DECEMBER 15, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Not all Oregonians treated
fairly with new taxes
As we are midway through De- paycheck to fund transit in what
cember and Christmas is upon us, I amounts to a handful of cities that
wanted to write a few things prepar- have transit systems. Again, that’s
great if you live in a metro area like
ing you for what’s coming in 2018.
First, I have to give a huge shout Salem-Keizer but imagine if you live
out to Danielle Bethell and the Keiz- in Scio. You get nothing for that tax.
er Chamber of Commerce for an- Remember that payroll tax is on all
employees everywhere
other outstanding Holiday
in Oregon; and to make
Lights Parade! Our city is
matters worse, a poten-
served well by our Cham-
tial $250 fi ne to employ-
ber and the great business
ers per employee if they
owners that work tirelessly
don’t take that tax out
to make Keizer a great place
of the employee’s pay-
to live.
checks. Neither of these
I want you to be aware
taxes will benefi t the vast
of what is coming in regards
majority of Oregonians.
to the transportation pack-
Let’s not forget there
age and how it is going to
will be fairly heavy in-
cost all of us some pretty
from the creased DMV fees and
substantial money. Starting
increase in the truck
in January not only will you
capitol an
weight/mileage
fees
be paying more for fuel, but
(which means though
there will be other taxes and
By BILL POST
you and I may not be
fees that I don’t think are
paying that tax directly,
helpful to the vast majority
we will pay more for the
of residents in Oregon.
For instance: the .05 percent ve- goods delivered by truck).
So, while we all want better roads
hicle privilege tax on all new vehicles
sold in Oregon. Now if you are the and bridges and more safety on those
Ford dealership in Keizer, you will roads and bridges, be prepared for
certainly not “eat that.” You’ll have more money out of your pocket and
to pass it on to the consumer. The to not see much difference in our
problem is not just in the tax, it’s roads and bridges in our area. There
where that money goes, not to roads has to be a more equitable way to
and bridges but in the form of a “tax fund our transportation across the
credit” to those who purchase elec- entire state.
Looking ahead to 2018, I am anx-
tric vehicles. Therefore if you are
buying a vehicle and live in Mitch- ious to serve you in the short session
ell, Oregon, where it might be 100 in February as I have two potential
miles from your home to the nearest bills that I am working on. One is to
larger city, you’ve just paid $300-600 protect seed farmers and another to
for basically nothing. An electric car protect teachers from misinterpret-
is something that rural Oregon has ed law on mandatory reporting of
no need for. If you live in a large sexual activity amongst high school
metro area, it might be a good thing students.
I hope to continue to fi ght for less
as you might be inclined to purchase
an electric vehicle with its limitations and smarter government. I want to
on distance it will travel between wish you a Merry Christmas and a
very Happy New Year as well.
charges.
(Bill Post represents House Dis-
Later in July, all employees in Or-
egon, no matter where they live, will trict 25. He can be reached at 503-
have .01 percent taken out of their 986-1425 or via email at rep.bilpost@
oregonlegislature.gov.)
Keizer comes
through again
ing something new—es-
pecially those who now
have a warm jacket. You
are wonderful people,
and the rewards you re-
ceived on delivery day,
will carry you through
the season. We appre-
ciate those near and far who have
supported us—from peanut butter
locally and jelly from out of state,
potatoes and tortillas, wrapping and
delivery…we hope to see you again
next year. Thank you!
Audrey Butler
Keizer Network of Women
letters
To the Editor:
Dear Keizer: Keizer
Network of Women
(KNOW) helped feed
and clothe 387 children
this year, all made possible with your
donations, your shopping skills, and
especially your time.
It is heart-warming to know
these children will have gifts on
Christmas morning. It’s great
knowing these children will cele-
brate, then go back to school, wear-
Films shows leader can change history
By MICHAEL GERSON
The Winston Churchill biopic
Darkest Hour is a movie that should
be seen, but not entirely believed.
