Following a scheduled 25-minute tour of the packing floor of a one-million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment warehouse in Chattanooga, Tenn., President Obama will make a speech at 2 pm EST that the White House press office describes as “the first in a series of policy speeches” that the Obama administration is calling “a better bargain for the middle class.” Obama’s speech today during his scheduled 90-minute stop at Amazon’s warehouse will focus, the White House says, on his proposals to “jumpstart” private sector job growth and to strengthen the manufacturing sector through a combination of corporate tax cuts and investment in job creation programs. He will also propose measures to prevent corporate tax evasion.
 
As Obama prepares to leave the White House at 10:45 am EST this morning for the flight on Air Force One to Chattanooga, controversy continues to swirl among the nation’s independent booksellers concerning the president’s scheduled visit to Amazon’s Chattanooga facility, which employs 1,700 workers. While starting salaries for “fulfillment associates” at Amazon’s Chattanooga warehouse could not be confirmed, a job listing posted today on Amazon.com advertised $11/hour starting salaries plus benefits for full-time workers in the company’s Murfreesboro, Tenn. fulfillment warehouse, 100 miles distant.
 
To date, the American Booksellers Association and two regional booksellers associations, the New England Independent Booksellers Association and the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, have weighed in on the matter with letters sent to the White House.
The ABA wrote in their letter to Obama that for the president to talk up jobs and the economy at an Amazon facility, and to praise the company as a job creator is “woefully misguided.”

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And over at gigaom: