Seattle's Income Tax Brings Out the Crazy in People

Americanthinker.com ^ | 7-31-2017 | Kenneth H. Ryesky

[servo1969]

By unanimous vote, the Seattle City Council has now enacted an Income Tax ordinance imposing a tax on "high income residents," i.e, those whose annual incomes exceed $250,000 ($500,000 for joint filers).

The new legislation is largely the work of Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, an unabashed leftist and redistributionist who was elected on the Socialist Alternative party ticket, and who was a moving force behind Seattle's ill-advised $15 per hour minimum wage.

[Kshama immigrated from India to the United States, ostensibly to improve her economic situation. She went on to further her education, submitting her PhD dissertation in 2009. It is certainly fair to ask how this venture was underwritten.]

Kshama is only accepting $40,000 of her $117,000 annual salary, declaring that figure as "roughly the full-time take-home pay of a Seattleite."

After paying taxes, the remainder of my salary will go to a Solidarity Fund to help build social justice movements. Throughout the year I will be making donations from this Solidarity Fund to causes such as workers' strike funds, and environmental, civil rights, and women's rights campaigns.

Some flashing red lights here:

Firstly, just what is this "Solidarity Fund" and who administers it? Is it commingled with Kshama's regular bank accounts, and if so (and even if the excess funds are placed into a separate account over which she herself has signatory authority), are we to depend upon her self-control for assurances that she does in fact live on $40,000 per year? Where is the transparency in the Fund's administration?

[cynwoody]

“Back to India...”, where they have it all figured out!

Prime Minister Modi is working on it.