Friday, November 4, 2011

Thanks, Simons!

I didn't like the Simon Property Group. The Simons own a number of the malls around here and are part of the "No firearms allowed" fuckwits. I now hate them with a passion:

Simon sues state over sales-tax loophole for Amazon.com

In part:
Simon Property Group Inc. has filed suit against the Indiana Department of Revenue in an attempt to force the state to collect sales taxes from Amazon.com Inc.

The Indianapolis-based mall powerhouse said it filed the suit Thursday not to collect "monetary damages" but to level the playing field for Indiana's brick-and-mortar retailers including the tenants at its 27 Indiana shopping centers.
Now, this is the same Simon Property Group, owners of the Pacers, that:

1. Received $30 million dollars of taxpayer money from the Capital Improvement Board here in Indianapolis to run the arena the Pacers play in because the billionaire Simons were supposedly losing money even when the Pacers were successful.*

2. Were allowed to build a brand-spanking-new headquarters on green space at the corner of Washington Street and Capitol Avenue in downtown Indy AND get a ten-year tax abatement.

There's already a mechanism in place for us to pay the State of Indiana the equivalent of sales tax for online purchases but the Simons want to compel the State of Indiana to jam its hand in my pocket to remove sales tax because the Simons charge too high of rent at their shitty malls so the tenants can't sell goods at a price that would let them compete with Amazon's online sales.

So my message here to the hypocrites at the Simon Property Group:

Fuck. You.


*Cry me a river. You seem to have some business sense. Sell 'em if you're loosing losing money on the investment.

16 comments:

DaddyBear said...

In honor of this post, I am ordering something expensive from Amazon. Let me know if you hear a high pitched keening coming from Indianapolis.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

I can't recall the last time I bought anything at a Simon mall. Well, OK, my last pair of glasses came from LensCrafters in Castleton. But that's about it; most things I buy from Amazon anymore. Or Cabelas when I wander through Wheeling on my way back and forth from the in-laws.

Don't they also benefit from the second 1% surtax on the sales tax that everybody in Marion County and the doughnut counties now pay? Or was that just for the Convention Center expansion and Lucas Oil Stadium? Seems like Conseco Fieldhouse got a piece of that, too.

Anyway, as Duke Nukem memorably put it, "Tear off their heads and sh*t down their necks."

Ruth said...

Yet another reason not to hit my local mall this year. Love the online shopping thing!

Old NFO said...

Yeah, we've got the same asshats here in NOVA... I don't patronize any of their malls.

Divemedic said...

See, this is why I ignore those signs. They not only want to make sure that you cannot carry a firearm in their property, they want to use the state to ensure that you do not have the option of going anywhere else.

Rick C said...

It, uh, sounds like they're both loosing money, which they're subsequently losing.

jp said...

What are you talking about?! Simon doesn't get a dime in this deal.

They're basically telling the state to get its act together and start collecting taxes on money it SHOULD be collecting...

...and we wonder why the government has so much debt...

og said...

"Simon doesn't get a dime in this deal."

Thus is defined obtuseness.

Ken O said...

Now before we all go buying from Amazon, let us not forget that they are the same morally bankrupt shitbags that defended the sale of "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" or "How to Rape and Fuck Up Little Kids" for the Kindle. Smart money says fuck them both. While you're at it, skip the Cock Gobblers at McDonald's, who donate in excess of $5,000,000 a year to anti-gun groups!

David H Dennis said...

There is yet another reason to dislike Simon - they run bad malls.

In Pittsburgh, they neglected Century III mall for decades, gang activity started and shootings happened. As a result, many of its stores moved out of the mall and into the surrounding area. In other words, the problem was not the South Hills area, it was the mall.

In Palm Beach County, they ran Palm Beach Mall straight into the ground, despite a prime location. Same deal as Century III: Gangs started coming in and merchants left. Unfortunately for Simon, there is vigorous competition for your shopping dollar in Palm Beach County, so this caused the mall to close (with the exception of some standalone stores that owned the underlying land). The property was foreclosed on by the lender, and is going to be redeveloped by an outlet mall, which I'm sure will be a big hit.

Pittsburgh malls are pretty much all Simon. When I moved to Palm Beach County I saw how nice a mall could be, through better-run malls like Wellington Green and The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens. Both beautiful, impeccably run properties.

In short, Simon can't even compete with its fellow malls, let alone Amazon. I like shopping at physical stores - it helps me get out of the house, and it's fun wandering around. So Amazon isn't going to take things over for me, but again, Simon is just a bad company running lousy malls.

D

Observito said...

You foul mouthed fools are just like the OWS kiddies - outraged, misguided and not too bright.

Your outrage ought be directed at the politicians the Simons so easily seduced.

As for your outrage, I'll buy it when you renounce all the government benefits you and yours have sweet talked out of the politicians.

comatus said...

Here in a city (My City), the street running around one of their malls was named for Mr Simon, so great was the regard in which the firm was held, or the hold they had on council, you decide.

When that mall had a Special Day for the astroturf gun ban campaign ANDREW (run by a spazz who'd left her ex's loaded pistol under the mattress beccause she was afraid to touch it), complete with the pile of tennis shoes, I vowed never to go there again.

It was an easy oath. Within a year, the mall was out of business. You could have stampeded cattle through there with pistoleros firing wildly, and not hurt a soul.

Son of Brock Landers said...

I'm an Indy resident and am disgusted by the Simon brothers' ability to be worth billions but shake the city down for 30 mil over 3 years to keep the Pacers in Indy. They can manage the team's costs to easily make upt he 10 mil difference, but no, they needed money from Indy to make them whole. Corporate welfare queens.

Roberta X said...

Fredrico: name one "government benefits you and yours have sweet talked out of the politicians" that I, as a wage-earning citizen, am receiving.

The Simon organization is playing at sour grapes. Amazon sells what I want, when I want it; there's no need to drive off to a traffic-congested hell or brave my way through a giant, soul-searing mall filled with hooligans and punk-in-training.

Not having to pay State sales tax on it is just the cherry on top. I'd still avoid the malls even if they managed to screw things up and starting charging it online.

Tam said...

Frederico, if that is your name...

"You foul mouthed fools are just like the OWS kiddies - outraged, misguided and not too bright.

Your outrage ought be directed at the politicians the Simons so easily seduced.
"

Did you even bother to look around the site before shooting off at the keyboard?

It's a thousand wonders a cretin like you doesn't starve from forgetting which end of the spoon goes in his mouth, so I'd be more careful tossing out the intellect-based slurs, were I you. (Which I am not, a fact for which I hit my knees in thanks on a nightly basis.)

Shermlock Shomes said...

Frederico said, "Your outrage ought be directed at the politicians the Simons so easily seduced."

I disapprove of the Simon Property Group taking advantage of the feeble minded. Same reason I detest Jim Irsay.