May 13, 2016

BinC Watch: Donald Trump Rambles Incoherently About Amazon

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I just—I can’t wrap my…um—I just don’t know what to say anymore. Here is Trump doing his best Sarah Palin imitation:

For the record, Amazon now collects sales taxes in most states, including nine of the ten biggest. And if Bezos has said anything about fearing that Trump might go after him “for antitrust,” I can’t find it. (Although the last time Trump ranted about Amazon because the Post had annoyed him in some way, Bezos did suggest that he’d be happy to send Trump into space.)

Oh, and Bezos is a lot richer than Trump. Maybe that’s what really has Trump irked.

Oh, and apparently Trump is now talking about banning Syrian refugees, not Muslims in general. Maybe.

Oh, and Trump agreed to stop insulting Lindsey Graham in the media.

Oh, and Trump’s spox now says there are no plans to change his tax plan. “I’m a little bummed,” said Stephen Moore, who had been tasked with suggesting changes. So Trump’s tax plan for the common man still costs $10 trillion and still looks like this:

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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