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Donangelo's comments:
on Tax Measures
I encourage you to read all of the posts on this issue. Some present facts and logical arguments; others don’t even seem to know what the bills actually say. Can you tell which is which? Some heap calumny on their opposition, like their mothers never told them that honey attracts more flies than vinegar. Unfortunately the quality of this debate is an embarrassment to intelligence.
One could say our public education system is to blame. Up until the mid 1980’s the high school at which I taught and I believe all high schools in the state required seniors to take a course titled “Modern Problems,” which taught how to think logically about political issues. It was then replaced with “Personal Finance,” as if learning how to handle our credit cards were more important than becoming an educated voter.
I have two grandkids attending Redmond High School. The Redmond School District is so strapped for cash that all schools meet only four days a week. Is your personal sacrifice if the measures pass really worse that this educational catastrophe, which will only get even more severe if the measures don’t pass?
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on Tax Measures
Your letter implies that you make more than $125,000, assuming you are single. The 1.8% surtax only applies to more than that if you are single. If you made as much as $250,000, you would have to pay an additional $2250, leaving you with only $247,750 for other expenses. I have heard that residency requirements turn all MD’s into supermen, so it seems to me this is a challenge you might be able to handle with some measure of understanding and grace. You complain of your huge student loans and I agree completely. I think that all education should be free, since educated citizens are a boon to society, and there should be no such thing as student loans. But just because you are suffering the injustice of student loans, why take it out on the Oregon public education system and other services? What is the path of love here?
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on Tax Measures
I saw the ad again and realized I had misunderstood it. My apologies! I still haven’t managed to record it to take a really close look. Now I see that the couple in the small shop is laying off their employee, and then her husband comes in stating he has also been laid off. Fortunately misreading the action does not alter my conclusion. It still strikes me as a lie. If they have sales of $500,000, the .1% tax is $500. They need to lay off their employee because they have to pay an additional $42.00 a month in taxes? I still say give me a break! A business would have to have sales of upwards of $18,000,000 to make it worth considering laying off one employee, and a business that size would probably have many employees. Sure, it’s conceivable that such a business might choose to lay off an employee, but I doubt there would be very many, and it is certain that if 66 and 67 fail, many personnel would be laid off in education, public safety, and other services.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on Tax Measures
The opposition is airing a TV ad about a couple of small business owners who have to close down their business because of the onerous taxes of Measure 67. As far as I can make out, this ad is a complete lie. If they have sales of $500,000, the .1% tax is $500. They need to close their business because they have to pay $500? Give me a break!
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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