Go Jeff, Go?

RantWoman is digesting two news items about Jeff Bezos and RantWoman is not going to mince any words.

 

First, RantWoman is, um, intrigued by Mr. Bezos endorsement of Biden administration hopes to raise the corporate tax rate. RantWoman notes that Amazon is famous for paying no corporate income taxes in a long time. Amazon could start paying more in corporate taxes and not wait around for Congress. RantWoman is sure there are accountants who might be able to suggest reasonable approaches. Then Amazon could also encourage corporate peers to come along on the same voluntary taxation exercise. 

Well, it could happen.

Next RantWoman reads of Amazon's desire to open a fulfilment center very near the Mount Baker Light Rail station.

Urbanist Article about proposed Amazon fulfilment center

RantWoman's initial off-the-cuff, completely unencumbered by for instance fully modeled climate impact analysis comment: why would a fulfilment center that close to a light rail station need all that parking?

RantWoman also is not charmed either by the idea of entirely robotic fulfilment centers or by concerns about workers toiling under horrible conditions without either health insurance or adequate appropriate breaks. Has RantWoman mentioned that she is a little hot about the treat workers well piece. RantWoman has a relative who suffered a crippling back injury early in her career. No matter how accessible electronic front end is, RantWoman also thinks the market needs to deal with concerns for workers who do the fulfilment.

And while RantWoman is at it, RantWoman would love to see some mixed income housing sprout on the Lowe's site EXCEPT that people need to be able to shop for hardware in person, to try different sized screws, to buy the day's worth of supplies for small scale construction projects, to ask knowledgeable humans about all the daily life basics that are not just hard-wired into every modern human.

RantWoman completely concurs with The Urbanist. Seattle needs more housing close in. RantWoman, though, thinks the area around the Mount baker station is more likely to do a smooth transition to residential than say the area around the Sodo station. RantWoman also thinks the area around the SODO station already has more big truck traffic than one would want in a residential neighborhood.

So stay tuned...