Amazon founder Jeff Bezos called on Twitter to investigate a message by Joe Biden after the president tweeted that wealthier corporations should “pay their fair share” of taxes.
Bezos wants Twitter’s “Disinformation Board” to probe Biden’s message because he claimed the president inaccurately linked higher corporate taxes to lowering inflation. He allowed that raising corporate taxes is “fine to discuss.” But linking the taxes to lowering inflation is a “non sequitur,” he insisted.
Amazon has paid extremely low taxes in relation to its enormous income and wealth. It paid zero federal taxes for 2018 by claiming a $129 million rebate on $11 billion in profits. It was one of 60 of some of the largest publicly traded corporations that paid no taxes that year.
Higher corporate taxes can in fact lower inflation, according to economists, by tamping down an overheated economy, which causes inflation.
More money in the Treasury from corporations could also help provide aid to people suffering in a cooling economy, by expanding or increasing the amount of unemployment benefits, for example.
Twitter users weren’t in the mood to cut Bezos any slack.
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