John Curley sheds light on Katie Wilson endorsement for Seattle mayor, sees ‘redefinition of socialism’

After a more subtle showing of support, KIRO host John Curley officially endorsed Katie Wilson for Seattle mayor this week.

“I’ve never done anything like ‘I’m going to endorse somebody,’ but I endorsed Katie Wilson, and the reason I endorse Katie Wilson running for mayor — looks like she’s going to beat Bruce Harrell — it’s because I said I want to see it as a socialism experiment, and it’s a redefinition of socialism,” Curley said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

“It’s not socialism where you overtake the production elements of the economy, and the government runs it like in Bolivia,” he continued. “After 20 years, they canned that. This is just light socialism, as people understand it. A bigger, more supportive welfare state.”

Wilson, the co-founder and executive director of the Transit Riders Union, earned more than 50% of the Aug. 5 primary vote in the Seattle mayoral race, leading incumbent Bruce Harrell, who captured less than 42% of the vote. Curley said he believes in her heart.

“I believe from talking to her that there are rich people who don’t pay their fair share,” he shared. “That if we could get the rich people to pay just a little bit more, or ‘their fair share,’ and then the government would have the revenue that it needs to provide the services for the people that the people want.”

Should Seattle go the way of Norway or Denmark?

However, Curley noted that when Norway implemented a similar approach, more than 30 multi-millionaires and billionaires left, taking their money with them. Wilson said Seattleites support a more progressive system.

“We’ve seen that Seattle residents support progressive taxes — that’s taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations who in our state are currently not paying their share,” Wilson said on “The John Curley Show.” “We have the second most regressive tax system in the country, and I think we all support adequately funded public services, from libraries to parks to first responders.”

Curley said the situation leaves Seattle at a crossroads: The city can do what Norway did, but risk losing its wealthier citizens, or implement the same strategy as Denmark.

“You could look at Denmark, which, by the way, in the 1990s, they decided they needed to reduce government services so that they could have a thing called a balanced budget,” he said. “And the people were in favor of that. They said, ‘In order for us to balance the budget, we’re going to have to cut the size of government.’ Which they did, they cut the size of government, they balanced their budget.”

However, to provide services, Denmark upped its sales tax for the middle class.

“The experiment it’s already been done,” Curley noted. “It’s been done in Norway, and it’s failed — which is, we are going to tax businesses, and then we’re going to take the money from the business, and we’re going to give it to everybody. Or you go to Denmark, and Denmark simply says, ‘We’re going to increase businesses and lower the taxes.’ So businesses will come here.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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