Also, a principal helped save 900 children in Nepal. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
Page A5From§Eachthe early evening edition — 31 August 2026
Amazon inflates ad prices as Supreme Court okays White House ballroom
I wrote this down somewhere—Amazon’s ad prices are allegedly inflated, with hidden surcharges, according to the FTC and 22 states. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, gives the White House ballroom a green light, and the cost goes to the taxpayer. Both institutions have gatekeepers: one is a tech platform, the other is the judiciary. The numbers don’t match: advertisers pay more than listed, taxpayers pay more than asked. If I put these on a household ledger, the surcharge and the ballroom fee would both show up as unexpected expenses. Excuse me, before you go—if the surcharge is hidden and the ballroom fee is approved, who’s keeping track of the real price?
“Amazon’s ad surcharges are hidden in the fine print, while the Supreme Court approves a ballroom with the price tag left out. The lesson is: if you want something big, let someone else pay—usually, us.”
“Both Amazon and the White House are just following the rules set by their respective authorities. Surcharges are part of business, and ballrooms are part of governance. I don’t see the issue here—wait, is there an issue?”
The receipts
More than 1 million advertisers were affected, the suit says. The online retailer says the Federal Trade Commission’s claim “fundamentally misunderstands” how its ads work.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.