Opening
the Seattle Times this morning, I was
surprised to see a photo of Seattle’s new Socialist Councilmember, Kshama
Sawant,
standing alongside the City’s new Mayor, Ed Murray, who was announcing the
formation of a new Income Inequality Committee. The Committee will
consider minimum wage legislation, which Ms. Sawant would like to set at
$15/hour, the level recently adopted through initiative by the City of SeaTac.
The
paths leading to a more Egalitarian Seattle are cluttered with obstacles. A former UW political scientist, Paul
Peterson, insists that egalitarian initiatives, "redistribution" in
Peterson's jargon, are pursued more effectively by countries than cities. The title of Peterson’s book, “City Limits,”
captures the main idea, which is that businesses and well-to-do residents
aren’t trapped within the City’s boundaries; they can relocate to more
“hospitable” jurisdictions, as Boeing is threatening to do.
In
a more perfect world, minimum wages would be raised in concert nationwide (or
worldwide), we’d have a more progressive tax code, and there would be better
educational opportunities for less advantaged citizens. But we don’t live
in an ideal world, and so Seattle must seek out the next best alternatives.
There
are some egalitarian policies Seattle can pursue without running up against the
“city limits.” Ms. Sawant isn’t the first Socialist elected to the
Seattle City Council. A hundred years ago, the Socialist Party was an
active participant in the political battle to create Seattle City Light.
At the time, the existing electric utility was owned by a Boston syndicate and
charged 20 cents/kWh. When City Light started delivering power, it
charged 8 cents/kWh, forcing its private competitor to reduce its rate to 8.5
cents/kWh. Now that's public power!
But
I digress. Today, Seattle has a chance to follow the excellent lead of
B.C. Hydro, British Columbia’s publicly-owned electric utility. B.C.
Hydro charges its larger customers a carefully designed electric rate that
doubles the financial incentive to conserve. Each customer receives a
block of low-cost power based on their past consumption, but pays a much higher
rate for additional consumption. In the long run, this electric rate
alternative will reduce total energy costs, which are borne disproportionately
by low-income households. Perhaps our new Socialist Councilmember can
nudge Seattle City Light in this progressive direction.
Here’s
another question for Ms. Sawant: Do you approve of the City’s Retirement
System's plan to triple its investment in Private Equity? Thanks to the
so-called “carried interest” tax loophole, Private Equity owners (remember Mitt
Romney) pay a lower tax rate than most City Employees. Seattle’s Liberal
Councilmembers seem content to allow the City’s Private Equity holdings to be
sharply increased, even though Private Equity lobbying groups are now
pressuring Congress to maintain a tax loophole that benefits the highest
echelons of the top 1%. Surely a Socialist can’t support such
investments!
(I've created a new blog, "Socialism in Seattle," http://socialism-in-seattle.blogspot.com, in hopes I'll have something interesting to say about the issues raised by Socialist City Councilmember, Kshama Sawant.)
You will have plenty of to say about the new Socialist City Councilmember, Kshama Sawant. After all without a gulag it will be difficult to bring Seattleites into conformity.
ReplyDeleteJames, your reference to the gulag, which managed forced labor camps in the Soviet Union, is unwittingly ironic. Ms. Sawant was elected on a platform that promised a $15/hour minimum wage! Merry Christmas, James.
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