Hooray for the Little Guys and Gals

[Barry]

Well, we did it. Here in Oregon we passed measures 66 and 67 yesterday. One institutes a 2% tax increase on housholds with incomes over $250,000, and the other raises the minimum corporate income tax from $10.00 to $250.00.

I really feared these would go down in flames. The ads were all making it look like small businesses would have to fire employees and/or shut down. Come on, ten bucks is nothing to even a smalll business, not to mention a major corporation, and two-fifty is not a huge amount either. As for households making over 250K, good grief; if our household made that I think we could pony up another five thou a year and not be hurt too bad. Sure we'd grumble, we wouldn't like it, but jeez, 250K a year is enough to provide a lavish standard of living by any measure. We've been eeking by on between thirty and fifty our entire marriage of fifteen years, much of that time with six kids in the house. 250K annually sounds like some kind of fantasy life to me.

Anyway, we passed 'em, thank God. It's a victory for Main Street in this time of Wall Street taking over the world.

Peace,
Barry

[stilltrucking]

I saw that in theNYTimes today. Thought of you.

[mousey1]

*clappy clap clappy* Sounds good to me.

[hester_prynne]

I WANT TO MOVE BACK TO OREGON!!!!!
Damn, it was a wonderful thing to see!
Let's hope Oregon sets a new standard!
H

[mtmynd]

Perhaps a political trend in the works...?

[Barry]

Well, ya know...Oregon was the first state with a bottle bill.

[mtmynd]

a bottle bill..? is that a deposit made at the time of purchase of bottled products or...?

[still.trucking]

Oregon the first state a wife could charge her husband with rape. I think?

[mtmynd]

how much can she charge for rape?

[still.trucking]

Accuse would have been a better word for it than charge.

Oregon a radical state. Lots of firsts there. Strange I should remember that case from 1977, it was big new, they even made a movie about it. Check it out here

Linda Hamilton plays Gretta Rideout, an abused wife who constantly gets raped by her husband. In 1977 Oregon the rape law is changed so wives can accuse their husbands of rape. The Rideout Case is the first in Oregon history after this new law & this motion picture is the story. Linda Hamilton gives a great first leading performance in this gritty made for TV drama. Mickey Rourke is great as the abusive husband. Overall this TV is a must see with such an important subject matter.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081402/

[Barry]

http://www.bottlebill.org/legislation/usa/oregon.htm

In 1972, way before any other state, Oregon implemented the Bottle Bill, placing a deposit paid to and from the retailer on beer bottles and cans and pop bottles and cans. These cans used to say OR deposit five cents on top. Nowadays there's a whole crapload of states listed that have jumped on the bandwagon. And now water bottles are included, too.

Yeah, we're a progressive state, but it's a bad memory that we elected a Klan governor in 1928, according to my college history professor, one Leo Uris, former student body president of Portland State University in 1974.

We have our problems, too, just like everyone else.