A Communist wave is sweeping Democrat-controlled cities as the old Democratic Party establishment has fallen in election after election to the radical Leftists that are the rising power in the party.
As our friend Steve Moore noted in a recent edition of his must-read Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline (you can subscribe here at no cost) first, it was Chicago, where in 2023, voters narrowly elected Socialist and teacher union lobbyist Brandon Johnson as mayor. Last November, New York City and Seattle elected Socialist mayors. Now Washington D.C. has fallen.
Janeese Lewis George, a member of Democratic Socialists of America, will be D.C.'s new mayor. Even worse, her DSC allies are poised to win every key race for City Council. As Axios puts it: "A lefty wave is poised to take charge."
Her platform resembles something out of Cuba. Childcare for all, affordable utilities for all, arts and culture for all, reliable transportation for all. She proposed building 72,000 new rent-controlled housing units within five years - in a city where it costs over a million dollars to build each unit. “Do the math. She hasn’t,” observed Steve Moore.
President Trump recently reminded Lewis George that the city is a federal district and ultimately under control of Congress. "Maybe we'd take back Washington, run it on a federal basis. We won't put up with it. We're not going to lose our businesses," Trump told reporters.
As Steve Moore pointed out, we now have Democratic Socialist regimes in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and Washington DC, so it is worth taking a look at what those regimes have done to these once thriving American cities.
Johnson came into office promising to “disrupt the status quo” but has spent his time and political capital lurching from emergency to emergency, each of them caused by his relentless pushes for Leftwing priorities over practical solutions to Chicago’s problems.
Johnson’s stock has fallen so low that the Chicago Bears are decamping for the friendly confines of Republican-controlled Indiana and Chicago voters rejected a ballot measure known as Bring Chicago Home that would have given the Chicago City Council the power to hike taxes on the sales of properties worth $1 million or more to generate $100 million annually fight homelessness.
Johnson’s only answer to the city’s ongoing fiscal crisis, driven by structural budget deficits exceeding $1 billion, is to raise taxes on business and cut police spending.
The result: Fitch and Kroll have each knocked Chicago credit down a notch, raising the cost of the City’s already astronomical borrowing.
Now, here’s the Communist angle that sums up Johnson’s tenure: The debt downgrade came as the city prepares to solicit bond investors next month for close to $500 million to cover back pay owed to firefighters due to a lengthy contract negotiation and hundreds of millions in anticipated costs to settle lawsuits.
Johnson’s scheme is to structure this debt so the City doesn’t have to make payments for the next three-plus years, the remainder of his term in office, so Johnson gets to spend the money now. But the next mayor—and the next generation of Chicagoans—are stuck with the tab.
As Margaret Thatcher said, “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money,” and Chicago’s Democratic Socialist Mayor Brandon Johnson has just about drained Chicago’s pool of other people’s money dry.
The problems in Los Angeles have been so thoroughly aired in the recent mayoral campaign we don’t think they need to be reviewed here, other than to note they also include endemic vote fraud.
Likewise in New York, where newly elected Socialist Muslim Mayor Zorhan Mamdani has added the foreign spice of anti-American and anti-Semitic Islam to the Communist stew simmering in the Big Apple.
Seattle's self-described Democratic Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson, who took office in January, has faced intense criticism over public safety, the economy, and homelessness. Critics—including business owners, political opponents, and editorial boards—have labeled her tenure disastrous, citing capital flight following tax hikes, dismissive comments toward departing business leaders, and superficial handling of open-air drug markets ahead of the World Cup.
Crime has gotten so bad just months after Wilson took office in Seattle, terrified residents in the city's Aurora Avenue corridor decided to take matters into their own hands to address near-nightly shootings believed to be connected to criminal turf wars, prostitution and illegal trafficking. After weeks of gang-related shootings and high-speed car chases, some residents spent Memorial Day weekend blocking off their own streets using metal planters, dirt, gravel, logs and chunks of concrete. The barricades were set up to block at least three streets leading into the neighborhood.
As our friend Jonathan Turley wrote, "Nothing says Socialism more than citizen barricades."
Mayor Wilson’s anti-business soak the rich attitude recently went viral as she laughed off the exodus of billionaires and business leaders from her city, saying, "I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are super overblown," and adding, "the ones that leave? Like, bye."
On March 28, speaking at a town hall, Wilson said that her team was “hard at work looking for progressive revenue options, taxing the rich, taxing big business…”. However, at the rate business and business leaders are leaving Seattle, there’s not going to be anyone to tax.
Even Seattle’s establishment Democrats are starting to get worried. Less than five months into Wilson’s term, Seattle Democratic Councilmember Rob Saka admitted to the New York Times, "I am gravely concerned," telling the outlet, "This is real."
And recent polling data suggests a majority of Seattle’s Left-leaning voters believe the city needs to make it easier to do business. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce released a survey a month ago examining Seattle voters’ views on quality of life and the economy.
Analysis of several key data points found voters are concerned the cost of doing business in Seattle is too high and that companies may choose to grow elsewhere.
“It’s getting harder to get things done in Seattle. Voters feel it, and it’s coming through in the data,” said Joe Nguyen, president and CEO of the Seattle Metro Chamber.
The survey found that even among Lefty Seattle voters 73% agreed large businesses are essential, while 64% said the city is not doing enough to support a strong business climate.
According to the survey, Seattle’s overall quality-of-life rating dropped from 4.81 to 4.54, its lowest point in two years following a period of steady improvement.
Fleeing businesses, falling quality of life, higher taxes and more crime; all predicable results for city residents in New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and now Washington, DC, who have chosen to ignore history and hope that this time Socialism, or rather Communism, will be done right and work in their city.
