Protesting Donald Trump is not enough

I loved the No Kings demonstration. I loved the massive numbers of people in the streets, the fun and energy, the great signs, the clear indication that people in San Francisco aren’t bowing down to Donald Trump.

The speakers were inspiring.

They didn’t ask me to speak, but if they had, this is what I would have said:

It’s beautiful to see so many people all over the country standing up for democracy and against authoritarianism. This is no time for factions or political infighting; we face an existential emergency, and we all need to unite against that threat.

I see signs all over supporting so many causes, and I love them all.

But I want to take a moment to talk about why we are here.

Trump’s election had a lot to do with racism and sexism, and Joe Biden clinging too long to office, and a lot of other issues.

It was also about economic inequality.

For way too long, the Democratic Party has also been the party of Wall Street, of the billionaires. Economic inequality has wrecked the country, and people are angry.

When Trump talks about immigrants taking American jobs, or Venezuelans moving fentanyl into the country, he’s looking for diversions. All these things drive attention away from the fact that the 400 richest Americans now have $6.6 trillion, $1.2 trillion more than they did a year ago, and more than the total wealth of the 170 million people in the lower 50 percent.

That has happened because of policy decisions that Trump promoted, but they started with Ronald Reagan, who dramatically cut taxes on the rich, and continued through both Democrats and Republicans, and the Democratic Party hasn’t made economic inequality an issue.

I am going to stand here today and say that if we can’t address radical economic inequality, I’m not sure we can address anything else.

We will never have universal health care. We will never have high-quality free public education, at every level. We will never end homelessness. We will never end poverty. We will never have affordable housing for working people. We will never address climate change. We will never be able to deal with the shocks to the system as AI and robots put millions of humans out of work.

Thomas Piketty, the eminent French economist, says if we don’t address economic inequality, we will not be able to stop the decay of civilization, which is under way all over the globe (and Trump is a symptom of that).

We have to stop Trump. We have to elect Democrats to Congress, to save what’s left of our democracy. But that’s not enough.

Here’s what Sen. Bernie Sanders said at the DC rally:

But let’s be clear: This is not just about one man’s greed, one man’s corruption or one man’s contempt for our Constitution. This is about a handful of the wealthiest people on earth who, in their insatiable greed, have hijacked our economy and our political system in order to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.

Yes. I’m talking about Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and the other multi-billionaires who were sitting right behind Donald Trump when he was inaugurated – the very same billionaires who funded his campaign, who have bestowed gifts upon him and who have seen huge increases in their wealth and power since Trump took office.

Yes, I’m talking about the insanity of one person, Mr. Musk, now owning more wealth than the bottom 52% of American households.

I’m talking about the incredible injustice of the top 1% in this country now owning more wealth than the bottom 93%.

I’m talking about the richest people in America becoming much, much richer, while 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, struggling every day to pay their rent and mortgages, pay for childcare and education, pay for their health care and prescription drugs, afford decent quality food for their kids and put aside a few bucks for their retirements.

We need to recognize that.

But we also have to demand that our elected officials at all levels—from the Berkeley City Council to the SF Board of Supes, to the state Legislature to Congress—make taxing the rich a key part of their agendas.

Because as Piketty proves, nothing—not “training for the jobs of the future,” not the Yimby housing agenda, none of the things the Democrats talk about—will solve the problem. The only solution is taxation, at a high level: At least a 3 percent annual wealth tax on fortunes of more than $100 million, at least an increase in the marginal tax rate on the highest incomes, at least a change in the tax laws so Jeff Bezos can’t be a $400 million boat and pay no taxes at all.

This starts right here at home. San Francisco could have a local income tax on the very rich, and we would have no budget crisis. We could fund Muni, and affordable housing, and health care, and schools:

If we just take the 5,073 San Francisco households with earned income of more than $1 million, and we again make a very, very conservative assumption that the average take-home pay is $1.5 million, those folks made $7.6 billion last year.

Based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, the tax savings on that money under the Trump tax cuts is about $451 million.

Guess what: Over two years, that’s $902 million—more than the two-year local budget deficit.

I asked state Sen. Scott Wiener if he would sponsor a bill to allow the city to impose a local income tax. He shrugged it off, saying it would never pass, so he won’t try.

That’s because we aren’t insisting that our elected officials stand up against the billionaire agenda. Even in liberal San Francisco.

The state Legislature could increase taxes on the rich, impose a wealth tax, and hike the corporate tax rate. With all the budget problems, not a peep from anyone in Sacramento.

If you marched against Trump, and then accept candidates for local and state office who support the immigrant agenda, we are going to fail. Former Sup. Dean Preston notes that we are already failing.

Let me repeat that: If we oppose Trump but support local candidates, all of them Democrats, who support the billionaire agenda and groups like Together SF, Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, and the rest of the billionaire-backed astroturf groups, We Will Fail. As a city, as a state, and as a nation.

We can do better. We must do better. It starts right here at home.

Thank you all for listening.