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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, AuguST 25, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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GUEST COLUMN
Put the interests of people above giant corporations
P
aying taxes is our civic duty. The
government’s duty is to make it
as easy and inexpensive as pos-
sible for us to pay our taxes. But for too
long, Congress has failed to uphold this
responsibility, favoring instead corpora-
tions that profit from our need to file tax
returns.
A bill recently introduced in Con-
gress would fix this problem. U.S. Sen.
Jeff Merkley, U.S. Rep. Earl Blume-
nauer and U.S. Rep.
Peter DeFazio have
co-sponsored the Tax
Filing Simplification
Act, which would cre-
ate a simple and free
way for Americans to
file their taxes. All other
JUAN
members of Oregon’s
CARLOS
congressional delegation
ORDÓÑEZ
should jump on board
this common-sense
reform.
Right now, it costs the average tax-
payer about 13 hours and $240 every
year to file a federal tax return, accord-
ing to Internal Revenue Service figures.
People bear these costs and hassles
even though, for many of them, the IRS
already has all the information on hand
to figure out their tax bill. Do you get a
W-2 from your employer showing how
much you got paid? So does the IRS. Do
you get a 1099 form from the bank tell-
ing you much interest you earned? So
does the IRS. The reality is that people
often spend time and money simply to
tell the IRS what it already knows.
For some families, the harm is
greater. The cost and complexity of tax
filing deters many Americans strug-
Keith Srakocic/AP Photo
The Tax Filing Simplification Act has been introduced in Congress.
gling to get by on low wages from filing
a tax return. While their low incomes
may mean they aren’t required to file a
tax return, it also means they lose out on
tax credits designed to help their fami-
lies make ends meet. In doing so, they
miss out on several thousand dollars that
would make their lives and that of their
children a bit easier.
The problem of families not claiming
tax credits, even though they qualify for
them, is worse in Oregon than just about
every other state.
The Tax Filing Simplification Act
would require the IRS to give peo-
ple easy access to wage and other
data needed to file a tax return that the
agency already has in its possession.
Such a system of prefilled tax returns is
not new; other countries already do it
this way, making filing taxes a zip for
their people.
There’s more. This legislation would
also allow taxpayers with simple returns
to choose to have the government fully
prepare their tax returns. And it would
direct the IRS to create its own free,
online tax preparation and filing service.
Yes, free.
Why doesn’t our country make it
free and easy for people to file their tax
returns? Because a few big corporations
profit from the current, dysfunctional
system.
In 2002, the Bush administration pro-
posed creating a free tax filing system,
but a massive lobbying campaign by
Intuit — owner of TurboTax — killed
the idea. Instead, the IRS agreed to
allow a handful of corporations, in the-
ory, to provide free tax filing software to
as many as 70% of tax filers.
In practice, few people access the
free service. In 2021, less than 3% of
tax filers used the free service. Intuit, for
one, made it so that users could not find
the free service, while steering low-in-
come taxpayers to its paid service. Ear-
lier this year, the company paid $141
million to settle a claim it had deceived
users with promises of free tax filing —
a slap on the wrist for a corporation that
hauled in billions in profits over that
period.
Ultimately, the deal between the IRS
and the corporate tax preparers collapsed
after the IRS put in place measures to
rein in the corporate shenanigans. H&R
Block pulled out of the deal in 2020, fol-
lowed by Intuit’s exit in 2021.
It’s long past due to put the interests
of the American people above those of
a few giant corporations profiting from
our civic duty to pay taxes. The Tax Fil-
ing Simplification Act would save peo-
ple money and hassles, while enabling
many low-paid families to claim tax
credits that improve their well-being.
It’s great that some members of Ore-
gon’s congressional delegation are
already fighting for this common-sense
reform. The rest of the delegation should
get on board.
Juan Carlos Ordóñez is the communi-
cations director of the Oregon Center for
Public Policy.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Selfishness
“P
erhaps” Jim Aalberg doesn’t under-
stand the Constitution in his Aug. 20
letter.
The constitutional “pursuit of happi-
ness” is now what the Not In My Back Yard
(NIMBY) groups are using to kill short-
term rentals? How incredibly laughable and
ignorant.
