Amazon HQ2 thread

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Your point doesn't refute Skyscraper's. Any self-interest company is better off with stability than with a dictator-as-Mayor

Dictator? Hardly. He couldn't land Lucas' museum. At the end of the day, there are political forces, as well as judicial ones, that constrain him. He's powerful, yes, but a long way from being a dictator.

[10023]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Lol, you should though! An economically viable metro east would be a major boost. There may also be some potential within the Champaign/Urbana and Bloomington/Normal corridor.

Champaign and Bloomington are insignificant cow-towns and always will be. The only multi-metro corridors that matter to Chicago extend up to Milwaukee, and perhaps northwest to Madison (via Rockford).

[10023]

Originally Posted by emathias

Dictator? Hardly. He couldn't land Lucas' museum. At the end of the day, there are political forces, as well as judicial ones, that constrain him. He's powerful, yes, but a long way from being a dictator.

Popular democracy is vastly overrated. I see his point, but as long as that strong mayor’s office is run by a technocrat, that’s a better situation that giving more decision-making power to an uninformed public and their incompetent council representatives. Chicago just needs to make sure that someone like Chuy Garcia isn’t elected mayor.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by 10023

Popular democracy is vastly overrated. I see his point, but as long as that strong mayor’s office is run by a technocrat, that’s a better situation that giving more decision-making power to an uninformed public and their incompetent council representatives. Chicago just needs to make sure that someone like Chuy Garcia isn’t elected mayor.

it's just that type of contempt for people that has killed democrats. keep it up, there's midterm elections this year.

[10023]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

it's just that type of contempt for people that has killed democrats. keep it up, there's midterm elections this year.

Sorry, I forgot. Everyone is a special snowflake, and their opinions are all equally valuable even though many of them are barely literate or morons.

Give me a break.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by Doady

Trump already hates Amazon a lot as is. Now imagine if they went against his "America first" agenda and chose Toronto as HQ2. He'd go ballistic. So I think we can safely forget about Toronto in this discussion.

This is the strangest argument to me. Any US president would be disappointed to see such a high profile development leave the US. What would Trump being extra mad do to change Amazon's mind? Not to mention that this HQ2 will likely long outlive Trump's presidency.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by 10023

Sorry, I forgot. Everyone is a special snowflake, and their opinions are all equally valuable even though many of them are barely literate or morons.

Give me a break.

that's the stuff.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

This is the strangest argument to me. Any US president would be disappointed to see such a high profile development leave the US. What would Trump being extra mad do to change Amazon's mind? Not to mention that this HQ2 will likely long outlive Trump's presidency.

I might add that a Toronto HQ2 doesn't equate to Amazon leaving the US. They're not shutting down the Seattle HQ; they're adding a 2nd HQ.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Doady

Trump already hates Amazon a lot as is. Now imagine if they went against his "America first" agenda and chose Toronto as HQ2.

You can't be a signatory to NAFTA and have a USA first policy at the same time. The whole point of a free trade deal is equal access to a common market. Surely under NAFTA it would be illegal for US governments to give preferential treatment to US firms over those from Canada or Mexico. If they tried, the lawsuits would pile up in a hurry.

[Reverberation]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I might add that a Toronto HQ2 doesn't equate to Amazon leaving the US. They're not shutting down the Seattle HQ; they're adding a 2nd HQ.

It’s not going to Canada. If you’re a US vendor and you try to do a job in Canada, there’s a good chance you won’t be allowed in. If it’s a job that a Canadian can do, they aren’t inclined to let you in.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Reverberation

It’s not going to Canada. If you’re a US vendor and you try to do a job in Canada, there’s a good chance you won’t be allowed in. If it’s a job that a Canadian can do, they aren’t inclined to let you in.

But if you're a high-skilled non-citizen who went to school in the U.S. there's a good chance you won't be able to get a work visa here. You're almost guaranteed to get one in Canada if you have an offer of employment.

It's also very easy for high-skilled Americans to obtain work visas in Canada.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by 10023

Champaign and Bloomington are insignificant cow-towns and always will be. The only multi-metro corridors that matter to Chicago extend up to Milwaukee, and perhaps northwest to Madison (via Rockford).

Champaign has UIUC, an excellent University. If it's a cowtown, then Madison might as well be too

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by 10023

Sorry, I forgot. Everyone is a special snowflake, and their opinions are all equally valuable even though many of them are barely literate or morons.

Give me a break.

So what would you do, let Queen Elizabeth start running things again?

That system worked great.

Truth is, Democracy is the least bad form of Government we have, so they say...

[eixample]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

But if you're a high-skilled non-citizen who went to school in the U.S. there's a good chance you won't be able to get a work visa here. You're almost guaranteed to get one in Canada if you have an offer of employment.

It's also very easy for high-skilled Americans to obtain work visas in Canada.

What does high skilled mean? It's not like they are going to have 50,000 coders in HQ2 too. Can they get guaranteed visas for project managers or middle management types or HR people? It just seems to limit the pool so much to go to Canada.

