Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2006)
4 Commentary_________ w.dc„vl.2M6____________ Clackamas Pri Raise tab on beer, wine tax Frank Jordan I I. The Clackamas Print A person sits at his or her local watering hole on any given day or night and enjoys a nice glass of beer or wine to wind down from a long day or night. That glass of suds is available at a decent price almost anywhere in the state of Oregon, and that price has not changed much in the last few years. But have you ever wondered, in this day and age of tax hikes and fee hikes and the govern ment trying to gouge the con sumer of every last nickel and dime, how much tax one pays on a glass of beer or wine? We are fortunate that in the state of Oregon, a 16-ounce glass of beer is taxed only one penny. How can this be? Easy. The beer and wine industries have a very large stranglehold on the lawmakers in this state, coverage of uninsured children even going as far as paying in our state. This is a good idea the costs of lawmakers making and all, but why not raise the trips to Hawaii and other locales tax on beer and wine to help pay around the country, in for some of these programs? order to have those Smokers have been gouged by lawmakers vote on the state for years for their legal bills in the legislature habit, yet Rinkers of alcoholic that would be advan beverages keep paying ridicu tageous to the beer lously low taxes to partake in and wine industries. their legal activity. This is not very good The current tax on a gallon public policy, and of beer in Oregon is eight cents, poor tax-planning -making it the third-lowest tax on the part of our rate in the nation, while wine legislators. is taxed at 28 cents per gallon, Governor Ted making it the fifth-lowest rate Kulongoski has in the U.S. Doubling or tri proposed raising pling the beer tax in Oregon the cigarette tax would (again) another raise 85 cents per mil pack, in order lions to help pay for of dol- parts of the 1 a r s Oregon Health for the Plan that per Oregon tain to the health Health boozt Plan and spare smokers another outrageous tax hike. What is paying another quarter for a beer? The beer and wine indus tries have helped to shoot down more than a dozen bills over the years in the Oregon Legislature, which would have raised taxes on their products. Those indus tries have very powerful lob bies in Salem, and our elected officials have been more than happy to kowtow to these lob byists. Whoever the next governor shall be Nov. 7 should make it part of his agenda to take a stand against the beer and wine industries and raise the tax on their products. It is way overdue (the beer tax was last raised in 1978, and the wine tax was last raised in 1982) and would send a message to the legislature that all ways to raise money through taxes and fees are -on the table. Lobbyists be damned! Have bad credit? Then vote YES on Measure 42 Rev. Sam Krause Co-Editor-in-Chief Bill Sizemore is back ... and he’s making sense? I’ve never liked Sizemore. Many Oregonians have a rea son to hate Sizemore, from cap ping property taxes to crazy (and questionable) methods of signa ture gathering. This time, though, he might be on to something. Measure 42 would keep insur ance companies from using credit ratings when determining premi ums. That makes sense. In Oregon, insurance companies can only use credit information when a consumer initially purchases insurance, and to determine if a consumer is more likely to file a claim. At this point, the Oregon leg islature has passed, laws restrict ing insurance companies from using credit scores to raise rates or drop someone from their pol icy. Is there any reason voters can’t take this a step further? Right now, an Oregonian’s credit score is a factor in apply ing for a loan and insurance. In an editorial supporting the mea sure, The Oregonian cited a study stating that people who have a low-income are more likely to have a low credit score. Oregonians Against Insurance Rate Increases, who are against Measure 42, noted a study that found a relationship between low credit and a greater probability of making a claim. If you’re poor, you have bad credit, which increases your insur ance rates. When you get in an accident, you have to go to your insurance company for financial support because you can’t afford to fix whatever you broke, which increases your interest rates. Opponents say that, if the measure passes, those with good credit will subsi dize insurance for people with bad credit. They neglect to men tion that people with good credit can have abysmal driving records, while people with bad credit can have a superb driving record. I think a better question is why someone with bad credit and a good driving record should pick up the slack for a person with good credit who got trashed and crashed his or her car. Here’s an example: You go to the bar, and only three drinks gets you drunk, but your buddy needs about nine drinks to feel anything. When it comes time to pay the tab, your buddy suggests splitting it evenly on the basis that he tips the bartender better than you. Whether you prefer beer or lower insurance rates, vote yes on Measure 42. Photo Illustrations by Adam J. Manley Clackamas Print Letters to the editor A note from the ASG prez Dean applauds ‘Diversity’ Fellow Students: I want you to understand one thing; if you don’t vote, you’ll have to live with the consequences. Democracy is not a spectator sport I have had the pleasure of working on numerous political campaigns in the past few years. All I’ve come to know is that each politician run ning for office works tirelessly every day for votes. All the money they can raise is just to get votes, nothing more. I come to you as a student wife an understanding feat our political system is not flawed; but politicians aren’t looking out for students' concerns because we don’t vote. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement there are over 517,000 18to 19year olds eligible to vote in Oregon. Yet, some young people are apathetic, and they just don’t care. Only 42 percent of 18 to 24 - year- olds vote. When you compare feat to other ages and their percent voting: 25 to 34,56 percent; 35 to 44,64 percent; 45 to 54, 69 percent; 55 to 64, 73 percent 65 to 74, 73 percent 75+, 69 percent With the average of all voting being 64 percent students wonder why it is so expensive to go to school. It’s because politicians won’t fond something they aren’t getting personal benefit from. If we weren’t funding them into office (or out), why would feey go out of then way’to fond something feat doesn’t help them? At the federal level, we have such important things as social security for our retired, the new Prescription Drag Plan that President Bush signed into law, and Medicare. All of these programs are aimed to benefit older people. The surprising and upsetting tact is how bad tuitiofi and the cost of education have increased in fee last few years. Tuition at Oregon community colleges lias increased by 63 percent since fee Fall of 2000. It’s the highest of the western 15 states. Overall, 12.5 percent of course selections have been elimi nated at Oregon community col leges. We also happen to be the 26th in fee nation for funding per student. These are alarming facts. We as young people, as students, need to do something about it We need to make our voices heard through contacting our elected officials and, most importantly, voting. Tim Lussier, ASG president The views expressed by the two students in the recent article on college diversity were thoughtful, yet limited in their scope of how diversity is defined. The college’s Diversity Committee commends these students for defining then- issues and expressing them so open ly and publicly, and we commend fee Clackamas Print for providing fee foram. The committee is also very impressed wife fee work towards awareness that has been demon strated by fee recent student postings in fee Community Center, express ing personal views on diversity. It is through such dialogue that mutual understanding and appreciation of all forms of diversity can develop, and we encourage others to par ticipate. Clackarqas Community College is committed to building awareness of cultural diversity on our campus and in our community. This focus includes the right of all persons to live wife dignity and freedom, and to freely express themselves through their various cultural norms without fear of restricted access to the opportunities available. The college, through its Diversity Committee and through personal commitment by its staff, promotes communication and understanding among people of differing beliefs, color, gender, cultures, lifestyles, age and backgrounds in order to foster and develop a climate of tol erance. Such a climate only develops through ongoing, concerted and systematic efforts to create the opportunities that foster understand ing of and between different people. It is our belief that providing a forum for this type of open dialog presents opportunities for each of us to hear a multitude of voices and experiences, and through feat process perhaps change some of our conceptions and our fears. This approach greatly expands fee concept of diversity beyond simply race tolerance into fee much broader arena that recognizes all people have a basic right to be treated with dignity and respect Bill Leach, Dean of Campus Services Send letters to the editor to chiefed@clackamas.edu by Tayoh Stalnaker □ □---........... ;— ................ Art Bell, the founder part-time host of fee pop late-night call-in show ‘ to Coast AM,” or as I like i call it, “Tinfoil Hat Radioj is the inspiration be “Conspiracy Comer.” When Bell first aired show well over a decade ag it was mainly a political show. However, after Oklahoma City bombing | the mid-90s, “Coast to AM” took a huge left turn became mostly about conspi cy theories. It also became o of fee most popular talk sho in history with an average R 15 million listeners per night Every night on “Coast | Coast AM” since then, h dreds of people call in to di cuss aliens, government cov ups, the paranormal and c trails. Listeners can also e to hear a lot of paranoid about 9/11 being an inside j as fee weeknight host, Geo Nooryris a firm believer in 9/11 conspiracy theories. Over fee years, Bell has f tured many prominent ft in the conspiracy theory wo as regular guests. Everyo from NASA conspiracy ho Richard C. Hoagland, to reti U.S. Army major and fo CIA intelligence officer Dames, have been regular c ers for over a decade now One of the most interest! callers is Mel Waters. Wat claims that there’s an infinit deep hole in Ellensburg, W that has paranormal pow Unsurprisingly, the hole never been found. For m information, visit http// melshole.com and have friendly discussion with hundreds of “hole hunters the forums. Ait Bell has become a feral icon of sorts. On the b Tool’s album Lateralus, a c from “Coast to Coast AM” featured on their song "F de Oiad.” The clip is ofa tic caller, who claims to w at Area 51 and says that viol aliens being held there are pl ting to take out major cities over fee United States. The best-selfing video g Prey also features BelL In game, Bell plays himself hosts “Coast to Coast Players can listen to the sh in various areas throughout game. What really made Be major public figure was w he was accused of inadv ly starting fee “Heavens death cult. “Heavens G for those that don’t remem believed that the comet H Bopp would take them to Promised Land if they ki themselves on the night it fl over the earth. Bell ta about Hale-Bopp a lot, clai ing that an alien spacecraft flying in its wake, and m people believe that the in “Heavens Gate” got the fl to form fee cult from liste to “Coast to Coast AM.” If anyone wants to li to “Coast to Coast AM,” can tune in every night at p.m. to 1190 KEX and hear gaggles of loonies call in talk about their latest probi