Is the Constitution only for your pursuit of
happiness? What about my pursuit to retire
in Astoria and need to find a way to keep
my house for the next eight years? Does my
pursuit to be financially stable and “happy”
matter?
What about the thousands of families vis-
iting the coast; does their “pursuit of happi-
ness” matter? Are the only people who have
a constitutional right to pursue their happi-
ness already living on the coast? Let’s call this
for what it is; selfishness. You want exclu-
sive access to exclusive beaches without pay-
ing for it.
There are properties for sale that can get
you there, but it’s going to cost you. I bought
next to 408 state-owned acres, down a dead-
end road, for a reason. I put aside my wishes
of a view or waterfront so I could have pri-
vacy and quietness.
If you want an empty house next to you,
then buy it and let it sit empty. Don’t sit
back and quote the Constitution and claim a
three-day Vrbo client ruins your “pursuit of
happiness.”
There are bad neighbors, too, and guess
what; they are permanent! I don’t blame the
NIMBYs for wanting their piece of heaven to
themselves; honestly, I would, too. Just please
stop being intellectually dishonest.
CHRIS DeLONG
Astoria
Point blank
R
egarding the Clatsop County commis-
sioners’ legal briefing on short-term rent-
als, they have been told now by two expert
land use attorneys, point blank, that:
1. The STR permits issued anywhere in the
unincorporated county, other than Arch Cape,
were issued illegally.
2. The commissioners can let these permits
expire, and not renew them, to come back into
compliance.
3. They have spent three years, and wasted
hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, to
avoid acknowledging their mistake in issu-
ing these STRs, and in trying to cover it up by
passing Ordinance 22-05.
4. They will continue to waste hundreds
of thousands of taxpayer dollars continuing
to fight for the outside business interests who
want STRs, versus what the residents, citizens
and voters of the unincorporated areas of the
county clearly want, and need.
5. The easiest solution to immediately
solve this problem once and for all is to:
Repeal Ordinance 22-05 at their next commis-
sioner meeting; and adopt the STR ordinance
proposed by their own Planning Commission
— made up of local, voting, resident citizens
expressing their communities’ capabilities —
several months ago. Job done!
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
than 250 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
Additionally, the county commission-
ers express at length the amount of tax dol-
lars that come into their coffers from STRs,
but we don’t hear how many of your tax dol-
lars have been spent in the past three years
to come up with Ordinance 22-05, and cost
of enforcing those who ignore the so-called
“best practices” — basically ignoring those
in communities inundated with high percent-
ages of STRs.
JOANNE CORNELIUS
Arch Cape
to other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and should refer to
the headline and date the letter was
published. Discourse should be civil.
Send via email to editor@dailyasto-
rian.com, online at bit.ly/astorianlet-
ters, in person at 949 Exchange St.
in Astoria or mail to Letters to the
Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
Led the fight
or 20 years, Americans have led the fight
against preventable disease. In the wake
of COVID-19, our support matters even
more.
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed global
health systems to the breaking point and set
back our fight against preventable diseases.
For the first time in decades, 2020 saw dan-
gerous declines in progress against HIV/
AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as the pan-
F
demic jeopardized access to testing and
treatments.
Without bold action from world leaders,
we could be on track to reach another con-
cerning “first” — failing, for the first time
since its inception, to fully replenish the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria, the most important resource we have
in the fight to end these diseases.
U.S. leadership plays a critical role in the
Global Fund’s continued growth and success.
In 20 years, Americans’ support for the Global
Fund has helped save 14 million lives, creat-
ing healthier societies and better futures for
people and families around the world. Oregon
alone has helped save 142,005 lives, provide
anti-retroviral drugs to 74,462 people, treat
16,068 people for tuberculosis and distribute
640,412 mosquito nets.
Oregon’s hard-won progress is now at risk.
At its replenishment conference later this year,
the Global Fund needs to raise $18 billion to
recover gains lost to the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic. The U.S. has proposed a $2 billion
per year pledge. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley must
finish the job and get the fight to end HIV/
AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria back on track.
MICHAEL KALKOFEN
Beaverton