Big biz tax updates: Breakfast octopus edition

Some key items to consider as Working Washington and the rest of the Bring Seattle Home campaign reach out to voters in support of Seattle’s Progressive Business Tax:

• We continue to receive troubling reports about signature gatherers misleading voters about Seattle’s big business tax and engaging in unsavory tactics. Here’s one report from the Rainier QFC. (We also have a recording from a Queen Anne Safeway.)
  
• Starbucks announced they are giving Howard Schultz a $1.9 million retirement bonus, in addition to many many other benefits. By comparison, the PSBJ estimated Starbucks would pay $1.1 million a year towards affordable housing under Seattle’s big business tax law, which they claim is so much money to them it will somehow affect jobs. (Note too that estimate was based on the initially proposed $500 figure.)
  
• Qumulo, a Seattle tech company, announced this week they have raised $93 million, and plan tohire “aggressively” in Seattle. That single investment for that single company is just about double what Seattle’s big business tax will raise raise each year. From about 600 large companies. For affordable housing & services for homelessness people.
  
• Notably, the CEO of Qumulo last month signed a letter opposing the business tax which peddled the trickle-down argument that the tax would be somehow damaging. Apparently their economic analysis is different when they’re doing deals instead of playing politics.

A quote from Jeff Bezos might put it all into perspective. Bezos once explained to someone why he purchased their company in this way: “You’re the octopus that I’m having for breakfast. When I look at the menu, you’re the thing I don’t understand, the thing I’ve never had. I must have the breakfast octopus.”

What if we're all the breakfast octopus now?

When the Dori Monson Show emails...

which side are you on?

That tweet there isn't some kind of fable about what happens when rich people embrace their worst instincts and scorn their community. It's the news, today.

And it really distills what (and who) is behind the push to repeal Seattle's new big business tax and eliminate funding for affordable housing.

Now we the people have to decide which side we're on.

If you live or work in Seattle, you may already be seeing paid signature gatherers who are out to try and repeal the city's new tax on big businesses. We've seen this before: it's pretty typical for these kinds of paid signature gatherers to use deceptive language and even intentionally mislead voters.

We want to hear what you're hearing: if you see someone gathering signatures to repeal the city's new tax on big businesses, let us know where you see them, and what they're saying.

Right now in Seattle, some of the richest humans and the largest corporations in the world are coming out in full force to try to mislead us and distract us from the real problems: housing affordability & homelessness. They're trying to use threats and lies to get their way. They're creating a climate of hatred towards poor people to advance an anti-government, trickle-down agenda. But we can't let them get away with it.

So as this conversation continues in Seattle, across the state, and across the nation, here's some key information to keep in mind.

• The biggest businesses in our city need to do their part too. While the rapid growth of high-paying jobs at big corporations has brought big money to Seattle, it's also driven up rent and other costs of living for everyone else who's not working in the tech industry. Just like the rest of us pay our taxes, the 600 or so biggest businesses in the city should also pay towards helping address our citywide housing & homelessness crisis.
• The biggest businesses are the only ones that pay the tax — not fast food workers, not construction workers, not you, and not me. Amazon will pay $11 million — or about 0.006% of their global revenue last year. Only the top 600 or so companies in Seattle will pay the tax. The Puget Sound Business Journal estimates that Uwajimaya will contribute a total of about $60,000 on annual revenue of more than $20 million. Dick's Drive-In will contribute about $50,000 on annual revenue of more than $20 million. This is an effective tax rate of about 0.2% on these businesses.
• This isn't about money, it's about power. Giant corporations like Amazon simply don't want to do their part. Instead of paying their taxes, they want to be paid tribute. So they're stoking a climate of hatred towards poor people, trying to undermine the very idea that government has a role to play to address income inequality and our housing crisis. Because that way, they're in charge, and the rest of us don't have a say.
• We get to make decisions about what kind of community we want to live in. Amazon doesn't own Seattle, the people do!

Click here to share your thoughts, ask any questions you may have, or report an experience with a signature gatherer.

Right now, we have a choice before us & we have to decide as a community which side we're on: Is Seattle a playground of the rich, where corporations and the top 1% run the show? Or do the people of the city run our city, so that corporations are made to do their part to address our housing crisis?

You can help make sure this question gets answered in the best way possible. Let us know what you think and what you're seeing today.