Jeff Bezos, the world's 4th wealthiest person and founder of Amazon.com,
needs to pay more in taxes.To prove this point: last month, to celebrate his wedding to his second wife,
he rented out the city of Venice, Italy for three days. At the last minute, after protests had raged in the city for weeks, Bezos relocated the event to an expensive private island near Venice instead.
All told, experts estimate his wedding cost around $47 - $56 million USD.
That's more expensive than Donald Trump's $45 million military parade.Jeff Bezos clearly has plenty of extra money to throw around. If he's got that much to spend, then it's time he pays more in taxes. Sign the petition!This comes at a time when most everyday Americans have only around $8,000 in their bank accounts. Almost 60% of Americans wouldn't be able to afford an
emergency expense of $1,000. Around half of tenants in U.S. apartments are
struggling to pay their rent. And 70% of Americans - that's almost three-quarters -
can't afford to buy a home at the national median price point.
And it comes at a time when the U.S. Congress has just passed a bill that
constitutes "the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history." In addition to cutting funding for food assistance, healthcare, and environmental protections, Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" created shocking tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and for corporations. In fact, the
Tax Policy Center estimates that around
60% of its tax cuts would benefit the top 20% most wealthy households. More than 30% would benefit households earning upwards of $460,000 per year.
Bezos's $50-ish million could have fed more than 18,000 U.S. veterans, or more than 60,000 hungry school kids, for a whole year. He could have helped fund education efforts, or wildlife conservation, or invested in efforts to fight climate change.
As protesters with
Greenpeace in Venice declared:
"If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax." And it's really just as simple as that.
We're all tired of the billionaires becoming richer and richer and richer while everyday people seem to be struggling more just to simply get by. It's time for Bezos to do the right thing and pay more in taxes. Sign the petition if you agree!