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Oregon Voters Tell Corporations, Wealthy: ‘Pay Your Fair Share’
Oregon voters, faced with a $727 million budget deficit that threatened severe cuts in education, health care, public safety and senior services, voted Tuesday for two “fair share” measures that raise taxes on the state’s wealthiest families and boost a minimum tax on businesses that had been set at just $10 since 1931.
Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain says the victory on both these measures “sends a strong message on how we value education and other vital working family services.”
Oregon unions, community allies and progressive groups led the fight against the deep-pocketed corporate community that preached economic doom if the tax measures passed.
Both measures won handily—around 54 percent to 46 percent for each—at a time when right-wing pundits and anti-tax zealots claim voters are in revolt over taxes and government programs. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BICS) says the vote is a “solid rejection of anti tax and anti-government activists”
trying to protect their narrow self interests at the expense of real solutions that will protect vital services, save jobs, and support the state economy.
The Oregon victory signals once again that these special interests remain out of sync with moderates and independents. Americans are looking for real solutions, not gimmicks and nay-saying, to solve real problems.
Measure 66 raises taxes on households with taxable income above $250,000, and Measure 67 increases the 79-year-old $10 a year minimum tax on businesses to $150.
Katie Connolly on Newsweek’s The Gaggle blog writes:
It’s extraordinarily refreshing news at a time when Americans appear to want government to solve major economic problems without spending any money, let alone asking the richest among us to lend a hand.
Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt (D) puts it this way:
It means the February session won’t be focused on cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from schools, public safety and health care.
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4 Comments
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Oregon has always been progressive. Thanks to all who voted and worked to get out the vote.
Oregon, actually, has historically been an anti-tax state, at least as bad as California’s reputation after Proposition 13. This campaign did everything right. It shows that with a message carefully showing how the rich and corporations have been undertaxed, explaining precisely how much is being asked for, and what programs will be saved, it’s a winner. The other key is that the campaign believed it could be done, and put in enough money and staffing to win. For too long union leaders have taken the word of consultants that you can’t win a tax the rich campaign. Si se puede.
Tax the rich? In America? Well, this shows that in states which allow resolutions like this and medical marijuana, we should initiate and support these campaigns, which afford an educationable opportunity in addition to yielding positive results.
Finally,…something good in government happens somewhere. Although what would really help to fix the tax mess is HR 1207 and S 604, (federal reserve audit) or to just completely revolk the neither federal or reserve’s ability to print money and give it back to the treasury. But, this is a huge step in the right direction.
I kept hearing BS during the election from mccain that all business would just go to Ireland because of the low taxes.
My thought… LET THEM, it would mean that the jerks who feel okay with taking and giving nothing back would leave and be replaced with businesses who are smaller and worth a crap.
California and New York have higher taxes and yet their industries or no more worse off than the rest of the countries are. And in fact I know of three businesses that actually manufacture audio electronics in New York.
The idea that anyime you demand that big business pays its share it will hurt every other business doesn’t make sense. Let them threaten and wine. The free ride needs to end.