From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement
A total nitwit and failure to accomplish person!
from
https://mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion/seattle-mayor-katie-wilson-5/4232753
Harger: Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson called for a Starbucks boycott.
Starbucks called Nashville
Apr 28, 2026, 6:06 AM
seattle mayor katie wilson starbucks boycott nashville...
A headshot of Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson superimposed over a photo of a peppermint mocha frappuccino at Starbucks. (Photos courtesy of Wilson
for Seattle; Lauren DeCicca, Getty Images)
BY CHARLIE HARGER
Host, Seattle's Morning News
Seattle Mayor Katie WilsonrCOs first move after winning the election was calling for a Starbucks boycott. StarbucksrCO first move after the income
tax passed was calling Nashville. Boeing left years ago. Amazon split.
And the billionaire who spent millions building the progressive tax
agenda that helped get us here says virtually every wealthy friend he
has is already gone or planning to leave.
His name is Nick Hanauer. And herCOs worth listening to.
He didnrCOt just get rich and stay quiet. He helped build the progressive
tax framework Olympia runs on today. He spent millions pushing SeattlerCOs
$15 minimum wage. He bankrolled the campaign to pass WashingtonrCOs
capital gains tax. He wrote a famous essay warning his fellow
billionaires that inequality would lead to pitchforks if they didnrCOt
start paying more. He coined the term rCLmiddle-out economicsrCY and
appeared in Robert ReichrCOs documentary, arguing that prosperity requires massive investment in the middle class.
His whole brand, for years, was: IrCOm rich, and IrCOm telling you the rich need to pay more.
He was the billionaire giving cover to the progressive agenda. The
architect.
And this is what he told GeekWire about WashingtonrCOs new income tax: rCLVirtually every wealthy friend I have has either left or is planning
to. ItrCOs a catastrophe.rCY
The man who spent years telling the wealthy they needed to pay more is
now watching them leave instead.
When Nick Hanauer calls it a catastrophe, pay attention.
Starbucks expanding in Nashville after WA income tax passed, employees
expect it to function as second headquarters
His wealthy friends moving is one thing. But now one of our most
prominent employers has reached a similar conclusion.
Starbucks. Born here. Grew up here. Became a global brand with a Seattle address.
Last November, the day after she was declared the winner in a tight race
for mayor, Katie Wilson publicly called for a boycott of Starbucks. That
was her first move after declaring victory. Not a policy announcement.
Not a vision for the city. A boycott call against a fast food joint that offers health care, paid vacation, and free college tuition for
employees and their family members.
After that, The Seattle Times reported, Starbucks started looking
around. They briefly explored a 21-story tower in Bellevue. That would
have kept them in the region. Then the legislature passed the income
tax. Starbucks kept driving. Past Bellevue. Past the state line. All the
way to Nashville. A state with no income tax and aggressive employer incentives.
The company calls it a new office. Employees, according to The Seattle
Times, expect it to function as a second headquarters. Starbucks isnrCOt saying that out loud. The people who work there donrCOt seem to need it spelled out.
The same city Amazon already chose for half its second headquarters.
Boeing left years ago. Amazon split. Now Starbucks. These werenrCOt
surprises. They were warning shots.
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Jake: Is anyone really surprised that Starbucks is leaving Seattle?
Harger: The King County Homelessness Authority can't find $13M. People
are dying on our streets. Do we take this seriously or not?
MoodyrCOs puts WA on negative credit outlook as rainy day fund heads
toward 1.4%
MoodyrCOs just put Washington on a negative credit outlook. The state has
one year to demonstrate fiscal responsibility or faces a downgrade that
raises borrowing costs on every bond-financed project in the state.
Roads. Schools. Public buildings. That cost falls on taxpayers, not the legislature.
The rainy day fund sits at 8.4% now. By 2028, it drops to 1.4%. Dead
last among all 50 states.
When a state gets downgraded, investors demand higher interest rates on
its bonds. Every road project costs more. Every school construction bond
costs more. And the people bearing that cost arenrCOt the wealthy families already settled in Nashville. TheyrCOre the families still here.
King County home listings up 35%, Eastside up 52% as WA tax base relocates Active listings in Washington surged 29.3% year over year in March,
according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Closed sales barely moved, up just 0.2%. More people selling. Fewer people buying.
In King County, listings are up 35%. On the Eastside, where the tech
money lives, listings have surged 52%. The capital gains tax and tech
layoffs are cited explicitly as drivers. Median sales price statewide
fell 1.5% to $640,000.
Downtown SeattlerCOs office vacancy rate hit 36.5% in Q1 2026, up from 33%
a year ago. One in three downtown offices sits empty, and the trend is
still moving in the wrong direction. WilsonrCOs proposed response: a
vacancy tax. The businesses left, so now we tax the empty buildings they
left behind.
Olympia keeps spending as WArCOs tax base relocates to Florida and Tennessee The spending commitments are still there. The programs are still
growing. And nobody should be surprised when the next session opens with
an emergency and another tax proposal. Because thatrCOs how this works now.
The wealthy leave. The middle class absorbs the hit. Every year, more
people depend on programs the state canrCOt pay for, funded by people who
no longer live here.
You build a government so big that people canrCOt afford to live without it. And then you canrCOt afford to run it.
Charlie Harger is the host of rCLSeattlerCOs Morning NewsrCY on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.
Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
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