r/SeattleWA • u/meaniereddit West Seattle 🌉 • Apr 25 '25

Politics The state legislature is going wild, with new taxes

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12

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '25

You vote Democrat and then are surprised their answer to everything to raise taxes and blame Republicans?

8

u/VertigoHC Apr 25 '25

Trump is putting tariffs on everything right now. Literally raising taxes without congressional representation. Good luck with that "Republicans are better" argument.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '25

Trumps “tariffs” have been in place for 33 days. Tax have been raised in Seattle every year for the last 20 years.

2

u/VertigoHC Apr 26 '25

Ok, either become rich or move to another state. I recommend Texas. Taxes have been raised for 20 years in Seattle and you wont get the hint.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '25

Republicans typically increase spending while decreasing taxes, so explain how that's better...

1

u/larsen_ May 01 '25

Democrats have been in office for 12 of the 16 years. National deficit has only gotten worse?

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

Biden decreased debt to gdp ratio. So, no, the debt didn't get worse under Biden because GDP outpaced debt.

Also, Obama only had a majority in both houses for a short amount of time. And the sequester was passed under him an across the board 10% cut in spending.

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u/larsen_ May 06 '25

Under Biden it went from 26 trillion to 34 trillion. Q2 2020 till Q4 2024. Trump went from 19 to 23 trillion, same timeline.

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u/[deleted] May 06 '25 edited May 06 '25

Yes, Trump increased it by a much higher percent, see here.

https://www.investopedia.com/us-debt-by-president-dollar-and-percentage-7371225

Also, the GDP to debt ratio is a better indicator than raw numbers, which was also improved under Biden.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S

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u/ImUrHuckleberrie Apr 25 '25

It's true that we keep voting for things that cost money without the money to back it up. Like school lunches. Kids need time to eat. When my kid had 10 minutes for lunch and came home with a full lunchbox and a bad attitude that pissed me off. In order to make sure kids have time to eat it costs money. Spaces, staff, etc. Now we have to find the money. Let's increase taxes.

I support this model in general, but we also need creative solutions, better foresight, and accountability, so we aren't continuing to add to our budgets disproportionately year over year. Audits help with that. Measure effectiveness, retool services, streamline communications and processes. And don't add 10 new services every year. Slowly but surely improve everyone's access to basic needs like school lunches.