In Seattle, Democratic Party officials are divided over whether to engage constructively with Amazon.
The concern is relevant in light of Amazon’s recent decision to seek a second headquarters in another American city.
Amazon is unlikely to set up its second shop in a progressive-led city. But recognizing that Amazon provides thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in investment to their local economy, last Friday, a number of Seattle and Washington state public officials signed a letter (obtained by the Seattle Times) seeking an improved relationship with the corporate giant. As the letter put it,
“We understand there are many reasons for your decision to potentially site HQ2 in a different city. To the extent that this decision was based on Amazon feeling unwelcome in Seattle, or not being included in some of our regional decisions, we would like to hit the refresh button. You have heard mixed messages from our community, whether it stems from comments in our local newspapers or comments from elected officials who have differing views and positions that are less than collaborative. This does not leave a good taste in anyone’s mouth.”
Not everyone is happy. Speaking to the Seattle Times, council member Kshama Sawant called the letter “disingenuous and craven,” and added that the city’s focus should be on “ordinary working people, even the middle class, that is quickly getting pushed out of the city.” Rather than reaching out to Amazon, Seattle liberals like Sawant want to introduce a $100 per employee corporate tax on business entities earning $5 million or more in annual gross receipts.
For Seattle’s sake, I hope the pragmatists win out.
After all, Amazon already has 40,000 employees in Seattle and apparently intends to hire more. But if the progressives keep pushing, we have to expect that Amazon’s executives will one day reach a breaking point. And if Amazon leaves, the city’s economy and government tax receipts would plummet. Basic economic reality thus demands that the city work with Amazon. In contrast, it’s hard to put into words the silliness of liberal tax proposals such as the $100 tax. Those policies don’t simply add a marginal cost on hiring, they advertize a distinctly anti-business mentality and portend further taxes coming down the line. At the margin, they send an unmistakable message to companies: Don’t invest here.
Ultimately, the disagreements in Seattle reflect the escalating national showdown between hardline progressives such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and moderate Democrats such as Sens. Heidi Heitkamp and Jon Tester. As time goes on, these tensions are heading only in one direction: up.
