LOL, THE ARTS TAX
RE: âThe Arts Tax Is Brokenâ [News, Sept 20], News Editor Dirk VanderHartâs piece about the Portland Arts Tax, which has âunderperformed and underspentââwith less revenue and higher administrative costs due to the shocking fact that âitâs difficult to convince more than 360,000 people to pay $35 on top of their yearly filings.â
There is an easy solution to this: Rewrite the tax to collect the same amount of money, but to collect it either from a payroll tax or a property tax. This would eliminate all the wasted money for overhead while still maintaining the tax. That, or just cancel the thing altogether. But spending 12 percent of the money collected administering it is ridiculous.
econoline
STEEEEEE-RIKE!
RE: âPortlandâs Almost Certainly Not Getting an MLB Team, But Letâs Speculate Anywayâ [Blogtown, Sept 21], News Reporter Doug Brownâs story about how Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred noted that âPortland would be on a listâ if the league expands from 30 to 32 teams.
Take it from a Washington, DC, native: Portland is just the latest scam that the MLB is trying to run on various cities around the country who are refusing to play along with stadium plans. Every time a municipality would balk at the cost of either refurbishing an existing facility or building a new one from scratch, the DC sports news reporters would be fed stories about âBaseballâs imminent return to our nationâs capital!â Didnât happen until Montreal gave MLB a hard noâand just like that, the Expos migrated south and became the Nationals.
So donât hold your breath. Just jump on the Bolt Bus and head up to the Emerald City to watch the Mariners.
tommyspoon
THE BLAME GAME
RE: âWildfire Diariesâ [Feature, Sept 20], Martha Groverâs reflection on experiencing the Eagle Creek Fire. âIâm not angry at the boys who threw the fireworks into the woods,â wrote Grover. âIt was not their fault that my home is now burning as I write this. The fault lies with all of us. We donât know what normal is. Our history is one environmental catastrophe after another.â
Actually, we are not all at fault for the Eagle Creek Fire. This fire had a very specific cause and perpetratorâan idiot teen and his parents, who transported illegal fireworks to the Gorge from Vancouver with the intention of using them. The devastation caused by this fire will not be repaired in our lifetime, and the teen, his friends who participated, and his parents should be held accountable and receive penalties to the full extent of the law, as would happen with any other crime. The attempt by this author and others to absolve these individuals is absurd. Yes, the dry forest contributed to the spread and damage of this fire, but it was human-caused and entirely preventable.
Oregongal
SCHOOLâS IN SESSION
RE: âJeff Sessions Delivers a Drawling, Hysterical, Fear-Mongering Message to Portlandâ [Blogtown, Sept 19], News Editor Dirk VanderHartâs account of Attorney General Jeff Sessionsâ visit to Portlandâand his drawling, hysterical, fear-mongering speech to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
These old men are worried that theyâre going away. Itâs not going to change anything, but as they age out, theyâll act out their neuroses on the populace. The good thing is theyâre going to die off, and soon, while a large majority of people under 40 disagree with everything they have to say.
So do what youâre doing. Fight back. Rub their noses in their mediocrity and stupidity. Let them know that everything they hold dear will come to nothing in the end. Because thatâs what drives them mad: The fact weâre going to win simply by virtue of not being old, sad, angry, and stupid. Weâre going to win because decency and ethics win in the long term over anger, hate, graft, and gullibility.
Fuck off, Jeff Sessions. Youâre going to die soon.
The Beans
For obvious reasons, The Beans, you win the Mercuryâs letter of the week, and two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater.
Letters and comments may be edited for space. Email us at lovenotes@portlandmercury.com.
