The economic incentives offered the company amounted to no more than “taxpayer bribes,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who accused Amazon of holding American democracy “hostage.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has introduced the “Stop BEZOS Act” to tax companies he says underpay employees, congratulated New Yorkers “for standing up to the power of Amazon.”
Their blunt condemnation of Amazon underscores the extent to which this has become an animating issue for the far left. And their reaction is one act in a broader set of progressive issues for contenders and would-be contenders for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
Candidates and potential candidates perceived as more centrist did not immediately weigh in. Some candidates, like Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, have deeper connections to tech companies.
The sudden unraveling of the Amazon deal Thursday meant the company’s promise of 25,000 jobs in New York City would be unfulfilled over opposition to the city and state’s offer of $3 billion in tax incentives, which highlighted the practice of luring businesses to states and cities with promises of big tax breaks.
Amazon’s decision to cancel its deal with New York also comes at a time when prominent Democratic lawmakers in Washington are crafting legislation and advocating policies that could constrain or even break up large technology companies.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a candidate for president, is sponsoring a bill that would require disclosure about who is paying for online political advertising. Warren supports antitrust policies. Sanders’ Stop BEZOS Act, named for the chief executive of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, would tax corporations whose low-wage workers find it necessary to rely on food stamps and government health care benefits.
The push to step up regulation may have support among the public. In a Pew Research poll last year, 55 percent of the respondents said technology companies had too much power and influence, compared with 37 percent who said the firms had the right amount.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.