News Reporter STUNNED As Business Executive Delivers DISASTROUS Economic Data To Socialist Mayor!

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown and if you know the ones that leave like bye. UM SO >> meanwhile >> we start with a troubling report for Washington's economy and job market.

[00:00:19]Nearly a quarter of businesses are now considering leaving the state. That's according to a report from the Association of Washington Business. It found the state's employers are growing more pessimistic about the direction of the economy and looking to exit the state because of the rising tax burden.

[00:00:37]Over 400 employers were surveyed and 24% said they're looking to move their business. That's up from 17% in the previous quarter. 55% of employers said they're considering moving their personal residence to another state.

[00:00:51]That's up from 44% the previous quarter.

[00:00:54]The AWB points to the nearly $10 billion in new taxes passed in 2025, followed up by this year's so-called millionaires tax. While the numbers are concerning, not all experts are sounding the alarm just yet. I'm joined by Seattle University economics professor Joe Phillips. Thanks for speaking with us.

[00:01:15]boy. So, we got to talk about another brutal economic reality check for socialists who are running these blue states and these liberal cities. Okay, in this video, we got to go back out to Seattle, Washington. We've talked about Seattle quite a bit because Seattle is a liberal city with a socialist mayor just like Zoram Mandami who has promised to tax the rich and the rich are already responding. We've talked about Starbucks uh deciding to leave Washington State due to the so-called millionaires tax.

[00:01:50]And now we got to talk about a survey that was done, a bombshell survey that was done um by a business executive in the area basically showing that there are an extraordinary amount of businesses that are looking to leave Washington state and leave Seattle, right? already, okay? Because of the socialist policies that Democrats are pushing in these blue states. Again, tax rich is becoming very, very, very popular uh in these blue states, and Democrats are leaning into this.

[00:02:24]>> From New York City to Seattle, Washington, Democratic progressives and far-left socialists continue to ramp up efforts to tax the rich. But in some states, the proposed policies are driving Americans and businesses out.

[00:02:37]The National News Desk, Jeff Harris joins us. So, we know when these people and these corporations I should say, decide to leave, Jeff, someone has to make up the cost. You took a deep dive into the areas most impacted. Tell us more.

[00:02:48]>> So, multiple Democratic le states and cities like California, Washington State, and New York City continue to ramp up efforts to tax the rich, mostly in an effort to address budget deficits.

[00:02:59]But the proposals are causing some top earners to then leave, shifting the burden of maintaining each specific area to a new group of residents. Let's start in Seattle, where self-described Democratic Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson is now being slammed for her recent dismissive comments regarding the city's exodus of wealthy residents.

[00:03:18]>> I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown. And if you know the ones that leave, like bye. One of the companies being waved off, Starbucks. In March, the coffee giant announcing a $100 million investment to open a new corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee, which has no state income tax and lower operating costs. The company's former CEO, Howard Schultz, also taking his reported $3.5 billion net worth to Miami, Florida. His move coinciding with the state's passage of a 9.9% millionaires tax. While Washington DC is taking us backwards, the good news is here in Washington state, we're moving forward. Everybody >> on the East Coast, New York City mayors over on Mam Donnie spearheading tax the rich efforts to try and cut into the city's projected $2.2 billion budget deficit. Not only asking the state for a bailout to help close the gap, but also proposing a tax on second homes if valued over $5 million.

[00:04:13]>> This tax will raise at least $500 million directly for the city. IRS data shows these policies in part are leading to relocation. California, who has a billionaire's tax on the 2026 ballot, lost just under 12 billion in income from 2022 to 2023, followed by New York and Illinois. The biggest winners, Florida and Texas, both of whom don't have state income tax, gaining over $20 billion and 5 billion, respectively.

[00:04:40]Meanwhile, in Maryland, residents telling Sinclair's WBFF rising costs are causing them to relocate. In 2025, Governor Wes Moore signing the largest tax and fee increase in state history.

