Desperate Mayors Compete for Amazon HQ2
You can almost see trails of drool spreading out from towns across America as local leaders feverishly hope to snag the second Amazon headquarters. In the latest Reason video I team up with comic geniuses Austin Bragg (opposite me) and Meredith Bragg (off camera) to highlight the absurdity of tax breaks through two sociopathic mayors. In my case, I’m reprising Buck Schwartzmore, my go-to politician character.
It’s of course understandable why a city would crave the throbbing artery of jobs and cash Amazon might bring in. However the usual way of inducing Jeff Bezos to move in is to throw other local businesses under the bus. New Jersey, for example, is willing to toss billions at Amazon. That means other businesses and citizens have to take up the slack.
In the case of Amazon that might actually pay off. But it rarely does, if ever, with things like stadium subsidies or tax breaks for film companies. In those cases local politicians shift the tax burden off of a glamorous industry they want to be associated with onto their constituents.
If you like this video, check out the ballad of Buck Schwartzmore as he plummets from one election to another:
Buck the Sociopathic Congressman