Matthew Wand: Vote Down Tax Measures for the Good of the State

The following guest opinion appeared in the December 1st Sandy Post and was written by Republican candidate for House District 49 Matthew Wand.

Matthew Wand
Guest Opinion
Sandy Post
Dec 1, 2009

With its dramatic tax increases, the Oregon Legislature has unfortunately chosen extremism over reasonable compromise. Our fellow Oregonians, friends and neighbors are the casualties of the Legislature’s tax increases, falsely sold as a means to fund government that will only affect “the rich.” Ballot measures 66 and 67 are bad public policy in a time when our neighbors who are out of work need pro- growth policies to spur economic expansion and new jobs.

Economists have predicted that as many as 70,000 Oregon jobs will be lost if measures 66 and 67 are passed next month. To keep this number in perspective, Oregon has lost approximately 114,600 private sector jobs from November 2007 until November 2009. The job losses Oregon has already suffered have given us the dubious distinction of one of the highest state unemployment rates in the United States. We should not intentionally pursue any policy, tax increase or otherwise, that we know will lead to any additional job losses, whether the correct number of jobs lost is 70,000 or something less. The next person to lose his or her job could be your neighbor, relative or friend.

In the middle of what some are calling the Great Recession, Oregonians are fighting a costly battle over taxes instead of finding creative solutions to help their neighbors in a time of need. This battle over taxes is wholly unnecessary. With Rep. Nick Kahl’s backing and support, the Legislature rejected all compromises proposed by our small businesses for temporary tax increases, smaller tax increases coupled with reductions in non-essential state spending, and any other middle-ground position that would have avoided these drastic job losses. Now, our own legislators and senators are threatening drastic cuts to education and public safety if we do not agree with their extreme tax increases.

Oregonians have a simple choice in January: do we support this extreme proposal that will directly harm our neighbors who will lose their jobs, or do we tell the Legislature – yet again – that we want to see real spending reform, with prioritized spending that matches our values? It is not good enough to hold schoolchildren hostage to massive tax increases. Oregonians should never be forced to choose between their children’s education and their own jobs…

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