{"id":2578864,"date":"2026-03-11T20:53:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T00:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/longtime-starbucks-ceo-ditches-seattle-for-florida-on-the-same-day-washington-house-passes-millionaires-tax\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T20:56:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T00:56:34","slug":"longtime-starbucks-ceo-ditches-seattle-for-florida-on-the-same-day-washington-house-passes-millionaires-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/longtime-starbucks-ceo-ditches-seattle-for-florida-on-the-same-day-washington-house-passes-millionaires-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Longtime Starbucks CEO Ditches Seattle for Florida on the Same Day Washington House Passes &#8216;Millionaires&#8217; Tax&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flongtime-starbucks-ceo-ditches-seattle-for-florida-on-the-same-day-washington-house-passes-millionaires-tax%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2578864&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-christians-risk-death-today-as-they-follow-jesus-command-to-be-baptized\/\" title=\"Opinion Piece: Christians Face Mortal Peril in Obedience to Jesus&#039; Call for Baptism\">op-ed discusses<\/a> whether Howard Schultz\u2019s retirement to Miami and Washington state\u2019s newly proposed Millionaires\u2019 Tax are causally connected or simply coincidental. It notes that the washington House approved a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million starting in 2029,with chances of Senate passage and a signature from Governor Ferguson,and it cites Schultz\u2019s remark about Washington remaining amiable to business as a possible clue. The piece frames a debate between liberals who <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >argue taxes fund essential services<\/a> and conservatives who contend that taxes do not automatically benefit the poor and can be undermined by fraud and capital flight. It argues that the rich may relocate to avoid taxation, using Schultz as an example, and suggests that similar outflows could follow if the tax becomes law. The article contends that tax incidence and state fraud, alongside the appeal of relocating, weaken the anti-poverty claims of higher taxes. it presents a skeptical view of wealth taxes and warns against simplistic assumptions about how taxation improves society, while highlighting the political dynamics of the tax debate.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Should we file this story under causation, correlation, or coincidence?<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday on LinkedIn, longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced that he and his wife Sheri had retired to Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in far-away Olympia, Washington, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-seek-to-change-election-rules-ahead-of-recall\/\" title=\"Democrats seek to change election rules ahead of recall\">legislators passed<\/a> their state&rsquo;s first-ever income tax, the so-called &ldquo;Millionaires&rsquo; Tax.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Could the latter have caused, or at least influenced, the former? Schultz did not say, but he did drop at least one possible clue.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is our hope that Washington will remain a place for business and entrepreneurship to thrive, creating essential opportunity for those in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-seattle-healthcare-worker-trashes-ice-suggests-women-start-firing-bullets-showing-off-human-silhouette-target\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Seattle<\/a> and the surrounding areas,&rdquo; the former CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/howardschultz_forty-four-years-ago-sheri-and-i-made-the-activity-7437280836049133569-5gBy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Alas, entrepreneurs will have fewer opportunities to &ldquo;thrive&rdquo; if some Washington state legislators get their way.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/komonews.com\/news\/politics\/millionaire-tax-debate-legislature-income-tax-controversy-olympia-governor-bob-ferguson-legislature-lawmakers-senate-house-wealthy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KOMO-TV<\/a> in Seattle, on Tuesday, the state House passed a bill that would impose a 9.9 percent tax on income above $1 million, beginning in 2029. If the Senate approves, which might happen on Wednesday, then Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson likely will sign the bill.<\/p>\n<p>For the most part, of course, Democrats only ever seem to see one aspect of the debate.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic state Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/housedemocrats.wa.gov\/parshley\/biography\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lisa Parshley<\/a>, for instance, said that the new tax will &ldquo;help feed our people,&rdquo; &ldquo;provide behavioral health,&rdquo; and &ldquo;fill the gaps.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>No one, of course, opposes feeding people or providing behavioral health. In that sense, liberals have always had the advantage over conservatives in debate. &ldquo;You oppose this tax?&rdquo; they might say. &ldquo;Well, then, you want people to starve and suffer! You care only about the rich!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But conservatives neither want people to starve nor care only about the rich. In fact, judging by electoral results, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/americas-15-wealthiest-counties-voted-2024-presidential-election-tells-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rich tend to vote for liberals<\/a> anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Nor do conservatives oppose taxation of every kind and for any reason. The Founding Fathers gave us a national government with the power to tax because governments, even governments of that size, do a (very) few things better than private citizens do.<\/p>\n<p>What conservatives cannot abide is the simple-minded assertion that taxation benefits the underprivileged. If it did, then perhaps we could all agree on it. But it does not.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, one could identify many reasons why taxes on the rich do not ultimately benefit the poor.<\/p>\n<p>One such reason lies in the incidence of government fraud. Washington&rsquo;s legislators, in fact, showed considerable chutzpah by imposing an income tax at the same time taxpayers in Minnesota have begun to discover how much money <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-rep-gill-pummels-gov-walz-somali-fraud-forces-walz-desert-staff-faster-deserted-army-unit-2005\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Somali fraudsters<\/a> have cost them. In light of all the fraud, surely we should pause before trusting state legislators with more tax dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Another reason is that the rich have the ability to shrink the tax base by leaving the state. The Schultzes did this. Whether they did it because of the Millionaires&rsquo; Tax specifically, we cannot say.<\/p>\n<p>We can say with certainty, however, that if the tax becomes law, then other wealthy people will follow. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ungrateful-piece-sht-left-wing-podcaster-berates-californians-fleeing-new-wealth-tax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">They always do<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a concise paraphrase of the piece:<\/p>\n<p>The author ponders whether the coincidence of two Washington-related events should be read as causation, correlation, or simply luck. On LinkedIn, longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and his wife Sheri announced they were relocating to Miami, while in Olympia lawmakers approved the state\u2019s first income tax on high earners, the so-called Millionaires\u2019 Tax. The article asks if the tax news could have influenced the retirement decision. Schultz offers no definite answer but hints that Washington should remain a place where business and entrepreneurship can thrive, creating opportunities for Seattle and nearby areas. The piece then explains that the Washington House passed a bill imposing a 9.9 percent tax on income above $1 million starting in 2029, with the Senate\u2019s fate and Gov. Ferguson\u2019s likely signature still to come. It presents the partisan framing: Democrats tout the tax\u2019s benefits-feeding people, funding behavioral health, and closing gaps-while conservatives argue that taxes don\u2019t automatically help the poor, noting issues like government fraud and the possibility that the wealthy will move to avoid higher taxes. The author suggests that if the tax becomes law, more wealthy individuals may relocate, as Schultz did, making it hard to claim the tax would reliably benefit the less fortunate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2578865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Howard-Schultz-moves-for-Florida.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50913,5113,7035,9843],"class_list":["post-2578864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ceo-2","tag-florida","tag-seattle","tag-starbucks"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Howard-Schultz-moves-for-Florida.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2578864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2578864"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2578864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2578868,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2578864\/revisions\/2578868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2578865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2578864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2578864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2578864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}