BREAKING NEWS – CITY COUNCIL’S FINANCE COMMITTEE APPROVES THE HEAD TAX

The following is a Saturday morning email sent out by the Senate Republican Campaign Committee:
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Friends,

We can’t believe it. Despite so many businesses and voters joining together against Kshama Sawant’s head tax, the Seattle City Council still decided to advance it.

There are still a few hoops to jump through before it goes into effect, but that could happen as soon as Monday! Donate right now to give us the tools we need to fight back.

The Seattle City Council is prepared to work through the weekend to pass this job-destroying head tax. The next 48 hours are critical! If people come together right now to push back (and hard!), I know we can make a difference come Monday. It will only happen if you chip in right now.

Senate Democrats are looking to Seattle to set their agenda. If the head tax passes, you know Senate liberals will try to take this bad idea statewide. Republicans must take back the majority in the Senate – it’s more important than ever.

Best,

Justin Matheson 

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And, from ShiftWA.org:

“I am pretty blown away that an adult would behave this way, I find it appalling.” That’s what Seattleite Ari Hoffman said of Kshama Sawant’s rhetoric around the head tax. Unable to make an economic argument for the head tax, Sawant has instead called Jeff Bezos a “bully” and anyone opposing the head tax “right-wingers.” (Q13 Fox)

In an interview with Q13 Fox, Sawant took the recent pushback from workers and business owners as a reason to double down on the head tax. In a testy segment with Q13’s Brandi Kruse, Sawant called for an increase in the tax proposal from $75 million to $150 million a year. (Q13 Fox)

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Personally, I suspected this would go through. It makes perfect sense to me since it is clear that the leftists are desperate to maintain a semblance of control over their rapidly shrinking support base. Just consider how California's Governor Jerry Brown, and Oregon's Governor Kate Brown are conducting their states! Their policies are consistent with what Seattle's Mayor Jenny Durkan is doing with this head tax. 

If, as Justin implies in his message, the Senate liberals are looking at this move to take it statewide, should they gain any more seats in our state legislature over what they had last year, this could be devastating for our state's businesses.

Update: Here's a quote from a one week later article on this issue in the Daily Signal. 

The reasons for the surge in Seattle homelessness are many. Some argue that the presence of the rich simply increased the ranks of the poor as everything naturally becomes more expensive. But this misses the fact that government policies, such as extremely restrictive building codes and low-growth housing plans, have forced prices upward.

It appears from these developments that next fall's mid-term election races are going to be all the more critical.