[00:04:51]>> Just to pay this much money, this much utilities, this much taxes is it's really too much. Plus, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who in March introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, was seen campaigning with controversial Michigan Senate candidate Abdul Elsa over the weekend, saying DC needs leaders who will take on the political establishment.

[00:05:16]>> Today, in American history, we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had in the history of our country.

[00:05:26]Now, data also showing the top 1% of earners pay 40% of income taxes and 27% of all federal taxes.

[00:05:34]>> Yeah. So, you see that? You heard that?

[00:05:36]Now, the reality is is that this is bad policy for Democrats, right? Like, it's bad for their economies. It's bad for the budget. It's bad for business. It's bad for quality of life. It's bad for all the socialism that they're promising their constituents, right? It's just bad, okay, overall. But they don't care.

[00:05:59]Democrats are embracing bad economic policy for power because they don't care about outcome, right? They don't care about actually making people's lives better. This is purely ideological pandering for votes for power.

[00:06:15]Doesn't matter if if the people who are demanding this are too stupid to understand that tax the rich actually means tax the middle class that tax the rich uh is not going to get them the socialism that they're looking for.

[00:06:27]Right? That that it's not the right policy. They don't care. They don't care if it harms them. They're too stupid to understand that. Which is why again they're demanding to tax the rich because they're not very smart. But Democrats, I think that they they are smart enough for the most part to understand that, hey, this is bad policy. This is not good. But they lean into it anyways because they understand, okay, well, you know, these people are dependent on the government are going to continue to vote for me, right? I'll stay in power.

[00:06:57]And you know, if if I become a slum lord, it is what it is. Because let's be real, these liberal states, these liberal cities are slums. They're going to become slums, right?

[00:07:08]And the people running the states and the cities, the Democrats, they're the equivalent of slum lords.

[00:07:16]That's what they are at this point.

[00:07:18]Especially over the next 20 to 30 years as the great migration happens from these high tax blue states to red states to low tax states.

[00:07:29]And that's what you're seeing already happening in a city like Seattle run by far-left lunatic Katie Wilson who told businesses and millionaires by right first and foremost she doesn't believe that there is a mass exodus she doesn't believe that people are going to leave because of her tax rich policies which is false right that's that that is an incorrect belief right not wise to believe that but she said hey well if they do leave then bye Right. But turns out they actually are legitimately leaving. Okay. Uh so again, let's go ahead and get into this interview here with this business executive uh blowing this reporter's mind on how many businesses are actually trying to get out of Seattle in Washington.

[00:08:17]>> All right, Chris, thanks for doing this.

[00:08:18]Uh I guess let's just get right to it.

[00:08:22]You did a survey of members here, AWB members. What did it tell you? Yeah, this is our quarterly statewide survey of employers throughout Washington state. And what we've seen is what we actually feared, a a collapse in business confidence has continued in our state. And what we're seeing now is employers are actively considering moving and relocating from Washington state. So I would say what the data here shows us this should be considered a medical emergency for Washington's economy.

[00:08:49]>> Wow. Wow.

[00:08:52]Wow. This is an emergency. That's how bad it is, right?

[00:08:57]But again, listen to these Democrats though.

[00:09:01]It's a myth that millionaires leave because of high taxes. They just stay AND KEEP PAYING THE TAX BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DO their duty, right?

[00:09:13]No, it's not how it works. People act in their own self-interest, right? And and that's what you're seeing.

[00:09:19]>> Why Why has it got to that point? Well, you have now one in four employers are actively considering moving. That's up 7 percentage points in the last quarter.

[00:09:29]Wow. 55% of employee employers are considering moving their personal residents. That's up 9 percentage points since the last quarter. And 72% now site Washington's tax burden as the top challenge to doing business in Washington state.

[00:09:46]>> So, how much has this changed since the last legislative session?

[00:09:50]Well, no doubt after the last the last legislative session where we saw the income tax uh passed that the interest of moving out of Washington has become real. And and what's really interesting is to see, you know, how real is this?

