MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
Baker City, Oregon
4A
Write a letter
news@bakercityherald.com
EDITORIAL
Hoping
governor
is getting
a message
The efforts to put a recall of Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown on the ballot is a visible sign of the rural-
urban divide.
There are two separate efforts underway — one
sponsored by the Oregon Republican Party, the other
by a self-proclaimed grassroots organization that
goes by the descriptive moniker “Flush down Kate
Brown.”
To get a recall on the ballot, either group needs
to collect 280,050 valid signatures from registered
voters by Oct. 14. Realistically, either effort will need
well over 300,000 signatures to survive challenges.
Our colleagues at the Oregon Capital Bureau
talked with people signing the petitions at the Or-
egon State Fair.
The majority of those interviewed at the fair strug-
gled to specify why they wanted to recall Brown, and
seemed to be doing so based on a gut feeling. Most
commonly, people brought up cap and trade — a
failed effort by the Legislature that Brown backed to
curb greenhouse gas emissions.
“My understanding is that a lot of people just don’t
think Salem cares about them right now,” said Linn
County GOP Chair Adam Keaton.
Indeed. Many Oregonians feel that political leaders
such as Brown have not only abandoned them but
are actively working against their interests.
Kate Brown is not a wildly popular governor. As
secretary of state, she ascended to offi ce when John
Kitzhaber resigned in 2015. She barely won a major-
ity of votes in the special election to fulfi ll Kitzhaber’s
remaining term in 2016 and won just 50% of the vote
in 2018 when she was elected for her own four-year
term. A recent poll found her to be one of the least
popular governors in the country.
Recall efforts are a long shot, even with offi cials of
marginal popularity. In the absence of actual corrup-
tion or malfeasance, we question the wisdom of try-
ing to overturn legitimate elections either by recall
or impeachment. It’s a clumsy way to reconcile policy
differences.
Still, we understand the frustration that farm-
ers, ranchers, loggers, truckers, fi shermen and other
working Oregonians — rural and urban — are feel-
ing. They think they have no other options left but
to replace Kate Brown with the next offi cer in the
line of succession — state Treasurer Tobias Read, a
Democrat who is at least as liberal as Brown.
What they really want is for Brown and other
urban leaders to hear their concerns and take them
seriously.
Do they have her attention now? We can only hope.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Baker City Herald.
Columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions
of the authors and not necessarily that of the Baker City Herald.
Letters to the editor
• We welcome letters on any issue of public interest.
Customer complaints about specifi c businesses will not be
printed.
• The Baker City Herald will not knowingly print false
or misleading claims. However, we cannot verify the
accuracy of all statements in letters to the editor.
• Letters are limited to 350 words; longer letters will be
edited for length. Writers are limited to one letter every 15
days.
• The writer must sign the letter and include an address and
phone number (for verifi cation only). Letters that do not
include this information cannot be published.
• Letters will be edited for brevity, grammar, taste and
legal reasons.
Mail: To the Editor, Baker City Herald,
P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814
Email: news@bakercityherald.com
Wealth tax just doesn’t add up
Elizabeth Warren, the Massachu-
setts senator and Democratic presiden-
tial candidate, recently proposed a way
to make it easier to fund government
programs: a 2% tax on all personal net
worth in excess of $50 million and a 3%
tax on net worth in excess of $1 billion.
One estimate has this tax yielding
$2.75 trillion of revenue over 10 years.
Other Democrats in the presidential
race have advocated other wealth taxes
as well.
Election season is a great time to
vet big ideas, and this one should not
pass the test. It will not make our tax
system more equitable, and in reality
it will not raise enough revenue to pay
for much.
We all have different ideas about
what’s fair, but the wealthiest Ameri-
cans already pay a very large share
of the tax burden. According to Pew
Research, in 2014, people with incomes
above $250,000 per year paid 51.6% of
all individual U.S. income taxes. The
top 0.1% of income earners pay 31.1%
of their income in federal taxes. Those
in the bottom 50% pay considerably
less than 10 percent, and many pay no
federal taxes at all.
In a market economy, we earn
wealth as a reward for producing
something consumers value. Steve Jobs
accumulated $8 billion for developing
products like iPhones that millions
wanted and were willing to pay for.
Taxing this wealth means less incen-
tive to serve customers through innova-
tion or lower prices, both of which raise
TRACY MILLER
living standards.
The wealthy also pay high tax rates
on the income they earn from investing
their wealth. A large share of American
wealth is invested in productive capital.
Greater capital investment means
more business technology and infra-
structure, which make workers’ time
more productive and enable them to
earn higher wages.
