Seattle approves ‘head tax’ on large businesses despite Amazon’s opposition

[mhays]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

That’s asinine. All taxes? You mean to say that no matter what the tax is on, how much it costs the taxpayers, what it goes to pay for, who benefits, who doesn’t, you normally vote for it? Really?

There have been exceptions, but that's my default position. I'm patriotic...sue me.

[toddguy]

I can't see "headtax" without getting dirty thoughts. smh.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

It wouldn't show up as a line item deduction on the paycheck. Instead, they can respond by reducing salary bands (for new employees) or reducing/eliminating certain benefits across the board.

Completely agree

[Gresto]

Good. Amazon can rot.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Gresto

Good. Amazon can rot.

I'm not a big fan of Amazon, but this law will affect companies with $20+ million in sales. That seems like a pretty low threshold.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Putting aside the fact that that's a very modest city budget for a rich, successful city (NYC budget is around $90 billion), who cares what the Amazon spokesperson says? They answer to Bezos, not the people of the Seattle.

Amazon has zero interest in whether or not Seattle has a "revenue problem", whatever that means. They just don't want to contribute anything to the public good.

Yeah, providing jobs for thousands of people does zero for the public good.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by The North One

Good, fuck Amazon.

As always, great insightful commentary from you.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

That title is click bait-y.

Nowhere in the article does it say Amazon threatens to move jobs out of Seattle.

And even if Amazon creates fewer jobs in Seattle going forward, that could be a good thing as it will help to slow down their rapid growth and give the city some breathing room for their infrastructure to catch up. Strong growth isn't good if poorly managed. The city of Seattle, as a government entity, has a responsibility to make sure its citizens have a high quality of life. If there are those in the city's business community who choose not to be good stewards to this end, despite also benefitting from the amenities and services that citizens in the city of Seattle pay for, then maybe they should reevaluate their relationship with those businesses.

IMO, Seattle should have called Amazon's bluff. The reality is Amazon needs them just as much as they need Seattle (just like Georgia did with Delta, which I didn't agree with BTW). Where else are they going to easily plop 45,000 employees? And then there's also having to deal with the sunken costs from all of the money they've invested. At worst, Amazom may retaliate by simply shifting their HQ on paper to another state (like Boeing did). But that alone won't have much of an impact on Seattle from a functional standpoint.

In any event, the move by Bezos (his playing poker with the vote) was shrewd.

A Milton Friedman quote seems in need here, which goes something like this:

Just because someone doesn't agree with your particular political solution, doesn't mean they don't agree with your assessment of an issue being important.

If I was a company I would have ZERO hope the city could deal with homelessness. Don't they spend, in combination with private groups, like 18k a year per homeless person? Obviously what they are doing isnt working and throwing more money at it isn't a guarantee. Also, we shouldnt judge programs based on their intentions, but their results. This will be a lot of money for homeless, in 5 years from now will the people lauding this tax excuse the crappy results or be honest(because it will do nothing)?

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

That’s asinine. All taxes? You mean to say that no matter what the tax is on, how much it costs the taxpayers, what it goes to pay for, who benefits, who doesn’t, you normally vote for it? Really?

I've been told for the last decade loving taxes makes me patriotic.

*EDIT* I really did not see the reply where he said hes patriotic sue me.... I was being funny making fun of Democrats, but they did it to themselves this time.

Being patriotic is so lame and scary unless it means you vote to take other people's money!

[pizzaguy]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

That’s asinine. All taxes? You mean to say that no matter what the tax is on, how much it costs the taxpayers, what it goes to pay for, who benefits, who doesn’t, you normally vote for it? Really?

Gotta counterbalance all the douchebags who vote no on every tax.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I've been told for the last decade loving taxes makes me patriotic.

*EDIT* I really did not see the reply where he said hes patriotic sue me.... I was being funny making fun of Democrats, but they did it to themselves this time.

Being patriotic is so lame and scary unless it means you vote to take other people's money!

How about we act like we like our country, and everybody does their part? Taxes can be equitable.

I'm against the head tax because it's not equitable, and is counterproductive for the city.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by pizzaguy

Gotta counterbalance all the douchebags who vote no on every tax.

How are people "douchebags"(what a juvenile term for such big choices) because they vote no on taxes?

[mhays]

Originally Posted by pizzaguy

Gotta counterbalance all the douchebags who vote no on every tax.

The real question is whether people think of their own wallets first, or think of their country first.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by mhays

How about we act like we like our country, and everybody does their part? Taxes can be equitable.

I'm against the head tax because it's not equitable, and is counterproductive for the city.

I am actually not against any of what you just said.

I just don't think taxing more makes anyone patriotic. But that term has a lot of different meanings to different people, so I am not *right*and you *wrong*...we just disagree.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by mhays

The real question is whether people think of their own wallets first, or think of their country first.

Thats the intentions thing I was speaking of earlier. What if our government is incredibly wasteful in their spending(which they are, at the federal level anyways)? Is it still smart for me to vote to say take 5% more a year away from my families spending money?

[pdxtex]

and the nanny state continues. its offensive in principal. large corporations should be at the mercy of their owners or shareholders and only minimally to the city where they are located. aside from "normal" taxes, private corps. should not be on the hook for civic social programs. philanthropy should come in the form of a gift, not a tax. seattle city council cat eat sh!t. amazon should move to spokane.

[Jonesy55]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I'm almost certain this is something that the business/employer pays the city. So will not directly affect employees until jobs are shifted elsewhere, etc.

I guess the company could take it out of employee pay. That's not what happened in Chicago when there was a head tax. At least there was no deduction from a paycheck for it.

Of course, it's not going to show up directly like that, but it will have an effect indirectly, and that will probably affect low paid jobs disproportionately as its a bigger % of the total cost of employment in those cases.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Just because someone doesn't agree with your particular political solution, doesn't mean they don't agree with your assessment of an issue being important.

So *IF* that's the case, the obvious next question will be "what is your solution?"

We can whine about certain ideas not being perfect all day, but the reality is whining does nothing to fix the problem.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Jonesy55

Of course, it's not going to show up directly like that, but it will have an effect indirectly, and that will probably affect low paid jobs disproportionately as its a bigger % of the total cost of employment in those cases.

I agree.

[10023]

Originally Posted by The North One

Good, fuck Amazon.

Originally Posted by Gresto

Good. Amazon can rot.

I don’t understand how people express opinions this stupid openly.