[00:10:03]Well, 59% of individuals are looking at actively looking at real estate in other states. 45% are visiting those locations. 23% are consulting with legal counsel on making those decisions. and 7% have already purchased real estate uh in other states.

[00:10:21]>> That's a huge number. 7% have already purchased real estate in other states.

[00:10:28]Now, the other numbers are also pretty bad, right? Like for example, uh I think he said like 59% are actively looking to move out, right? Or looking at other states to move out. And I think like what 40 plus% 49 something some big number, right? A big number. uh are also looking like actively have visited other states looking at properties, right? But again, when you talk about that 7% who've already purchased real estate, that is actual action, right? That is action. And even if let's say only 5% of those individuals who are actively looking right if they decide that they want to move and they do move that is a huge blow to the economy huge right for a state to lose 5% of their businesses that is a lot right that is a lot so you know it's one of those things where unfortunately Liberals don't believe fire birds, right? They just don't. So sometimes you got to give them what they want in order for them to understand that what they want is not good for them. And it's really unfortunate, right? It really is.

[00:11:45]It like it shouldn't come down to this.

[00:11:48]People should be smart enough. People should have enough common sense to understand that, hey, this is not good policy. But they don't.

[00:11:57]So, you know, ultimately you got to give them what they want in order for them to learn. And um one of the reasons why I cover these stories so much is because hopefully we don't need to actually go through this to understand that this is bad, right? In red states, in conservative states, right, in the same parts of the country, we we don't have to go through this. We already know. We can just look at the case study, right? And we can laugh and we can say, "Look, we don't care what your liberal study says. We have real life empirical evidence right here in these liberal cities to show exactly what happens, right? We don't need hypotheticals. This is actually how it works. Concerningly, now 17% of respondents say they're actively being recruited by economic development organizations in other states to move to those states. So again, we're seeing other states now say, "We want you to come to our state and and move your business and move your residence." And then any optimism in the economy about expanding has dropped. Now only 9% of respondents say they plan to expand a Washington's economy. So it is real. The movement of people both individuals and their businesses is real. It's happening. It's happening every day right now. It's gone beyond anecdotal.

[00:13:11]>> Is there any way to break that down?

[00:13:12]State versus say city of Seattle.

[00:13:16]>> Not city of Seattle, but if you want to look at Spokane County's data, uh it is really concerning. 67% of respondents who live in Spokane County say they are actively considering moving their uh residents from Washington to another state.

[00:13:31]>> And it's easy for them to do it, right?

[00:13:32]Because North Idaho is only 21 miles down the road. And while Idaho does have an income tax, it does not have a business and occupation tax and doesn't have all of the plethora of taxes and regulations that Washington state's economy has.

[00:13:47]So, when a a mayor of uh the biggest city in the state makes a glib comment a couple of weeks ago that just got attention uh last week saying bye uh to millionaires. How does that how does that play in the AW?

[00:14:04]>> I think it's concerning anytime we have elected officials wanting to say goodbye to the job base, goodbye to the tax base of their economy, I think we should be saying thank you. You're wanted here.

[00:14:15]You you create great jobs. You create pathways for young people. You make investments in your local community.

[00:14:20]You're part of the fabric of your local regions that you call home. You sponsor little league teams. You you are so ingrained in local communities. And so I say on behalf of the employer committee of our state. Thank you. You're wanted.

[00:14:32]We want every company that can be here to be in Washington state. And I hope our policy makers at all levels, state, local, and federal, join us in that movement of saying, "Thank you. Please stay here. and what can we do to help?

[00:14:45]>> But what does a comment like that mean in terms of the confidence in the state in the city for job creation and as a job base if there's an elected official waving goodbye?

