I have to hand it to people who keep saying that raising taxes will be bad for the economy.  Like those who decry the loss of family farms as a reason for doing away with the estate tax, those who say raising taxes costs jobs have repeated the lie so often that no one doubts it.

 

But I remember the "largest tax increase in American history."  Was it in '93?  "The Clinton Tax" it was called by the very same people who now chant "raising taxes costs job."  Yes.  That was the tax increase that proceeded the greatest period of economic growth and prosperity in American history. 

 

Apparently  increasing taxes doesn't always cost jobs.  Apparently new taxes do not always put the economy in a tailspin.

 

It's a bummer when some notion that is "just common sense" turns out to be false.  But, of course, it doesn't keep that from being the basis of public policy--or an election campaign slogan.  Anymore, of course, there is little difference between public policy and campaign slogans.

3:36:21 PM    

Oregon's governor is opposed to slot machine gambling, but the economy is bad enough that he is willing consider  it.   This means that he is willing to do, in bad economic times, something that he would not do, because he thinks it is destructive of society, in good times.  Given our regressive tax system (including our flat state income tax), revenues are down and he doesn't want to try to lead us into a responsible fix for our situation.  He would rather pander to our desire for a "painless" way out.

What else will come up for sale in pursuit of an easy way out? How bad will times have to get before everything is for sale?  Will we reach that point before we face the facts?  Or will we face the facts only after we have sold everything? 

He is not alone in this.  He is just one more of the majority of us who believe we can have something for nothing, that other people can be made to pay for what we want--and that we would rather have it that way even if it means degrading and, in some instances, destroying those who will pay.   Gambling is a tax on stupidity.  The irony is that even those who think they are exploting the stupid are being degraded in the process.

What other scruples will go by the wayside, what other self destructive impulses will we cater to in others, to avoid doing the tough but correct thing, to avoid telling Oregonians that only raising the income taxt will prevent our further descent into this Libertarian Paradise we are enjoying at present?

How bad will revenue forecasts have to look before drugs are legalized so that drivers can have the safe  roads and bridges they demand but refuse to pay for?  How many kids per class room will there be before before state sponsored prostitution looks attractive to people who don't want to pay for education?  Will we soon have stickers that motorists can purchase that will allow them to drive ten, twenty or thirty miles an hour over the speed limit to pay for the 911 services?  Will a factory be allowed to exceed parts per million effluent concentrations by paying for a license that will provide funds for the state police officers they want but will not pay taxes to fund?

To what extreme of expediency will we resort rather than telling people that they get what they pay for?  How far will we degrade ourselves before we will allow our politicians tell us what we really already know--that the corollary of "The world doesn't owe you a living" is that "You owe the world a living?" 

12:32:36 PM