Ok Seattle DU'ers, WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM???

[leftyandproud]

A .10 cent tax on every cup of coffee...BIG DEAL!!
Can someone please explain how one of the MOST LIBERAL CITIES in the nation could oppose this measure 70%-30%????
PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!

My Gawd, anyone could afford this tax. It would have gone to a good cause...helping the kids and poor in the city. 70% NO???
And please don't give us that BS about it disproportionately affecting the poor, or unfairly burdening coffee drinkers. It's a DIME...A FREAKIN DIME to help the less fortunate!!!!! In an ultra liberal city...70% oppose the tax hike. Can you imagine what would happen if the conservatives actually got legislation passed that demanded majority approval before any federal tax hike?? We'd be SCREWED. First Alabama...overwhelming defeat...no big surprise there...but SEATTLE??? What is the world coming too?! WTF???

[Howardx]

1. the pot bill is passing

its not all bad

[wryter2000]

2. Are you sure it's DUer's?

I'd hate to be branded as responsible for the CA recall.

[rogerashton]

3. They are putting their coffee where their mouths are.

n/t

[Cascadian]

4. Only 10 per cent of the tax would have actually gone to the programs.

This is what changed my mind about it. Not because I did not want to fund the children's programs. Anyways, I am not much of a coffee drinker so it wouldn't have made any difference to me. I hope there will be another way to fund the day care and preschools.

JOhn

[FrankBooth]

5. I voted for it

so don't rant at me!

[meegbear]

6. Seattle to poor children ... DROP DEAD

[jono]

11. You're so wrong

We already pay for early childhood programs through a property tax levy, which passes easily whenever it's up for renewal, and it will be up again next year. We're not telling the "poor children" to drop dead; we're telling the authors of the initiative to find better ways to solve the problem.

[RobertSeattle]

13. Yep

I hate "cutesy" taxes. Revenue should come from income, property, or general sales (minus grocery food and medicine). Look at the phone bill - full of goofy little "one issue" taxes like this espresso tax would have been.

[Rose Siding]

21. I never met a tax I didn't like. Almost

but I would have voted against this one. Aside from connotations that just grate on me, sorry, it would be yet another foray into regressive taxation.

If the STATE would just do an emergency tax- maybe an extra 100 on each 50,000 for a year or two, firmly sunsetted, we could weather this rebublican nightmare

[Ediacara]

7. why don't you read the thread in LBN?

There are many many many very logical reasons to oppose it in that thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=118735

-It's a bookkeeping nightmare because it's not a tax on gross sales, but on each item

-It targets small businesses, especially carts without the means to keep track of each espresso item

-It taxes ONLY espresso items, and not drip coffee

A "daycare levy" would have passed easily, and was the better way to get the money that daycares needed.

EDIT: to add link

[babzilla]

8. a coalition of small businesses opposed it

the small coffee shops opposed it because chainstores like Starbucks would be able to absorb the cost of the tax therefore placing an unfair burden on the individually owned stores.

[jono]

9. You've got it all wrong

Nobody is saying it's a burden to coffee drinkers - we're saying it's a burden to small businesses. Check out DinoBoy's post and the thread in LBN. I agree with him that if it were a property tax levy, or even an additional sales tax (on gross sales, not individual sales of a certain item) it probably would have passed handily. Seattle is one of the cities most willing to tax itself to help underserved populations. The fact that it went down here just goes to show how badly crafted this particular initiative was.

edited for clarification

[Ediacara]

12. EXACTLY!

a 0.1% tax increase on gross sales on coffee products WOULD have passed, would have been easy bookkeeping,would not have targetted small businesses, and would probably have made more money than 10c per cup on just espresso products.

[chadm]

10. A few reasons

- There is no connection between coffee and children's programs. It just doesn't make sense.
- Why punish the local, independent coffee shops?

I half-heartedly agree with you though, it seems a small price to pay...but, for what? I don't recall any campaign stating clearly what this money would even do.

That's my take.

[keopeli]

14. Obviously, you don't know all of your facts, so before you fly off the...

handle, I would suggest that you invest some time into the politics that go on here in Seattle. We ARE liberal. We have a welcoming culture. We have hardball republicans that play with the treasury and mess things up. But, I'm not going to try to explain it to you. I, for one, am happy that Espresso Coffee is not being taxed in seattle. We have a number of healthy welfare programs, we have an abundance of homeless shelters, and we are a very kind people. Our economy is being starved by large corporations and rich repubs. We have a terrible economy right now, and many of us are still unemployed.

I just don't understand why you need to be so judgemental about a stupid coffee tax. It's absurd.

[leftyandproud]

20. just saying...

if you want these great generous welfare programs, its a bit hypocritical of you...seems the democrats in seattle want the programs, but aren't willing to pay a pathetic .10 of THEIR OWN money to support them. I highly doubt this would have hurt any business. The cost is negligible, unless you buy a triple espresso every day...Then it might add up.

[Rose Siding]

22. Please read the other posts.

Several people took the time to explain it to you, yet you persist in this simplistic and uninformed accusation.

[bearfartinthewoods]

15. i asked the same question yesterday. of course i didn't

swear in the title or insult DUers.

i'm sure your thread will do much better than mine :evilgrin:

[Ediacara]

16. check the LBN thread

your answers are there.

[lumpy]

17. Where do we go to check out

what the hell is lefty&proud's problem?

[jono]

18. Link to LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=118735

It's right near the top of page 1 on LBN now.

[library_max]

19. Holy Crap, I live in Texas!

Am I about to get blamed for all the Republican horseshit that goes on here? :scared: :scared: :scared:

[LastDemInIdaho]

23. Alvin Lee

Tax the Rich Feed the Poor
Till there are no Rich no more.

No pollution! No solution! Execution! Electricution!
Spread the word! Wretched World! Devilers!
STOP THE WAR!

I'd love to change the world, but I don't know what to
do. So I'll leave it up to you.

[ScotTissue]

24. I read Keynes

That's my problem with this dumb tax.

Economic downturn? So why tax one of the most viable SMALL BUSINESS industries in the Northwest?

Proudly Seattle....

[Fla_Democrat]

25. You know, it's not too late

"PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!"

Darn good idea. I propose that every Duer, that wanted this tax to pass, to voluntarily send 10 cent per cup of coffee to Seattle.

Seriously.

Keep a running count, and once a month, cut a check and send it to the appropiate office with a memo saying that it is for the children.

I'm sure someone at http://www.cityofseattle.net/financedepartment/ could help, or any of the DUers that live that way might help by doing the leg work, and posting a mailing address for the correct department.

When the checks start pouring in, maybe they will be motivated to try it again on the next election.

Any takers? :shrug: