Petition drive on Tax hikes to begin soon

July 24, 7:41 AMPortland Civil Rights ExaminerDianna Cotter

Previous Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Portland Civil Rights Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Oregon State Capitol

Oregon's most recent Legislative session was marked by some disturbing trends.The greatest of which was the deliberate efforts to negate the will of Oregon voters.

First, the legislature passed tax increases that will drastically affect Oregon citizens and businesses and they refused to send these taxes to the people for a vote. Most likely because they knew it would never pass.

Instead of legislating the will of the people they were sent to Salem to serve, they passed legislation which will have the inevitable effect of costing tens of thousands of jobs in a state already facing unemployment of 13%.

To add insult to injury, the legislature passed SB 519 which prevents employers from discussing the tax increases levied against their businesses, and forbids the discussion of anything Political. This on an issue that will most likely cause business to fire some of those employees, and they won't even  be able to say why. This smacks of censorship at the government level and is utterly unacceptable in a free society. We have the right to discuss anything we choose to discuss at any time in any forum, its called the First Amendment. Apparently Legislators don’t agree, and instead passed legislation to quash free speech. So much for freedom in Oregon, so much for free speech!

Along with that disturbing new law, the Legislature actually attempted to negate the power of the individual vote. With HB 2414, Amendment A16 the legislature attempted to confuse what Yes and No votes mean! They tried to change a yes vote into meaning no, and a no vote into meaning yes, in a deliberate effort to confuse voters, and sneak through legislation, past the watchful eyes of its citizens. This was nothing other than a blatant attempt to create confusion in the voting process! Thankfully that bill and its amendments did not pass, and Yes still means Yes, and No still means No. It is nonetheless a singularly disturbing event: our own legislature attempted to confuse the meaning of yes and no. The disingenuous nature of that bill alone should call into question every piece of legislation that these 'voices of the people' both propose and pass. This is a huge red flag, and should act as a wake up call to all Oregonians, we must be vigilant in watching and reading the bills these public servants are writing and passing. With efforts like these, the Legislature weakens it's credibility, and weakens its image as being the voice of the people.

Equally disturbing, Governor Ted Kulongoski is deliberately delaying signing the new tax bills into law. This is an attempt to shorten the amount of time that the citizens of Oregon have to gain enough signatures to put the Tax Bills onto the ballot for a referendum vote. He has stated that he will be signing the bills, but delays doing so as the petition process cannot begin until the bills are signed into law.

This behavior by the Legislature and Governor of Oregon should concern all Oregonians, regardless of party.

With Unemployment at 13% and only looking to go higher, increasing the cost of doing business for employers is only going to increase the number of unemployed and is surely a form of insanity. With certainty, it is not going to help the overall tax revenue the state hopes to generate, it will only decrease the state’s coffers by driving businesses out of Oregon and increase the already heavy demand for unemployment checks. It is up to the people of Oregon to tell the State that it must change it's ways. The Economic boom is over, gone are the days of heady overspending and wasteful mismanagement of State funds. It is time to fish those wasted dollars out of Special Committee accounts and a myriad of other unnecessary government programs, and put them to work in areas that are far more relevant.

Oregon isn't alone on the issue of raising taxes, what the Federal Government will be levying on the people is going to be onerous at the very least.  It is foolish to believe that the more than 1 Trillion dollar Deficit (!) will not get passed down to all the citizens of this Country one way or another. The Cap and Trade scam on Carbon emissions is a perfect example of taxation that will be passed down to those least able to pay them, the poor and middle class. The State of Oregon has gone mad in passing these additional taxes, and they are well aware that the people of Oregon will certainly not pass these hikes the legislature has levied against us, given the opportunity to vote on them.

Smart government should be looking at cutting it’s expenditures, deliberately looking for ways to more efficiently use the funds it already has instead of taking more money out of the wallets of its citizens. Oregon cannot afford to take the same fiscal path that has led to finical ruin in California. Oregon legislators would be very wise to heed that harsh lesson from our neighbors to our south!

The signature drive to put these tax increases onto the Ballot and give Oregonians the opportunity to vote on them will begin soon. It is far past time for  Democrats Independants and Republicans to come together and send the message to Salem: “Work within your budget!”

If you are interested in becoming a part of the signature process, you must attend a training session. You can RSVP at this website:

UPCOMING TRAINING DATES
Tues July 28th 7pm => Loucks Auditorium, Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty Street SE, Salem 97301
Wed July 29th 7pm => Lane County (location to be announced shortly)
Thurs July 30th 7pm => Jackson Co. Courthouse Auditorium, 10 S Oakdale Ave, Medford 97501
Fri August 1st 7pm => Portland Metro Area (location to be announced shortly)
August Date TBD => Union County (location to be announced shortly)
Mon August 6th 7pm => Central Oregon Association Of Realtors, 2112 NE 4th St, Bend 97701
Sat August 8th 7pm => ORP Central Committee Meeting (Bend)