SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Record tax revenues, but Dems in Leg still want more of your money

Feb 25, 2020, 4:42 PM

Olympia, tax revenues, education funding...

(File, Associated Press)

(File, Associated Press)

Washington state has record tax revenues, $1.5 billion more than projected. In any normal world, the legislators would start giving this money back to the taxpayers who have clearly shown through recent votes ($30 tabs, anyone?) they want tax cuts.

People are over-taxed around here, so what does our Legislature turn around and do? It spends the $1.5 billion in tax revenues that it didn’t expect to collect on massive tax hikes.

A Spokane-area legislator described seeing a homeless couple shivering under a blanket and tearfully testified that this money is needed to solve homelessness. Olympia is already spending $400 million every biennial budget on homelessness. Seattle and King County together spend $1 billion on homelessness every year, or $100,000 per homeless person per year. Now they have the audacity to say that if we just give them more money, the problem will be fixed.

As long as drugs are essentially legal in King County, things will never get better. We are importing the nation’s problems because this is the land of milk and honey for heroin addicts. You can do drugs on the street, even sell them, without facing any repercussions. So many of the violent attacks on people in Seattle, such as the attempted rape at Golden Gardens, are committed by homeless people who came here from other states.

Dori: Radical Legislature couldn’t wait to file income tax brief

As opposed to what Olympia is saying, I think it is an inverse proportion — the more we spend, the worse it gets. This is the place where everything is free, lowest barrier if you want to be a heroin addict.

The Legislature is driving me insane. The proposed budget is $54.5 billion. It was in the 30s just a few short years ago.

Socialism destroys great economies. Venezuela is a prime example — 20 years ago, it was the richest country in South America. Then they let socialism come in, and now grocery shelves are empty and people have to wait hours for a loaf of bread. How has our Legislature not learned from what is glaringly obvious elsewhere?

The Legislature also wants to spend more money on transportation. They always promise us that every new tax will fix the gridlock. We’ve just spent $54 billion on Sound Transit 3. Metro Transit gets billions in a tax hike. Now they want a little more?

No one has your back in this state. The Republicans in the Legislature do, but they are so greatly outnumbered at the moment. Things will only start to change when you start to say, “We’ve had enough,” and stop electing Democrats.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

FILE - President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping tour the Forbidden City, Nov....

Associated Press

Oil prices are high but could be much worse. Trump has China’s Xi to thank for that

WASHINGTON (AP) — It could be much worse. When President Donald Trump launched his war against Iran in late February, energy analysts issued dire warnings that oil prices could more than double during a protracted conflict and urged investors and motorists to buckle up for a bumpy ride. The war grinds on and oil prices […]

2 hours ago

FILE - Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, center, is surrounded by journalists and...

Associated Press

Even as trading and markets moved faster, Warren Buffett made patience profitable and cool

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Even in the age of algorithms, short attention spans and TikTok teases, Warren Buffett continued to profit with his patient bargain-hunting approach while offering folksy advice on investing and life. As chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett became famous for his unwavering and methodical investing style: Buy good businesses when […]

2 hours ago

William Lawrence, Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Michigan's 7th District...

Associated Press

AI fears are fueling progressive Democrat’s campaign in Michigan battleground district

MASON, Mich. (AP) — Emerson Hyde and Dan Ewart, both Republicans, stood outside a contentious city council meeting earlier this week in the central Michigan town of Mason and grappled with the fact that the most prominent person to stand with them against a possible artificial intelligence data center was the local Democratic candidate for […]

2 hours ago

macklemore (1)...

John Curley Show

‘This is all about Macklemore’s bottom line, baby’: Comedian rips rapper’s Palestine speech as a career play

New York-based comedian Eitan Levine had a sharp take on Macklemore's removal from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour.

3 hours ago

9th ave...

Chris Sullivan

SDOT plans to paint over Convention Center street art that won’t come off 9th Ave.

SDOT, which granted the Seattle Convention Center the permit to paint 9th Ave., now has a plan to fix the problem.

4 hours ago

Actress Lynda Carter speaks to the crowd as they rally against the closing of the John F. Kennedy C...

Associated Press

Thousands join protest outside Kennedy Center, expressing concern that Trump might tear it down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people joined outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Friday evening to protest President Donald Trump’s plans for the facility, lending their voices to a chorus of organizations and individuals who have been horrified that he might make good on his threat to close and tear down […]

4 hours ago

Dori: Record tax revenues, but Dems in Leg still want more of your money