Spanky, if you get a chance, please refer me back to where I made the quotes in the box. I need to go back and see what I was thinking at the time.
As to paying average taxes, maybe we do and just don't know it. Have you looked at the burden we have put on property lately. With the bonded debt we are collecting over $20 a thousand, approaching $25 in some locales. This was the level that prompted measure 5. Add to that the 9% income tax and we spend a lot of money on government. The county is on the short end of the stick, but overall we pay out a lot of money. This is in a location that half the property is off-limits to taxes. I visit the Portland area on occassion but never wanted to live there. Obviously the high density allows for the high tax collections and the most efficient delivery of services.
I acknowledge your observation about new business coming to the area. I don't think we have a chance of creating the jobs and economic development to grow our way out of this situation. With a collective mind-set that we are entitled to have the rich pay our bills for us, even if it means taxing them out of existence, we don't have a very bright future. It used to be democracy meant a hundred of us would get together and each put a dollar in the pot and then vote on how to spend it. Now, 99 of us get together and agree to have someone else put a hundred dollars in the pot and then we vote on how to spend it.
Did you know that under our current federal tax system, the top one percent of the incme earners pay 40% of the tax burden? What is more interesting, that 40% is paid on just 22% of the income. The top 5% pay 60% of the taxes on 37% of the income. The Obama group is going to increase their share. We better hurry and get our fair share from them before they run out of money. Do you know what I find to the funniest part of this? After we eliminate a few rock stars , jocks and movie stars, the top level of workers in this group are from the medical profession, and then we whine about the high cost of health care. I truly love the crowd that wants to fix our tax problems on the backs of the corporations. If we would just shift all the taxes to Safeway and Albertsons all our problems would be solved.
I share the frustration of the ignorance of the public. It is not clear if the media is the primary cause or the education system. The sessions the County has scheduled will be interesting. From the list of invitited participants I can guess at the programed outcome. Still, I will attended and participate. As a pragmatic optimist I believe we can educate Handy and the others without waiting for a cataclysmic event to educate them.
