成人X站

SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Sawant’s second head tax shows no understanding of economics

Jan 19, 2020, 8:07 AM | Updated: Jan 21, 2020, 6:17 pm

Sawant, second head tax...

Kshama Sawant held a rally Monday night for her new head tax. (成人X站 Radio, Hanna Scott)

(成人X站 Radio, Hanna Scott)

As you know, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is proposing a massive second head tax.

It was two years ago when the City of Seattle proposed a $275-per-employee head tax on the city’s largest businesses that would have raised $40 million per year. Now Sawant wants to octuple that. Instead of $40 million per year, she wants over $300 million per year. This would not have a sunset clause, meaning it would be in place indefinitely.

Did she get her economics degree at a prize out of a box of Cracker Jacks? She clearly knows nothing about economics.

Look at Chicago, a city that once imposed a head tax that was tiny compared the one Sawant is proposing — about $50 per person per year. Even their far-left mayor Rahm Emanuel knew it was a bad idea and he pushed for its repeal, calling it a job killer. The reason for this is that businesses are mobile. Once you send the message that “Jeff Bezos is the enemy,” as Sawant has declared, who will be surprised when Jeff Bezos decides not to do business in enemy territory anymore? Amazon is already moving thousands of jobs from Seattle to Bellevue. The states of New York and California are seeing the same thing because of massive taxes.

Dori: Sawant’s Amazon head tax 2.0 about creating captive voters

Kshama Sawant does not understand this. The only way her pitch would work would be if we were in a vacuum and businesses were not allowed to move. The city already gets record tax revenue — it collects more in tax revenue than ever before in city history, per capita, adjusted for inflation. The politicians have wasted that money. We spend over $100 million on homelessness every year in this city and county, and the problem has only gotten worse. That is because the money does not go toward solving problems — it goes toward expanding government and making bureaucrats and developers richer. People know this, and it聽 is a big reason why the first head tax failed in 2018.

Sawant wants to use this money for public housing. Guess what? We had housing projects in Seattle in the 1970s, but we tore them down because they became filled with crime and drugs; the same thing will happen again. Councilmember Sawant does not want to help or save lives with this second head tax. She does not want to get people out of the cold. She wants to expand her voting base by promising free stuff to people. If Sawant gets people free housing, they’ll be loyal to her when the next elections come around.

Taxes kill jobs and businesses will move around to avoid them. That is the reality that Sawant does not get. We put taxes on unhealthy items like alcohol and cigarettes because we want people to to buy less of these things. If you put taxes on work, the same thing will happen — people will work less and they will have fewer opportunities to work.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Associated Press

9 people shot at a restaurant in suburban Phoenix, police say

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) 鈥 Nine people were shot at a restaurant in a Phoenix suburb Sunday night, police said. Police received calls reporting shots around 7:45 p.m. at El Camaron Gigante Mariscos & Steakhouse, Glendale Police Department Officer Moroni Mendez said during a briefing at the scene. The number of victims was not immediately clear […]

39 minutes ago

Associated Press

US and Philippine forces cancel ship-sinking drill after World War II-era target prematurely sinks

MANILA, Philippines (AP) 鈥 A World War II-era Philippine navy ship to be used as a target in a combat exercise by American and the Philippine forces accidentally sank Monday hours before the mock assault, prompting the drill to be cancelled, U.S. and Philippine military officials said. The BRP Miguel Malvar, which was decommissioned by […]

1 hour ago

A banner on a television monitor in the student senate office is displayed in Dakota State Universi...

Associated Press

South Dakota students weigh protest against university honors for homeland security chief Noem

MADISON, S.D. (AP) 鈥 Dakota State University hasn’t experienced the student protests taking place at other U.S. colleges. Nestled in rural South Dakota, most of the nearly 4,000 students have been focused on their studies or job hunts, avoiding politics and partisan groups. Until now. The university administration decided to award an honorary doctorate to […]

2 hours ago

Tazz Webster, who ultimately wound up homeless after an apartment manager allegedly ridiculed and s...

Associated Press

In battle against transgender rights, Trump targets HUD鈥檚 housing policies

As a transgender man, the words 鈥測ou鈥檙e a girl鈥 gutted Tazz Webster, a taunt hurled at him from the day he moved into his St. Louis apartment. The government-subsidized building’s manager also insisted on calling Webster by the wrong name, the 38-year-old said, and ridiculed him with shouts of, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not a real man!鈥 鈥淚 […]

3 hours ago

This photo provided by the Phoenix Indian Center shows from left, Yaretzi Ortega, Demetria Collins ...

Associated Press

Indigenous people raise awareness about their missing and murdered

Indigenous people across North America are calling this week for sustained responses to the violence in their communities, much of it against women and girls. In prayer walks, self-defense classes, marches and speeches at state capitols, they are pushing for better cooperation among law enforcement agencies to find missing people and solve homicides that are […]

4 hours ago

FILE - A list of nine homicide victims all linked to a convicted felon is displayed by the Phoenix ...

Associated Press

Man goes on trial accused of 8 killings in metro Phoenix in 2017

PHOENIX (AP) 鈥 The key to cracking a series of fatal shootings in the Phoenix area in 2017 came when police were called to a blood-spattered apartment where they arrested a man who was suspected of killing his mother and stepfather. Authorities say evidence found there linked Cleophus Cooksey Jr. to four other killings. Police […]

4 hours ago

Dori: Sawant’s second head tax shows no understanding of economics