[00:14:58]>> I think it it shakes the confidence of Washington's economy. We we don't want anyone saying goodbye to a business. We want the exact opposite. So, if you're part of those respondents that said 17% you've already been contacted by an out ofstate company, you sure make the answer to that uh to that offer a little bit more intriguing by saying, "Tell me more." Uh what we should be saying is no, we want you to grow here. Not just stay here, but grow here. Unfortunately, that's not the message every employer is hearing in Washington state today.

[00:15:27]>> Yeah. Well, they they can't hear that message from the Democrat socialist because they fundamentally believe, right, their ideological belief is that big corporations and rich people are evil. They're bad, right? And that they didn't earn their wealth. This is not something that I'll make it up. This is explicitly what they say out loud.

[00:15:49]There's a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned, right?

[00:15:58]You can't earn a billion dollars.

[00:16:01]>> That's right.

[00:16:02]>> You just can't earn that.

[00:16:04]>> That's exactly correct.

[00:16:05]>> You can you can get market power. You can break rules. You can do all sorts of things. You can abuse labor laws. You can pay people less than what they're worth. But you can't earn that, right?

[00:16:21]And so you have to create a myth that since you didn't earn that, you have to create a myth of earning it.

[00:16:32]>> Yeah. Yeah. So these are type of people that Democrats are getting in bed with.

[00:16:36]That's the shocking part about this.

[00:16:38]It's crazy to me. It's like I understand wanting power. Like I get that, right?

[00:16:42]or the pursuit of power.

[00:16:45]But you know, it gets to a point where it's like you got to care about outcome, right? Like you got to actually care about your constituents and the people that you are making decisions for. Okay?

[00:16:59]And that's what really bothers me the most about what Democrats are doing.

[00:17:02]It's like you're getting in bed with communist, with socialists, with with Marxist individuals that you know have bad economic policy and you're embracing this stuff and it's only going to end up hurting those same constituents in the long run, but you're doing it just to win an election.

[00:17:20]To me, I feel like that is immoral, right? I just feel like that is just like a bad thing to do, right? like you're you're a bad person if you are a Democrat and you're in bed with these far-left lunatics who are pushing these policies that are ultimately going to hurt their constituents in the long run.

[00:17:35]But then again, the more I think about it, the more I'm like, well, this is not really surprising because Democrats are okay with far-left domestic terrorism, right? In fact, they embrace it in order to win election. So, Democrats are prostitutes for power. They will literally do anything anything for power. anything.

[00:17:55]The only core underlining principle is power. That is who we're dealing with.

[00:18:00]So, I mean, that's the main point of this video. The reason why Katie Wilson can't be a regular normal politician and welcome businesses into the city, right?

[00:18:10]Is because that would be a betrayal to her socialist Marxist uh base, right?

[00:18:15]This is why she pulled that stunt. Bye.

[00:18:18]Millionaires, you don't want to be here.

[00:18:19]Bye. Right? The reason why is because it's a dog whistle to to Marxists.

[00:18:27]That's what it is. That's what it is.

[00:18:33]So ultimately, it's not about outcome.

[00:18:35]It's not about making people's lives better. It's simply about, hey, what I need to say to get reelected, what I need to say to get these radicals to, you know, vote for me, to support me.

[00:18:49]And again, in the long run, what ends up happening is that taxes are increased on the people who decide to stay in these liberal states, in these liberal cities, while the tax base, the people who actually, you know, pay most of the taxes, they're long gone, right? They are long, long, long gone. And then the people that's still there, they be like, why is it so unaffordable, right?

[00:19:12]Well, because you dummies decided to increase taxes on yourselves when you thought you were taxing the rich. you thought somebody else was going to pay for it. Um so that ultimately is what ends up happening.

[00:19:23]But it is what it is. I guess in the long run is good for red states. Um because we get all the businesses, we get all the talent. Um that is what civilization will be right in the next 20 30 years. Um and the rest of the country, right, the blue states will be slums and Democrats will be slum lords and you know that seems to be where we're headed towards, right? Um but we will see. Let me know what you guys think. Make sure you like, comment, and subscribe. I will supportly share a black conservative perspective.