Why I Voted No On Measures 66 and 67

Today, here in Oregon, we voters are deciding on whether to approve Ballot Measures 66 and 67, which upon passage, will authorize the $733 million (USD) tax increase that the lawmakers in Salem approved last summer. Measure 66 will tax individuals who make $125,000 or more, and couples who make $250,000 or more. Measure 67 raises the corporate minimum tax from the current $10 annually, to $150 annually. Proponents say that this money will go for education, social services, and public safety.

However, I beg to differ.

• We're in a recession, and it's not a good time to raise taxes right now. Not with so many people out of work. Oregon has the second highest unemployment rate (Michigan, at 14.6%  has the highest rate. That number is the December rate )
• Salem has been doing an effective job playing around with taxpayers' money. Did you know that our state police force has been decimated, and that there are less than five cruisers at one given time on Oregon highways. Which means that if someone drives drunk, someone else will become a casualty.
• The middle class- which 66 and 67 purports to help- will suffer in the end, mainly because the costs will trickle down to anyone who doesn't live in the West Hills or (Portland suburb) Lake Oswego.
• State lawmakers gave themselves a pay raise. In the tune of $259 million (USD).

This is why I voted against both measures. Because if the state- and particularly the current governor, Theodore Kulongoski (or as some of us call him, "Tax-and-Gouge Me", or "Governor Colonoscopy")- keeps treating using our money for trips to Vegas and those mini mansions, instead of lowering the unemployment rate, Oregon's going to hell in a handbasket. Besides, I think the talk of schools having to cut the number of days in the school year, and social services being cut is just overstated. There is always a way to keep services afloat, and school years intact. 

Raising taxes is not the way. 

(C) MMX by Darren W. Alexander

All Rights Reserved.