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Trump hits Amazon again

Reynolds

Well-Known Member
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Possible conversations...

Jeff Bezos to USPS: "You can either accept our bids for postage rate deliveries of Amazon packages or else Amazon will dump the USPS, create our own delivery service, applying efficiencies we've learned over the years, and deliver our own packages. We might even open it up for people who want to ship stuff unrelated to Amazon. The USPS will be defunct."

USPS to Bezos: "OK."

Stable Genius: "I want to pick more winners and losers in the marketplace.'

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL
Amazon has already started its own delivery service.
 

church mouse guy

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The problem is that what you are claiming Trump is saying is not what Trump is actually saying.

That's clear because he is targeting ONE direct shipper -- Amazon -- and tying it to his disdain for the Washington Post.

If he is saying what you claim, he should be directing his comments toward the Post Office and/or ALL direct shippers.

Moreover, from the evidence I have seen by reading a number of fact check articles on this, the Post Office actually makes money on this part of the business. As a frequent Amazon customer, I know that the Post Office only recently got into the packaging delivery business with Amazon in a big way. They use UPS and FedEx to ship packages to a local post office and the local post office delivers the packages seven days a week.

Beyond all of this, the President has made a number of false claims against Amazon saying that they don't pay taxes. That's not true at all, except for perhaps some local tax breaks that are given when they open new warehouses and distribution points.

I think that Trump probably got his info from the Post Office because he would not personally have time to gather all that information. We have four Amazon warehouses in the Indy area--they are tough to work in unless you are a good worker and can meet your quota. A lot of warehouses here deliver to Post Office warehouses in the various industrial parks, just as you say. I doubt if FedEx or UPS are losing money. It is probably the USPS that is absorbing the loss and are calling for more federal dollars. Perhaps the contract is old and costs have since risen.

I think that all direct vendors should have their rates raised if necessary. I am so sick of the post office. I almost never mail anything personally, but I get a mailbox full of junk mail every other day. I am an old codger and I don't want all that stuff filling up my trash every week. I want the Post Office to be solvent. As far as I know, their best area is first-class mail. The junk mail keeps them busy but it is another sop to corporations as they get their advertisements delivered for the lowest possible rate.

Bezos is a poor little rich boy who is a commie. His grandfather has a 25,000 acre ranch in Texas. Bezos is worth one hundred billion dollars on paper--I am not sure if he has ever made a profit.

He is killing brick and mortar in my county. I never buy from Amazon because I don't buy much and I can find almost everything in a major city without having to order it online.
 

Reynolds

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I think that Trump probably got his info from the Post Office because he would not personally have time to gather all that information. We have four Amazon warehouses in the Indy area--they are tough to work in unless you are a good worker and can meet your quota. A lot of warehouses here deliver to Post Office warehouses in the various industrial parks, just as you say. I doubt if FedEx or UPS are losing money. It is probably the USPS that is absorbing the loss and are calling for more federal dollars. Perhaps the contract is old and costs have since risen.

I think that all direct vendors should have their rates raised if necessary. I am so sick of the post office. I almost never mail anything personally, but I get a mailbox full of junk mail every other day. I am an old codger and I don't want all that stuff filling up my trash every week. I want the Post Office to be solvent. As far as I know, their best area is first-class mail. The junk mail keeps them busy but it is another sop to corporations as they get their advertisements delivered for the lowest possible rate.

Bezos is a poor little rich boy who is a commie. His grandfather has a 25,000 acre ranch in Texas. Bezos is worth one hundred billion dollars on paper--I am not sure if he has ever made a profit.

He is killing brick and mortar in my county. I never buy from Amazon because I don't buy much and I can find almost everything in a major city without having to order it online.
I buy from them, but mainly because I live in a very rural area. If I can't get it at Wal Mart, the feed store, or the hardware store, either have to order it or drive a long way.
 
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church mouse guy

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I buy from them, but mainly because I live in a very rural area. If O can't get it at ask Mart, the feed store, or the hardware store, O either have to order it or drive a long way.

You probably have a better life than I do although I live in one of the better areas of Indianapolis. I have a small house in a good neighborhood. Years ago Indianapolis was fun because traffic was light but now traffic is heavy 24 hours a day 7 days a week. And all these warehouses in Indianapolis makes us a trucking center, also, so trucks are everywhere, although I like truck drivers--most of them like to talk a bit before they return to the road. I often wonder why God put so many millions of us in these stale cities?
 

