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Thread: Stakes high as Seattle considers business tax for homeless

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    Tahuyaman's Avatar Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by DGUtley View Post
    It will be interesting to see if this is constitutional, though it may be. Early on, there was a proposal to only tax larger businesses, which to me is unconstitutional. This appears to hit all businesses. It may be suicide but it may be constitutional.
    . The Washington State Supreme Court has already ruled in the past that government at all levels in the state has unfettered power to levy taxes.

    If this is to be challenged and overturned it will need to be by the US Supreme Court.

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    I saw this last night on the local news site.
    http://komonews.com/news/local/seatt...omise-head-tax

    I'm all for creative thinking, but this is crazy. Seattle is already a horrible place. I've driven through it a few times and the traffic is a nightmare. It's like they designed it on purpose to mimic quicksand. The last time I went there, I had the bright idea to take the ferry from Bremerton to avoid traffic. Everything was great until Seattle, when I got off the ferry, in less than 3 minutes I was stepping over homeless people on the sidewalks. The city looks like a waste disposal site. Everything is in a state of construction mixed with dilapidation. There is garbage and discarded clothing everywhere, and human feces on the sidewalks. The bus ride was more of the same, it smelled like a wet dog combined with an old jock strap. People didn't seem to notice. Maybe they are used to it.
    This is a city in need of so much fixing, and that will require alot of taxes, which means they need all the bigger business they can get. By putting an extra tax in place, they will drive those companies outside the city, and Seattle will collapse on itself into a steaming pile of trash.
    I live with a profound happiness that can only be achieved by being hated by Mr.Veritis

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    Don's Avatar Senior Member
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    Those Seattle politicians aren't dumb. Mentally unbalanced but not dumb. Corporations and businesses don't pay taxes, they just pass it along to the citizens. The politicians knew that if they went directly to the people for a tax increase they might have said no or even hell no. The people might have voted some of them out of office. Seattle doesn't need to worry though. If lower housing prices is what they want it won't be long before they are.



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    Quote Originally Posted by RadioGod View Post
    I saw this last night on the local news site.
    http://komonews.com/news/local/seatt...omise-head-tax

    I'm all for creative thinking, but this is crazy. Seattle is already a horrible place. I've driven through it a few times and the traffic is a nightmare. It's like they designed it on purpose to mimic quicksand. The last time I went there, I had the bright idea to take the ferry from Bremerton to avoid traffic. Everything was great until Seattle, when I got off the ferry, in less than 3 minutes I was stepping over homeless people on the sidewalks. The city looks like a waste disposal site. Everything is in a state of construction mixed with dilapidation. There is garbage and discarded clothing everywhere, and human feces on the sidewalks. The bus ride was more of the same, it smelled like a wet dog combined with an old jock strap. People didn't seem to notice. Maybe they are used to it.
    This is a city in need of so much fixing, and that will require alot of taxes, which means they need all the bigger business they can get. By putting an extra tax in place, they will drive those companies outside the city, and Seattle will collapse on itself into a steaming pile of trash.
    They don’t need more tax revenues. They need to learn how to prioritize and spend those revenues responsibly.

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    Quote Originally Posted by DGUtley View Post
    It will be interesting to see if this is constitutional, though it may be. Early on, there was a proposal to only tax larger businesses, which to me is unconstitutional. This appears to hit all businesses. It may be suicide but it may be constitutional.

    Correction: I saw this on www.Foxnews.com :

    I again question the constitutionality of taxing a large business specifically b/c it has a certain revenue level.

    Excellent point. I don't think anyone is going to save us from the Municipalities though. At times they can be more tyrannical than the feds. Also if a significant number of people who work cannot afford decent housing than much has failed . This situation exist to varying degrees in a great many places. If the worker bees that do the city's everyday work can't afford to live there that's a big time problem .

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    Quote Originally Posted by donttread View Post
    Excellent point. I don't think anyone is going to save us from the Municipalities though. At times they can be more tyrannical than the feds. Also if a significant number of people who work cannot afford decent housing than much has failed . This situation exist to varying degrees in a great many places. If the worker bees that do the city's everyday work can't afford to live there that's a big time problem .
    Definitely a problem today. Real estate speculation is making big cities unaffordable for all but those who make pretty decent salaries. The average house price in my city is almost $1M dollars. The average monthly rental for a 1 bedroom apartment that isn't a roach motel is about $2,000. How can people earning minimum wage live without rent control and subsidies? You have to make almost $50K a year just to rent. Kids are no longer leaving home and becoming independent because they can't afford to. Those who haven't got the luxury of a family to fall back on often end up on the street, at least until they can find subsidized accommodations. It gets worse every year, with more homeless people who could work, if they had somewhere to live.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tahuyaman View Post
    They don’t need more tax revenues. They need to learn how to prioritize and spend those revenues responsibly.
    That is the core of the problem, isn't it? They have alot of problems in Seattle. Real estate prices are through the roof, homelessness is rampant, and judging by the fact that 9 city council members can pass something that a majority of Seattleites are against, I would say corruption is a problem also.
    I know companies like Amazon probably get sweet tax deals to begin with just to open facilties there. Oftentimes companies that big get newly paved streets, fiber internet, new utilities, parking, street lights, etc., all at taxpayer expense. I don't know how this new tax will offset those gains for those companies, but I am sure those companies will use this as an excuse to eliminate a few jobs or reduce benefits.
    I hate the unfair way big business works in a supossedly free and open market, but this tax is wrong.
    I live with a profound happiness that can only be achieved by being hated by Mr.Veritis

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Who View Post
    Definitely a problem today. Real estate speculation is making big cities unaffordable for all but those who make pretty decent salaries. The average house price in my city is almost $1M dollars. The average monthly rental for a 1 bedroom apartment that isn't a roach motel is about $2,000. How can people earning minimum wage live without rent control and subsidies? You have to make almost $50K a year just to rent. Kids are no longer leaving home and becoming independent because they can't afford to. Those who haven't got the luxury of a family to fall back on often end up on the street, at least until they can find subsidized accommodations. It gets worse every year, with more homeless people who could work, if they had somewhere to live.
    The more people dependent on government the more powerful government becomes.

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    Quote Originally Posted by donttread View Post
    The more people dependent on government the more powerful government becomes.
    Then again big business is keeping pace with owning government in many other respects. At this point I don't know where big business ends and government begins, they are so intertwined and I don't think it's happenstance. Where the monarchies left off, the oligarchies stepped in and the oligarchies don't care about people.
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    Quote Originally Posted by donttread View Post
    The more people dependent on government the more powerful government becomes.
    Without a doubt, more people are relying on government or state programs to get by. But the people who rely on government the most are large businesses. I seem to be saying this alot lately, but welfare in this country is a mere speck compared to corporate welfare.
    I have a nephew who has lived in Seattle for a couple years. He has to live in apartments with 2 or 3 roomates because of the rent. When 4 people with jobs can barely get by sharing an apartment, something is wrong. Even if he got on food stamps and rental assistance, he might be able to have 1 less roomate, maybe.
    I did see in the news article that some of the money raised by the head tax will be put into low income housing help, but that is misleading. The money will go into that program, and will be quickly paid out to all kinds of real-estate hustlers to provide those services, and the money will disappear before it helps anyone. Those hustlers and cheats will get even richer, and then run for city council seats. Then they will come up with the next hairbrained tax scheme.
    I live with a profound happiness that can only be achieved by being hated by Mr.Veritis

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