Increase the Amazon Tax by $140 Million

Dear friends,

The wealthy have become richer in the last two years. For working people and vulnerable communities, on the other hand, these have been hard times, with the pandemic, unprecedented inflation, rents skyrocketing, and a recession looming. The overwhelming burden of every crisis under capitalism has been thrust upon us, while the rich fill their pockets. Now our city is facing a nearly $140 million reduction in public revenues for next year. The Democrats on the City Council – yes, even the self-described progressives — are getting ready to vote for a budget that once again puts this entire burden of the coming recession on working people.

Tell City Council Democrats: Make the Rich Pay for This Crisis!
No Austerity Budget! Increase the Amazon Tax by $140 million!

Join us at the People’s Budget Rally
👉Saturday, November 5th at 2:00pm👈
New Hope Baptist Church (124 21st Ave, Seattle WA 98144)

Your participation at the Saturday rally is critical. Kshama is the only City Councilmember who stands with our community. Her office, with the People’s Budget, is demanding that the Amazon Tax be increased by $140 million to address the drastically reduced public revenues projected for next year. So far, not a single other Councilmember is supporting increasing the tax on the richest people so that our needs are funded.

You will hear the Democrats use words like “compassion,” “avoid austerity,” and “invest in a more equitable economy.” They will say these words as they vote YES on a budget that’s nothing but austerity for working people. Many urgently-needed human services will not be funded, affordable housing funds will be gravely inadequate, and the homelessness crisis will be exacerbated. Public-sector workers will not get the full raises they need, on top of being chronically underpaid.

Can you help us spread the news about the People’s Budget Rally, and invite five friends, family or co-workers to help us build for the strongest possible event? When we come together in solidarity as working people, we can win against the interests of the billionaires and their political representatives!

Tell City Council Democrats: Make the Rich Pay for This Crisis!
No Austerity Budget! Increase the Amazon Tax by $140 million!

Join us at the People’s Budget Rally
👉Saturday, November 5th at 2:00pm👈
New Hope Baptist Church (124 21st Ave, Seattle WA 98144)

How the People’s Budget Began

In 2014, our socialist office exposed a scandalous secret of Seattle’s political establishment — City Councilmembers (all of them Democrats) were spending thousands of dollars in taxpayer money every year on an upscale retreat with lobbyists from Microsoft, Boeing, Vulcan Real Estate, and all of Seattle’s biggest corporations. There, at Suncadia Resort, the City budget was crafted to ensure big business interests always came first, at the expense of working-class people in Seattle.

Councilmember Sawant’s office rejected their invitation, exposed the story to The Stranger, and launched our first People’s Budget campaign. The pressure of our movement brought the Suncadia retreat to an end, but in the context of capitalism, big businesses and the wealthy still dominate City Hall through the Democratic Party politicians. If working people are going to get funding for the things our communities desperately need, we have no choice but to get organized and fight for it.

Our yearly People’s Budget campaigns have organized alongside hundreds of union members, renters, and community activists. Together, we’ve won tens of millions of dollars in crucial funding for the things working people need. These victories include funding for: establishing the first Tiny House Villages and then building more of them, affordable housing, renter organizing and defense for renters facing eviction, restorative justice programs, and expanded homeless services.

We’ve only ever won because our campaigns have been independent of the Democratic establishment. We’ve forced the Democrats to vote ‘Yes’ repeatedly, despite their opposition and their attempts, both overt and behind-the-scenes, to undermine our movements.

Big business and the political establishment have repeatedly tried – and failed – to remove Kshama from office for precisely this reason: her movement-building approach has succeeded in winning victories for working people. That’s how we won the abortion sanctuary legislation in July this year, and we’ll need to build a similar fight to win full funding for free abortion for all, paid for by increasing the Amazon Tax our movement won in 2020!

See you on Saturday, November 5th at the People’s Budget Rally!