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Right now, I am still looking for good radio links and handouts for this page, but below is a sample radio that might help kids with the format and general idea of a radio commentary. The topic is outdated, but it is good otherwise. It times at right around 5:15. With a few sentences cut or a little faster reading (I read it pretty slow), it would be perfect time.
Just a few weeks ago, 54% of the voting population in Oregon said "no" to the legislature's proposed income tax increase, meant as a quick fix for Oregon's failing economy. That 54% walked away from the polls with their heads held high, jingling the money still in their pockets, congradulating themselves on a job well done.
News flash: Oregon has just dropped itself into an exceptionally deep handbasket, and is gaining momentum toward an economic hell, a process that cannot be stopped unless Oregonians give up their selfish ways. No amount of stubborn wishing will change the fact that programs cannot exist without funding, and funding cannot exist without taxes, unless some Oregonian genius invents a magic money tree that Governor Kulongowski can harvest when the state is in a jam. This is Danielle Robertson for 107.4 KGOV, playing devil's advocate to Oregon citizens' long-standing anti-tax sentiments: is it really worth it?
When I think of the infamous Measure 28, the most recent failed attempt to raise taxes in this state, one main oppositional argument comes to mind. People shouted from the hilltops and their soap boxes about how poorly the government has been spending Oregon's tax dollars. Many think that the budget crisis is ENTIRELY the legislature's fault, considering THEY are the ones who waste all of this money on trivial programs and bloated state agencies. Yes, this is PART of the problem, but the legislature had help creating their $1.5 BILLION dollar budget gap. Oregonians were right in there contributing through the measures that they have choosen to pass and fail recently. Besides many small contributions to the problem, Oregonians refuse to adopt a sales tax, have voted in the kicker, and have voted in 1990's Measure 5.
Despite the fact that a vast majority of states have and are happy with a sales tax, Oregon has fought the idea tooth and nail. I don't understand what Oregonians are so miffed about when it comes to the sales tax. Their complaints generally have NO merit. Besides the fact that a sales tax could be used to fund schools, disabled programs, senior citizen programs, and the Oregon Health Plan (although, I suppose these are the "trivial" programs that the legislature has been wasting so much money on), the sales tax is a FLAT tax. This means that everyone pays the same amount, no matter what their income or financial status is. This should especially appeal to all of those poor wealthy people who cry about the burden that our progressive income tax lays on them each year. Another merit to the sales tax is the fact that you CANNOT ESCAPE IT. It is collected at the register. Income taxes are extremely volatile, because people can evade or simply not have to pay an income tax. I for one do not pay income taxes, but I make just enough at my job that I have all sorts of spending money. What I buy could be taxed, meaning the state will receive tax from me that they wouldn't normally get. I really wouldn't mind, and I'd be one of four people to vote for a sales tax, too.
Then there's the kicker, a ridiculously shortsighted piece of legislation that would have better served its state as recycling paper. Oregon citizens showed an appalling lack of fiscal responsibility and an excess of greed when they made this measure a law; basically, the legislation allows for a refund of PAID taxes to Oregon citizens. The way that the government determines this refund is as follows: every biennium, economists estimate how much income tax the state will collect the next biennium. When the state actually collects this revenue, if the collected taxes is 102% or more of the estimate, that 2+% is REFUNDED to citizens who paid their legally obligated amount. I'll give you not ONE, but TWO reasons why this is just plain dumb:
A) The estimate/refund is not AT ALL connected with how much the state NEEDS to spend in order to operate that year. You want better programs? Why don't you let your taxes PAY FOR THEM.
B) Maybe that extra should go to...oh....I don't know....A RAINY DAY FUND, like the one the legislature had to raid to keep schools open for as long as they did.
Finally, Measure 5 is the key to our current status. Before 1990, schools and many other essential programs were funded by stable, LOCAL property taxes. This left the state budget for other services, like law enforcement and the judicial system. However, avarice reared its ugly head yet again in 1990 with the passage of Measure 5, which dramatically reduced property taxes and capped them at a very low level, shoving all of these programs onto only the state budget. Before this, it was okay to have 70% of the state budget's revenue supplied by the income tax, but with all of the added strain, the budget did the only thing it could d collapse. Coupled with overspending in the 1990's due to a short economic boom, the state economy was a sitting duck, waiting for a disaster to crumble it. Well, one showed up promptly in 2001. Oregonians are smarting for the bad decisions they made in the early 1990's even today.
I guess the only question left is: how can Oregonians help solve such a mess? It can only be done by an attitude reform; tax reform will only go so far. Government cannot and should not be expected to provide high quality services without the necessary fiscal policies supported by its citizens. It's time to grow up and give a little for the betterment of the FUTURE of Oregon, rather than a new swimming pool or car. This has been Danielle Robertson for 107.4 KGOV. Perhaps by taking some responsibility into their own hands, Oregonians can work together with the legislature to patch the wounds and turn Oregon into the state we all know it can be.
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