“The proponents claim the extra $1 billion would come from sources not currently paying taxes.”

“If everybody’s tax burden stays the same and we can bring in $1 billion extra every year for education, that sounds pretty good,” says Sen. Mark Hass (D-Beaverton).

That’s an oxymoron, even if the billion would come from sources not paying taxes everyone’s burden wouldn’t stay the same. Does Hass really believe that strippers, panhandlers, prostitutes and drug dealers buy that much stuff? I don’t believe that a sales tax would generate a billion dollars from the underground economy in any case. Super liberal Nazi idiots like Hass, Burdick and Tobias just want more revenue to spend more for stupid programs. Do they have any idea how much a sales tax would burden folks on a fixed income? How about the working poor? This is one of the famous ideas that Barbara Roberts had; you know the moronic analogy of a three legged stool. I hope to see the day we figuratively tar and feather these slimy legislators and run them out of the state.

Having Senator Ginny Burdick pushing a sales tax is a real joke. She is a freeloading bicycle extremist who is adamant about not requiring bicyclists to help pay for often costly specialized bike infrastructure with either a license /registration fee or user fees or both. A year ago or so she even told a neighborhood group her daughter did not own a car, but pedaled her bike all over town including across the Sellwood Bridge. Having Burdick supporting a tax that is basically regressive and then expecting her family to have a free ride on the streets makes her the ultimate hypocrite.

TR, Burdick's freeloading in regards to the $320 Million Sellwood Bridge is even worse when you consider that over 68% of the new bridge width is dedicated to bikes and peds and still having only two lanes of traffic.

Of course people like Sam and Burdick keep repeating how bike infrastructure costs almost nothing.

This turkey gets ran up the flagpole about every 5 years. What a joke. The MOST support it ever got was 29% out of NINE tries.
Our problem is not a lack of revenue, but out of control spending.
Give the govrnment money and they will spend it all and ask for more. (or in the case of Portland borrow the future without even asking).

The sales tax is an inevitability, Jack. The liberals love it because it raises their sainted "revenue." And a disturbing percentage of conservatives love it because it screws the poor disproportionately.

It will never pass. Never, never, never. And they know it. This is just kicking the can.

Forgive my ignorance on the matter, but since Washington's cigarette tax is $3.03 per pack while Oregon's is $1.18 a pack, AND there's no sales tax in Oregon, why doesn't Oregon raise its cig tax by about $1.50 to $2.68? Tax revenues would go up and would still have a price advantage over Washington to bring cig shoppers across the border while getting more money from Oregonians, too. Should do the same for liquor, too.

A sales tax is unlikely to pass as long as Oregon's elected officials recall the memory of Congressman Al Ullman, a moderate Democrat from eastern Oregon, who was for three terms one of the five most powerful elected official in the nation (he was the chairman of the House Ways and Means committee from 1975 to 1981). The voters bounced Mr. Ullman in 1980, notwithstanding his national power, because he proposed a national value-added tax (essentially a national sales tax). His Republican opponent, Denny Smith, gleefully tagged him as "Sales Tax Ullman," and Oregon's voters turned him out.

Yeah Rich, raising taxes on "other people" is the answer. I assume you're a non smoker.

Actually, these "Legislators" must be from California.

As mentioned, about every full moon, some JackWagon wants a SALES TAX . Like the recent election, who knows for sure what might happen, unless the unwashed masses figure out that welfare checks, food stamps, and WIC programs may not cover the added expenses. They wish for the rich to hand over more cash, NOT THEM... THE UNWASHED ENTITLEMENT GROUP.

I wait to see who backs the idea, of a SALES TAX .

Who would back a sales tax? To quote the Dread Pirate Roberts, "No one of consequence."

Anthony I smoke about four cigars a month. Drink probably more than I should (on my second martini right now). My point is that perhaps the state of Oregon should look at increasing sin taxes as they could help reduce smoking and drinking (a good thing) while raising more revenue for the state (another good thing).

Eliot Spitzer: Tax the Traders!

This one is not so new; it has been around for a long time, supported by a wide range of economists, including Nobel laureate James Tobin, as well as advocates, including Ralph Nader in the Washington Post this weekend, and elected officials: a tax on financial transactions.

Here is the idea: A tax of less than half a percent on every $100 of stock sales or sales of other financial instruments including bonds, derivatives, and options. The tax could raise anywhere from $170 billion to $350 billion per year depending how it was applied. Extend that over 10 years, and we are raising almost what the White House and Republicans agree needs to be raised ....

We are all used to paying a SALES TAX when we buy things — almost 9 percent here in New York City. The application of this concept to the financial sector could solve our need for revenue, bring some sanity back into the financial sector, and give us a way to raise the revenue we need to run the government in a fiscally responsible way.

Tenskwatawa: We are all used to paying a SALES TAX when we buy things — almost 9 percent here in New York City.
JK: We are all NOT all used to paying a SALES TAX. Speak for yourself.

Tenskwatawa: almost 9 percent here in New York City
JK: Do you live in New York?

Thanks
JK

Constitutional Amendment proposal:

No tax or fee shall be proposed by a Governor, a member of the Legislature, nor through a citizen initiative, unless the proponent can verify that they will themselves be subject to the tax or fee, and they will not take any action to avoid paying the tax or fee.

Jim Kerlock: ... you're up late hours, tamping down fires . . . of the Spirit of consensus
So are you saying Eliot Spitzer don't know New York's finance traders' business nor New York's mainstream media hooks like 'sales tax on traders' for conversational buzz?

Dreams are aflame, JK, protect supplies of midnight oil.