Baptist Believer

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All lies.
I realize you love to call me a liar but, as usual, your accusation is completely false.

Then you directed me to a news story reporting on the Deputy Press Secretary trying to put a spin on the President's tweets.

He claimed:

(1) The attacks are not personal.
If so, why is the President calling out one person, Jeff Bezos, and the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post, in the middle of a tweet that is allegedly about "all companies"?

No. Unless the President is less coherent and more ignorant than a middle schooler, then we need to take his tweets at face value.

The President has made it about a person, Jeff Bezos, and two of the companies he owns to the exclusion of all others. That is the definition of a personal attack.

(2) The President is also alleging that Amazon does not pay or collect taxes.
That is completely untrue, and the Deputy Press Secretary did not address it because it is irrefutable.

I had previously made the following points:

The problem is that what you are claiming Trump is saying is not what Trump is actually saying.
And that not only holds for what you have said, but also the Deputy Press Secretary. So, that's not a lie.

That's clear because he is targeting ONE direct shipper -- Amazon -- and tying it to his disdain for the Washington Post.

If he is saying what you claim, he should be directing his comments toward the Post Office and/or ALL direct shippers.
This is patently obvious to anyone who has basic reading comprehension skills. So, that's not a lie.

Moreover, from the evidence I have seen by reading a number of fact check articles on this, the Post Office actually makes money on this part of the business. As a frequent Amazon customer, I know that the Post Office only recently got into the packaging delivery business with Amazon in a big way. They use UPS and FedEx to ship packages to a local post office and the local post office delivers the packages seven days a week.
The President has offered no evidence for the alleged losses of the USPS for delivering Amazon packages. Everything I've checked says he is wrong about that, but you have provided no evidence. Which brings me to the last point:

Beyond all of this, the President has made a number of false claims against Amazon saying that they don't pay taxes. That's not true at all, except for perhaps some local tax breaks that are given when they open new warehouses and distribution points.
Since the President keeps telling falsehoods about the taxes, I am disinclined to believe him about alleged losses the USPS is incurring without evidence that undermines what I have already found. So this last point is not a lie, and the previous point is highly unlikely to be a lie.

So please stop the personal attacks against me and learn to have a grown-up conversation.
 
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Baptist Believer

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I buy from them, but mainly because I live in a very rural area. If I can't get it at Wal Mart, the feed store, or the hardware store, either have to order it or drive a long way.
I live in a large city, but many of the things I need are not easily available locally, or I have little time to drive all over town looking for things. I buy a lot of things locally, but I also get a lot from Amazon.
 

Baptist Believer

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This article from The Hill points out that the postal service has to provide timely delivery throughout all of the continental United States, far flung states (Alaska and Hawaii), and all of our territories. It also has a massive retail operation with 31,000 post offices (and you can't shut down unprofitable ones) and 4,000 contractor-run shops -- all with overhead costs.

Moreover, the way we transmit information is changing: E-mail and e-billing undermines what used to be a major revenue stream. Aside from wedding invitations and post cards, I rarely get any personally-written letter.

Then you have the problem with the health and pension benefits for retirees (a huge part of the problem),

Packages are 4% of what the USPS carries, so that cannot be the chief cause of solvency problems.

The President would make much more sense attacking people who send e-mail instead of writing personal letters, but that would irritate his base. Therefore he attacks Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post through trumped-up outrage at Amazon.
 

Baptist Believer

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And here's another reasonable story:

An interesting quote:

"One big reason the USPS has remained solvent in the age of e-mail, though, is the growing demand for package delivery, mostly driven by online shopping. USPS revenue was just about the same in 2017 as it was in 2005, according to annual reports, but packages now play a much larger role. In 2005, 1.1 billion packages made up around 3 percent of the agency’s revenue; in 2017, 5.7 billion packages made up around 28 percent. And in 2017 alone, package volume grew by 589 million pieces, an increase attributable almost entirely to e-commerce."
 

InTheLight

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People should take a look at their US large cap mutual funds they own in in their 401k's or their other investments. Any large cap fund worth a nickel has a large holding in Amazon, it's probably one of the top five underlying assets in the fund's overall portfolio.

Everytime Trump attacks Amazon the market reacts and millions of people watch their investments decline. It's doubly irritating because as Baptist Believer has pointed out, Trump's crusade against Amazon is not rooted in fact. AMZN was down 5.21% today. Thanks, Mr. President.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL
 

Reynolds

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People should take a look at their US large cap mutual funds they own in in their 401k's or their other investments. Any large cap fund worth a nickel has a large holding in Amazon, it's probably one of the top five underlying assets in the fund's overall portfolio.

