Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current, January 05, 2010, Page 3, Image 3

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    welcome/opinion
from the editor...
 
First  of  all,  a  Happy  New 
Year to everyone!
 
This  month,  we  start  pub-
lishing  Vernonia’s Voice twice  a 
month,  and  we’re  pretty  excited 
about  it!    You  can  look  for  the 
second  issue  this  month  on  Janu-
ary  26th--  after  that,  we  should  be 
out  and  around  on  the  second  and 
fourth Tuesday of each month.  We 
have split some of our regular con-
tributors,  so  you  will  find  some  of 
their columns in the first issue each 
month and some in the second.  We 
will continue to bring you Vernonia 
city  news  and  area  news,  as  well 
community  events  and  happenings 
in each issue.  We hope you contin-
ue to enjoy reading about Vernonia 
and  our  surrounding  area  in  each 
edition.
 
This month, we are adding 
a  couple  of  new  features.    Randy 
Sanders, a friend of the Voice since 
just  about  the  very  beginning,  and 
2010
an  occasional  contributor,  has 
agreed to write a somewhat regular 
column  we  are  calling  “Between 
the  Lines.”    Randy  is  particularly 
interested in Columbia County pol-
itics  and  social  issues  and  likes  to 
speak  up  for the little guy.   Randy 
is a long-time resident of Columbia 
County  and  a  critic  of...  well,  just 
about anything he thinks is wrong.  
Watch for his ongoing commentary 
on life in our region as we enter the 
second  decade  of  the  twenty-first 
century.
 
Also,  this  month  we  wave 
goodbye  to  P.J.  O’Leary’s  “Voices 
In My Head” column, at least tem-
porarily,  and  say  hello  to  “Voices 
From  the  Crowd,”  a  new  column.  
P.J.  seems  to  believe  that  he  has 
misplaced  his  sense  of  humor,  and 
is taking some time to see if he can 
relocate  it.    In  the  meantime,  we 
hope to fill that space with thoughts, 
ramblings  and musings from other 
locals--  folks  who  have  something 
on  their  mind--  or  on  their  chest-- 
and feel the need to be heard.  If you 
are one of those people-- someone 
who  has  a  criticism,  an  observa-
tion, a revelation, or a funny story-- 
please send them our way and you 
might  find  yourself  as  one  of  our 
“Voices  From  the  Crowd.”    Your 
thoughts  don’t  necessarily  have  to 
be  humorous  (it’s  hard  enough  to 
write  something  for  publication, 
without the added pressure of hav-
ing  to  be  funny  as  well--  just  ask 
P.J.), just have something that per-
tains  to  life  in  Northwest  Oregon, 
that you think others might find in-
teresting.  Oh yes-- and try to keep 
it to around 800 words.
 
Here’s  hoping  the  New 
Year finds  you  happy,  healthy,  and 
humorous--  and  not  necessarily  in 
that order.   
Scott Laird
Editor and Publisher
An Opinion: Lets Look at
Measures 66 and 67 Honestly
By Scott Laird
 
I just received my Voters’ Pamphlet for the up-
coming special election in Oregon on Measures 66 and 
67.  I also recently I received an email concerning that 
upcoming special election.   In case you’ve been liv-
ing in a cave (or in Vernonia), were wrapped up in the 
holidays,  or haven’t  opened  the voters’ pamphlet yet, 
Measures  66  and  67  would  veto tax  increases  signed 
into law by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski.  Here’s 
how part of that email I received read:
 
“Measures 66 & 67 ask very rich people and
large corporations to pay a little more in taxes so that
schools can stay open, poor kids can be on the Oregon
Health Plan, and the old and ‘disabled’ get adequate
care. What  an  outrage! We feel that the burden of
running society should be squarely on the backs of its
middle and lower classes. The rich and corporate busi-
ness community have long been exempt from paying a
fair share of taxes, and we want to ask you now: why
change a good thing?
“The rich and powerful corporate interests
have recognized the need to protect ourselves; we’ve
already put nearly two million dollars into funding the
anti-tax efforts, now we need your help!
“Legislators say it’s only a tax on the rich.
They’re right! It’s not that we won’t be able to still af-
ford our country club memberships, gas for our Hum-
mers and other “needs,” like cooking classes in Italy…
it’s just that we don’t want to pay more!”
Now  this  was  obviously  written  tongue-in-
cheek  with  just  a  hint  of  sarcasm,  and  it  comes  from 
people  obviously  trying  to  make  a  point.    But  it  cer-
tainly got my attention.  
 
  At a recent Town Hall meeting in Vernonia, 
State Senator Betsy Johnson informed the audience that 
they could expect a maelstrom (my word, not hers--pun 
intended) of political information in our mailboxes in 
January concerning this special election.  What I didn’t 
realize--since I live in cave-- was that this special elec-
tion takes place on January 26 th , now just a few weeks 
away.  
 
