Oregon to Tax Incomes Above $250,000

Perhaps I'm some kind of strange guy, but I don't think an annual income of $250,000 is all that big a deal. It's a comfortable living, sure, but for a family it's not "rich" by any stretch of the imagination. My wife and I filed taxes a few years ago for something not much less the $150,000, and we were hardly getting all that much more "ahead." And the tax bite on our return was close to 19 percent of income, so there goes nearly $30,000 of your income in a year, and that's not counting sales taxes. So, in this economy, why Oregon voters thought it's a good idea to increase taxes on ostensibly upper-middle class families is a mystery. Californians rejected tax hikes in last year's May 19 vote on Prop 1A. So my sense is that the good-government spirit will prevail over redistributionist arguments here at home. And remember Rasmussen's report the other day, "Most California Voters Don’t See Higher Taxes as a Budget Solution." Just 28 percent thought that raising taxes to solve the budget crisis was a good idea.

What's totally typical is that Oregon's big-union, pro-tax increase lobby campaigned on a bill of deception:

Overall statewide turnout was expected to be around 60 percent of Oregon's 2 million voters.

Tuesday's strong support also validated a strategy by Democratic lawmakers to single out the rich and corporations for targeted tax increases.

Campaign ads by supporters highlighted banks and credit card companies and showed images of well-dressed people stepping off private jets. They also hammered on the $10 minimum tax that most corporations have paid since its inception in 1931.

Those messages helped counter warnings by opponents that the taxes would lead to job losses, worsening the state's 11 percent unemployment rate, and prompt wealthy residents to move elsewhere.

"They did a great job of pounding, 'It's only $10,'" said Bob Tiernan, chairman of the state Republican Party. "We got swamped by the union money."

It's only $10.00? ... That is such a crock. Jesus. And it's obviously not just corporate executives. Those taxes always trickle down to average folks. The union thugs pitched class warfare to make the case, with teachers and public employees institutionalizing a reign of expropriation to prevent a rationalizing of public services. The best thing about this is that Oregon so far looks like an anomaly nationally, and conservative elsewhere have the example of the thugs of the Pacific Northwest for a rallying cry against creeping socialism in 2010.