In Southern Oregon, most of our libraries have closed. We didn't have the funding for them, so they are gone. I'd love to get into the nitty gritty of it, but Oregon is a messed up place for government spending anyway, and we need some restructuring all told. I'm tired of our local government holding a gun to our head with new taxes so we can keep the things we were supposedly already paying for.
Anyone who lives in Oregon, please listen to me. Make efforts to promote a sales tax around here. We need one. Badly. We also need a reduction in income tax to go with it. Under the current system, if unemployment in Oregon goes up, we lose most of our funding - this is what happened when our economy got shot in the hip in 2003-04, and schools were threatened to be closed (just a few days were shaved off in the end, and when the taxpayers voted down extra taxes for the freaking public schools we already pay for, our legislators magically found some money lying around that provided our schools the funding they needed).
Right now, illegal immigrants, the homeless, and the unemployed do not pay taxes in Oregon, but they do provide food (somehow) to themselves and sometimes to their large families. The money's coming from somewhere, either illegal jobs or panhandling (or welfare, which can't be taxed). These people need to start paying taxes. Those who make money need to be taxed only if they use it - saving money shouldn't be a taxable offense. So let's reduce income taxes (a lot) and promote the damn sales tax that every other state already has. Do not vote Yes for a sales tax unless the income taxes are going down at the same time.
In the meantime, I'm eating raw cookie dough and gaining weight by the minute.
Topic: The sad truth about Oregon (Read 6500 times)
