IMHO his response sounds like "there are only bad progressive options available, but those would tax the wealthy, so we're going to go with the bad regressive options instead."
I'm no fan of Brugess, but I'll help answer the question for you:
Q: Does this mean he doesn't consider the commercial parking tax and the employee head tax to be good local, progressive taxation options?
A: No. The employee head tax is not a good, local progressive taxation option. Of course it isn't. Employees that make millions of dollars a year get taxed at the same rate as employees that make minimum wage. Likewise the parking tax applies to people who drive BMWs or Fords.
Simply put, he is right. We don't have good, local, progressive taxation options. The closest we have is the property tax -- but we have big limitations on that.
A head tax is a tax on employment. The more you tax something, the less you get of it. For example, increasing cigarette taxes substantially has reduced smoking rates.
Do we really want less jobs? Particularly in Seattle where housing and other costs are outpacing job and income growth?
We need more people working, at higher wages, not fewer. A head tax is counter-productive. The more people you hire, the more tax you pay. Brilliant!
@5, the cost of cigarettes has not stopped people from smoking, nor would an employer lay off an employee simply because the employer had to pay an additional $16/year. Get real.
Too bad The Stranger tripled-down on 'Vote Chopp'. We might otherwise have had another strong voice for progressive taxation in the corridors of power.
Has The Stranger done a (deserved) hit piece like this on that one asshole who keeps coming around here with op-eds about regressive taxation, while also refusing to acknowledge his own role in the current tax structure?
Not to mention he's not even correct about the B&O tax. It's not just a "corporate" tax, it also hits sole proprietors -- you know, freelancers and independent contractors. It's such bullshit.
What's that bourgie fucker's opinion about Corporate Welfare in Seattle? ( you know: lower utility rates for corporate so-called "persons"; loopholes real humans can't use; campaign financing the rich - who own much of the shares of stock in companies - are allowed to use to fund pro-Aristocratic campaigns. et al. --- http://www.taxsanity.org & http://www.corporatewelfare.org ).
@8, you've got to be joking. Chopp is about as pro-progressive taxation as anyone can get, but he's also pragmatic, and no matter the Stranger's take on what's-her-name, if she'd been elected, she would have been swallowed up and spit out by the vultures in Olympia. It's great we've got Sawant in Seattle; Oly's a different situation.
Q: Does this mean he doesn't consider the commercial parking tax and the employee head tax to be good local, progressive taxation options?
A: No. The employee head tax is not a good, local progressive taxation option. Of course it isn't. Employees that make millions of dollars a year get taxed at the same rate as employees that make minimum wage. Likewise the parking tax applies to people who drive BMWs or Fords.
Simply put, he is right. We don't have good, local, progressive taxation options. The closest we have is the property tax -- but we have big limitations on that.
Do we really want less jobs? Particularly in Seattle where housing and other costs are outpacing job and income growth?
We need more people working, at higher wages, not fewer. A head tax is counter-productive. The more people you hire, the more tax you pay. Brilliant!
Still not over it.