It’s hard not to wonder if Amazon’s recent conflict with the tax-hungry, job-killing Seattle city council has diminished corporate support for soft leftism and its Marxian fellow travelers. Being corporate social justice warriors is just fine when it’s all posturing and signaling, but when the leftists on the city council decide to pick Amazon’s deep pocket, that’s another situation entirely.
Recently this column covered the passage of the Seattle "head tax." (Complete details here.) The council initially proposed a $500 per employee tax to be paid yearly by all business grossing more than $20 million in revenue. With perfect leftist logic, the most successful job creators had to pay the most punitive amount of tax.
The revenue produced by this confiscation from capitalists was intended to be used to fight the epidemic of homelessness that appears to be a byproduct of the war for social justice, only these refugees never leave.
Amazon stopped construction on a new office building until it could make the extent of its displeasure known to the council. Somewhat chastened, the council decided to lower the tax to $275 per employee. Amazon started construction again.
But the online retailer wasn’t finished. Amazon, along with Starbucks and Paul Allen’s Vulcan, immediately pledged thousands of dollars to the No Tax on Jobs campaign that started gathering signatures to support a referendum to overturn the tax in November.
Talk about getting one’s money’s worth. Before the question was even put on the ballot, the city council cratered. The Associated Press reported, “Seattle city leaders said Monday they will work to repeal a tax on large businesses just one month after unanimously approving the measure to help pay for affordable housing and homeless services.”
In a joint statement Mayor Jenny Durkan and seven other political geniuses inhabiting the council said, “it is clear that the ordinance will lead to a prolonged, expensive political fight over the next five months that will do nothing to tackle our urgent housing and homelessness crisis.”
I suppose one could say the council turned on a dime, of course with politicians it’s always someone else’s dime.
This week the council completed their rout and voted to repeal the head tax with votes to spare.
The only uncertainty is what hare-brained scheme will the council concoct to amass enough revenue to once again hurl it at the homeless problem? The only certainty is makers should be prepared to once again foot the bill for takers.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)." Read more of Michael Shannon's reports — Go Here Now.
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