As our friend Steve Moore noted in a recent edition of his must-read Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline (you can subscribe here at no cost) first, it was Chicago, where in 2023, voters narrowly elected Socialist and teacher union lobbyist Brandon Johnson as mayor. Last November, New York City and Seattle elected Socialist mayors. Now Washington D.C. has fallen.
Janeese Lewis George, a member of Democratic Socialists of America, will be D.C.'s new mayor. Even worse, her DSC allies are poised to win every key race for City Council. As Axios puts it: "A lefty wave is poised to take charge."
Her platform resembles something out of Cuba. Childcare for all, affordable utilities for all, arts and culture for all, reliable transportation for all. She proposed building 72,000 new rent-controlled housing units within five years - in a city where it costs over a million dollars to build each unit. “Do the math. She hasn’t,” observed Steve Moore.
President Trump recently reminded Lewis George that the city is a federal district and ultimately under control of Congress. "Maybe we'd take back Washington, run it on a federal basis. We won't put up with it. We're not going to lose our businesses," Trump told reporters.
As Steve Moore pointed out, we now have Democratic Socialist regimes in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and Washington DC, so it is worth taking a look at what those regimes have done to these once thriving American cities.
Johnson came into office promising to “disrupt the status quo” but has spent his time and political capital lurching from emergency to emergency, each of them caused by his relentless pushes for Leftwing priorities over practical solutions to Chicago’s problems.
Johnson’s stock has fallen so low that the Chicago Bears are decamping for the friendly confines of Republican-controlled Indiana and Chicago voters rejected a ballot measure known as Bring Chicago Home that would have given the Chicago City Council the power to hike taxes on the sales of properties worth $1 million or more to generate $100 million annually fight homelessness.
Johnson’s only answer to the city’s ongoing fiscal crisis, driven by structural budget deficits exceeding $1 billion, is to raise taxes on business and cut police spending.
The result: Fitch and Kroll have each knocked Chicago credit down a notch, raising the cost of the City’s already astronomical borrowing.
Now, here’s the Communist angle that sums up Johnson’s tenure: The debt downgrade came as the city prepares to solicit bond investors next month for close to $500 million to cover back pay owed to firefighters due to a lengthy contract negotiation and hundreds of millions in anticipated costs to settle lawsuits.
Johnson’s scheme is to structure this debt so the City doesn’t have to make payments for the next three-plus years, the remainder of his term in office, so Johnson gets to spend the money now. But the next mayor—and the next generation of Chicagoans—are stuck with the tab.
As Margaret Thatcher said, “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money,” and Chicago’s Democratic Socialist Mayor Brandon Johnson has just about drained Chicago’s pool of other people’s money dry.
The problems in Los Angeles have been so thoroughly aired in the recent mayoral campaign we don’t think they need to be reviewed here, other than to note they also include endemic vote fraud.
Likewise in New York, where newly elected Socialist Muslim Mayor Zorhan Mamdani has added the foreign spice of anti-American and anti-Semitic Islam to the Communist stew simmering in the Big Apple.
Seattle's self-described Democratic Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson, who took office in January, has faced intense criticism over public safety, the economy, and homelessness. Critics—including business owners, political opponents, and editorial boards—have labeled her tenure disastrous, citing capital flight following tax hikes, dismissive comments toward departing business leaders, and superficial handling of open-air drug markets ahead of the World Cup.
Crime has gotten so bad just months after Wilson took office in Seattle, terrified residents in the city's Aurora Avenue corridor decided to take matters into their own hands to address near-nightly shootings believed to be connected to criminal turf wars, prostitution and illegal trafficking. After weeks of gang-related shootings and high-speed car chases, some residents spent Memorial Day weekend blocking off their own streets using metal planters, dirt, gravel, logs and chunks of concrete. The barricades were set up to block at least three streets leading into the neighborhood.
As our friend Jonathan Turley wrote, "Nothing says Socialism more than citizen barricades."
Mayor Wilson’s anti-business soak the rich attitude recently went viral as she laughed off the exodus of billionaires and business leaders from her city, saying, "I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are super overblown," and adding, "the ones that leave? Like, bye."
On March 28, speaking at a town hall, Wilson said that her team was “hard at work looking for progressive revenue options, taxing the rich, taxing big business…”. However, at the rate business and business leaders are leaving Seattle, there’s not going to be anyone to tax.
Even Seattle’s establishment Democrats are starting to get worried. Less than five months into Wilson’s term, Seattle Democratic Councilmember Rob Saka admitted to the New York Times, "I am gravely concerned," telling the outlet, "This is real."
And recent polling data suggests a majority of Seattle’s Left-leaning voters believe the city needs to make it easier to do business. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce released a survey a month ago examining Seattle voters’ views on quality of life and the economy.
Analysis of several key data points found voters are concerned the cost of doing business in Seattle is too high and that companies may choose to grow elsewhere.
“It’s getting harder to get things done in Seattle. Voters feel it, and it’s coming through in the data,” said Joe Nguyen, president and CEO of the Seattle Metro Chamber.
The survey found that even among Lefty Seattle voters 73% agreed large businesses are essential, while 64% said the city is not doing enough to support a strong business climate.
According to the survey, Seattle’s overall quality-of-life rating dropped from 4.81 to 4.54, its lowest point in two years following a period of steady improvement.
Fleeing businesses, falling quality of life, higher taxes and more crime; all predicable results for city residents in New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and now Washington, DC, who have chosen to ignore history and hope that this time Socialism, or rather Communism, will be done right and work in their city.
