Jeff Reifman

Cause Some Beautiful Trouble with Us in Seattle

Initiative 103 will be partying it up with other local creative activists for the Beautiful Trouble book launch on Wednesday, May 16th at the Richard Hugo House. Hope to see you there! RSVP on Facebook!

Introduction to Initiative 103 - Confronting Citizens United, Ending Corporate Spending in Seattle Elections

Here are some introductory highlights from our Initiative 103 kickoff event:

Montana's Challenge to Citizens United is Very Limited in Scope

There's been a lot of discussion and excitement about the Montana State Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down portions of Citizens United. Sorry to bum you all out but my cursory read of the court's Western Tradition Partnership ruling is that it actually challenges only a very small part of Citizens United. Read my full post over at Envision Seattle.

Initiative Measure 103 to End Corporate Rights in Seattle

I am lead organizer behind Seattle Initiative Measure 103 http://www.i103.org which will end corporate personhood in Seattle and elevate the rights of residents above corporate rights.

Three things you can do right now:

1) Join the Measure 103 Facebook page or sign up for our mailing list.

2) Collect petition signatures from your friends and family

3) RSVP for our Kickoff Party March 29th in the University District

What Measure 103 will do in Seattle:

• End corporate personhood and limit corporate rights
• Ban corporate spending on elections
• Ban corporate lobbying except in public forums
• Close the revolving door of employment  between elected officials and large corporations
• Provide citizen oversight of the Seattle Police Department
• Provide constitutional rights for workers
• Provide neighborhoods the right to approve major zoning changes
• Provide rights for nature
• Provide equal access to a free and open Internet, known as network neutrality

Our efforts in Seattle are part of an emerging statewide and national movement to place peoples' rights above corporate rights. 

Learn more about Measure 103

Microsoft's Tax Dodging Killing Education in Washington State

How Governor Gregoire, the legislature, the courts and The Seattle Times have enabled Microsoft's hypocritical stance on education and tax dodging to lead to $693 million in cuts to Washington State's education system:

    When John Burbank, a columnist in the Everett Herald, wrote that Microsoft’s unpaid royalty taxes “could be funding high-quality schools for Washington's children,” the company demanded a correction from the paper but refuses to release data that would prove its position. Listen to Brad Smith acknowledge the company's Nevada tax practices in this clip from our 2004 interview for Citizen Microsoft (Seattle Weekly).

Full story at Microsoft Tax Dodge

How to Occupy the Law - Yes! Magazine

Update: Now on Common Dreams as well...

Yes! has republished our model Community Bill of Rights template for Occupy (and all) communities! Check it out!

To Refute Claims, Microsoft Should Disclose Its Royalty Tax Payments

Last week, after John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, wrote an editorial condemning the company's hypocritical record of tax dodging while advocating for more education funding, Jeffrey Reading, Microsoft's Senior PR Manager wrote The Herald to refute the claims Burbank made (Burbank based his article on my reporting):

"Mr. Burbank does not include sourcing to support his claims regarding Microsoft’s Nevada licensing, which is part of a very complicated piece of state tax law. Much of the information regarding this issue is misinformation primarily spread by a blogger, and no state official has ever provided any factual data supporting his claims."

I stand behind my research and all of my claims. If Microsoft wishes to prove that it paid Washington State Royalty Taxes during the years 1998 - 2010, it should disclose its worldwide licensing revenue and its Royalty Tax payments for this time period. It would be quite simple for the company to provide these two sets of numbers and would put the issue to rest once and for all (as I have done here). 

Read the full post

 

John Burbank Tells Legislature to Target Microsoft

In his Everett Herald column today, John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, zeroes in on Microsoft's tax dodge and its harmful effects on the state's educational system. Read more

Model Community Bill of Rights Template for Occupy Communities

It's out: We’ve published the model Community Bill of Rights template for Occupy communities that wish to begin mobilized initiative campaigns in their region. Think of the template as a menu to pick and choose what’s important in your community. It’s meant to provide a framework and a starting point, not necessarily to be used in its entirety. The text is derived from ongoing national and global work by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) such as Ecuador adding Rights for Nature to its Constitution, Pittsburgh stripping drilling corporations of corporate constitutional “rights,” such as corporate “personhood” and Spokane’s Community Bill of Rights initiative which narrowly missed passing by 1,000 votes last month. Those efforts have joined over a hundred other municipal campaigns that have driven into law local bills of rights.

WooT!

Don't Fall for the Frame: Washington State Doesn't Have a Budget Deficit

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