How do you solve a problem like an unprecedented city budget deficit? Over the last few months of budget planning, Portland leaders suggested a host of ways to close the roughly $93 million gap, from closing community centers and cutting positions in the Urban Forestry department, to slashing parks maintenance funds. To members of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), however, the solution is clear enough to sum up in three words: Tax the rich.
At budget listening sessions and City Council hearings, DSA members have shown up to spread the word. While this isn’t the first time Portland’s left has embraced a “tax the rich” agenda, their message may land differently now.
There may be a few reasons for this. For one, the United States is in a state of political turmoil under the second Trump administration, and many people aren’t finding solace in the Democratic Party. With the country’s institutions crumbling, some #Resistance liberals are considering the merits of revolutionary politics…