My sons think I lack an adequate filter. NOT true.
Last night I wrote a fairly long post and deleted it 5 minutes later, in something of a panic move. I remembered that my blog address is at the bottom of my emails, and someone I'd sent an email an hour earlier was referred to anonymously in my blog. But they would have recognized themselves, and that would have been...AWKWARD.
Never mind the specifics, and it wasn't anything gossipy or snarky. But unless/until we have that conversation in person they should't read about it on my blog.
Thinking "out loud" here has its borders, which is why I deleted the post.
At 6:30 it's 95 outside and 93 inside. Uncomfortable. In another hour the sun will be behind the trees to the west, the temp will start to drop, and the nice breeze blowing won't feel like a hair dryer.
My day started at 4 a.m., scrubbing the kitchen floor on hands and knees. That 70's vinyl flooring gets nasty quickly and the only way to deal with it is a green scrubby, Comet powder cleanser, and elbow grease. It looks a lot better now.
Tomorrow morning I attack the same vintage vinyl in the bathroom.
From the kitchen floor out to the log pile for more cutting rounds and hauling them up to the pile. Ugh.
Once the sun was beating down on that area I moved up to the area for the goat pen and continued digging post holes. I got four of the posts set and braced with a cross piece and started digging three more.That's not going well. The ground is very hard, in part because we haven't had a drop of rain since before Josh & Aubri in early June. So I use the post hole digger for a few inches, then fill with water, wait, and repeat, going back and forth between holes. I also make liberal use of that digging bar I bought. By 2 p.m. it was well into the 90's and I was into the house.
How far back do taxes go? Samuel warned Israel that the king they were asking for would tax them heavily, so at least back beyond that point. Nobody likes paying taxes and all governments want more money, so it's about finding that delicate balance. The govt. takes as much as they can right up to the point where the citizens revolt, physically or by voting them out. That's a moving line that shifts with the public's attitude and rising or falling economies.
What if govt. could get a whole stack of tax money, a really big pile of green stuff, with no complaint from the people?! The trick would be to find something you could tax heavily that people are so eager to do that they'll pay a hefty tax just for the privilege.
Enter...the lottery! Intellectually challenged people, usually people who can least afford to give their money away, are so excited about the possibility of riches that they'll buy lottery tickets with almost no mathematical chance of winning. The state encourages this stupidity with enticing ads suggesting we might win millions, followed (at least here in OR) by ads telling us about the help available to those with a gambling addiction.
The only one getting rich here is the state.
What to do when all the lottery-generated tax money is allocated? Go find more in another activity people are so eager to do that they'll gladly pay tax at a rate of 25%.
Pot.
Oregon legalized medical marijuana, then recreational pot, then last June approved pot edibles - all kinds of cookies, candies, and almost anything else that can be doctored with a dose of THC.
The pot tax has brought in over $25 million so far this year in OR, in excess of four times the amount the state estimated before legalization took effect. Add in the tax income generated by the growers, distributors, and related businesses (e.g. commercial real estate) and the state has a cash cow.
Once the legislators have had a fix of no-risk tax dollars, especially at this scale, there's no going back. Like crack cocaine to a junkie.
So, do we have fully funded schools? Improved fire and police services? Increased programs for disabled and abused children?
Nope.
The law says that x% of lottery income has to be spent on schools. And that money does go to the schools. But something very close to that amount is now seen as "available, and diverted to budget items best suited to getting incumbents re-elected.
Meanwhile, we've seen the expected rise in pot-related car crashes. And because the experts say there's no good way to quantify the amount or effect of THC in a person's blood the legislators are unable to establish a pot DUI law.
Wave a 25% tax people will pay without complaint in the eyes of a legislator and the majority of them will make it happen. Oregon my have been among the first, but this will spread.
No comments:
Post a Comment