Do you support Kshama Sawant's head tax proposal? (Seattle, Tacoma: sales, sublet)

[tommy64]

Originally Posted by wutitiz

I made a bad error in post #1 regarding whether the tax is regressive (lower income pays a higher tax pct) or progressive (rich pay a higher pct).


So this is yet another proposal from the WA liberal left to tax the working poor and middle class rather than the rich.

A very easy thing to overlook given the "Let's Make Greedy Amazon Pay It's FAIR SHARE!!" mantra. I hope no one lets the left's snowjob mislead them to a wrong-headed conclusion.

[pnwguy2]

The tax proposal is just plain stupid. It will likely send Seattle into a depression worse than the 1971 episode.

Some of us longtimers may remember this in connection with Boeing.

Billboard reading "Will the Last Person Leaving SEATTLE -- Turn Out the Lights" appears near Sea-Tac International Airport on April 16, 1971. - HistoryLink.org

For those who know the history of the Seattle economy, this is not that surprising. It is called "Boom and Bust", and it has been a part of the city/area almost since its inception. It apparently may be in full swing again. However, our leaders should know better.

'Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.' -George Santayana, writer/professor

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by wutitiz

So this is yet another proposal from the WA liberal left to tax the working poor and middle class rather than the rich.

Which is what this state is all about.

[wutitiz]

This is before my time in Seattle, but I do know that Microsoft in its early days was headquartered in Bellevue. I was an early customer of Microsoft, living out of state at the time. By the time I moved to this area, Microsoft had moved to Redmond. I seem to vaguely recall that a big part of the reason for moving was a proposal from the Bellevue city council to milk Microsoft for tax $$$. Anyone recall the details of this? It would be interesting to know.

[Sunaimer]

If it passes, there will be a lot more homeless people getting one way tickets from the red states that don’t put up with all this crap. There will be more “crap” on the streets to step on too. Literally. Open up City Hall to House the homeless at night.

[pnwguy2]

Again, Seattle can either approve this tax, or vote it down.

If they approve it, the chance of Amazon deserting Seattle goes up.

If they don't approve it, the chance of Amazon continueing to add value to the city goes up.

I have read all the arguments, but in the end, the council needs to do what is best for the city. That is what they are elected to do, and if they don't then they simply don't care about the success of the city of Seattle.

[bergun]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

Punish the rich! Feed the homeless, they are dying of hunger on the streets!! OY VEY!!!!

Let the Seattle revolution against the evil capitalists begin!




Uncle Joe would be so proud of her..

Hey RotseCherut... Now that was funny!! You will be miss when you leave. I'm about three years behind you!!

I'm far from the Far Left and far from the Far Right. I see myself as more of a Truman/Kennedy/Johnson Democrat. I'm just glad that this simply isn't a Left verse Right issue since that's what the City Council wants it to be since they know that the current "battle lines" have been drawn by both sides and is a way to manipulate the city voters to get what THEY want.

I think that the City Council (Sawant) went way too far on this one since the people of Seattle are not falling for this one, hook, line and sinker. And more important, are now watching them, their budget(s) and are now starting to ask questions, which any and all Politicians hate. Also, I believe that this will put an end to their ideal of adding tolls to public streets in the downtown area, followed by more toll roads to the north and south... Aurora Avenue and Rainier Avenue.

My daughter owns a small business downtown and this has got her attention. She's a progressive and non political... which she got from her mother, but now is expressing her concerns relating to this proposal since a large amount of her customer base have ties to Amazon.

[cttransplant85]

This is one of the worst tax proposals I have ever seen a flat head tax based on revenue not profit!? This is absurd, no business is going to invest in Seattle in this climate. This will almost certainly halt all growth in Seattle. Just the chance that it passes is probably already having a negative effect.

[cttransplant85]

Originally Posted by Sunaimer

If it passes, there will be a lot more homeless people getting one way tickets from the red states that don’t put up with all this crap. There will be more “crap” on the streets to step on too. Literally. Open up City Hall to House the homeless at night.

Exactly. Whatever you subsidize you will get more of, conversely whatever you tax you will get less of. Which is why we tax cigarettes. This will attract the homeless while sending away jobs.

[Yeledaf]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Yeledaf, I didn't vote for Sawant. Guess I'm a moderate progressive, believe in strange things like taking care of the environment, fair tax brackets and access to healthcare for our citizens. I think you mistake the word "progressive" for "socialist", which is what Sawant is.

And I think you mistake the word “socilaist” for “nutball”, which is what Seattle’s city council consists of. SOMEBODY voted for ‘em.