By Robert B. Engel

The Philadelphia Eagles scored some good laughs recently by mocking Amazon over Prime Day outages, but the untold story of how the e-retail bonanza and the Prime service itself came to be is no joke.

Robert B. Engle (submitted photo)

A serious look at how massive sums of corporate welfare from Pennsylvania taxpayers factored into the rapid expansion of Amazon's flagship subscription service over the past few years reveals that the tech giant has really been selling a bill of goods, and demonstrates why lawmakers in the Keystone State must think long and hard before giving another penny to the third-richest company in the world.

Try to square this circle: while analysts say the true value of the Prime bundle - Prime Pantry, Prime Music, Prime Photos, Prime Reading, Prime Video, Prime Wardrobe - is over $780 per year, members pay only $119.

How Amazon is able to essentially give away more than $660 to 100 million Prime members every year without destroying their business model has a lot to do with the fact that the company has received $23 million in subsidies from Pennsylvania taxpayers since 2000.

Pennsylvania is not alone.

In fact, a total of $1.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies have ended up in Amazon's coffers as a result of the tech giant's vast lobbying apparatus, which has provided a direct line of communication to local public officials and facilitated endless sweetheart deals and special treatment.

From 2000 to 2017, Amazon spent at least $9.8 million on state lobbying -$370,000 of which went to lobbying efforts in Pennsylvania - while making over $6 million in campaign contributions. In fact, according to company reports, Amazon spent a total of almost $14 million on non-federal "government relations efforts" from 2013 to 2017.

All told, Amazon has lobbied more government entities than any other tech company over the last five years, ramping up their influence-peddling to a Super Bowl fever pitch.

Meanwhile, local communities and small businesses have paid a steep price for Amazon's strong-arm tactics.

Taxpayers have lost out on more than $700 million in sales tax revenue, money that could be used to improve schools, modernize transportation systems and expand access to healthcare services.

Amazon's unwillingness to pay their fair share has decimated good-paying jobs and small businesses - especially small retailers, which are closing at alarming rates. And despite the tech giant's claims that its warehouses and fulfilment centers add local jobs - it is cold comfort coming from a company that pays its employees an average salary of less than $29,000 per year - while the data clearly shows that private-sector employment does not increase after Amazon moves into town.

Adding insult to injury, when small businesses resort to selling their wares on Amazon's e-commerce platform, they face exorbitant fees that make it impossible for them to compete against big brands.

Third party-sellers have also complained for years that the tech giant uses data about sales trends to manipulate and drive down prices. Which begs the question: who, exactly, is Amazon talking about when it says that Prime and its e-commerce platform in general is a boon to small businesses?

During a time when Amazon is fishing for unprecedented amounts of corporate welfare from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for its second headquarters, often called HQ2, Prime Day ought to serve as a wake-up call for Pennsylvania lawmakers.

Taxpayers have forked over enough of their hard-earned money to the third-richest company in the world to help make its crown jewel subscription service possible in the first place. Amazon generated more than $177 billion in revenue last year alone, and they can most certainly afford to build a second headquarters on their own dime.

It is time for Pennsylvania lawmakers to stand up to Amazon on behalf of local communities and small businesses and say enough is enough.

Robert B. Engel is a retired CEO of CoBank. He is serving as the chief spokesperson of the Free & Fair Markets Initiative, a nonprofit coalition focused on supporting a modern, fair marketplace that serves the best interests of small businesses, local communities and everyday Americans.