Software Executive and Investor, mostly focused on infra software enabling AI, cloud, data, security, and reliability.
Seattle, WA, USA
Joined June 2011
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Kit Merker retweeted
Don't be fooled by misleading ballot language. It's an income tax. Vote Yes on 645 to Repeal It.
EXCLUSIVE: New I-645 poll shows income tax repeal surging when voters skip the ballot spin seattlered.com/taxes/i-645-p…
Kit Merker retweeted
Imagine how high your property taxes would be today if Washington didn't have property tax limits.
That's what an income tax with no constitutional limits looks like. Today's rate is just the starting point.
Ballots are due November 3. Vote yes on I-645.
Kit Merker retweeted
Washington State is trending again.
It's never just one issue either.
It's people from all over the state talking about issues from daycare fraud, Ferguson wanting to deploy NG on election day, girls sports, taxes, crime...
Holy crap people.
If this is not an admission that this state is falling apart I don't know what is.
Kit Merker retweeted
Imagine your net worth is $200,000. One day an armed gang comes up to your house and demands $10,000.
“Don’t worry!” the leader says. “I’m only going to do this one time. Plus, it’s only 5% of your net worth. What’s the big deal ?”
After he leaves, you call the cops, but they aren’t interested in investigating the matter. “What’s the big deal?” they tell you. “After all, it’s only 5% of your net worth!”
As you’re preparing to flee the city for a place where you cannot be robbed, Gabriel Zucman appears on your doorstep.
“Why are you leaving?” he asks.
“Somebody just robbed me and the police aren’t going to do anything. I want to live somewhere I can’t be robbed!”
“But sir,” says Mr Zucman, “Have you considered the fact that the man told you it was a one-time tax ? Have you considered that you gain nothing by leaving since the tax is already paid ? There’s no economic reason for you to leave anymore.”
What amazes me is the attitude of so many of the centibillionaires.
A 5% tax will not make any difference to the way they live. Their spending may be extravagant, but it is still much less than their (correctly measured) income.
They know that, as gifted as some of them indeed are, they have benefited from extreme luck (and the help of the state, and, to speak like an economist, monopoly rents).
They know that their effective tax rate is low, relative to what many others pay.
They know that extreme inequality is extremely unpopular, and can lead to political unrest, backlash, or worse.
They must admit that, morally, it is hard to argue for a society in which some become obscenely wealthy, while so many are poor and see their income stagnate.
They typically have not indicated that they are building their wealth to eventually make the world a better place.
But they are still willing to fight the tax, spending hundreds of millions in California to avoid paying the tax. Why?
They simply think what is theirs is theirs, end of story.
They believe in the slippery slope, and if they do not take a stand on this levy, the government will come back for more.
They hate the state and the notion that their money will be misused?
Or?
Vote YES
The answer on I-645's potential impact depends on the timeframe and also on your definition of tax break. seattletimes.com/seattle-new…
GemDB is betting that by making it simpler for developers to use GemDB there will be more downloads that eventually lead to its object database being deployed more often in production environments.
Via @devopsdotcom
devops.com/gemdb-extension-u…
Insurance for kids who get brain freeze from eating ice cream too fast? Wtf
icecreambrainfreeze.com/
Kit Merker retweeted
The moral case for capitalism is that your life belongs to you. Your work, your savings and your plans don’t become somebody else’s property because they have a moving speech about how they’d use them.
Kit Merker retweeted
If WA voters don’t repeal Governor Ferguson’s unconstitutional income tax on millionaires here are some very predictable outcomes:
Capital flight
Reduced philanthropy
Increased state spending
Jobs moving to other states
Inevitable income tax on middle class
Vote YES on I-645!
Kit Merker retweeted
There was no capital gains tax, or income tax when Amazon was built here. The state changed the rules, he didn’t break them.
Bezos’ departure and ability to avoid the state’s capital gains tax prompted co-host Spike O’Neill to question Amazon’s overall benefit to Washington during “The Jake and Spike Show.”
mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion…
Kit Merker retweeted
These are the guys who are trying to drive our largest employers out of the state.
Vote YES on I-645.
Protect jobs and your income from these creeps.
Kit Merker retweeted
Capital flight has already started in Washington. OVer the last 30 years the evil tech millionaires from companies like Microsoft, Amazon and others have contrinuted billions to charities and non profits.
The unconstitutional income tax not only kills the job creator class, it destroys their incentive to support charity and non-profit organizations.
Seattle Children’s CEO warns Washington’s new income tax is a death sentence for nonprofits, saying it “creates a strong disincentive for high-impact philanthropy, ultimately hurting the communities and organizations that rely on charitable support.”
bizj.us/1qqwhj
Kit Merker retweeted
Got my ballot. Went straight to I-645.
It repeals the 9.9% tax on income over $1 million. And it bans an income tax on the rest of us.
Then read the last line the AG put on it. Repealing it "would decrease funding for public K-12 education, higher education, and human services."
Not a fact. A warning label. Written by the side that wants the tax.
It works, too. One poll asked it two ways. With that sentence, keep the tax 57%, repeal 35%. Without it, 44% to 40%.
One sentence. 22 points.
They start with millionaires. They never stop at millionaires.
Read the whole thing. Then fill in your bubble like you mean it.
What line on your ballot made you mad, Warriors?