Everytime Trump attacks Amazon the market reacts and millions of people watch their investments decline. It's doubly irritating because as Baptist Believer has pointed out, Trump's crusade against Amazon is not rooted in fact. AMZN was down 5.21% today. Thanks, Mr. President.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL
The same type arguments ran rampant when the Federal Govt. took on the Robber Barrons and broke up the monopolies. If you are so convinced Trump is crashing the market, start Shorting and you will make a killing if you are right.
 

InTheLight

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The same type arguments ran rampant when the Federal Govt. took on the Robber Barrons and broke up the monopolies. If you are so convinced Trump is crashing the market, start Shorting and you will make a killing if you are right.
Sorry, you're wrong. When the monopoly busters went after Standard Oil and the railroads they were right. They had the facts on their side.

Also, Trump is not crashing the market, so there's nothing to short. He's picking winners and losers, though, and he doesn't like Amazon, a company stock that is in millions of American's portfolios.



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Reynolds

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Sorry, you're wrong. When the monopoly busters went after Standard Oil and the railroads they were right. They had the facts on their side.

Also, Trump is not crashing the market, so there's nothing to short. He's picking winners and losers, though, and he doesn't like Amazon, a company stock that is in millions of American's portfolios.



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL
Short Amazon. My broker said its still doable to short a stock, but you have to jump through a few hoops to make it legal.
 

church mouse guy

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Sorry, you're wrong. When the monopoly busters went after Standard Oil and the railroads they were right. They had the facts on their side.

Also, Trump is not crashing the market, so there's nothing to short. He's picking winners and losers, though, and he doesn't like Amazon, a company stock that is in millions of American's portfolios.



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

Poor Jeff. He is only the richest man in the world and he is a commie who has relentlessly attacked Trump, which is what the richest man in the world does. He is sort of an American George Soros.
 

rsr

<b> 7,000 posts club</b>
Moderator
If the president is so upset by such things, why doesn't he take on the E-Bay China packet scam, which provides China with incredibly low shipping rates that allow Chinese merchants to undercut American merchants, including Amazon? Chinese shippers can mail something from Shanghai to my house for less than the cost of sending it from 50 miles away.
 

InTheLight

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Short Amazon. My broker said its still doable to short a stock, but you have to jump through a few hoops to make it legal.
So you're steering this conversation away from Trump's undue influence on the market and making it about my investment choices. You need to work on your game a bit.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL
 

InTheLight

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If the president is so upset by such things, why doesn't he take on the E-Bay China packet scam, which provides China with incredibly low shipping rates that allow Chinese merchants to undercut American merchants, including Amazon? Chinese shippers can mail something from Shanghai to my house for less than the cost of sending it from 50 miles away.
Yes, that is amazing, isn't it?

That would be two-fer for Trump as well. He could bash China and pick another company as a loser.

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church mouse guy

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The Post Office does need to be solvent and if that means that Americans have to pay more for mail delivery, so be it. The users of the Post Office should fund it totally.
 

Reynolds

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So you're steering this conversation away from Trump's undue influence on the market and making it about my investment choices. You need to work on your game a bit.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL
No. I am telling you that if you are so worried about the market, short it. I don't care too much about the market. I like trading commodities. I like it when the market dives. You are the one who whines continually about the market, the market, the market, the market.
I like anything Trump does that ticks off the establishment.
 
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rsr

<b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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Yes, that is amazing, isn't it?

That would be two-fer for Trump as well. He could bash China and pick another company as a loser.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

Which must mean that 1. The president has no grasp of the problem or 2. He just wants to pick on Bezos or 3. Both 1 and 2. I realize that many of us are ignorant on many things. It is odd that a man who occupies what was formerly the most powerful position in the world would want to make a spectacle of his ignorance and pettiness. But that's just me, I guess.
 

InTheLight

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No. I am telling you that if you are so worried about the market, short it. I don't care too much about the market. I like trading commodities. I like it when the market dives. You are the one who whines continually about the market, the market, the market, the market.
I like anything Trump does that ticks off the establishment.

I don't like it when the leader of our government interferes with the stock market. And I'm not going to short a stock market that is about to have hundreds of companies report higher earnings because of the lower tax rates.

Trump is not ticking off the establishment with his tariff talk, he's ticking off millions of investors.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
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