(Op-Ed) Yesterday, voters in Oregon approved two measures that will raise taxes on high-income residents and corporations, enabling a state plagued by 11 percent unemployment to avoid severe cuts to education and other public services. As it turned out, the referenda passed easily, by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent, notwithstanding efforts by business groups to convince Oregonians that the taxes would kill jobs. Most states, including Oregon until now, finance their government through highly regressive systems, felt most heavily on the backs of low- and middle-income families.
Oregon now joins seven other states that have added higher tax brackets for upper-income residents: Maryland, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Hawaii, New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The outcome in Oregon suggests that unhappy voters may be open to a more liberal course of action rather than less of one.
(Continue reading the blog at the Century Foundation)
I don’t really feel that this is “Good News”. It may be good news for the low- and middle-income families, but not for the high-income residents/families and Corporations. Also, if Corporations are being asked to pay higher taxes, then that money will come out of empoyee wages, higher product costs, cut-backs on benefits, etc….
I think the question is “higer than what?” If the average tax payer knew what most corpation actually paid in Federal income tax, most people would be shocked. The averge corporation in America pays less than
15% in taxes due to write offs and other loopholes in the tax code.
I suggest that those who are opposed to increasing corporate taxes do a lilttle research on companies that
are located in their own state. I think it will be a revelation.