This is what happens when a major city elects a mayor with no experience, no qualifications, nothing to offer except a long list of socialist/communist policy proposals. This time it is, again, Seattle, where the "democratic socialist" Mayor Katie Wilson has a new idea on how to address the flight of businesses from her crime-ridden city. The businesses are leaving because of rampant theft, the thieves are stealing because they know they won't face any consequences for their theft. So now, in a staggeringly dumb idea, Mayor Wilson is proposing the city deal with this not by catching thieves, charging, convicting and jailing them, but by just handing out taxpayer money to the stores.
As advertised: One of the dumbest policy proposals we've heard for some time.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is rolling out city-funded security for grocery stores facing theft, break-ins and vandalism, fueling criticism that Seattle is spending taxpayer money to protect businesses from crime instead of doing enough to stop it in the first place.
The socialist mayor announced the rollout of the security funding as part of a $1.7 million grocery-support initiative included in the city's 2026 budget earlier this week.
"Keeping our neighborhood grocery stores safe and supported is essential to making sure every Seattleite has a reliable, affordable grocery store near them," Wilson said on social media Monday.
Here's a better idea for Mayor Wilson: How about you do your job, which is to protect the liberty and property of the people of the city of Seattle? Instead of just handing out cash to businesses victimized by thieves, why not arrest, convict and punish the thieves?
One Seattle commentator has the answer:
"The best way to support grocery store — and all businesses — is to actually enforce the law with a fully staffed and funded police department. Giving money or resources to fix businesses that are broken by crime is a bandage on a bullet wound," Seattle Red host and conservative commentator Jason Rantz told Fox News Digital.
"We don’t need to think outside the box here. Just enforce the law and put criminals in jail. That works like a charm and will save everyone money and headaches," Rantz added.
Maybe Jason Rantz should run for mayor in the next election. He seems to have a much better grasp on the problem than the commie mayor does.
Like her commie counterpart in New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Mayor Wilson has in the past floated stupid ideas like city-run grocery stores. But this Seattle lunacy, sadly, didn't begin with a communist mayor; in the 2020 "Summer of Love" riots, in which part of the city was actually seized in an actual insurrection, the city actually cut funding for their police department, reducing it from 1,424 officers to 1,054, a reduction of over a quarter. Hiring has started to rebound now, but Mayor Wilson doesn't have any time for cops; she isn't in favor, it seems, of actually locking up crooks. Her solution is just to pass out taxpayers' cash to try to recompense businesses for theft, which will only enable the thieves, who seem to be growing bolder by the day — with 7,500 reported offenses through May of 2026 alone.
Meanwhile, businesses continue to flee. Meanwhile, more and more offices and storefronts stand empty. Meanwhile, the city of Seattle slides closer and closer to ruin. This is what leftist policies have wrought.
Seattle used to be a great city. No longer. And it's not the only city facing lunacy from stupid leaders.