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Seattle Commies

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 6:39 pm
by Fat Cat
https://www.dailywire.com/news/30981/ho ... benshapiro

One week after passing a head tax on major businesses located in Seattle, including Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks, the Seattle City Council is now considering an enormous property tax on the people who work at those businesses. According to Q13 FOX, King County homeowners already saw a bump of 17% in their property taxes in 2017, but City Council members want property taxes increased even more:

"Council members Lorena Gonzalez and Rob Johnson are sponsoring the measure, which states the council wants to lift the limit on regular property taxes in order to levy additional taxes. … In 2014, Seattle voters approved a $58 million levy allowing low-income kids to go to preschool for free. Since 2015, the city says the program has allowed affordable or free preschool to 850 families. Now the city wants to send hundreds more to preschool. Mayor Jenny Durkan’s Office is also pushing to send high school graduates to community college for free."

The property tax would amount to, on average, more than another $250 per year for homeowners.

The homelessness problem in Seattle has continued to snowball (as John Stossel and Maxim Lott point out at Reason.com, Seattle’s building code is 745 pages, and the residential building code is another 685 pages); the Seattle City Council has focused far more on “road diets” — narrowing roads via bike lanes — than on the quality of traffic; King County has spent billions on useless light rail. But now they want to bust homeowners’ wallets again — after instituting a $15 minimum wage and a head tax.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 7:30 pm
by Shapecharge
$58,000,000/850 = $68,235.29

Now maybe I don't know how things work in Seattle and perhaps starting up a program such as this has considerable up front costs but something seems a little off here.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 7:37 pm
by Fat Cat
That's Socialist efficiency.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 9:01 pm
by Schlegel
The first $50,000,000 gets you the program administrators. Actual daycare is extra.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 10:32 pm
by DikTracy6000
Fat Cat wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 6:39 pm https://www.dailywire.com/news/30981/ho ... benshapiro

One week after passing a head tax on major businesses located in Seattle, including Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks, the Seattle City Council is now considering an enormous property tax on the people who work at those businesses. According to Q13 FOX, King County homeowners already saw a bump of 17% in their property taxes in 2017, but City Council members want property taxes increased even more:

"Council members Lorena Gonzalez and Rob Johnson are sponsoring the measure, which states the council wants to lift the limit on regular property taxes in order to levy additional taxes. … In 2014, Seattle voters approved a $58 million levy allowing low-income kids to go to preschool for free. Since 2015, the city says the program has allowed affordable or free preschool to 850 families. Now the city wants to send hundreds more to preschool. Mayor Jenny Durkan’s Office is also pushing to send high school graduates to community college for free."

The property tax would amount to, on average, more than another $250 per year for homeowners.

The homelessness problem in Seattle has continued to snowball (as John Stossel and Maxim Lott point out at Reason.com, Seattle’s building code is 745 pages, and the residential building code is another 685 pages); the Seattle City Council has focused far more on “road diets” — narrowing roads via bike lanes — than on the quality of traffic; King County has spent billions on useless light rail. But now they want to bust homeowners’ wallets again — after instituting a $15 minimum wage and a head tax.
I read an article a few years ago(that I don't care to look for) that light rail has been a failure financially in every place where it's been instituted.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 1:32 am
by Turdacious
Amateurs
The glass-and-steel roof swoops up like a bird taking flight. A wall made of etched glass opens the rear vista to newly planted landscaping. Embedded in the floor are heating elements intended to ward off the cold weather and keep winter-weary feet cozy.

The location, near Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive, is perfectly positioned to take advantage of Arlington County’s growing night life and ethnic restaurants.

And the price tag: $1 million.

“Is this made of gold?” asked commuter Yohannes Kaleab, examining the concrete-and-stainless-steel bench that is part of the new, seven-figure bus shelter.

“What?” asked Robin Stewart as he learned of the cost of the structure while waiting for a bus there last week. “That’s ridiculous. From a citizen, from a voter, whoever put that budget through needs to get their butt canned. It’s an outrage."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/1- ... bc17f6a143

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 2:20 pm
by JohnDoe
Wonder how much of the code has to do with floods and earthquakes though. Not that it's an excuse, but the New Yorker article on Seattle's seismology that came out a year or two ago was bonkers.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 2:46 pm
by DrDonkeyLove
Schlegel wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 9:01 pm The first $50,000,000 gets you the program administrators. Actual daycare is extra.
I snicker at the truthiness.

I've been to San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle this year and the homeless problem is amazing in its scope.

