Dori: Fantasy leftist economics finally catch up to our region
Apr 22, 2020, 5:30 AM
The Seattle skyline turning blue to honor health care workers. (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Yes, this is an “I-told-you-so.”
For years, we’ve talked about how the insane economics of the left in our region are completely unsustainable. Politicians spending like drunken sailors (my apologies to drunken sailors, a far more honorable group) would eventually be disastrous when the inevitable economic downturn hits. And that downturn has hit like a tsunami.
The City of Seattle says the economic part of the coronavirus crisis could blow a $210 million to $300 million hole in the city budget. That is a crisis that was not caused by a virus, but by the sickness of leftist politics.
In 2014, the City of Seattle budget was $4.4 billion. Then along came Ed Murray. I guess he decided hiring thousands of government workers might help him atone for the other misdeeds in his life. Murray added nearly 4,000 employees to the city payroll. With salary and benefits for a city worker coming to nearly $100,000 per employee, that added about $400 million to the payroll.
So, as they whine about a deficit that could be as much as $300 million, you can see that it is entirely caused by bloated government and incompetent managers in charge.
That city budget that was $4.4 billion in 2014? It swelled to $5.9 billion in 2019 and over $6 billion in 2020. And what are we getting for all that spending? Some of the worst gridlock in the nation. The worst heroin and homelessness problem in the country. Fewer cops on the street than similar-sized Boston, which has a city budget about half that of Seattle’s.
They dare whine about a coronavirus-caused budget deficit? This is a deficit caused by liberal spending.
But I suspect many of our politicians are thrilled about these economic woes, because they think it will help their Holy Grail cause of getting an income tax in our state. That will only happen if the citizens stupidity plumb new depths and we allow it.
The chickens have come home to roost.
Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
