Inequality? Really?

I politely ran off a Democratic operative going door-to-door in my neighborhood (Kirkland WA) the other day, seeking to reelect a Congressman. I did not catch if it was state, or national, grass-roots campaigning. After my brush-off, she started to get persistent so I shut the door before my Irish temper came out.

Seattle metro continues to march Left. You've read about our mandatory $15/hr minimum wage, to be phased in over a three to seven year period, starting April 2015. Several Seattle businesses are suing to block it, I don't know if that will gain traction. Not sure what will happen to Seattle (city-of) small business as a result of the increase: we shall see. Most things there are already a bit expensive, with 10% sales tax (nearly) and other taxation they stealthily place on business large and small. Similar to San Francisco (city-of) in that respect.

Likewise, next few years will be interested to see the effects of the new pot laws. I'm rather neutral, though encouraging slacker behavior doesn't strike me as too wise. In a few years, there will be sufficient data on taxation, crime, and etc. perhaps to start drawing conclusions. Unintended consequences, or not, is a TBD.

More worrisome: people like me, affluent upper middle class, are actively supporting increasingly wealth-redistributive policies like those found in California. That is class suicide. I have no "White Guilt". I pay my taxes, several times past ten years collected a little State unemployment (thankful for it, too), and paid off my student loans from the government on-time after attending grad school 2007-2009. All that I have, and all that I inherited, was built brick-by-brick by first my dad, then me, c. 1960-current. I've added 30% to all that past few years through good investment and my savings plan, plus good luck in our stock markets. My dad never stole a dime that I know of, and I haven't either. There is nothing further that needs to be "redistributed" for "equality."

Almost everything I read about the so-called disadvantaged not having "access to resources" sounds like an excuse instead of exploring root-cause. If root cause turns out to be, "they weren't smart enough, driven enough, or educated enough to make it," then by all means: my condolences. The world needs Workers, too, in the economic theory sense of the word. And I do tip my hat to them. I do not, however, open my wallet wider in the name of "solving inequality."

In fact labor advocates should not be too worried about guys like me: if a Starbucks coffee in Seattle city limits goes from $4.25 w/tax to $6.25, as a result of increased labor costs, I'll still pay it w/o a care. Tell that to the younger people, and those in the median family income (about $70K for King County, 2013 Census data). Supporting a family and several children at median income is quite difficult in Seattle these days. That isn't anyone's "fault;" supply and demand for housing plus rational bank lending standards are correctly limiting loans to those who can afford them. Renting is expensive, too, and adding more to the cost of goods and services won't solve anything. It will definitely harm that median-income family, however.

The next lunatic who suggests looser home lending standards, so that "unfair lending practices are stopped" (ala Barney Frank's legislation c. 2003), needs to be impeached. That, and other similar, were major contributing factors to the loan crisis of 2008. The crisis that nearly sank us all.

Capitalism has winners, and losers. Get over it. Yes, we need regulation. Yes, we need enforcement. Yes, we need rational taxation and a minimal level of government services.

But no, we don't need to "solve inequality."