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I'm not sure I see the 'tone-deaf' piece. The argument of the ads seems to be: 'taxes' are exacted from people and companies to pay for necessary public service
by malchow 11y ago
I'm not sure I see the 'tone-deaf' piece. The argument of the ads seems to be: 'taxes' are exacted from people and companies to pay for necessary public services. Using a tax as a weapon is not just. Taxes paid by Airbnb (and implicitly by its users) aren't really going to fund public services, not genuinely.[1] They're going to city public servants some of whom see themselves as personal crusaders against. . . Airbnb.
Airbnb seems to be saying that such a use of the taxing power is a mockery of our form of government. And I rather think it has a point.
Now you can disagree and say that Airbnb really is a hotel, as a legal matter. But the sheer animus that the anti-Airbnb crowd seem to possess indicate that they want to use the taxing power to do harm.
[1] For those who don't like this, here is the California 2016 budget, showing that well over 50% of the state's spending is on benefits, not on governmental administration, transportation, education, or policing: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/California_state_spending_pie_chart http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/California_state_spendin...
- _delirium 11y agoI can't say for sure, but I don't think AirBnB is actually intending to make the argument you give. My read of what they want to argue is more along the lines of: AirBnB is good for the city, because it brings in tax revenue, which helps fund public services. Therefore, please vote against the proposition that would restrict AirBnB rentals. The tone-deaf part is just the way the ad campaign making that argument came off. The format of a letter saying effectively, "you're welcome for the tax dollars, love AirBnB", ending with a comment about how maybe libraries can use the money to stay open later, was probably intended to come off as cutesy, but was instead perceived as smug and passive-aggressive by at least a portion of the public.
- luckydata 11y agoI think you're both missing the part where Airbnb has been arguing for years that it wasn't an hotel operator and as such it didn't need to pay hotel taxes. They were forced to do so after plenty of legal back and forth with public officials. Hence, the "you're welcome" sounds like an insult to to the city and its citizens that pay taxes without flinching more than anything else. Personally I think Airbnb are a bunch of douches that seriously need to grow up.