Well things did not go the way we wanted last night. The majority of Oregon voters decided to increase taxes. I am sure that some companies will decide to close their doors because they cannot afford the additional tax burden. I am truly sorry this has happened to your company. Others may decide to leave the state and start over somewhere else. I wish you great success.
I have decided that I love living in Oregon. I believe the politics of this state can change when our unemployment rises and some corporations decide not to relocate here. But just like what has happened with President Obama’s popularity, the voters can realize they made a mistake attacking employers.
I am encouraged by the rapid growth of this organization and other conservative groups within the state. This election was not a landslide! We were out spent 7 to 1. We can learn from this election and continue to grow by speaking the truth and allowing people to experience the results of this election.
There are other critical elections coming up this year. Let’s all decide to do what we can to point out the facts to our “Progressive” friend. We do not need to attack them or call them idiots. We need to show them that we are committed to improving the quality of life in Oregon. That means more employment with livable wages. One of the problems with government programs is that they are not capable of providing wealth or even secure comfortable living. They keep the recipients about 2” above drowning. We need to show then that government programs are not freedom, but rather chains holding them down and preventing success.
Notice that we are still alive, the sun is shinning, and the rain will soon return to maintain the beauty of our state. Let’s continue to Rebuild Oregon.
Ken Bear Cole
A Second Look Business Consulting LLC.
What can we do now to help get ready for the next step
Stopping these taxes at the constitutional level? cAN THE sTATE really
tax companies for last year 2009 and 2010 in one year??
How do we reject these passed takes and do better?
AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, AND PUBLIC AID RECIPIENTS:
FROM: Donald Welch – Military Retiree, Buisness Owner, Entrepreneur
January 27, 2010
My dear fellow citizens. This letter serves as final notice to everyone within the distribution chain therein, or in receipt of, the tax revenues earned through my tax payments as well as those of the rest of my fellow citizens; the mismanagement, fraud, and waste will now stop. I personally am holding each of you accountable for each penny of tax revenues in your trust. Since the passing of Measures 66 and 67, I have decided to dedicate my extra time and energy to ensuring you do your jobs, and manage my money in an effective and rational manor, not only with accountability, but also with my interest in mind. Since I’m paying, I should get some quality representation for my money. Before taking this position, I seriously considered moving to Washington, but my military service taught me many things, and one was to fight for what is right and defend those that cannot defend themselves.
My first charge is for all elected officials, from Governor Ted, down to each municipal committee member. Each day, when you awaken, place your hand over your heart, and look at the US and Oregon State flags and pledge this: “I am a sworn and elected representative of the people of my state and it is my duty to do my best at my duties and managing their money. They have been gracious enough to vote double taxation, thus placing their trust in my abilities. The time of incompetence is over and I must do better. If not, I will resign my duties so that someone better qualified will replace me…so help me God!”
Next, I urge all public employees (teachers, law enforcement, public works, administrative clerks, assistance, etc,.) to realize that you are our employees and we are your supervisors. Not just the parents of the children in your classes or the drivers on your roads, we are the ones who pay your salaries and benefits. If it were not for our hard work, earning monies and being taxed for it, you would not have an income. So realize in your hearts, you need us almost as much as we need you. Remember this as Rule 1. Rules 2 through 25 should contain things like #2 Remember to give 110 % to my work for I am a public servant, #3 I must get out of my comfort zone and do what is right, not what is easy!, or #4 why haven’t I done anything to improve my service to my fellow citizen…meaning, why do I just show up and do the same thing everyday? So in the mix down to the 25 rules of public service, the final rule is to ask yourself each day, “is this what I should be doing?” Ask if you are truly passionate about your service to the citizens and if it is not, have the integrity to do the right thing. Have the courage to stand up to your own fears and be accountable to thyself first; this is required before you can faithfully serve others.