Measure 66 raises taxes on adjusted gross in-
comes  above  $250,000  for  households,  $125,000  for 
individual filers. It eliminates income taxes on the first 
$2,400 of unemployment benefits received in 2009. It 
raises an estimated $472 million to provide funds cur-
rently budgeted for education, health care, public safe-
ty, and other services.
 
Measure  67  raises  the  current  $10  corporate 
minimum tax, (that’s right, many corporations that do 
business in Oregon only pay $10 in taxes each year) es-
tablishing a $150 minimum tax for most businesses or a 
minimum tax of approximately 1% of total Oregon rev-
enues for corporations with over $500,000 in Oregon 
january 5
revenues.   And  it  raises  an  estimated $255  million  to 
provide funds currently budgeted for education, health 
care, public safety and other services.
 
You will notice I underlined currently budget-
ed.  That means if Measures 66 and 67 fail, cuts will 
have  to  be  made  in  the  current  state  budget,  which, 
from my understanding, is already pretty tight.  
 
What else about these measures is significant?
Did you know Oregon hasn’t raised or updated its min-
imum corporate tax since 1931? 
97.5% of taxpayers will NOT see their taxes increased 
if 66 and 67 are passed.
Partnerships, LLCs, LLPs and S corporations will pay 
a flat $150 corporate minimum.
Sole proprietorships will continue to pay $0 in corpo-
rate taxes.
 
In other words, most of the people you and I 
know will not be directly affected by these increases.  
 
Paging through the voters pamphlet it is obvi-
ous there are strong and organized campaigns on both 
sides of the issue, and there is strong opposition to these 
tax hikes, which is not surprising.    But the campaign 
against tax increases is focused on claiming these are 
job-killing taxes that target small and family run busi-
nesses and the middle class.  
 
To  me,  raising  the  minimum  corporate  tax 
from $10 to $150 only seems fair and would not be a 
huge  burden  on  businesses.    The  increase  in  revenue 
taxes only applies to businesses with Oregon revenues 
over $500,000--at a rate of 1%.  Which, in my mind, is 
not your regular family business.
 
Another point--the income tax increase is only 
on filers with over $125,000 of adjusted gross income.  
Again, according to the voters’ pamphlet, less than 3% 
of personal income tax filers will see a tax increases if 
these  measures  pass.   And  they  are  not  huge  increas-
es--a filer who earns between $250,000 and $499,000 
would see an average change of $3,000.
 
Reading through the voters’ guide, it seems to 
me  that  the  businesses  and  others  who  oppose  these 
tax increases are just regurgitating information that has 
been fed to them.  They keep talking about companies 
having to pay up to $100,000 in taxes and 70,000 jobs 
lost.  You  read it over  and  over  in  many  of  the argu-
ments  against  these  measures.   According  to  my  cal-
culations, at a rate of 1% for a business to have to pay 
$100,000 in taxes they would have to have sales of $10 
million  dollars.   Again,  not  your  regular  family  busi-
ness.
 
No one likes  to see  taxes increase, especially 
corporations who might see it affect the salaries of their 
executives and their bonuses.  Yes, eventually tax in-
creases  get  passed  down  the  line  to  consumers.   Yes, 
some  businesses  will  have  to  pay  more  in  taxes  and 
fees. But really, what this tax increase does is take the 
3
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
News Editor
Scott Laird
Copy Editor
Dennis Nicks
Photography
Scott Laird
Sandy Welch
Nicole Whiteman
Contributors
April Bamburg
Shawn Boutwell
Nancy Burch
Kim Camarda
Dawn Carr
Jill Hult
Pauline King
DeAnna Pearl
Randy Sanders
Burt Tschache
Want to advertise?
Contact: ads@vernoniasvoice.com
Have an article?
Contact: news@vernoniasvoice.com
PO Box 55
Vernonia, OR 97064
503-367-0098
www.VernoniasVoice.com
burden of state services off the backs of small business 
and lower-to-middle income families, and puts it where 
it  belongs--on  large  corporations,  big  businesses,  and 
high-income earners.
 
From what I can see the immediate impact of 
rejecting these increases could be more profound--di-
rect cuts to jobs and service levels in education, public 
safety,  and  health  care.    Which  I  think  more  directly 
impacts  our  communities  and  our  friends  and  neigh-
bors. 
 
One  argument  against  these  increases  is  that 
state government needs to control spending and not in-
crease it.  But in bad economic times, citizens become 
more dependent on state services.  More people rely on 
assistance to get through tough times so state spending 
increases.  And so does the need for revenue.
 
I  believe  it’s  time  corporations  who  do  busi-
ness  in  this  state  pay  their  share  and  support  the  ser-
vices that benefit us all.  I encourage you to take some 
time to read the voters’ pamphlet and educate yourself, 
not just accept the political propaganda on TV or that 
arrives through the mail. 
 
I  think  some  very  deep  pockets  are  trying  to 
influence  the  outcome  of  this  election  by  not  talking 
honestly about how these taxes affect Oregonians. 
 
This  one  is  important--make  sure  you  know 
what you are voting for.
Vernonia’s Voice
is now published
twice each
month! Look for
our next issue
January 26th.