Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant thinks quite highly of herself. As a councilmember, Sawant has worked to change the name of a national holiday, offered her advice on foreign policy issues and, yesterday, delivered a response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address for the second time in a row.
Sawant kicked her response off by laying out what happened during the 2014 mid-term election, i.e. the Republican wave, and implying that it occurred because Obama isn’t far left enough. Under Obama, Sawant claims, the gap between the rich and poor has widened. Many Americans are struggling to make ends meet. She points to Socialists, particularly herself, as the answer to the nation’s economic problems. Sawant said of herself,
“We won the $15 an hour minimum wage in Seattle… And critical for 15 in Seattle was the election of an independent, working class candidate who boldly championed it which forced the political and business establishment to reluctantly make a concession on this issue.
Sawant’s version of reality is quite different from, well, reality. As much as she would like to cast herself in the role of a bold leader fighting against the “political and business establishment,” the truth is that the $15 minimum wage met little to no resistance—least of all by the political establishment in Seattle. Mayor Ed Murray could not wait to sign a $15 minimum wage into law and the City Council raised no objection, unanimously passing the ordinance. That’s hardly forcing a reluctant political establishment to make concessions on the issue.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It wasn’t the establishment in Seattle that had to be forced to concede to a $15 minimum wage, it was the establishment that forcefully and hastily rammed through a $15 minimum wage. It was the political establishment in Seattle that refused to listen to the concerns of businesses and heartlessly sent small businesses to their inevitable ruin.
Sawant goes onto criticize Obama for increased cuts in federal funding for low-income housing. Again, Sawant presents herself as the solution to the problem. She claims that she just led a successful battle to prevent a 400% hike to low income housing in Seattle. Sawant then denounced the free market and called for new public investment for affordable housing.
Once again, the opposite of Sawant’s claim is true. Sawant does not have solutions to Seattle’s low-income housing market problems. She helps create the problems. Economists expect rent rates to rise as a consequence of the $15 minimum wage. Nonsensically, Sawant also supports a system to develop affordable housing that fits within her socialist political ideology but produces less than a quarter of affordable housing units than the market-friendly alternative.
Sawant wraps up her response with a swipe at the nation’s top 90 companies and Republicans. Sticking to the same talking points so often repeated by the far-left, Sawant claims that the 2014 elections did not hand Republicans a mandate. Rather, Democrats lost because they have not gone far left enough with their policies—presumably, people should look to socialists in the future.
If the 2014 Republican wave delivered one single mandate from the American people, it is “stop Obama.” The majority of the American people are not disillusioned with Obama because his policies don’t go far enough, they are disillusioned with Obama because they go too far and leave disastrous consequences. If it is the case that the American people want too see a president even further to the left of Obama, Democrat candidates across the country would not have scrambled to denounce liberal policies and moderate their positions. Sawant’s assessment of the 2014 election is evidence she lives in an alternate universe, if ever you needed any.
Socialism is fine until you run out of everybody else’s money. By that I mean everybody, Socialism has a negative effect/affect on everyone.
Socialism is fine until you run out of everybody else’s money.
After that, we call it “Enron.” And no Republican will denounce it.
Enron went bankrupt and people went to jail.
You’re an idiot if you think Republicans support the kinds of crimes Enron were committing.
Enron went bankrupt and people went to jail.
And the leaders of Enron, who were such good Republicans they flew W around the country on Enron’s corporate jet during his 2000 presidential campaign, profited from fraud for as long as they possibly could. Washington state’s own Senator Cantwell spent years trying to keep local utilities here from paying the illegally-inflated rates for power which Enron’s price-gouging fraudsters had unscrupulously negotiated. If you want to give examples of Republicans — especially Republicans here in Washington state — helping her with that, please feel free to do so.
Enron went bankrupt and people went to jail.
And the leaders of Enron, who were such good Republicans they flew W around the country on Enron’s corporate jet during his 2000 presidential campaign, profited from fraud for as long as they possibly could. Washington state’s own Senator Cantwell spent years trying to keep local utilities here from paying the illegally-inflated rates for power which Enron’s price-gouging fraudsters had unscrupulously negotiated. If you want to give examples of Republicans — especially Republicans here in Washington state — helping her with that, please feel free to do so.
Good for you sunshine, you squeezed a dig in at republicans, you’re special.
Well folks what is going on in Seattle we can expect more of the same to come for the whole state.Taxed to the max and then some and the poor to be living better than one that works very hard at their job.Better housing that will cost them nothing,Cable t.v for every one,all the free food one can eat and so on right down the line.Then we will look like Detrot.Yep nothing but empty businesses and rundown homes that have no value yep a wonderful world the commies will give us if we don’t stand up against them.Welcome to the soveit socialist city of Seattle.Hope you like it for it will be a commie state.
