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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2006)
4 Clackamas Print Student Pott: Students react to Special Edition Face Off: Measures 41/48 ‘Rainy Day’ Amendment Measures could ‘rain’ on may have bright spots Oregon tax-payers’ paradé Elizabeth Hitz The Clackamas Print “I’m shocked ... I feel lucky to know these things are going on.” Kimberley Maier “Why is he still being asked to step down when he was proven innocent? If he’s not guilty, why is he so defensive?” Jonathon King “It sounds overly negative, and it sounds like it’s all rumors, and no one really knows what’s going on, including the faculty.” Mike Riehl “His answers were pretty damn unclear. It doesn’t come across as clean. He seemed avoidant, which is not a good thing.” Measure 41 and 48 have visible benefits. For instance, Measure 48 has been nicknamed in supporting circles as the “Rainy Day Amendment’ for its ability to limit state government funding and provide a buffer in case of an economic depression. According to the US Census Bureau, “Oregon state & local governments spending (per-capita) is among the top 15 states in the nation.” And based on a biennial report by the Department of Administrative Service in December, 2003, “the state budget has had double-digit growth (+13%) on average for the past 25 years.” We have a problem, and Measure 48 offers a solution by putting clear limits on Oregon’s current and past spending. The measure would ensure no new or increased real estate taxes or state income taxes, and would also require voter approval on tax increases. The bill also offers safeguards in the case of another economic depression, with permanent cuts to government services during recessions. Opposition to the bill howls about cuts to education, health care, public safety and senior services. These cuts could be taken care of by citizens on their own, with things like home schooling, health insurance, neighborhood watches, - and more family involvement in the care of seniors. Yes, decreases in the budget can be dealt with, but can debt? Do we really want to land our state more in the red than we already are? Do we want to make our children and grandchildren pay for our excesses? Measure 41 would allow taxpayers to “claim a stale income tax deduction equal to their federal exemptions deduction as a substitutefortheir state exemption credit” This statement seems slightly confusing. But as stated by Oregon’s secretary of state, “The measure would change the ‘personal exemption’ credit to a tax deduction. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the amount of tax due. A tax deduction reduces the amount of income that is used to calculate the tax due. Jh 2005, the personal exemption tax credit was $154 for each personal exemption on an Oregon tax return. The tax deduction would have been $3,200 for each exemption if the measure applied in 2005. Most taxpayers will pay less state income tax under measure.” The measure would also limit state revenue, and thus state spending. As Oregon citizens, we need to be fiscally responsible and vote yes on measures 41 and 48. Ted Bieber w r “I thought you guys meant the president of student government.” 111 I o ---------------- ---¿5 Brittany Gardner “I was surprised at the interview because he was avoiding any question. Why couldn’t he just talk about it?” 9/11 conspiracies are completely unfounded f Allison Blazo This week’s poll compiled by Alexandria Vallelunga and Jeff Sorensen Commentary! Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2006 Conspiracy theories have piqued the interest of millions of people across the globe because most of them contain some truth. A lot of these conspiracy theories, if proven true, could also drastically change the world. Personally, I believe that the vast majority of conspiracy theories are false. However, like most people, I do find them interesting, and I plan on informing Clackamas Community College about them. For the first edition of “Conspiracy Comer,” I’m tackling a more recent theory: 9/11 was an inside job. Avid Web-surfers and MySpace addicts have probably come across Web Tayo Stalnaker The Clackamas Print If measures 41 and 48 pass in November, college students, low- income families and seniors will be in a world of hurt. Measure 41, if passed, would let Oregonians “claim a state income tax deduction equal to their federal exemptions deduction as a substitute for their state exemption credit.” Yeah, I didn’t get it either when I first read it. After doing some digging, I found that what that political psycho-babble translates into is the average tax payer making an extra $18 a month, some even less. Honestly, what’s 18 bucks these