Oregon‘s Voters Ponder Two Taxing Ballot Initiatives...

Today (Tuesday, January 26th, 2010) Oregonians have been going to the polls to, among other things, consider two Ballot Initiatives that would raise state income taxes on households and businesses to fund government expenditures the legislature there has already spent the projected revenues on!

Economist Randall Pozdena, in a Cascade Policy Institute report, wrote, "Because it taxes gross income rather than net income, the tax easily may exceed a company's net income and can be tantamount to a net income tax of more than 100 percent. Some business owners may not have sufficient net income to pay the gross sales tax. This provision hits especially hard those businesses that use subcontractors and thus may eliminate even more jobs and inefficiently distort business practices."

For Initiative 66, which would raise tax rates on individuals earning $125,000/year or more and households earning $250,000/year or more, opposition has grown from 36% to 44%, while a December Poll showed those in favor have fallen from 55% to 50%.

For Initiative 67, which would raise taxes on businesses in the state, “...for the privilege of carrying on or doing business by it within this state,” opposition has grown 12%, from 33% to 45%, while support has grown just 2% from 46% to 48% since December.

Raising taxes on upper income individuals ALWAYS reduces investments and incentivizes those people to save or defer more of their income in tax-deferred vehicles, which even on the state level often reduces revenues.

Increasing taxes on businesses amounts to both taxing ourselves, as those costs are passed onto us as consumers in higher prices and they cost jobs as companies generally retract when tax rates rise.

I’m hoping that Oregon shows the Dems that the politics of class envy is dead by defeating these two ill-conceived initiatives

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UPDATE: Oregonians passed BOTH Initiatives yesterday, Ballot Measure 66 by 54% to 46% and Ballot Measure 67 by a 53% to 47% margin, with a 60% voter turnout, which is high for such special elections.

Economists there state that the measures could cost the state some 700,000 jobs over the next few years and could cost the state as many as 80,000 high-income filers, and those are the folks who invest and create jobs. What those economists fear is that Oregon is about to find out that both Capital and people are mobile, especially the high-income individuals targeted here.

SEE RESULTS: http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Oregon_Tax_Hike_Vote,_Ballot_Measures_66_and_67_%282010%29