Gary Oldman’s alternately fi erce
and vulnerable Churchill is a tri-
umph of both acting and the cos-
metician’s art. Just hearing him de-
liver snippets of Churchill’s speeches
is worth the ticket price. (Am I the
only one who tears up at the words
“We shall fi ght on the beaches”?
My wife: “Probably.”)
But the central conceit
of the fi lm—that a de-
fl ated, defeated Churchill
required bucking up by
average Brits —is a fi ction.
Very nearly the opposite
was true. The policy of
appeasement was broadly
popular in Britain during the early
to mid-1930s. In 1938, a majority
supported Neville Chamberlain’s
deal at Munich (which ceded much
of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Ger-
many in return for ... nothing). It is
more accurate to say that Churchill
summoned British courage and de-
fi ance by his intense idealization
of British character. He saw heroic
traits in his countrymen that even
they, for a time, could not see.
This is not to say that May and
June of 1940 weren’t dark times,
even for Churchill. As resistance in
France collapsed and Italy seemed
destined to enter the war on Ger-
many’s side, Churchill asked his
chiefs of staff if it were possible to
continue the war at all (they gave a
conditional “yes”). The despair im-
plied in that question still startles.
But on June 3, even as Brit-
ish troops were being evacuated at
Dunkirk, Churchill’s private sec-
retary Jock Colville wrote in his
diary: “Winston is tired of our al-
ways being on the defensive and is
contemplating raids on the enemy.
‘How wonderful it would be,’ he
writes to [Gen. Hastings] Ismay,
‘if the Germans could be made to
wonder where they were going to
be struck next instead of forcing
us to try to wall in the Island and
roof it over.’” In the midst of catas-
trophe, Churchill was dreaming of
Normandy (and North Africa, and
Italy). Not the thoughts
of a defeated man.
Where Darkest Hour
shines is in presenting
the alarming, inspiring
contingency of great
events. In the spring of
1940, Europe was being
shaken by massive, im-
personal, world-historic forces—the
apparent failure of liberal democra-
cy and free markets, the rise of com-
munism and fascism, the unleashing
of anti-Semitism. Millions marched,
line by line, to the “Horst Wessel”
song or the “Internationale.”
And yet, in saving the remnants of
the British Army at Dunkirk, it fell
to 665 private British boats (along
with 222 British warships) to rescue
their country from (likely) capitu-
lation or invasion. All the powerful,
impersonal forces funneled down
and down to 665 volunteer captains
in pleasure craft and fi shing trawlers.
The future of freedom was deter-
mined by the choices and courage
of a few hundred free people.
And, of course, the choices and
courage of one man. A New York
Times review of Darkest Hour
sneered at the movie’s “great man
fetish.” But is there really any doubt
that history would be darker if
Churchill had truly lost his nerve,
other
voices
or had died when hit by a car in
New York in December of 1931 (he
escaped with two cracked ribs and
a severe scalp wound)? History can
hinge on a single life.
From Churchill, we learn to resist
pessimistic extrapolation. May 1940
was terrible, but not permanent. We
learn the power of unreasonable op-
timism—the value of planning for
revival in the midst of defeat. We see
the possibility of leadership that can
not only ride the tide but summon
it.
Many of us view this example,
not only with appreciation, but with
longing. The problem of our time is
not only arrogance without accom-
plishment or swagger without suc-
cess. These are common enough in
politics. Rather, it is the arrival of
leadership that survives by feeding
resentment, hatred and disorient-
ing fl ux. Leadership urging us—at
angry rallies, in ethnic stereotyping,
through religious bigotry—to for-
get who we really are as a people.
Leadership that has ceased to be-
lieve in the miracle at our country’s
heart—the inclusive, unifying pow-
er of American ideals.
But the moment is not perma-
nent. Many are looking for a place
to invest their hope. And some lead-
er, we trust, will rise who calls his
countrymen to choose decency and
civic friendship above the destruc-
tive pleasures of hatred and blame.
