How about "reform the tax system to make it more stable across economic cycles"? No? Didn't think so...

I'd totally forgotten we had a governonr. Where the fuck has Kulongoski been for the last two years?

The guv's proposal sounds rational. No excuse for not pulling all state employees and public school teachers into a single health care system.

"Reform the tax system" is the code phrase for sales tax. Even if it was passed, it would be recalled by initiative.

We still have a ways to go with corporate taxation, we remain one of the most tax friendly states for business. The kicker's got to go. Oh yes, and everyone's favorite, the beer tax! Fourth lowest in the country today.

'what about having the wealthiest Oregonians pay a percentage of taxes that's equally proportional to their total wealth? Like, the same as you and I pay.'

Because then they raise prices on all their goods and services and the middle and lower classes are the ones who suffer anyway.

The governor's agenda has been fighting against doing the things he is now proposing for the past 6 years. Better late than never.

Limit all school board districts to 3 school board members only.

R: sadly, you're right, we'll never get a sales tax passed, no matter how sensible it may be. A rational debate on tax simply can't happen in the current political climate. But there's other things that could be done as well to stabilize tax revenues over years, and getting rid of the kicker is top of the list.

The governor's other suggestions seem sensible enough, but they're nowhere near enough to stabilize the economy. It's not about reducing spending (which all except the last aim at); it's about getting the exact same amount of total revenue but without the fluctuations.

Wow. Now if Ted only had a position in government from which to implement these initiatives. You know like the presidency of a state or something. I wish I had paid more attention in Pol Sci.

Sales tax keeps coming up, and yet every time you look at a state that has sales tax you see how badly it works. The net results is always:

A) punishing the lower class, as a greater percentage of their income goes to taxable purchases while a greater percentage of right people's income goes to investments, services, vacations and improvements.

B) Punishing the economy by essentially fining everyone who participates it.

C) Creates an enforcement mechanism that costs almost as much money as it recovers.

D) Annoying the hell out of everyone who has to figure out the tax on every purchase they make, every time.