Sunday, January 17, 2010

Yes on 66 and 67

I'm sure that both of you who read this are probably already voting for these measures (at least the one of you who's an Oregon voter - I don't want to encourage voter fraud,) but on the off chance that you're on the fence, please do vote for them.

Besides the fact that my employer would likely be royally screwed if they fail, it's really not much to ask. The Oregon corporate minimum tax right now is $10. It was created in 1931. $10 in 1931, adjusted for inflation, is about $140 now. The measure would raise it to $150. It's time to catch up. The revenue tax would be 0.1%. Small potatoes. I'm surprised how insanely negative the opponents are about this.

Rich people who make over $250,000 would also pay more. A little more. Which is ok: they can afford it. A flat tax on everyone would hurt people who can't afford it.

But most of all, I want these to pass because the counterarguments that are out there are lies. The business groups opposing these taxes say that state employees got raises last year. They did not. Last year state employees got furloughs. That means they got paid less. And their pay rates were frozen.
And complaints that state spending is up this year? Lies. State spending is down $200 million this budget from last budget, and state spending was down $700 million last budget from the budget before that. Government has "tightened its belt" and anyone who says otherwise is wearing pants of flame.
Oregon is writing more checks this year because the federal government gave Oregon stimulus money to distribute. But that money isn't in the budget. We didn't increase spending, we cut it. So to say we aren't cutting is bullshit.

And to complain about the loss of Oregon jobs in an ad shot in California is ridiculous bullshit.

Vote yes on 66 and 67. We aren't full of shit.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yay for being an Oregon voter!
-A