PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

A headline in the Wall Street Journal captured the issue very well.

Seattle to Business: Drop Dead

The city taxes companies for hiring more workers.

Does the phrase “cutting off your nose despite your face come to mind?  It always is hard for me to realize what some governments will do to harm their own economies. If there were a “jobs issue” in politics, Seattle would be on the wrong side of the issue.

Just think of what new jobs would do for the economy, if only because those who hold those jobs would pay taxes to fund the government liberals want.

Or, for another example beyond Seattle, consider the Port of Portland. There, unions fought for certain job rights on the waterfront terminals only to see those terminals close and the jobs go away.

Terminal losses at the Port of Portland mean at least two things:  First, the loss of high-paying jobs on the waterfront and, second, that hundreds of big rigs ply their way north and south to bring goods to market in other ports, including Long Beach and Seattle (though the City Council action to impose a job tax there could hamstring Port development).

Here’s more detail on the Seattle story from the Wall Street Journal.

“Twenty cities are competing for Amazon’s second headquarters. Then there’s Seattle, Amazon’s current headquarters, which the city apparently wouldn’t mind driving away.

“Seattle’s city council on Monday unanimously approved a $250 ‘tax’ per full-time employee on businesses with more than $20 million in annual revenue. Progressive council members had originally proposed a $500 jobs tax that would have turned into a 0.7 per cent payroll tax in 2021, but then Seattle’s businesses revolted.

“Amazon suspended two building expansion projects. More than 100 large businesses including Expedia, Alaska Airlines and Redbox wrote a letter warning that the tax sends the message ‘to every business: if you are investing in growth, if you create too many jobs in Seattle, you will be punished,’ which ‘will cause far greater damage to Seattle’s growth prospects than the direct impact on the businesses being taxed.’

“Three hundred or so small businesses also warned that ‘continuing tax increases and regulations will only hurt the small business community and will vastly change our city.’ Even trade unions in Seattle begged the council ‘not to tax our jobs away.’

“After the council scaled back the head tax, Amazon said it plans to resume work on one of its expansion projects, but a spokesperson noted that ‘we remain very apprehensive about the future created by the council’s hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses, which forces us to question our growth here.’

“The head tax is merely the city council’s latest depredation against business. In 2015 the council allowed Uber drivers, who are independent contractors, to collectively bargain. A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Friday declared that the ordinance violates antitrust laws. The council last year imposed a 2.25 per cent income tax on high earners, which a state court has blocked.

“Many businesses have located and expanded in Seattle because Washington state doesn’t impose an income tax. Last year Washington’s GDP growth led the country at 4.4 per cent. But Seattle’s city council seems to think this growth will continue no matter what it does. Ask Connecticut how that turns out.”

As I have written before in this space, I am amazed that the “jobs issue” does not gain more standing in politics at the city, state or federal levels. It would seem to me that running on jobs would be s smart political move, regardless of position on the political spectrum.

Saving and creating jobs should be a major push for governments. Having a job is an answer to many of the social problems we face. Plus having a job provides a sense of self-worth and independence.

So, I say, make the “jobs issue” a part of every political platform. Just don’t talk to the Seattle City Council about it.