TAX TIME AGAIN. Let me say up front that as a tax and spend liberal, I LOVE paying taxes. It's just that I always screw up my withholding so I end up owing tax, which with my hand-to-mouth spending habits is a hardship every year. This year, though, we just seem to be in a spectacular fiscal mess at the federal, state and local levels.

On the federal side, we have greedy and downright malicious tax cuts, combined with increased military spending and a personal-never-business Iraq war, causing the biggest deficits ever. See this disturbing graph. We knew GWB wasn't a great talker, but it turns out he can't do math either.

On the state side, we have the failure of a quick-fix tax increase, Ballot Measure 28. The failure of the voters and of the Legislature to adequately provide for basic services means very bad things for just about all Oregonians, including cuts to the schools (shortest school year in the nation? sure! 35 kids per class? you bet!) and the courts, my place of business. The state courts will now be closed for business on Fridays, staff will be furloughed and have hours cut, and many crimes will not be prosecuted. The news is dire.

At the local level, we have a mayor and City Council that is focused on spending money on trams, baseball teams, reservoir domes, and the like, even as they plan for an increased local income tax. This is not good.
- posted by thegusdad @ 2/10/2003 09:29:00 AM