If you don't like Sam Adams' proposal for a "sliding scale" business tax, you can vote him out of office next time around. That's how a representative democracy is supposed to work.
But I like his idea. In fact, I think it could apply just as well to the property tax should voters ever get rid of Don McIntire's Measure 5. Then you wouldn't hear the whining about old people on fixed incomes being forced out their homes by ever rising real estate valuations coupled with the demand for more property tax money to fund schools, parks, and libraries.
The issue is a simple one --tax fairness. And a fair tax is a 'progressive' tax, normally associated with the graduated income tax. But there's absolutely no reason why the notion of graduated taxation couldn't apply to business or property taxes. Even Adam Smith believed that the rich should be taxed at a higher rate.
In Oregon, unfortunately, true progressive taxation seems to be an alien concept.
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Bernie Giusto, the Multnomah County Sheriff, is a different story. Sure, he too can be voted out of office for his obstinance and refusal to work with the elected representatives on the Multnomah County Commission, the policy makers who decide how much money is allocated to county law enforcement and corrections. But that's not likely to happen without Giusto commiting some heinous crime or blatant act of moral turpitude.
My question is this, and it's an obvious one: Why is the sheriff's job an elected position in the first place? I mean, we don't elect the Portland police chief, do we? That's the Mayor's decision. The same ought to be true of the county sheriff. Let the chair of the county commission, with the advice and consent of the other four commissioners, decide who should become sheriff.
If that were the established procedure, you can be sure that by now it would be "Bye Bye Bernie."
I dunno, I think Giusto's done a good job. Think you or any of the other 2 idiot candidates who ran against him could have done better?
Posted by: Donald Insider | November 28, 2006 at 09:06 PM