james t kirk

It would seem that every state in the Union is in financial hot water.

It might help if people were told where the money actually went. How much to each department, and where that money was allocated. Otherwise, people just think that the money is being wasted in some bureaucracy somewhere and the politicians are threatening to make cuts only where they will feel it the most rather than where they will feel it the least.

I also can't believe that Oregon doesn't have a state sales tax. Seems to me, there's a source of revenue right there. A nice 7% sales tax would be hard to beat and would probably give you a nice injection of revenue.

Also, 10 cents a pack tax increase on smokes is rediculous. Try a buck. That will bring in some money. Smokers will still smoke, that's for sure. I have no pity for them and their cancer sticks.

Everywhere, the situation is the same, everybody wants the good life, but nobody wants to pay for it. In a way, this is just another example of the failure of liberalism. The ideal of everyone investing towards the betterment of the society as a whole has gone right out the window. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the rich like that just fine. They get to keep their money and the get a good source of "keep em dumb, keep em stupid, and keep em working". Meanwhile, their kids are shipped off to private schools for the best education possible.