Socialist Seattle City Councilmember and self-advertised $15 minimum wage leader Kshama Sawant is not walking her—very loud—talk. According to recent reports, Sawant has allegedly structured payments to her campaign staffers in a way that “allows her to avoid payroll taxes, paying them overtime, and offering them insurance.” MyNorthwest.com,
“It turns out Sawant is spending a sizable portion of her campaign funds on five different campaign consultants, as she tries to win her re-election campaign for city council. She’s spent just over $12,000 for the consultants so far and that’s in stark contrast to her colleagues. Jean Godden has spent about $6,000. Council member Tim Burgess spent just over $2,000 on consultants; Mike O’Brien has spent nothing.
“And it’s the $12,000 Sawant is spending that has some folks wondering if she’s a hypocrite — because she’s not paying these consultants as employees, she’s paying them as contractors.
“So what’s that mean? Why is that a big deal? According to Josh Feit at PubliCola, ‘there’s no sign of payroll taxes (such as unemployment insurance or social security payments).’ And he writes, ‘Sawant has been skirting the rules by not paying into the public workers’ safety net.’”
The far-left—including Sawant and her supporters—has long decried this method of payment as a means for “evil big businesses” to “circumvent minimum wage, overtime and anti-discrimination laws.” So why, asks KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz, “is it OK that Sawant is doing it? How isn’t this hypocritical?” Rantz,
“One of her consultants is Phillip Locker. He told the Stranger that this kind of behavior is common practice amongst political campaigns — an ironic position for a candidate that says she’s not a typical politician.
“And it also turns out he apparently is illegally working as a consultant. You need a business license to do what he’s doing and the Stranger reports he doesn’t even have one.
“We are absolutely against that,” Locker said about big businesses using contractor status to avoid proper labor practices. But, he adds, “there are some positions [and] some times when it is appropriate for someone to be an independent contractor.”
“Now, the truth is, he’s right — this is how politicians work and this is how a lot of businesses work. The difference is he’s asking for a pass on behavior he’d never give a pass to if it was a business doing it.”
This isn’t the first time Sawant has been caught in a web of hypocrisy. Last year, KIRO’s Dori Monson questioned Sawant on her refusal to condemn the high salaries of union bosses. Sawant dodged his questions by repeatedly referring back to the “excesses of Wall Street executives.” When Monson pushed for an answer, Sawant hung up.
As Rantz put it, if Wal-Mart or McDonalds did what Sawant is doing now, she “would be all over it.” The question for Sawant is, “When is it OK for a business to utilize contractors the exact way she’s using them?”
Willful ignorance? no, the dear socialist leader must be given a pass on this because she “means well”, and supports the “correct” causes and people.
More glaring hypocrisy from the princess of the “$15 not right NOW and not for everybody” crowd. “OK for me but not for thee” seems to be the order of the day. Don’t forget the excesses of Wall Street executives but parasitic union executives are cool with mid six figure salaries. When will tensor go to defcon5 and try to defend this turd in the punchbowl?
We need to oust Sawant!!! What a communist!! Seattle used to be a great city, now nothing but communists!!
She is just another prime example of the political far left in this Country. I have to visit Seattle often for medical care and I think it is still a great city. However, the socialist left is doing it’s best to bring the city and state down.
I understand the younger generation is busy working and raising families but unless they wake up soon to what is going on around them I fear their future is in peril.
Lib Normal
When will the people learn , the left (Dems) have always been TAX AND SPEND, it’s just been since Obummer got into office that all the lefty libs have gotten EXTREMELY loud. And have you noticed anything about Inslee ? He sounds just like the President. Washington has never had an income tax and we don’t need one.
I don’t like this at all, but I’m still more comfortable with my support of liberalism and working people.
Then it sounds as though you like this. Just saying
You’ll have it chump, Baltimore is coming to your town, but you’ll move out and put your kid in private school. Hypocrite.
This is what happens with an “Anything Go’s” culture, it would almost be funny if it wasn’t such a cluster.
What else would you expect from a Socialist?
The douchecanoes of Seattle voted for, now live with her.
I’m still wondering just how Seattle actually voted in this dimwit.
We have the forth highest gas tax and the seventh worst roads which are supposed to be built and repaired with our gas-tax dollars. I would like to have someone explain where all that money is being spent.