so are spending a lot all by themselves in the hopes that it will lead to an even bigger payoff....

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Semiconductor Subsidy Doom Loop

People Do Not Live with Indignity Forever

On May 3, I—and about a hundred million other women—was reeling in the aftermath of Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s contemptuous assault on women’s bodily autonomy. We had learned about it that day because of a leaked draft decision that will eliminate the right to safe, legal abortions in ...
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People Do Not Live with Indignity Forever

Meet A Corrupt Company Town

Anaheim is a prime example of the nexus between corporate subsidies and public corruption

Communities can take on the Amazons and Disneys of the world and win. We all just need to share the resources and tactics that make those wins possible....

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Meet A Corrupt Company Town

Capitalism Is Trumping Democracy at Home

During the Cold War, American leaders came to treat democracy and capitalism as if they were interchangeable

All day, I have been coming back to this: How have we arrived at a place where 90% of Americans want to protect our children from gun violence, and yet those who are supposed to represent us in government are unable, or unwilling, to do so? This is a central problem ...
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Capitalism Is Trumping Democracy at Home

The Future of DC’s Antitrust Fight With Amazon

State attorneys general can challenge the damaging practices of the largest corporations in America

Last year, Karl Racine, the attorney general for Washington, D.C., sued Amazon under the District’s antitrust laws. And his case was a novel one. While Amazon in the American zeitgeist is associated with low prices, Racine alleged that Amazon was actually using restrictive and unfair agreements with its third-party sellers ...
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The Future of DC’s Antitrust Fight With Amazon

Parking Meter Monopoly Malfeasance

Chicago reveals the perils of non-competes in infrastructure projects.

A group of Chicago drivers earlier this month filed an appeal in an antitrust lawsuit they brought, which alleges that a deal the city made to privatize its parking meters for 75 years constitutes an illegal monopoly. They want the court to give the city the power to cancel the agreement outright, ...
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Parking Meter Monopoly Malfeasance

Dueling Secret Deals 

Kansas and Oklahoma: So many NDAs, so many corporate handouts, so little time

Back in February, Kansas legislators approved a $1.2 billion corporate subsidy package for an as-yet-still unnamed corporation. Many members of the legislature signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from divulging the proposed recipient of that taxpayer largesse.  Events this week show why the corporation in question hasn’t come out from behind the curtain in ...
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Dueling Secret Deals 

The Film Tax Credit Sequel Stinks

Two thumbs down to subsidies for film and TV production

There’s a new sequel coming out, and let me tell you, it is terrible. No, I’m not talking about whatever film is actually up on the silver screen at the moment, but a push in statehouses across the country to revive or create film and TV tax credit programs, one of ...
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The Film Tax Credit Sequel Stinks