It’s hard to take her serious a “working class” when she listed her Microsoft husband as her income on her campaign as her only income. Seattle people don’t look past top layer. Dig a little before supporting something that’s a lie.
Does that same logic apply here as well? We read a lot here about Sound Transit’s “regressive” taxes, and how liberal government policies allegedly make life tougher for “working families”, but this site was created by two guys from Mercer Island. (I know that because I decided to “dig a little”. Try it sometime!)
“We won the $15 an hour minimum wage in Seattle… And critical for 15 in Seattle was the election of an independent, working class candidate who boldly championed it which forced the political and business establishment to reluctantly make a concession on this issue”
Spare me. The political establishment in Seattle was falling all over themselves to push this through. My cat could have “boldly championed it” with same results. The business community has not conceded anything on this, reluctantly or otherwise, despite what the communist claims.
Please explain the shear ignorance of the City Council. They completely ignored the business community and not one of the members have EVER owned a business. Already, we have seen three well known, popular restaurants give up, and to what end. This is a Free Market Society. Once you start messing with that, you have gone too far. Then again, stupid is what stupid does
Already, we have seen three well known, popular restaurants give up…
Please do name these “three well known, popular restaurants.”
Also, please look at Sawant’s PDC reports. It is a contradiction for a Socialist to use the capitalistic funding of her Microsoft husband. Who’s fooling who here?
Already, we have seen three well known, popular restaurants give up…
Please do name these “three well known, popular restaurants.”
You commies are nuts. How many failed countries are not a good enough examples of those failures you pukes.
I cannot stand this woman. When i have to move to King County, I will be very active in making sure this woman keeps her crap within the confines of Seattle city limits. Just say NO to socialist bull****
Please don’t tell me that Sawant is thinking of running for a National office. On the other hand it would be good to see her beaten down in DC! Both parties would ignore here
I can’t wait when she will become the next Senator in WA State. She will disband Boeing and make it public domain, in other words, government owned.
For the love of God, (I know, Socialists don’t beleive in God), but regardless; for the love of God, please tell me you’re joking
You guys should take a stroll down to the Flight Museum on East Marginal Way sometime. You can see the entire history of The Boeing Company there. Their first airplane built, the B&W “Bluebird,” was sold to an entity now known as Air New Zealand. The company’s first production contract was for training aircraft for the US Navy. Civil aviation in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s was heavily subsidized with air-mail contracts from the US Post Office.
B-17, B-47, B-52, BoMarc, Air Force One — in a very real way, The Boeing Company has been “owned” by the US Gov’t for most of its existence. It’s just that some investors were given a share of our taxpayer dollars. If the company had been truly publicly owned, such skimming would have been illegal, and the costs of the equipment made would have been slightly lower.
Sheer ignorance of business. Why keep going?
The Boeing 707 was a civilian derivative of the USAF KC-135 tanker, and *every* modern jetliner is a variant of the B-47 design: turbine engines slung in nacelles beneath swept, tapered, dihedral wings.
No need to believe me; go to the Flight Museum, and see for yourself.
Meanwhile, which “three well known, popular restaurants…” have already closed because of a minimum wage which has not yet risen? Please do name them.
“Sheer ignorance…”
At least now, BEN won’t call you a “Sheep!” 🙂
Tensor,
You need to stop living in the past this will cause your mind to not grow at all. You will be just a nobody just a believer and follower of the politicians. You need to expand your horizon. I have been in 40 States and WA mentality is too ultra left wing. There should be balance in the government and it needs oppositions, but King County would rather discredit oppositions with lies and whatever mistakes they make. I have noticed that the Democrats/Liberals/Socialists/Communists make no mistakes at all.
Last, please come to the present and deal with today’s problems and not yesterday’s.
tensor, do you believe that corporations should be owned by the government? Do you hate the military? Do you wish that all Republican in WA would just move out? This will make the State better with no oppositions just the Liberals and Socialists.
Btw, still praying she is a “one term wonder”
It’s Seattle…
If the 2014 Republican wave delivered one single mandate from the American people, it is “stop Obama.”
We voters here in Washington state elected not to participate in that “wave”; not a single Congressional seat here changed hands. Meanwhile, the city council in Washington state’s largest city unanimously passed a $15/hour minimum wage, an effort led by — all together, now! — freshman Council Member Sawant. From her perspective, the problem is indeed that the rest of the country is not following Washington State’s lead closely enough. I agree.
