Seattle Just Passed a New Tax on Jobs in the Middle of an Economic Crisis—But Exempted Government Workers.
So reads the headline. But we have seen this play before. Tax the rich and when they are gone, the rung of the ladder decreases finding lesser souls to tax. Government employees are exempt with this one. How quaint.
More concerning is that we are seeing a parade of characters winning elections in city councils across America with the avowed notion that the utopian dream is just a vote or two away. Before they hid their agenda and like a sheep in wolf’s clothes hid their wares of destruction. So here we go and take a look at this once upon a time jewel of a city, Seattle and its rush to the bottom:
Seattle saw the biggest spike in unemployment of any city in the country. The city’s economy continues to flounder amid the pandemic.
On top of all this, Seattle descended into chaos and controversy on June 8 when Antifa and other radical left-wing activists seized control of a neighborhood and declared themselves the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.” Like so many before it throughout history, this utopian social experiment sadly turned deadly and ended 24 days later after multiple shootings.
Nonetheless, the Seattle City Council has decided that now is the right time to impose a new tax burden on its residents. On July 6, the council passed the so-called “JumpStart” tax, which specifically targets middle-class jobs.
It’s not surprising to see Sawant leading this class-warfare charge. She’s an avowed socialist—and isn’t shy about it.
The city official recently railed against Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a widely shared video where she promised that she and her supporters are “coming to dismantle the deeply racist, sexist, violent, utterly bankrupt system of capitalism” and replace it with “a socialist world.” Sawant has also promised to “take into public ownership the top 500 corporations and banks that dominate the US economy.”
According to OpenTheBooks.com, 601 city employees in Seattle earned $195,000 or more. Analysts found that “tree trimmers lopped off $160,604; the chief librarian made $197,704; electricians earned $271,070; electrical lineworkers made $307,387; and police officers earned up to $414,543.”
The new payroll tax will not apply to any of these government employees or their peers otherwise drowning in taxpayer cash.
So, no, the city council’s new tax is most certainly not a “victory for working people.” It’s a tax imposed on working people by politicians who made sure to spare the government class from sharing any of the burden.
Here is the above mentioned rant.
For a good read the full thing is at Foundation for Economic Education
Other than that all is well in the swamp.
For a refresher on how these councils are working out check an earlier post:
BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades! 