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

So what would you do, let Queen Elizabeth start running things again?

That system worked great.

Truth is, Democracy is the least bad form of Government we have, so they say...

I really liked the whole period where those that were in charge would just kill their enemies, burn down their village, — their women and put their heads on spikes on London Bridge. Ahhh - the good ol' days.

Now that's how it's supposed to work!

[llamaorama]

"Technocratic" "dictator" mayors and governors have ruled Chicago and Illinois for a very long time now and none of them have done anything to solve the complex and politically challenging problems the city and state faces. The pension debt crisis, the slavering devotion to the public sector employee voting bloc, overspending on frivolous public projects with high interest bond debt while schools and other institutions suffer, I could go on and on. The state has a unfair flat income tax but every city and local jurisdiction has very high property taxes. I'm not going to put any blame on outsider populists like Chuy when entrenched machine politicians are the real cause of the state's biggest problems.

A grand bargain that might save the state as a whole would be a bipartisan quid-pro-quo exchange - democrats would get a progressive income tax, and republicans would get a constitutional amendment that removes the obligation the state has to pay pensions. Then, the state would need to cut spending by up to 20% for about a decade, which would be accomplished by consolidating services so that no region or vulnerable population is left completely high and dry. Close and sell off assets that don't serve a purpose anymore like Chicago State University and the Thompson center, although I guess this would be a drop in the bucket. Hopefully in the long term, the state would be more healthy and then a progressive social agenda would become viable again. The goal is not ideological, in the vein of Rauner's mathematically unsound tax cuts or Pence and Walker's punish the poor/gays culture war —. Just to save whats good about government so the future generation can enjoy it and not be deprived of it. In the future, things like universal healthcare and free child care and things like that would be awesome, but the fiscal situation needs to be lined up first.

But I am from Texas so I have valid opinion. Just saying, something has to be done. I like Chicago and want it to regain its crown as the second city.

[Vlajos]

^ Chuy is not an outsider. And Chicago does not need a public employee a$$ kisser as mayor.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

A grand bargain that might save the state as a whole would be a bipartisan quid-pro-quo exchange - democrats would get a progressive income tax, and republicans would get a constitutional amendment that removes the obligation the state has to pay pensions. Then, the state would need to cut spending by up to 20% for about a decade, which would be accomplished by consolidating services so that no region or vulnerable population is left completely high and dry. Close and sell off assets that don't serve a purpose anymore like Chicago State University and the Thompson center, although I guess this would be a drop in the bucket. Hopefully in the long term, the state would be more healthy and then a progressive social agenda would become viable again. The goal is not ideological, in the vein of Rauner's mathematically unsound tax cuts or Pence and Walker's punish the poor/gays culture war —. Just to save whats good about government so the future generation can enjoy it and not be deprived of it. In the future, things like universal healthcare and free child care and things like that would be awesome, but the fiscal situation needs to be lined up first.

But I am from Texas so I have valid opinion. Just saying, something has to be done. I like Chicago and want it to regain its crown as the second city.

A grand bargain like what you're proposing is a good idea. I'd like to add term limits and a new way of redrawing the legislative map that prevents gerrymandering.

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

"Technocratic" "dictator" mayors and governors have ruled Chicago and Illinois for a very long time now and none of them have done anything to solve the complex and politically challenging problems the city and state faces. The pension debt crisis, the slavering devotion to the public sector employee voting bloc, overspending on frivolous public projects with high interest bond debt while schools and other institutions suffer, I could go on and on. The state has a unfair flat income tax but every city and local jurisdiction has very high property taxes. I'm not going to put any blame on outsider populists like Chuy when entrenched machine politicians are the real cause of the state's biggest problems.

A grand bargain that might save the state as a whole would be a bipartisan quid-pro-quo exchange - democrats would get a progressive income tax, and republicans would get a constitutional amendment that removes the obligation the state has to pay pensions. Then, the state would need to cut spending by up to 20% for about a decade, which would be accomplished by consolidating services so that no region or vulnerable population is left completely high and dry. Close and sell off assets that don't serve a purpose anymore like Chicago State University and the Thompson center, although I guess this would be a drop in the bucket. Hopefully in the long term, the state would be more healthy and then a progressive social agenda would become viable again. The goal is not ideological, in the vein of Rauner's mathematically unsound tax cuts or Pence and Walker's punish the poor/gays culture war —. Just to save whats good about government so the future generation can enjoy it and not be deprived of it. In the future, things like universal healthcare and free child care and things like that would be awesome, but the fiscal situation needs to be lined up first.

But I am from Texas so I have valid opinion. Just saying, something has to be done. I like Chicago and want it to regain its crown as the second city.

good post

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by eixample

What does high skilled mean? It's not like they are going to have 50,000 coders in HQ2 too. Can they get guaranteed visas for project managers or middle management types or HR people? It just seems to limit the pool so much to go to Canada.

How would it limit the pool? They already have an HQ in the U.S. If they put the other HQ in Canada then it expands the pool...