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The Srfndy Post
Editorial & Opinion
Von Brotchler, Publisher
Caroline Duff Office Manager
Don Dillon, Editor
Scott Newton. News Editor
SANDY, OREGON THURSDAY. JULY 29 1982
Tax revamp could lure new jobs
Insom nia-w eary le g isla to r s,
short-sheeted by revenue short
fall, next session may wrestle
with a state sales tax almost no
one wants
In c r ea sin g ly d isa p p o in tin g
state revenue shortfall has caused
many skeptical legislators and
others to consider the new tax on
all items as the easiest way to
balance the already battered
state budget after two emergency
bandage sessions
So don’t be surprised to see
some education and business ad
vocates promote the value-added
tax as a savior to state woes.
New Senate District 14 can
didate Joe Davis of Silverton said
he’d support a sales tax only if us
ed to offset property and income
tax, noting attractiveness of this
tax system to businesses who
might loate here. “ It’s a fact that
it’s going to cost them (more) to
come to Oregon.)
S te v e S ta r k o v ic h , S e n a te
District 14 candidate from Canby,
figures from a poll of Democrats
that a lot of folks who favor sales
tax (high as 43 percent) really are
concerned with education fun
ding. Starkovich, however, op
poses the new tax as hurting peo
ple on fixed and limited incomes
who most need help. He said the
added tax would look more attrac
tive to him, if it were earmarked
specifically and not simply col
lected like a new state treasure
chest.
Solidly behind a state sales tax
drive, on the other hand, are 112
business and government leaders
who met recently in Corvallis to
devine methods to create a better
business clim ate in Oregon for
new employers. They recom
mended a 6.5 percent sales tax
charged on everything but food
and drugs replace personal in
come tax and corporate excise
tax. Revenues, they said, could be
dedicated to 50 percent property
tax relief, as well as state govern
ment costs. They back that bite
with recommendation for a tax
limitation amendment.
S ta te Sen. Ken J e r n ste d t
<R—Hood River) concurs on the
need to examine sales tax. “ I
have figured for some time we
would have some sort of value-
added tax,” he said. “Although I
don't like it, I thing Oregon is go
ing to have to take a look at
something more than bandaids.”
Rep. Wayne Fawbush (D-Hood
River) opposes a state sales tax
as a regressive, consumer tax
that “wouldn’t even be considered
if Oregon weren’t in such bad
fiscal state.’’ The House Revenue
Committee member said he’d find
the tax more palatable, if it ex
empted food and drugs and
replaced some of the property
tax.
Fawbush, who predicts per
sonal political trouble represen
ting Antelope’s “Geru City’’ if
e le c te d in new d is tr ic tin g ,
predicts more trouble for the
sales tax measure. Biggest pro
blem, he said, would come from
legislators putting the measure
before voters November with a
more popular 1.5 percent tax
limitation referendum.
Perhaps a state sales tax would
prove politically as unpopular as
a swami in a foreign land. But
savior businesses aren’t exactly
flocking to Oregon’s economic aid
with needed new jobs, either So
maybe the Corvallis symposium
has a point.
After all, Oregonians already
pay cigarette, alcohol, gas and
hotel sales taxes The state cof
fers must be replaced, or a coffin
laid for some services like schools
as presently funded (VB)
Clinic given new ‘lease’ on life
Sandy Mental Health Clinic,
homeless with cut rent funds, has
found new life in donated space of
a church basement, thanks to Im
manuel Lutheran Church.
Faced with state and federal
revenue cutbacks, Blake Fischer-
Davidson of Clackamas County
Mental Health opted to abandon
the satellite office to save jobs of
staff members who commute he.
“ Pastor Frank Koepke and his
congregation have been just great
to us,’’ he said “ Historically
churches have been very suppor
tive in Estacada and Molalla ”
The Mololla office is housed in a
church, while the Estacada office
was in a church before relocation
in a rented office and now in a pre
school Originally seven years ago
the Sandy clinic was housed in the
b asem en t
of
C o m m u n ity
Presbyterian Church
Trained counselors meet at
39901 Pleasant Avenue here 9-5
p .m .
M on d a y s
th ro u g h
Thursdays, with evening appoint
ments available. Current clients
may call 655-8338 for an appoint
ment, while new clients should
call 655-8401.