days? That’s not even enough for a lap dance. Pretty much, it’s a slap in the face to low-income families, college students and single moms living from paycheck to paycheck, trying to make ends meet. Not to mention this bill would be taking more money out of our state coffers ($151 million this budget year and increasing to as much as $430 million by year 2010) that should be going to things like education, health care, public safety and human services. I guess measure 41 wasn’t bad sites and groups called “Loose Change 9/11,” “9/11 Truth” or “Let’s Roll 9/11.” Along with these sites, there’s also a plethora of propaganda videos put together by these conspiracy nuts trying to show the public that what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 was planned out by the American government, not Islamic fundamentalists. The March 2005 issue of “Popular Mechanics” looked at 16 claims that 9/11 was a hoax and proved them wrong. I’m not going to write about all of them, just the ones that I find to be the most ridiculous. The first claim presented by 9/11 conspiracy junkies is that American Airlines flight 77 did not hit the Pentagon; a satellite-guided missile did. Of course they are only assuming, because they don’t have any proof. However, they claim that the two holes left in the side of the Pentagon are too small for a Boeing 757 to make, and there should’ve been an outline of the plane’s wings. Actually, according to “Popular Mechanics,” what was left of the plane when it struck the side of the Pentagon was something more liquid than mass, and both wings were sheared off before contact with the concrete structure. This next myth is, at best, laughable. “Let’s Roll 9/11” (among others) claims that the World Trade Center’s towers one and two were destroyed by controlled demolitions. Again, there is no proof of this, but these rabid conspiracy hounds claim that there are minor- explosions clearly visible in the video footage of the planes hitting the towers. “Popular Mechanics” found that these are not explosions but an example enough for law makers, so they] decided to throw in measure 48 alongside it. Measure 48 would] put a cap on state spending and would only increase wit! population and interest. Coloradfl has a similar plan called TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) that! has been a miserable failure eva since it was implemented in ths 1990s. Colorado’s job markethas befl horrible since this bill pass® many businesses have had Ito pack up and leave the state! Job growtl virtual] non-existent, and the numBert of uninsured people lias doubled. Whai’i even worse is that their public schools) the! especially __ colleges, have been! hit] hard with budget cuts and risi tuition. There’s also less mol being spent on public roa transportation and safety. What this would mean Oregon is a cut of nearly S1-.1B billion a year, turning us int® another Colorado. If you court® this with measure 41, it gets eve® uglier. These services that woul® be gutted are already struggling® and we can’t afford to make ihen® worse. As a college student at® Oregon taxpayer, I urge everyon® to vote a resounding “No" o® measures 41 and 48. | of “pancaking.” “Once each tower began to collapse,I the weight of all the floors above the collapsed zone bore down with] pulverizing force on the highest intact I floor,” said “Popular Mechanics.”! “Unable to absorb the massive energy,] that floor would fail, transmitting the] forces to the floor below, allowing the] collapse to progress downward through] the building in a chain reaction.” Well,] so much for that theory. For this last claim, I encourage] everyone to put on a tinfoil hat. One of the basest and most insidious] claims about 9/11 is that the America» government knew about it before hand] and, in fact, planned it out themselves! This claim is, of course, without merit,! and there’s stacks of evidence proving] it false, such as the “9/11 Commission! Report.” The 9/11 Commission found that] Bin Ladin did indeed set up and give] the orders for the attacks on Sept. 11,1 2001 by working with al Qaeda. The! 9/11 Commission obtained most of their] information from one of the masterminds! behind 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed! Furthermore, both al Qaeda and Bin] Ladin have said repeatedly that they! were behind the attacks on the World! Trade Center. I was a little appalled by the! allegations of these conspiracy theorists,] but I was not surprised. We live in al paranoid society, and it’s just human] nature to believe that there’s a cover-up j behind everything, and nothing is what ] it seems. This is Tayo Stalnaker reminding] everyone to throw out their tinfoil hats] and just relax. I I I e