Additionally, to get through Con-
gress, a new wealth tax would almost
certainly be full of the usual loopholes
for special interests. After all, mem-
bers of Congress rely heavily on fund-
ing from wealthy donors.
Wealth tax proposals would give
one-percenters less incentive to serve
American consumers and more incen-
tive to seek and take advantage of the
tax favors politicians dole out. That
also means it would raise consid-
erably less money than we might
expect.
The only way to raise substantial
revenue from a wealth tax is to im-
pose it on a much larger share of the
population than just the super rich,
as they do in Switzerland. Its wealth
tax, which generates 3.3% of Swiss
tax revenue, is paid by middle class
taxpayers with a net worth as little as
about $100,000 in U.S. dollars.
A number of other high-income
countries have tried and abandoned
their own wealth taxes; 12 European
countries had annual wealth taxes
in 1990. All but three have since
repealed them, for reasons including
scant revenue raised, hefty admin-
istration costs, reduced economic
growth, and an exodus of wealthy
individuals and their money.
Looking at the 2% wealth tax pro-
posed by French economist Thomas
Piketty, the Tax Foundation estimated
a 4.2% reduction in American wages,
a 13% reduction in the capital stock,
900,000 jobs lost and a 4.9% reduction
in GDP. The diminished economic ac-
tivity leaves only about $20 billion in
annual revenue from the wealth tax.
Finally, a tax applied to all kinds of
wealth would be diffi cult to enforce,
requiring a large and costly expansion
of the IRS. Some assets, like privately
held businesses, artwork, and other
collectibles, are very diffi cult to assign
a value to.
There’s no question that we need to
balance the government’s books and
avoid a future default on our grow-
ing debt. A wealth tax is not the best
way to do it. Eliminating the loopholes
in our current income tax system and
cutting government spending might
not excite the electorate, but that would
boost economic growth while reducing
defi cits.
Tracy C. Miller is a senior policy research
editor with the Mercatus Center at George
Mason University. He received his Ph.D. in
economics from the University of Chicago.
GUEST EDITORIAL
E-bikes not suitable for public land
Editorial from The (Bend)
Bulletin:
The Trump administration moved
in the last week of August to allow
electric bicycles — e-bikes — on public
lands managed by Interior Department
agencies. The order is being billed as a
way to expand access to public lands,
particularly to older and younger
Americans, and although it may do
that, the cost is too high.
While the order doesn’t apply to
the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it
does apply to lands managed by the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serve, the Bureau
of Land Management, the Bureau of
Reclamation and the National Park
Service.
That means, in this part of Oregon,
public lands afi cionados might run into
e-bikes at Crater Lake National Park
in Klamath County, while horseback
riding and camping in Crook and Jef-
ferson counties and elsewhere.
There will be limits on e-bikes, to be
sure. Wherever nonmotorized bikes are
banned, e-bikes will be banned. Thus,
they won’t be allowed in wilderness
areas where bicycles of all kinds are
prohibited.
Unfortunately, however, e-bikes
that will be allowed do pose problems.
E-bikes can be real hazards around
horses, which tend to spook at unrec-
ognized noises and sudden movements
around them.
And, they can be dangerous and
disruptive to hikers and others. While
the Interior Department order limits
e-bikes to “low-speed” models, some
of those models the order allows can
reach speeds of 28 miles per hour.
E-bikes may make sense in urban
parks, like those operated by the Bend
Park & Recreation District. They need
to keep the speed down, though.
Even outside of designated wil-
derness areas people on nonurban
public lands aren’t looking for an urban
experience, and that’s what e-bikes can
generate. Strict limits and rules about
where they can be used may help, but a
ban for public lands is better.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Donald Trump: The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414; fax
202-456-2461; to send comments, go to www.whitehouse.gov/
contact.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. offi ce: 313 Hart Senate Offi ce
Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753;
fax 202-228-3997. Portland offi ce: One World Trade Center, 121
S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386;
fax 503-326-2900. Pendleton offi ce: 310 S.E. Second St. Suite
105, Pendleton 97801; 541-278-1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce: 221 Dirksen Senate
Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-
228-2717. La Grande offi ce: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR
97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District): D.C. offi ce: 2182
Rayburn Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-
6730; fax 202-225-5774. La Grande offi ce: 1211 Washington Ave.,
La Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.
house.gov.
State Sen. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario): Salem offi ce: 900 Court
St. N.E., S-301, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. District offi ce:
P.O. Box 1027, Ontario, OR 97914; 541-889-8866.
State Rep. Lynn Findley (R-Vale): Salem offi ce: 900 Court
St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.
LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov