Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1995)
EDITORIAL Question request for budget change Gov. John Kitzhaber dropped a bombshell on the Ore gon Legislature Monday when he announced another Si40 million might be necessary to pay for housing and handling prisoners in 1995-97. The request to the Legislature almost seems criminal itself. It’s no secret that Oregon’s prison population is large and getting bigger. As Kitzhaber himself said, dis trict attorneys are charging suspects more, judges are levying longer sentences and parole boards are much less generous in giving out parole. Specifically, Kitzhaber has changed his estimate of the prison population drastically, believing now that 4.510 new inmates would be added to state prisons in the next two years instead of 1,290, So what's new? In the time since Kitzhaber first announced a proposed budget several months ago, crime hasn’t exploded in Oregon. Judges aren’t filling up pris ons any faster than before. Why the urgent change In pol icy? There are several possible answers. As Questionable as it might seem, it is possible that Kitzhaber really did lowball the costs for corrections by S140 million. It's also possible that he is anticipating higher costs after Orego nians mandated minimum sentences for certain crimes in tho November elections. However. Republicans in the Legislature are seeing things differently. After they promised voters that taxes would not bo raised, they soe the request for more funds as a potential political tactic and a way for Kitzhaber to embarrass Republicans. As one said. Republicans are not going to let themselves lie positioned. And who can blame them? It's the job of the opposi tion party to question requests and policies by the other party. This request from the Governor must be looked into, Oregonians deserve to know why millions more dollars are needed than previously anticipated. Even if it is conceded by legislators that additional money will be needed for Oregon prisons, it is unlikely there will be any quick consensus in the Legislature, The prison budget will not be resolved soon and tho money won’t be moving any quicker. Sudden monetary requests, especially large ones, must be looked at care hilly to ensure they are necessary. One would hope that Kitzhaber’s motivation for requesting the money isn’t political. Everyone would agree that prisons are an ossential part of society and should be funded accordingly Nobody wants to see vio lent criminals out on the street who should be behind bars because prison funding was too low. Playing on the emotions of citizens worried about crime to request more money for corrections is not any better. Prisons must be funded, but so do many other pro grams. The $140 million request must be questioned. Oregon Daily Emerald ryt tndljmO*y and T h^aday dcmno tn# aummar fry mo »«gan Oa»> Emar«d Pjcyonmg Co , me «J tn« U'vv*f»*y o< 0»«go^ * ~ Th* Oopcm D**, C^mtta 4 IX/0>»N*d d*»> Mo-nda, ffwongh • ndtty Ouxng ma ac»vx> j tr>* fcnm» t>y mo Oagon 0*»» E' "uoana. Ortoor Tn# fmtrua 0O4'«!M Mdapandanay ol rn* IMwaraay with o*«aa a! SwM 300 o« ma E'tJ Mamonal l>uon and 4 * ol ma Aaaooatad Paaa T»V4 fm^natt 4 fyvaSa pfOOOrty Tha jOO«AJ i»^Ov» Of aH 0* popart 4 proaaartaM try 4» Idftor-tn-CMaf Ka*y Soto M»n»yna tdWOf Idttort* Idtex Nm Art lonw fmlwii Idhor D*rtd Thom noMM R-— A«P|My ton Bort--***' H*m* I«Kk l>H Mm OntMau •upptwnanM Mtor TnataNo* WgMIdMot Itonciltoni Aaaaclata ld«or* T**r-a Egntnaanar Sudan QofnwntArds■»** Marcalan* tawtnk Co«rr*n*y. TT1ar»r 5m*n. Hy/>*r Fotcaftov Aomruafraaon *MaW •M**: S*K« AaCury Amy CdumOo. Amy L Dt»anpon. Pnmo Foraana. Qayta Forman. Onmoctm Fo*. Mas Gadon. Gary Grata, Jo* Harwood Kna Marry. T>»ror Srarvxm K.«mn. Adam Knicnar Sujanna Maria. *Mr» McTyr*. Pa*<« Union) Bar MoatKra Nataaa Momgomary Anna Moaar Komiaid. Conaar Ponag Snamy (Way Kata Sataxm Pad V»i Sou* Saar Snvtn Jaramy Stsnaon. Km Wau 9r*r Momaca OaftarM Man agar- Judy Bad Atfvarliaing Dtraclor Mar* Waft* Production Man agar: Men** Rosa Adrartialng: Ann* Amador. Any* Borgaaa. Ma-cc Onj Tony For E«n M*r»n*r Mco*a Marymar*. Jaram, Maaon Sarar- Mtcn*» Tam lArarnaad* Kataay Wakaf Oaaatnad Bacay Marenam Managar *,«• Dan*. Jo* Saaar DiatrtOuttoo: Jonn Long. F*r*r< Raaocj Graham Smpaon > u am a a* ram r Carbon*. S*oavKr Judy Cornoay Production Dar.-a McCodd FVoduefton Coonjnaror Shawn* Ao*>* Tara GawHnay Brad Jo**, Mo*y McCart* JanrWar Roland Oaylon Ya* hmnroom__MMill tu«n*MOmc«._MMItl Otaptay AdvwttaMg ...._MA-1711 CMM A(Jwti»ma-M4MI O'-'O KLV^ (<Nt RUmN'NG Ct^fNtv SNT Runm Nrt> A6w^r ©lU. C^UAyie !<*T RuNN<N*fe> AC>a-n»5t ©iuv... *5**T Ru***n6> ...$PsOp>Cauv -rus 2o million 8ia$ TUfy to RA>5( ■ OPINION Cut programs to reduce taxes Primp A. J, Fovtsm This pari of the year has nol been easy. Ijisi week's snowfall was a major pain, our Rose Bowl coaching staff has been picked apart by the St Louis Rams, and worst of all. Van Helen ha* released a new album However, there is one situa tion more terrifying, depressing, and destructive to our country than any of the previously men tioned Of course, 1 am referring to those evil and capricious num ber* which are on many of our minds right now IS (as in April), and 1040 (as in the most dreaded of dreadfuls, the tax form). That's right folks, it's almost time to send our hard-earned money to )ohn Kitrhaber and Bill Clinton so we can watch our federal, state, and local govern ments expand even more Heav en knows, that's all we need As the cash Is ripped away from the hands that earned it, namely ours, we should reflect upon taxation for a moment and where all of the money goes. To keep a historical perspec tive, we should start with Amer ica's greatest political philoso pher, lames Madison The founding father was • firm believer in proper laissez-faire free market capitalism, end was a proponent of the work that most precisely propagates these truths, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. Madison believed taxation should be as unburdensome as possible He believed govern ment's intrusion (and taxes are a violent intrusion) into the free market should be "as free as the policy of nations will admit." Oh, how far we have fallen. We have state taxes, local tax es. incidental fees (yes. that is a tax), sales taxes, property taxes, < apitai gains taxes, dividend taxes, interest taxes, death tax es need I continue? And are we getting are mon ey 's worth7 No wav Most of the money goes to entitlement pro grams which are inefficient, such as Social Security or Medicare, agricultural subsidies that in the long run hurt farmers rather than help them, or waste ful pork for elected officials to send back home so their con stituents will be happy These sort of nonsensical pro grams, especially Social Securi ty. should he completely abol ished in favor of balancing the budget and reducing taxes It is disturbing that the Amer ican people have, for the most part, sat idly as the government has not only been profligate with our money, but through waste and unnei essary interven tion, has decreased our nation's productivity and job availabili ty Also, there is another grave problem with our tax system Contrary to popular belief in Eugene, Santa Crui, and Berke ley, the worst thing that can happen to an economy is social ism Unfortunately, our tax sys tem is socialist That's right folks, socialist. We must consider the classical definition of this failed theory, which is centrally planning an economy rather than allowing the market to bloom naturally. Any person with even brief economic or political education knows this is infeasible. Cube, the former Soviet Union. Haiti, the basebell monopoly and the Clinton Health Care Plan ere all examples of the sort of disasters that can occur when market interference is attempted Earned money is freedom This may not be moral end it may not be pretty, but it's the truth. When how we earn our money and what we do with it is decided for us, this freedom is violated. Without exception, such violation eventually leads to both social and fiscal turmoil. Democrats (the party of rich bureaucrats) and Republicans (the party of rich businessmen) have both attempted to centrally plan our economy through taxa tion. The YVal-Marting of the Amer ican market, with its disturbing trend of mergers, horizontal integration, and large-scale dis- *■ count stores that was hastened*" during the early 1980s. is not, as some would attest, due to cons petilive market forces. Massive corporations such us these have a much easier time surviving thanks to our tax codes The system, which both parties have fashioned, favors them rather than small business es. mainly through excessive entitlement taxes, which are much more difficult for small businesses to provide than large ones This is the most distressing < thing about taxes Such policies have shifted the economy from where it belongs, "mom and pop" providers, to massive con glomerates. Independent small businesses formed the social and economic backbone of the middle class in America for years. As they began to deteriorate due to unfa vorable taxation, the amount of working poor as a percentage of the population began to increase. So, what should be done? Taxation should be based upon consumption rather tnan income This will increase sav ing and investment, and there fore decrease the need for many middle class entitlements. As a consequence, the budget will be smaller (Social Security it the largest allotment) and less taxes will be necessary Also, cut, cut, cut the pork. Cut it until it's gone. Every sin gle program should face scruti ny The government does not need any more of our money. They simply need to spend it more prudently. No more excuses, no more partisan bickering Get the message to Washing ton Any candidate who has raised your taxes does not deserve your vote. Period. Primo A. J. Fontana is a colum nist for the Emerald.
