Seattle leaders are addicts and they are headed for rock bottom

The Seattle City Council are addicts. They aren’t addicted to opioids, but they are addicts none the less in my opinion. More on that in a minute.

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But first, did I miss the list of 100 businesses that are on board with the head tax? How about 75? Fifty? I can’t seem to find it.

It is quite easy to find the open letter from over 130 business that oppose the head tax. Some companies you’ve heard of like Expedia, Alaska Airlines, and OfferUp. Others that aren’t household names. But they are united in their message to local leaders, “Are you nuts?” I’m paraphrasing that part.

Here’s what the open letter says: “Instead of a strategic plan to address growth, the Council has proposed to tax only 3% of our city’s largest business, charging them a flat rate per worker they hire, making businesses pay a price for creating jobs. This is like telling a classroom that the students who do the most homework will be singled out for detention.”

I’m not going to question the motivation of the politicians. I’m sure they thought this was a good idea at the time. If they could just squeeze some more money out the business community, surely they could fix the opioid and homelessness problem blighting our area. I don’t think it would be an understatement to point out that ignoring this many prominent members of the business community would be the height of arrogance, hubris, and denial.

One of the main tenants of recovery for addicts is to get out of a state of denial and face the facts. You will often hear stories from people that are now sober of hitting rock bottom and how that turned things around. It’s not until the addict takes responsibility for their current situation that any change can happen.

I believe our local politicians are addicts. They are addicted to money and power. Just like an addict, there is never enough. They are constantly searching for their next hit, and they are in a state of denial; refusing to take responsibility for their own actions. Always believing that the answer lies somewhere “out there” when in reality, the solution to your problem is staring back at you in the mirror.

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And just like the addict, they demand that others fit the bill. They will get what they want by any means necessary. It’s a crash course to destruction unless there’s an intervention and the addict abandons their state of denial.

You will be faced with the choice of all addicts – you can go with your current group of so-called friends that want to go and score again to feed your addiction. Or you can listen to the sober community that is trying to do an intervention with you.

Wake up City of Seattle politicians: this is your rock bottom.

You can hear “What are we talking about here?” everyday at 4:45 p.m. on 97.3 FM.

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