AP's tweet on Seattle repealing its tax hike sure makes Amazon and Starbucks look like big meanies

Less than a month after Seattle City Council unanimously passed what people called “the Amazon tax” or “the head tax,” the council has voted to repeal it, under pressure from the “No Tax on Jobs” campaign.

This tax passed on May 14. It’s June 12. https://t.co/Cad3xtCLaE

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) June 12, 2018

The AP framed it this way:

BREAKING: Seattle leaders repeal tax on businesses like Amazon, Starbucks after companies fought effort to pay for homeless aid

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 12, 2018

This is really bad phrasing/framing. https://t.co/Odrce3zX6n

— John Buhl (@jbuhl35) June 12, 2018

https://twitter.com/yetdizzle/status/1006663932931526657

https://twitter.com/iamdylancurran/status/1006662815015489536

Gotta love how this tweet frames it as if these companies are fighting against helping the homeless, not that they were specifically targeted for a massive tax hike. https://t.co/16us7bKQDh

— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) June 12, 2018

Are you casually editorialising again https://t.co/PX4QqmddqM pic.twitter.com/gDRj1WWp2V

— Ben Hayes (@hayesy316) June 12, 2018

Serious questions: Does this tweet reflect some sort of editorial bias? Could it have been written more precisely to report this news event? https://t.co/gpa3D0jRXJ

— Blame Big Government (@BlameBigGovt) June 12, 2018

Man, the AP always outdoes itself when it comes to misleading phrasing of news https://t.co/D2ks53QKj3

— Lawrence Hamtil (@lhamtil) June 12, 2018

The idea, at least, was to force the highest grossing businesses in Seattle, like Amazon and Starbucks, to pay a tax of $275 per full-time employee to aid the homeless and build affordable housing. Seattle does not collect an income tax and was hoping businesses would provide roughly $47 million a year on average for five years, according to CNN.

The role of government is to secure individual rights, not to force any individual or business to engage in “charity.” The looters in Seattle pushed the envelope a little too far and were forced to retrench. This time. But they’ll be back. https://t.co/sPvnlIILKY

— Ken Gardner (@KenGardner11) June 12, 2018

Maybe Seattle needs to slow down a bit. Maybe sign up for an econ course. Perhaps a quick read on operant conditioning. Maybe just leave successful employers alone. https://t.co/CwFdJoZQH0

— The Great Depression (@johnasaurus_) June 12, 2018

Smart move by Seattle leaders. Punishing workers by adding a "per employee" tax is bad policy. https://t.co/Z0gbUZaWgG

— Charlie Collins (@CollinsARK) June 12, 2018

Ah. Someone who understands economics must have patiently explained life to the city council. https://t.co/lLQ5vOjjCr

— *it wasn't me* byker (@bykerseven) June 12, 2018

Kshama Sawant tried to get her supporters to disrupt the @SeattleCouncil meeting, so a Seattle #headtax repeal vote couldn't happen. She is a disgrace to democracy. https://t.co/3Qp329ym5L

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 12, 2018

Socialists think the couple hundred of them that worked to pass the Seattle head tax is more important than the 45k who signed on to repeal the #headtax.

They don’t know how numbers works: it’s why they’re Socialists.

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 12, 2018

Solid burn.

Related:

WTF? The AP sure has a STRANGE way of spinning Ayatollah Khamenei's vows to destroy Israel https://t.co/eK9Rmeqiwa

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 11, 2018