Millionaires Protest Outside Jeff Bezos’ Houses, Demanding He Pay More Taxes
In perhaps the first in person protest led by actual millionaires, a group called Patriotic Millionaires rallied outside Jeff Bezo’s $80 million Manhattan apartment building on Tax Day, with a big mobile billboard and a megaphone, demanding Bezos pay his ‘fair share of taxes’.
Monday, Manhattan NY. photo by @mkink
Today @es_indivisible @mkink @PatrioticMills, @CleanupCarl and more in front of #JeffBezos’ #Manhattan pied à terre demanding he and all ultra billionaires, many of whom got richer during the pandemic, pay their share of taxes and do not try to buy elections! pic.twitter.com/tJmWOypafL
— Danielle Brecker (@DanielleBrecker) May 17, 2021
The group called Patriotic Millionaires claims to be made up of real millionaires, including Abigail and Tim Disney, who are benefactors of The Walt Disney Company, and its chair Morris Pearl was a previous managing director of BlackRock, an investment firm.
“As a millionaire, tax me more,” is one of the mottos of the protest group, the Patriotic Millionaires websites say they requires that all members have an annual income of at least $1 million, or a net worth of over $5 million.
Bezos tax protest attendee Danielle Brookner (seen on the megaphone) is a Democrat candidate for the New York state Senate, she highlighted how much money Bezos had made during the coronavirus pandemic, and how people in the city were stranded without adequate relief.
“He doesn’t pay taxes. He needs to stop trying to buy us and take our tax money and pay us the tax money to people who are marginalized and suffering during the pandemic and before the pandemic.”
Protest’s mobile billboard in Manhattan Monday.
The millionaire protest group paid to have billboards driven around NYC and Washington DC on Monday (presumably because they could afford it), with slogans like: “Cut the Bullsh*t. Tax the Rich”, and “tax me if you can” next to an image of Bezos.
taxtherich.com billboard was allegedly driven by Bezo’s DC mansion
Amazon is the most profitable company in the history of the world and pays a lower tax rate than tons of smaller businesses.https://t.co/wBHRn4vFmG
Jeff Bezos is the richest man in America and pays a lower tax rate than teachers and truck drivers.
Cut the sh*t, tax the rich! pic.twitter.com/fHCLfj7lcD
— Michael Kink (@mkink) May 17, 2021
No word on whether they also pay poor people to do their protesting for them, but from the looks of the rallies on Monday, the millionaires showed up to get their hands dirty. On a blog post Monday the group wrote “…greed and tax loopholes have created an enormous wealth gap in our country. While Bezos and Amazon have made billions of dollars during the pandemic, many of his workers have lost their homes and basic quality of life,” they wrote, while also listing all the stops they planned to make at places like Trump Tower and Wall Street.
“Amazon relies on our country’s physical infrastructure and education system, yet has expressed no willingness to pay its fair share to keep our country and our economy running smoothly.”
Are you a millionaire in search of financial justice? You can visit the Patriotic Americans site to join. If you are poor, but want to support their movement their is a book and a roadshow to consider.
They also have a Q&A with members discussing the US Tax Code:
Along with being ‘on the ground’ protesters, these guys are also quite entrepreneurial!
