Ours is not to reason why

If our ballot ever gets here (the Multnomah County elections folks, usually reliable, screwed things up this time), we'll be voting soon on a hideously misguided proposed new county income tax, this one on capital gains. We just added a general county income tax a couple of years ago, but it's as if that wasn't enough to kill off whatever economy Portland has left.

Anyway, we got some election porn from the "no" folks in the mail the other day:

It's an interesting argument the opponents are going with here: The tax would be imposed only on individuals, not corporations. Since when has that ever stopped Portland voters from piling it on? The arts tax, for example; corporations don't have to pay it.

I guess the "no" crowd figures that upper-middle-class people and above are a lock to vote against the tax, leaving the lower-middle and the little folks to try to persuade. "Big corporations won't pay!" may be a good rallying cry for that segment of the electorate. But I wouldn't bet on it prevailing.

Over on Side 2, the opponents get into some of the many other reasons why this tax is a stinker and needs to be voted down. But they're in small type, to be sure.

The bit about being taxed when you sell your comic book collection is funny, but they could have made an even stronger case. Anything you sell at a profit at a garage sale would trigger the tax, unless you're in the garage sale business.

To me, the "nut graf" is "No Need." The money this foul tax would raise would be dedicated to helping people who don't need any more help, and frankly, many of them don't deserve it. The new far-left mantra in Portland, embraced by many politicians and the nonprofit industrial complex, is "All Landlords Are Bastards." All the while we're supposedly in the throes of a housing shortage. You can't have it both ways, kids. If you want more places to rent, you have to stop persecuting the people who rent them out.

In any event, I don't care why people vote "no" on the supreme nonsense known as Measure 26-238. As long as they do.

Comments

  1. I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving. It’s going to take a while to unwind.

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  2. I’d be a no vote on this but I dislike the phrasing after the comic collection bit. We need an overhaul of taxation from top to bottom in this country to simplify things and to stop taxing the things we want and start taxing the things we don’t. This particular tax proposal is a stinker for sure.

    But taxes aren’t penalties, and saying that capital gains would be “penalized” instead of just saying “taxed” is a big part of why we don’t make any progress on tax reforms. Since FDR the malefactors of great wealth have waged war against government and taxation, and demonizing taxes and taxation is the #1 refrain in their chorus, and it’s a big problem.

    “ Capital gains aren't just for rich people. Under Measure 26-238, even a small profit from selling a home, saving for retirement with investments, building a small business-or selling a comic book collection! -would be penalized.”

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  3. Read my lips.... The Dims solution is more taxes and then piss it all off and come begging for more. NO!

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    Replies
    1. It's always amusing to me that the Repug that said 'read my lips-no new taxes' instituted new taxes.

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    2. The county could pass an ordinance saying estimated tax is not required. But they won't. They love taxation with a vengeance.

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