The folks in the House and Senate, that claim to represent the citizens of Oregon, went to work this past June and approved a tax hike over the next two years. The bills, 2649 and 3405, would have raised $733 million to help them balance their 2009-2011 budget.
That all ended a couple weeks ago when the signature gatherers brought in well over 125,000 signature for EACH measure, giving both measures their rightful place on the ballot in January of 2010.
These two measures were the wrong move at the wrong time, what with unemployment in double digits, and well documented irritation from the public over just how inept our elected officials truly are when it comes to representing US!
The public servants (cough cough), typically out of touch (if you don't believe that then you missed the part about the $733 million tax increase), rationalized it by saying it wouldn't amount to that much from each taxpayer affected. Rep. Chris Edwards, from Eugene, was one shining example by saying the increases were akin to "a couple of videos and late fees and a quick trip to KFC."
Well maybe so, but don't you think we deserve the right to decide if that is what we want to do with OUR money? Especially when you are talking about roughly 700 million dollars of our money? The citizens of Oregon seem to think so, and if you don't believe that, reread the 2nd paragraph.
