Steve Novick at Blues Oregon has written several articles on Measures 66 and 67. Here is a few excerpts to help those working at Deschutes County Fair booth counter the right wing distortions:
From the the Federation of State Tax Administrators’ web site , there are 27 other states that have higher top corporate profits tax rates than Oregon does. In 19 states the flat rate is higher than our 6.6%; in 8 other states there are graduated rates with the “top tier” being above 6.6. There are 18 states that have higher rates than the 7.6% new permanent profits tax rate on profits above $10 million. We will be tied for 18th (and 19th and 20th) with two other states, Idaho and New Mexico.
Another is the affect the Measures will have on small business owners:
The myth that Measure 66 targets “small business owners.” Now, I have previously explained that according to the Legislative Revenue Office, 93% of the state’s small business owners are not affected by Measure 66. Another 5% are affected but do not make most of their money from a small business. They would include, for example, Jeld-Wen executives who own rental properties and report the income from the rental property as “business income.” This leaves 2% of small business owners that (a) are affected by Measure 66 and (b) actually make their living from a ‘small business.’ And that is using a definition of ‘small business’ which includes all partnerships, S-corps and LLCs – including, for example the Stoel Rives law firm.
And
The claim that taxing incomes of $250,000 or more is an attack on “small business owners” is exactly the claim that John McCain made against Barack Obama for endorsing higher taxes on – again – families making over $250,000 a year. That claim wasn’t just debunked by the Obama campaign, or Citizens for Tax Justice. It was thoroughly debunked by a pretty mainstream source – CNNMoney.com.
Here’s what CNNMoney.com had to say on October 17, 2008:
In speech after speech, presidential candidate John McCain hammers on the claim that his rival Barack Obama will raise taxes on many small businesses …
But there are three main problems with McCain's charge …
First, it relies on a broad definition of what counts as a small business, including everyone who files a Schedule C, E and F.
But most people who file those forms don't run a business for a living: Those forms are also used to report income from freelance and consulting work, real-estate rentals, and most other non-salary sources.
A more realistic definition of small businesses turns up far fewer firms ...
Second, even using the broad definition of small business that McCain likes, very few owners would see their own taxes rise … Out of 34.7 million filers …98.6% … would be unaffected by Obama's proposed rate hike.
Find: More articles by Steve Novick a Blue Oregon
And I also suggest you check out articles by Chuck Secketoff at Blue Oregon Executive Director and a founder of the Oregon Center for Public Policy