Who can see and summon the best
in American character, even if, for
the moment, it is hidden.
In the meantime, we shall fi ght
on the beaches.
(Washington
Group)
Post
Writers
Classless society? Not so much anymore
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By GENE H. McINTYRE
Income inequality, and its corol-
lary, much more for the few and
much less for the many in access to
goods, services and even educational
opportunity, has of late become a
concern again. Some conservatives
argue that this kind of talk is un-
wise as it will do harm to economic
growth. These Americans, seeking
the matter muted, want us to ignore
the growing disparities, viewing such
discussions as un-American. For
them, it’s a no-no to sug-
gest that some people con-
trol too large a share of the
nation’s wealth, possessing
inordinate power and per-
manency by it, keeping ev-
ery cent of it for their heirs.
Of course, then, no true
conservative
American
would ever say this: “The
absence of effective state, and, espe-
cially, national, restraint upon unfair
money-getting has tended to create
a small class of enormously wealthy
and economically powerful men
whose chief objective is to hold and
increase their power” and not call, as
a result, for “a graduated inheritance
tax on big fortunes, increasing rap-
idly in amount with the size of the
estate.”
Who was this “threat” to those
who believe it an American right
to greedily own and control forev-
er, everything in sight? Why it was
none other than a conservative Re-
publican former President Theo-
dore Roosevelt, in a speech on the
“New Nationalism, “ he delivered in
1910.
Fact of matter is, in the early part
of the last century, a number of lead-
ing Americans warned about the
dangers of extreme wealth concen-
tration being passed along untouched
and supported tax policy used to
limit the growth of big fortunes. An-
other example from the time came
from noted economist Irving Fisher
in 1918 to warn against the effects
of “an undemocratic distribution of
wealth” and spoke in favor of ways
to limit inherited wealth through ef-
fective taxation of estates. Economist
Thomas Piketty said that taxation
to reduce income and
wealth disparities was an
“American invention.”
Back another 100
years, this “American
invention” had its roots
in the Jeffersonian vision
of an egalitarian society
of small farmers. At the
time Teddy Roosevelt
gave his speech, thoughtful Ameri-
cans realized that extreme inequality
was making a mockery out of Jef-
ferson’s dream while the U.S. was in
considerable danger of turning into a
society dominated by huge fortunes
and hereditary wealth. Their view:
that this relatively new nation, the
United States of America, was at high
risk of becoming decadent, corrupt,
self-indulging, and rotten-to-its-core,
like Old Europe.
Taking notice of current data, it is
interesting to look at the Forbes list
of the wealthiest Americans and, by
a somewhat rough count, to be aware
of the top inherited large fortunes
that about a third of them are inher-
ited. Another third are 65 or older,
so they will likely leave large fortunes
to their heirs. The bottom line is that
we are closing in on becoming an ar-
guest
column
istocracy of hereditary wealth.
Hence, criticizing our fel-
low Americans who talk about the
dangers of concentrated wealth in
a very few hands misleads the pub-
lic into ignoring the consequenc-
es from history where nations with
concentrated wealth led to decadent,
corrupt, self-indulging, rotten-to-
the-core cultures. It should be very
American to be concerned and to do
whatever’s possible to replace those
members of Congress who are busy
now with a new taxation scheme
making sure that the wealthy can ag-
grandize excessively and keep it all
for those they have sired.
Masterpiece Theatre presentations
such as Upstairs, Downstairs and Down-
ton Abbey glorifi ed and celebrated
domestic service in the England of
near yesteryear. However, that work
in reality meant totally surrender-
ing one’s freedom, being at the beck
and call of inherited wealth and fac-
ing loss of employment for the most
petty of infractions. In Merry Ole
England, if you were not born rich,
then you served the rich, for all in-
tents and purposes you gave up your
citizenship to the rich, you dug coal
to keep the rich warm or you starved
and no one gave a damn and a class
society ruled. Is this what Americans
want for their progeny?
(Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.)
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