Sawant’s assessment of the 2014 election is evidence she lives in an alternate universe, if ever you needed any.
A web site run from Mercer Island is uniquely well-positioned to lecture all other Washingtonians on our need to recognize hard fiscal realities.
Socialism is fine until you run out of everybody else’s money.
After that, we call it “Enron.”
When i have to move to King County, […]
Who is forcing you to move here? Is someone blackmailing you? Have you called the police?
Let me guess, you’re moving here for employment, because, contrary to every last thing ever posted here about economics, Seattle & King County are the best places in the state to look for work.
[…] I will be very active in making sure this woman keeps her crap within the confines of Seattle city limits.
You will single-handedly deprive Seattle of our mountainous watersheds? Do tell!
It is a contradiction for a Socialist to use the capitalistic funding of her Microsoft husband. Who’s fooling who here?
Computers, the software to run them, and the networks to connect them, were all developed with funds from the US government. Microsoft then tried to become the sole-source software supplier for the planet. This all sounds pretty socialist to me.
Please explain the shear ignorance of the City Council.
Watch out! BENJAMIN FRANKLIN will call you a “Sheep!”
…not one of the members have EVER owned a business.
*Sigh* We have covered all of this already: Council Member Burgess once owned a small business, and Council Member O’Brien spent ten years making payroll for a local law firm.
Also, what is the connection between administering a small business, and legislating for a large city?
Already, we have seen three well known, popular restaurants give up, and to what end.
Are these the “more examples” of which you recently bragged, but never actually supplied? Which restaurants?
Are these the “more examples” of which you recently bragged, but never actually supplied? Which restaurants?
No more than you vaguely claiming Burgess “owned a small business” just because he put it in his bio.
I knew you’d be here to stick up for your communist crush, birds of a feather and all. It’s surprising it took you so long. You must have meditating in Nepal again.
No more than you vaguely claiming Burgess “owned a small business” just because he put it in his bio.
I’m specifically quoting his official biography. Your hand-waving of this evidence means nothing.
Really, if you want to call him a liar, you should at least have the intestinal fortitude to do so explicitly.
This and some guy doing payroll at a law firm were your only examples of the whole silly clowncil’s supposedly shrewd business acumen. You put this out as your only evidence of them being titans of industry. I never said he was a liar. Claiming to have small business ownership experience when you had a paper route as a kid or were the Fuller Brush Man is just how liberal hypocrites roll. Be vague then demand explicit details from others.
Mr. Burgess has served Seattle in multiple capacities over many years. You’re some guy on the internet who has already made several unsupported claims at this web site. Each reader may decide for himself or herself which of you two has more credibility.
You put this out as your only evidence of them being titans of industry.
Could you please learn to read? Mr. Whaley has repeatedly made the claim, “…not one of the members have EVER owned a business.” For that claim to be true, no current Council Member can ever have owned a business. Council Member Burgess, in his official biography, says he owned a small business. The only response you and Mr. Whaley have yet given is this piece of pure speculation:
Claiming to have small business ownership experience when you had a paper route as a kid or were the Fuller Brush Man…
So, some guys on the internet who can’t (or won’t) back up their own statements are speculatively accusing an elected official, who puts his own name on every Council vote he takes, of being less than truthful. Good luck with that.
Finally, I’d really like to know the names of “three well known, popular restaurants…” that have already closed as a result of Seattle’s new minimum wage — the minimum wage which will not see any increase until April. (Don’t worry — I have complete confidence Mr. Whaley would rather call me an “idiot” than give any of the examples he’s repeatedly claimed to have.)
Just can’t get an intelligent thought out can you Tensor? Keep reading the propaganda of t he Socialists. That’ll keep you plenty busy
Thank you for validating my claim, above. Now, please name the “three well known, popular restaurants…” that have already closed because of a minimum wage which has not yet risen.
Or, you can continue your spotless track record, of feeble personal attacks and no substance. You’ve provided no evidence yet showing you’re capable of anything better.
Now , please let us know how do you feel about the military.
Come on tensor, let us know if you are anti military like the Seattle citizens.
Why are you mentioning me in your conversation with Bliff. I can care less than a penny about your council members. It doesn’t affect me or my job so keep that trash away from me, please.
Republicans, Conservatives, Democrats, and Liberals agenda are all alike they will tell you what you want to hear so the 89% will vote them so they can skim their own agenda to get wealthy through their contributers. Yes, eventhough liberals hate the wealthy and corporations they are backed by big corporations.