Big winners in Amazon sweepstakes were taxpayers in losing cities

New York and Northern Virginia were hailed as victors after Amazon decided to accept the $3 billion in combined corporate welfare to split its second headquarters between those two cities. But the real winners were the taxpayers of all the cities and states with losing bids.

Now that the Amazon sweepstakes is over, we’re getting a better sense of the loot that was being offered to Amazon as desperate local leaders groveled at the feet of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. And it is not a pretty sight.