Death and Taxes...well, Taxes at least.

Today, Oregon voted to raise taxes on the wealthy and businesses.

Now I don't like to get overtly political, but this one kind of drives me crazy. Don't get me wrong, I understand that sometimes you need to raise taxes to pay for everything the government provides. And we need more money for schools and education and public safety. Trust me, I get it. There are programs in this state seriously underfunded and that's a problem. A big problem. Raising taxes may be the answer, it might not. Maybe we should look into programs we may or may not need. And maybe those programs are already as dry as they can be and we can't cut any more so we need to raise more revenue (i.e. taxes).

But if you are going to vote to raise taxes, shouldn't you to vote to raise your own taxes? If it doesn't affect you, why should you get a say in the tax raise? This feels akin to allowing state school and community college students to vote on whether prestigious private schools should raise tuition and costs.

I constantly hear the argument, "Why should you care? It won't affect you." But that's exactly why I care about this. Who are we to raise taxes on others? Shouldn't we be voting to raise taxes on ourselves? Only 3% of the state voted on their on tax increase. The other 97% voted on someone else's.

But Oregon is notorious for voting down tax raises for everyone. We need a new park and the only way we can afford it to for me to pay $5 more per year in taxes? Hell, no. It'll cost someone else thousands? Well, we can't deny our children a recreational area. I am voting for families here.

I'll vote to raise my own taxes for worthy things, but I need transparency here. I want to be assured that raising my taxes is because we are already strapped for cash and we need it for vital things. Convince me the extra money needed isn't because we wasted other funds.

The times are tough and everyone is tightening their belt and spending less on things they don't need so they can pay the bills that matter like mortgage and food. Show me what you are spending on everything in the budget so I know that you as well were spending your money wisely as well and that you too have already cut the extra cake out of your own budget like we are. That after all of the tightening of the belt, we still need more money for the education of our children and for our own safety.

If after all that, it's time to open my own wallet and help get our state back on track. It's my duty as an Oregon resident to pay my taxes. Maybe if it's coming out of our own wallet we will look more into keeping our own government on track.

It's like the old saying about a gift versus earning it. We take for granted something we are given, but we treasure and invest in something we earn. When it affects our pocket, we care a lot more about where our tax money is going.

Sadly, it seems we as Oregonians (and most Americans) are greedy. When asked to raise our own taxes, no matter how large or small, we won't do it. It takes raising someone else's taxes to get it done. Maybe a law will pass that requires you to be in the affected tax bracket(s) to vote on tax raises, and maybe then we will find out how greedy or caring we are as citizens. And when we realize how greedy we all truly are and quit blaming all greediness on evil corporations, we will come together and realize we all have to work together and all have stakes in the success of the state.