Posted on 05/21/2018 10:13:36 AM PDT by John Semmens
In a bid to discourage what it alleges is "wage slavery," the Seattle City Council voted to levy an annual tax of $275 on each person employed in the City by companies grossing $20 million or more. The originally proposed tax rate of $500 was reduced after Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened a veto.
Council member Kshama Sawant says he is disappointed the tax isn't higher. "Man's preferred state is leisure," he said. "Forcing people to give up their leisure in order to obtain the means needed to survive is a crime against humanity. The $500 levy was an opening bid in our long term battle to free the victims of this deplorable practice."
The receipts from this new tax are earmarked for programs to aid the city's growing population of homeless persons—a cohort that Sawant contends "is the vanguard of a future where the ideal of a life of leisure is appreciated. The funds will enable us to alleviate the poverty that currently plagues these social pioneers. Instead of condemning them to live in the streets scrounging for food in dumpsters or begging for money from strangers we'll take the money from taxpayers and free them from this drudgery."
The move inverts the more typical city strategy of offering businesses tax breaks for bringing jobs into the community, a practice which Sawant denounced as "capitalist exploitation. People don't really want jobs. They want money. If we tax the wealthy corporations in order to break the link between work and reward we can move society to a higher level of consciousness and get closer to the communist ideal envisioned by Marx."
Meanwhile, the Chicago Fed has proposed levying a statewide property tax hike of 1% of actual value to cover the unfunded pensions of state and local government retirees. For the median valued home in Chicago this would amount to $2,260 in additional annual property taxes and more than $67,000 over the 30 years the tax is expected to be imposed. Rick Matoon, one of the authors of the proposal, characterized it as "necessary if we are to ensure that former public servants have a comfortable retirement." The typical yearly benefit paid to retired 30-year government employees in Illinois is over $70,000. The median household income in the state is about $61,000 a year. So, "necessary" might not be the most accurate description of the proposed wealth transfer.
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,316679.0.html
All I saw was something about the city council, head and jobs. Did I miss something? Oh, taxes. Yeah that’ll go over well with some of the wealthier employers there.
I can’t believe this is true. But it is. I’m leaving Chicago. On top of this 1% property tax the city of Chicago is building a massive public housing project in my neighborhood!
“Council member Kshama Sawant says he...”
Sawant is a she, not a he. She is also a royal pain in the ass.
Wait, I thought Kshwama or whatever was a girl, or a shizix, or whatever. Anyway, no penis.
And definitely not a savant, although she has the idiot part down pretty good.
She’s also a socialist and has declared herself a representative of the “99 percent although “Taking the minimum possible amount for all their incomes and assets, then, the Sawants have at least $80,000 in their accounts and together earn at least $108,000, though the true amount is probably higher”.
Microsoft, the rest of Boeing, U Dub, Amazon, Providence Health Services, and Walmart all fall under this category of 20K employees in this state. They didn’t learn their lesson with Boeing the first time when they took some extras away from them and they booked and left only the wing division here. And when they start adding additional taxes because they can’t get enough with the 20+K businesses that bail out, they will chase every middle range business out also and there will be an unemployment problem up here that will look like the 1930’s. Glad I’m retired and am getting my stuff from the feds which the state can’t touch as we have no state income tax. (YET!) And when they do, the state will fold. But they’ll do it without me. I’m gone!
rwood
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