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a d ec a d e o f
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Education ♦ Dialogue %Independence
BY AMANDA WALDROUPE
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STAFF W R ITE R
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a :
a
lmost from the moment the state Legislature
voted to create $733 million in additional
evenue by raising the corporate minimum
tax and personal income taxes of wealthy people,
drama ensued — predictable in a state known for
its hatred of taxes.
A group calling itself Oregonians Against
Job-Killing Taxes quicldy created a campaign and
raised $1.2 million to collect enough signatures to
refer the taxes — now known as Measures 66 and
67 - to a special election scheduled for January in
the hopes that Oregonians would vote the taxes
down.
But, according to a variety of sources, there is
even more money at stake — up to an additional
$1 billion - if the taxes .are voted down, because of
their connection to money Oregonhas received
from the federal stimulus package and other
matching dollars.
. The explanatory statement for Measure 66
published by the Secretary of State’s office in
October acknowledges that Oregon stands to lose
federal funds.
“Because some state money brings in federal
matching funds, the state is likely to receive more
federal money if the measure passes than if the
measure fails,” it states.'
If Measures 66 and 67 were voted down, and
Oregon lost the tax revenue, federal stimulus
money and federal matching money, it could total
as much as $1.5 billion.
“Definitely, it’s a possibility,” says Linda Ames,
deputy administrator at the state Budget and
‘Management Office.
the corporate minimum tax the Legislature
raised in last year’s session is a flat fee paid
yearly by corporations and businesses in Oregon.
Before the Legislature raised the fee to. $150 this
year, it had not changed the fee of $10 since 1931.
The personal income tax raises taxes for
individuals and families making more than
$250,000.
In the next two years, the taxes are expected to
raise $733 million in revenue. The majority of that
money will go tq Oregon’s general fund. Nearly all
of the general fund is dedicated to public
education, health care services and public safety.
“Thoseare the services at stake,” says Steve
Novick, who is doing research on the effectsof
rejecting the tax measures for Defend Oregon, the
political organization advocating for the passage of
the taxes. (Novick ran unsuccessfully against U.S.
Seri. Jeff Merkley in 2008’s Democratic primary.)
Oregonreceives matching funds from thé federal
See M ONEY, page 11
Economist: Lose the banks and get back to the barter
Thomas Greco
says Average
Joe’s-can take
back the power
by creating
their own local
economy
BY JOANNE ZUHL
.
a
S TA F F W R IT E R
oney is the root of all evil, so the saying
goes.
It’s not just a tired platitude, .says
Thomas Greco, who has spent the past 30 years
studying that notion, reaching one conclusion.
“The money problem” as he calls it, has to go.
Greco is an economist, author and consultant;
on alternative economic systems that wrest
control from multinational corporations and
retum .it to the common man. The titles of his
books, “The End of Money” and the “Future of
Civilization,” echo his mantra that it’s not just
about the little guy getting more money. It’s
about the future of our planet, our health and our
democracy.
And it’s not just the wishful
thinking of a disgruntled
academic. The systems Greco,
supports are in operation
around the world, including in
the United States. They
include the LETS
movement - Local
| Exchange Trading Systems.
Greco
And the Swiss WIR Bank, a
credit-clearing system that
has more than 70,000 members, not to mention
all the national and international barter
exchanges that involve hundreds of thousands of
businesses trading in billions of dollars of goods
and services.
Greco will speak at the Community Exchange
Network of Portland on Monday, Nov. 2, at the
first Unitarian Church. He’11 talk about a
movement that is not as improbable as it might
seem.
J o a n n e Z u h l: A t w hat p o in t in yo u r life d id you
realize that the Current monetary system had to be -
replaced?
>■
Thomas Greco: That goes back 30 years. I
was teaching in the college of business in upstate
New York, and essentially naoney and banking
was being taught pretty riauch to accept the
system as it is, with the Federal Reserve and the
See BARTER, page 6