Speaking of Integrity–one of my core values in the United States Air Force for 20 years–everyone should do the right thing, even when no one is looking. Police officers that see an illegal condition or act, you should immediately engage to correct the situation, either it be a speeding vehicle, texting teenager, or simply a smoked license plate cover or illegally tented car window, it is your sworn duty to uphold the laws of the state, county, or city. Failing to do so only encourages anomie and lawlessness as well as prevents earned revenues from fines and citations. Teachers, your job is probably the hardest in the state…you must deal with the thousands of absent parents, removed from the active participation in their childrens’ education although they live in the same home. Some of these parents are the same taxpayers that are providing your income, so they are relying on you to make their kids into honorable citizens. The public works sector, I can only say one thing…stop smoking, get some exercise and stop eating fast food and drinking so much after work. We need you to be your best on our highways, and you won’t do our tax base much good if you are affected by adverse heath problems caused by lifestyle choices. And this leads me to my final challenge to the stewards of my tax payments.
To all the welfare recipients, professional and unintentional alike; take a moment to stop and smile for a second. Hold the smile for just a bit longer. Feel how it makes your face move when you smile. Show it to another person, whether it be on the street, at the food bank, the mission, wherever you are, always smile. Smiling is one of the best ways to improve your feeling about your situation. Once you start to feel better, you will be able to take another step to becoming a productive and contributing citizen in our great State of Oregon. I can say this with confidence, because I know neither of you ever planned to live on the welfare of others…I know I didn’t. And just by luck, I joined the military, served in harms way around the world, raised a successful child into an adult, and not only paid for my education, my child’s and my spouses, but I also have managed to pay for you to have public assistance money. I can attribute all of my success to my ability to smile. Had I not learned to smile at an early age, I might not have survived a broken back in high school, or a divorce during my first marriage, or even this tough economy we all are facing right now. And still to this day, I smile. Give it a try, I know you will feel better for it!
In closing, I just want to leave everyone, my employees (those addressed in this letter) and my fellow citizens, those paying taxes, and those not paying taxes. This is a time of unprecedented failures of fairness and logic. We have reached a point in our society where the uneducated masses can easily be deceived by television ads claiming that corporations and the rich don’t pay their fair share. This passing in time signals a shift in perception of who is in control of government. Those without the means to pay for government have voted that those with means should pay for everyone else. Very soon, these same people will be convinced that they are victims, taken advantage of by the wealthy, and will vote to tax the rich evildoers for what they have done. But in fact, most of the rich people I know worked very hard and honestly for their financial success. With this death of common sense, we have reached a new plateau of “idiocracy” in our nation, something that knows no border, no boundary. Ignorance is ramped when it comes to understanding wealth distribution and accumulation. The real truth is that we live in America, a country where it once was possible for anyone to become wealthy and independent. But soon we will all have nothing.
Donald Welch
dk_welch@comcast.net
Post Script: To my contemporaries and sympathizers, Oregon is long overdue a Sales Tax. In fact, there are only five states in the US that don’t have a sales tax. And because of this, our state rewards those that consume in excesses. We lose potential income on those who travel to our state just to take advantage of our tax-free shopping environment. The true crime is in the State of Washington, where border residents freely shop in Oregon to save the sales tax, thus robbing their own state of it’s needed income. And even with this, the schools in Vancouver, Camas and Washougal are far superior to our own. Is it because of tax dollars, I think not! Are their teachers and faculty better than ours? NO! And I’ll bet that their parents are no different than ours. The fact is, that their system is better than ours. So regardless of how much money is spent on education, Washington — as well as many other states — are doing a better job at education that Oregon is. So does an ill conceived and inequitable tax on certain individuals seem the solution. No, but to 54% of voters, it seems like the best thing to do.
you lost because you did not call 67 for what is. a sales tax on C corps.
Yep, I almost voted yes on 66 and no on 67 but I decided that a NO-Vote on both was needed because we need to send a message to Salem that the waste and mismanagment must stop! I’m affected by 67 but not 66, although we all are affected by these measure due to the door it opens (further taxation). Because of 67, my filing fees for LLC and Partnerships rose by 200%. So I am going to close the partnership when it expires. I think that 67 was much broader than just a tax on C-corps and you are right, now there’s a tax up front, and then again when individuals file on the income.