How many times do you think Democratic cities need to see other Democratic cities destroy themselves with massive tax increases before they realize that it is not smart or sustainable? Considering New York is poised to elect a communist as mayor, probably at least a couple more.
So we look to the northwest in Seattle, which infamously had a socialist on its city council for a decade up until last year. She and most of her fellow Seattle progressives were hounded out of running for reelection in 2023, after their tenure was marred by crime, homelessness, antifa riots, and a warlord rapper taking over a city block.
Another progressive policy from that era of Seattle’s City Council is now rearing its head. That would be the 2020 “Amazon Tax,” a payroll tax hike targeting big businesses such as Google, Meta, and, of course, Amazon. That was the realization of the “tax the rich” mantra that progressives cling to as the solution to all of their funding problems.
Now, Seattle is facing a payroll tax revenue $47 million lower than projected. This is putting a dent in the city’s budget plans. Seattle is facing a $102 million shortfall for this fiscal year and a $244 million deficit over the next two. According to the new mayor, a former city councilman, those big businesses are moving employees out of the city to avoid paying that heavy payroll tax.
Seattle planned for everything, it seems, except the possibility that high taxes might convince businesses to move operations elsewhere. The plan was almost foolproof. But don’t worry, Seattle has a new plan: jack up taxes on those big businesses even higher so the city can cut taxes on its small businesses and hope those big businesses don’t move even more employees out of the city.
It’s a bet Seattle is apparently keen on making. It is also the bet New York is about to make, with communist mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani proposing a $9 billion tax hike on millionaires and corporations. It hasn’t worked for Seattle, or even for Washington state, whose runaway spending has state Democrats considering even more tax hikes.
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Not to go out on a limb, but it probably won’t work for New York, either. A report earlier this year revealed that the city lost roughly $14 billion worth of income, along with some 125,000 residents who fled to the greener swamps of Florida. New York state lost a net total of around 244,000 people in 2022 and 180,000 in 2023, as the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare just how expensive it is to live there.
Seattle is not the only example. Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other Democrat-run cities have similar stories of decline and decay. Seattle hasn’t learned from its counterparts, and New York isn’t likely to either.