Counselors here address pro
blems of alcohol, drugs and
chronic mental illness, as well as
other problems of adults and
children
The health clinic reports only a
two-day lapse in local service dur
mg the relocation, and that oc-
cured during the Fourth of July
weekend
Roses to the people of Im
manuel Lutheran and our gutsy
mental health workers for finding
a way to continue this valued com -
munity service (VB)
Salem scene:
State youth eye business
by JACK ZIM M E R M A N
Assorlated Oregse Isdeslrtes
Free enterprise isn't free
People have lo work lo make it work for
them
That’s the gist of the first lesson learned
by some 100 high school students and so
teachers attending the third annual
Oregon Huameas Week recently on the
Monmouth campus of Wester Oregon State
Collets
The lesson was pari of a Sunday evening
opening lecture by John Alltucker of
Eugene that inaugurated s full week of in
tensive educational experiences relating
to the rote of business in society
Allturker owner of Eugene Sand 4b
Gravel, la typical of some IM volunteers
from business and industry who make up
the faculty of the program Jointly tpon
sored by Associated Oregon Industries, the
State Department of Education, Oregon
Ceencti an Economic Education and
w o g c Moro than M additions volunteers
Kva an campus during the week serving as
company advisers te students aad
À
I t f i i U l i « » • e w Iram *>• VUU (« p iU l
( K C lU H V l W Or«*on » Waaaty Ma«»#a
eavv »ram Atta« .atad Oaean meuttrta«
event by detailing specific laws of
economic understanding
“ Without a healthy economic system.“
he said, “society « social and political
systems are doomed to disorder and col
lapse, ”
Me explained that all group activities
begin with investments of several kinds
Wealth, ha said, is created by converting
natural resources into usable products
Governments don't croate wealth
“ Government can’t give anything sway,
until It takas something first-ta xe s for in
stance,” he said “ Instead of creating
wealth government redistributes It ”
Oregon Business Weak Is ctaaety pal
tamed after a similar program bunched
in the S tab of Washington in 1PM. Rattan
said and versions of the original are now
being offered in a total of is states. *
4
Tax-Free
Cigarettes,
Letters to the editor:
Reader argues against ‘paper’ money
Blame US banks
To
q uo te
B aro n
Rothchild. “ I care not what
puppet is placed upon the
throne of England The
man that controls Britain’s
money controls the British
Empire '* And in this na
tion today we have our own
Baron Rothchild, called the
Federal Reserve Bank'
We have both an elected
government in Washington
and an unelected govern
m e n t in the F e d e ra l
Reserve System run by the
money barons of Wall
Street Our economy is not
run by the Congress or the
President, but instead is
run by private banks that
create money, control its
volume and set the level of
interest rates This situs
tion has led us to have a
dual government
This bad state of affairs
will not be eliminated by
business and labor negotia
tions, mainly because they
both have to survive in the
same economic environ
ment If the value of our
m e d iu m of ex ch an g e
becomes less for labor, it
follows that business has
the same problem So it's
no wonder that things get
hot and heavy at contract
time, when the negotiations
start
Consider this: When a
savings and loan associa
tion, an insurance com
pany or credit union makes
a loan, it lends the very
dollar that its customers
have previously paid in
But when a bank makes a
loan, it simply adds to the
borrower’s deposit account
in the bank by the amount
of the loan It is new
money, created by the
bank for the use of the bor
rower
You may ask how can
they create money like that
legally ** They can't Not ac
cording to the Constitution,
anyway The Coinage Act
of 1792 states that a dollar
is 241 75 grains of gold and
371 25 grains of silver not
Federal Reserve notes we
so naively accept as coin of
the realm.
Of course, you’ll hear
arguments against the gold
and silver stkndards for
this country
It causes
great difficulty in settling
international debts The
rigid standard restricts
economic growth
Unfortunately for the in
ternational bankers. I as an
American taxpayer could
care less how more dif
ficult it makes their job
Whatever it takes to get a
sound and “ legal' dollar
back in the hands of the
citizenry is most impor
tant, not how easy can we
make it for the banking in
dustry
So le t's in fo rm the
elected part of the govern
ment that the unelected
part of government has got
to go If not for their re-
election. then for our
economic freedom
Ralph A Sandercock Jr.
Sandy
River crossed
The family of Stephen
Nicholls wishes to express
t h e ir
most
s in c e re
gratitude to all of our
friends and neighbors of
the Sandy community and
many others from near and
far who have been helpful
with their many expres
sions of sorrow and sym
pathy over the loss of our
son and brother We hope cross your own Rubicon."
somehow to let everyone Steve has crossed his
know how much th eir Rubicon.
