Christopher Caldwell had a column on Amazon last week that made much the same point I did earlier this week:

More dangerous for Amazon will be that a referendum turns attention to the kind of business it is in the first place. It is the tax exemption, not the technology, that most distinguishes Amazon from its rivals. Its price advantage is the most important thing about it. The ruthlessness with which Amazon is resisting tax reform might be a measure of the centrality of tax-privilege to its business model.

It’s understandable that Amazon would want to retain this advantage over its competitors, but it is an advantage that the company has thanks to what amounts to an act of government favoritism.