U.S. Rep. Joe Barton apologizes for graphic online photo
[TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG] U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, released a statement Wednesday apologizing for a graphic nude photo of him that circulated on social media earlier this week. He announced his re-election bid earlier this month.
[SeattleTimes] Seattle's income tax on wealthy households failed its first legal test Wednesday, with a King County Superior Court ruling that the measure is illegal.
In a summary judgment, Judge John R. Ruhl agreed with multiple challengers that the city ordinance adopted in July is not authorized under state law.
Opponents of Seattle's so-called "wealth tax" immediately hailed the ruling as proof that the city long has known the tax was legally flawed, but nonetheless pushed it into law.
"The city knowingly violated several laws in imposing this tax," said Brian T. Hodges, a senior attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented several Seattle residents challenging the law. "This ruling is probably the worst scenario for the city and the best scenario for the opponents of the income tax."
While Wednesday's decision is disappointing, the city intends to appeal it directly to the State Supreme Court, where officials always expected the question to be decided, a spokeswoman for Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said in an email.
In a joint statement, Holmes and Seattle Mayor Tim Burgess said their goal is to eliminate the state's overreliance on regressive sales taxes and ensure the wealthy pay their fair share.
Washington's tax system has been called the most regressive in the country, meaning that low-income people pay a much higher percentage of their earnings than wealthier residents.
Passed by a unanimous City Council vote in July and subsequently signed into law by former Mayor Ed Murray, the Seattle measure would impose a 2.25 percent tax on total income above $250,000 for individuals and above $500,000 for married couples filing together. The city estimates it would raise about $140 million a year.
Proponents say that money could be used to lower property taxes, help the homeless and expand provide affordable housing.
The tax was immediately challenged by private citizens and organizations, including the Olympia-based free-market think tank The Freedom Foundation.
Wednesday's ruling undercut most of the city's legal arguments for the tax, pointing out that state law explicitly prohibits taxes on net income.
The city had argued that its tax would apply to "total income" instead of net. The city also described it as an excise tax, imposed on those who live in Seattle in the same way excise taxes are imposed on companies that do business in the city.
The judge disagreed.
" … the City's tax, which is labeled ‘Income Tax,' is exactly that," he wrote. "It cannot be restyled as an ‘excise tax' on the … ‘privileges' of receiving revenue in Seattle or choosing to live in Seattle."
The judge did not rule on whether the tax violates a provision in the state constitution requiring all property taxes be imposed uniformly.
The opponents argue that income is property, so it's not legal to single out the wealthy for taxation, Hodges explained.
"In order to uphold its income tax, the city would have to convince a court that individual income is not protected by the constitution," he said.
At the Supreme Court, Seattle officials hope to attack the long-standing interpretation that income taxes are property taxes, opening the door to what proponents see as a fairer tax system statewide.
"In order to build a more just and equitable society for all, we need a serious overhaul of our state's tax structure," Holmes and Burgess said in their statement. READ THE COMMENTS
#1
despite the perception, there are quit a few conservatives in Seattle that are hushed and downtrodden by the Democratic Political Machine, just sayin'
#4
Yes, the burden of taxation should be evenly distributed. The ancient Biblical admonishment of the 10% tithe should be an excellent template. The gov't however, has it all backwards. The 10% is what they would permit us to keep.
#8
The city estimates it would raise about $140 million a year.
Until the wealthy citizens of that city decide to flee.
Yeah, and they're always talking about affordable housing. But what, exactly, is affordable housing? In my experience it's an excuse for developers to make a fortune building cheap, multiple family condominium complexes in cities where the infrastructure is already overloaded and charging the going rate for them. I don't know about Seattle but in San Diego the going rate is anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 for what is basically a cracker box. Then the existing community gets to deal with the impact on schools, hospitals, water, fire and police protection and traffic. Excuse me, but if you really want affordable try Detroit.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
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#9
the going rate is anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 for what is basically a cracker box
#11
And Washington State has a Sales Tax - with a 'local' (Seattle) perentage add-on. I didn't hear of any discussion of lowering the sales tax.
So this 'income tax' on the wealthy is in addition to existing taxes - and you just know that their definition of 'wealthy' will drop over time until it incorporates the entire middle class.
The deep state intends to ensure the anti-colonist party is shut out.
[TheLocal.fr] French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday said she would take banking giants HSBC and Societe Generale to court for discrimination after they moved to close her personal and party accounts.
Le Pen, who lost the presidential election in May to Emmanuel Macron, said her National Front (FN) party was being deliberately cut off from financing as part of a "banking fatwa" against the far-right.
"After being the victim of massive judicial persecution, we are witnessing a new stage in the persecution of the National Front -- banishment from banking," she told a presser.
Her claim of "judicial persecution" was a reference to the decision by parliament earlier this month to strip her of her immunity from prosecution for tweeting pictures of atrocities by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
Le Pen said that Societe Generale had asked the FN to close its accounts, while HSBC's French boss Thomas Vandeville called her Wednesday to announce her personal account was being shut, "without any justification".
Societe Generale said in a statement that its decisions "on whether to open or close a bank account depend purely on banking reasons and in respect of all regulatory requirements, without taking into account any political consideration".
A spokeswoman for HSBC La Belle France said the bank does not "publicly discuss our relationships with our clients."
Le Pen repeatedly complained during the election campaign that the FN had been refused loans by both French and foreign banks.
The party borrowed nine million euros ($10.5 million) from a Russian bank in 2014, prompting critics to question whether Moscow had influence over the party.
Le Pen said Societe Generale's recent decision was "depriving a party that won 11 million votes in the last presidential election of all practical ability to function".
"We are cut off at present from our income. This decision puts the National Front in a position of serious difficulty and prevents the party from functioning normally," she said.
"We are witnessing an attempt by the opposition to suffocate us."
She blasted Societe Generale's decision as a politically motivated measure against a party which has "tens of millions of members, stable resources and no problems with our accounts whatsoever".
Le Pen said she had raised her party's financial problems with Macron.
She became a personal customer at international giant HSBC after her bank Hervet was taken over in 2001 by Credit Commercial de La Belle France, which is part of HSBC.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