Here's a proposal, charge a $1/day tent location fee whenever they're pitched on city property. The fee can be used to provide food and healthcare to the homeless. Watch the tent cities disappear.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 2:01 am
by syaigh
The thing that blows my mind about the homeless out there is that there is a large number of them who seem to be young able-bodied people who see it as a lifestyle. Kind of like all the dead-heads at my college. Weird.

And last time I was there, there were hordes of them treating Pike Place market like it was a rave. It was revolting.

On the opposite side of the problem, go to Salt Lake City, Utah. Very very few homeless people and the few that are truly seem desperately mentally ill or disabled.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Sat May 26, 2018 6:15 pm
by seeahill
Here's my solution to the homeless problem. I call it the Wino Zoo.

You take a large area, build hundreds of tiny shelters, offer free cheap wine, drugs of choice. Meals with no sermons. That should attract a lot of homeless folks.

Now build bleachers around the area with some form of protection, like hockey rink glass. Charge folks $5 apiece entry to sit and watch varied lovable and hilarious antics of winos and druggies. Locals would come first and the Wino Zoo would eventually become a tourist attraction.

This would a self-sustaining solution to the homeless problem and it would throw off a substantial amount to be used for improving infrastructure or bribes.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 1:24 am
by Turdacious
seeahill wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 6:15 pm Here's my solution to the homeless problem. I call it the Wino Zoo.

You take a large area, build hundreds of tiny shelters, offer free cheap wine, drugs of choice. Meals with no sermons. That should attract a lot of homeless folks.

Now build bleachers around the area with some form of protection, like hockey rink glass. Charge folks $5 apiece entry to sit and watch varied lovable and hilarious antics of winos and druggies. Locals would come first and the Wino Zoo would eventually become a tourist attraction.

This would a self-sustaining solution to the homeless problem and it would throw off a substantial amount to be used for improving infrastructure or bribes.
Hamsterdam!

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 2:17 pm
by nafod
seeahill wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 6:15 pm Here's my solution to the homeless problem. I call it the Wino Zoo.

You take a large area, build hundreds of tiny shelters, offer free cheap wine, drugs of choice. Meals with no sermons. That should attract a lot of homeless folks.

Now build bleachers around the area with some form of protection, like hockey rink glass. Charge folks $5 apiece entry to sit and watch varied lovable and hilarious antics of winos and druggies. Locals would come first and the Wino Zoo would eventually become a tourist attraction.

This would a self-sustaining solution to the homeless problem and it would throw off a substantial amount to be used for improving infrastructure or bribes.
How about for every gainfully employed DACA person we are about to deport, we allow them to choose and pay an unemployed homeless person to go in their place. A citizenship swap.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 3:47 pm
by tough old man
Apparently Seattle has a very large garbage problem to go with the homeless problem. I guess DVS will have to have some input.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 7:41 am
by Sangoma
Sticking new taxes is not commie idea, that's how bureaucrats finance their existence and proliferation. I have interesting pictures from healthcare. I suppose it's the same in most areas of life: number of people actually doing shit - building, cleaning, servicing, repairing, cooking etc. - is overwhelmingly outnumbered by people regulating them.

Image

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 10:26 am
by nafod
Where are nurses and PAs in your chart? With the physicians?

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 12:28 am
by Sangoma
There are no nurses. If I had to guess, from what I have seen with my own eyes over the last couple decades I would say the number of nurses - actual nurses working with patients - went down.

Re: Seattle Commies

Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 3:31 am
by Turdacious
Sangoma wrote: Tue May 29, 2018 7:41 am Sticking new taxes is not commie idea, that's how bureaucrats finance their existence and proliferation. I have interesting pictures from healthcare. I suppose it's the same in most areas of life: number of people actually doing shit - building, cleaning, servicing, repairing, cooking etc. - is overwhelmingly outnumbered by people regulating them.

Image
That masks a lot of the reason the US health care system is messed up. The admin spending is not primarily on the bureaucratic side, it's on the provider and insurance side-- largely as a result of Congressional and (to a lesser degree) bureaucratic requirements. Countries with more socialized health systems (like the UK) have a much smaller administrative burden than we do in the States.

Also, a lot of things that physicians do could be done by PAs and various types of nurses (which would save money). But every time these ideas pop up they're fought tooth and nail by the American Medical Association (i.e. lobbying association for physicians).

To be honest the thing we really need is more bureaucrats in compliance -- making sure that providers and states know when they are and are not complying with Medicaid spending rules in a timely basis; processing reimbursement requests in a timely manner and giving clear reasons for reimbursement denials to providers; catching and stopping Medicaid and Medicare fraud before it grows at an exponential rate; and stopping slow growing crises before they grow out of control (like the opioid problems we have in the US now-- which to a large degree is caused by government funded health care) would actually save the system money in the long run.