Oregon Props 66 & 67

We tax all the others and pass the revenue on to you

Here in Oregon we're about to have a special tax election.  Props 66 and 67 would increase taxes on all corporations and on individuals in the very highest income brackets.  The most commonly cited reason for the increases is "Hey, they won't apply to you anyway, so why not."  Three straight pro editorials in the Eugene fishwrap. 

This is the real life version of my opening tag line.

I admit to one dog in this fight.  I help run a corporate charity from which I derive neither payment nor reimbursement.  Our corp tax will increase from $10 to at least $150.  That's $140 that won't be going to help disadvantaged children.  It will go to public service pensions, stuff like that, and none of it will return to us in the form of services that the corporation or children need.  Our tax will go up simply because we're an easy target.

I don't have a dog in the individual income tax fight.  Not nearly enough income.  Am I the only one who thinks we all lose if we marginalize selected groups of us for some nebulous political concept of the common good?  Must we invent neo-kulaks so that we can isolate them and steal what they earned and still feel good about ourselves?

We tax all the others and pass the revenue on to you.  Until it's your turn.  Like our charity, you're an easy target too.  Feel the cross-hairs yet?  You will.

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Remember the proposal for taxing Wall St. transactions?  They are entirely untaxed now.  Didn't fly, that proposal for a 1/4 of 1% transaction tax.  Too oppressive.  How does that reconcile with Wall Street's massive bonuses?  Oops, pardon my impudence.

Another non-starter:  Repatriating untaxed overseas money. 

And how is it that tax cheat CharlieR hasn't been impeached?  Simple.  He gets special treatment.

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What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue.

Thomas Paine