I have been ranting about how WalMart gets lots of local tax write-offs around the country, but pays so little that local communities end up subsidizing its workers.
I thank Bernie Sanders for coming up with an idea that I can support.
From Credo
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/sander ... 5%2EeMct5aAmazon made $3.03 billion last year and Bezos saw his personal wealth increase from $99 to $157 billion. The company is so profitable because it shortchanges suppliers, uses its massive market monopoly power to undercut entire industries and local businesses, and pays its workers so little. Meanwhile, taxpayers essentially subsidize low-wage employers like Amazon with $150 billion each year in public benefits for their low-income workers.3
In order to survive and take care of their families, between 1 in 3 and 1 in 10 Amazon employees, depending on the state, must turn to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps. Some employees unfairly designated as "contractors" may earn even less. On top of it all, Amazon warehouses rank among the most dangerous and a number of workers have died on the job. The situation is similar for workers at Walmart and most of America's biggest and most profitable employers.4
Sen. Sanders' idea is simple: Either these billionaire companies start paying their workers a living wage – or the government will tax them the exact cost of taking care of their employees. So if a worker would starve or lose housing without that $500 per month in help from the American people, Amazon must pay $500.