prayers, expressions and
m any kind acts have
Dale and Doris (Dad and
helped to sustain us
To Steve's many per Mom) Nicholls, Marilyn,
so n al frie n d s in the Janice, Beverly, W illiam,
Portland area and all over C a th e rin e , Jam es and
the world, we thank you for Donald, and Steve's very
dear friend Lucy LeBlanc
your heartw arm ing ex
pressions and communica
tions
Editor's Note Rubicon, a
We are so very proud of small river in Northern Ita
him and his committment
ly rising just north of San
Marion and flowing 15
to the service of mankind
Stephen was quoted by a miles northeast to the
news reporter as having
A d riatic Sea Caesar's
said, “ When you’ve had a crossing it with his arm y in
baby die in your arms 49 B C. constituted an il
because you couldn't get to legal entry into Italy and
a rehydra tion center quick
thereby initiated Civil War.
ly enough, when you’ve “ To cross or pass the
Rubicon is to embark on an
seen real death and real
starvation up close then it undertaking from which
becomes personal. You one cannot turn back "
The Post gratefully acknowledges essays and written opinions
from readers to appear on this page—separate from the unbiased
news reports on other pages of this newspaper. Your opinions
generally will be printed as letters to the editor, while ours
generally will appear as editorials. Occasionally, we are able to
print guest editorials. We attempt to print all signed letters of
good taste, legible form and reasonable length. Our deadline is
noon on Tuesdays.
Personally speaking:
Poet jousts with mouse in his house
The hasty rustlings in the kit
chen were »low to pique my
curiosity
Alone in the evening, reading
an old Raym ond C handler
favorite, I ’d hear a Uny comma
tion among the sacks of empties,
Being a bit fragile in the bravery
department. 1 cbdnt investigate
I rationalized It away as the shif
ting of cans
Later, I noticed tiny calling
cards left here and there and
decided nature was in the process
of attacking my moroaeneas over
the loaa of my parakeet by sup^
plying a new diversion
A mouse moved in with me
It reminded me of something
from my days in school, groaning
th ro ug h E n g lis h lite r a tu r e
courses just so I could sit by
Kathy Barry.
Robert Burna, feeling a bit of
Scottish guilt after turning up a
mouse in her neat with his plow,
wrote. “ Wee. sleekit. cow'rin*.
tim rous beastie./ O, what a
panic’s in thy breastie*/ Thou
need na start awa sae hasty,/ WI’
tuckering brattle! / 1 wad be taith
to rtn an’ chase thee/ Wt*
m u rd n ng pottle'"
I remembered those lines with
my fingers crossed Myself. I
wed na be taith to rtn an' chase
thee
by DAN DILLON
For weeks our only contacts
were the furtive rustlings in the
kitlhen I'd sneak it., hoping to
sight my new roomie, but always
the shaking in the sacks would
stop (d id n ’t want to paw through
the cans My goodness, there
might have been a mouse in
there
The first time I caught sight of
the wily critter I was in a com
promising position, so to speak,
but I can attest that the surprise
provided a laxative that is at
least the equivalent of prunes
That's not to say I was frighten
ed by that little bunch of fur the
size of a cotton ball Au contraire
In Eugene. I earned quite a
reputation as a mouser
We lived in a wonderful pre fab
tract borne adjacent to a wonder
ful field of weeds Its colony of
’ Mus muaculi” sought our abode
as their harbor in every storm,
whether there was a storm or not,
Well, this bwana once captured
two in the space of 10 minutes.
Even when the trap line paid its
dividends while I was out. it was
my duty to remove the tiny corp
se and reset the trap My room
mates were squeamish about
such goings-on
I'd use Porfo's rubber gloves
when I emptied the traps so I
wouldn't catch any dreaded
mouse diseases I never stopped
to think if our dishes had the
same concern
I accepted it as my duty, being
the Junior member in the partner
ship I also accepted it because it
totally negated any possibility of
pursuing the alternative Cats.
Just typing the word plants the
seed of a horrendous sneeze in the
back of my nose
Dutifully, then, I purchased
new traps without malice to do
bottle with this latest intruder 1
just don't need the excitement
when I'm in the water closet
I baited them with a nice
cheese spread that has been in
my refrigerator since who knows
when, strategically placed them
in locations I won't divulge (who
knows if mice can read?) an!
waiter'
Sure enough The next morning
a trap was lying upside down in
the middle of the kitchen floor
One night, one mouse “ Don’t
mess with this bwana.” I thought
to myself as I picked up the trap.
“ But Mousie, thou art no thy
lane,/ In proving foresight may
be vain: / The best-laid schemes
o' mice an' men/ Gang aft a-gley/
An’ lea'e us nought but grief an’
pain,/ For promised Joy.”
My best-laid scheme gang’d
a-gley an’ left me nought but
grief an' pain.
The little sucker had sprung the
trap, taken the cheese and was
probably waiting for me to admit
defeat
But rather than retreat to more
nightmares of mice running
across my face while 1 sleep, I'll
attack again headlong Into the
battle I wage to live alone.
Only with victory will I have
Bums’ “promised Joy.”