|
After the recent elections, the Democrat Party has a
“super” majority in both of Oregon’s Legislative
chambers. They also own the Governor’s office. This
means they have a 66% majority in the legislature and
can pass any tax or spending increases without pesky
Republicans getting in the way.
While their goals may appear noble, admirable or
desirable since they defy logic, science, and fiscal
rectitude they cannot provide Oregonians with a viable
future. They can only lead to a larger, more rapacious
state government. Nevertheless, the majority appears
willing to use a gunsmoke and mirrors campaign to mask
attacks on our Constitutional rights while promoting
their own Utopian agenda.
They desire a world where wealth and prosperity are
abundantly available and evenly distributed. But nothing
in the universe is equally distributed; not height,
weight, melanin, academic abilities, artistic aptitude,
creative genius or mechanical inclinations.
Today's Utopians want free universal healthcare but keep
driving the costs higher and higher while the care gets
worse and worse. They want low-cost or free college
education for today's students who will end up paying
for it tomorrow. They also promise jobs galore and
high-tech employment for everyone, yet the market has no
way to efficiently respond to this temporary, abnormal
and artificial flood of competing job-seekers.
At the heart of the matter is an age-old collectivist
vision delivered by government control. If you think
I’ve gone overboard, read what the Utopian Robert Owen
wrote in 1816:
“Society may be formed so as to exist without crime,
without poverty, with health greatly improved, with
little, if any misery, and with intelligence and
happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle
whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to
prevent such a state of society from becoming universal.”1
The reason Utopian dreams don’t work in the real world
is because they don’t account for scarcity, human
resourcefulness, compassion or commerce.
Human-beings are our only true source of wealth.
Wealth does not come from our state’s untapped natural
resources or from state government. It does not come
from our rivers, forests or land. These things become
productive resources only through the innovation,
creativity and genius of working people. Without the
rich contributions of hard-working Oregonians, we would
never have had lumber, crops, beef, concrete, wine, milk
or cheese.
Only men and women can supply the creative genius to
turn natural resources into usable goods that improve
the well-being, quality and health in our lives. This
means however, that Oregon must be willing to allow
people to create and keep the rewards that flow from
their voluntary engagement in the free-market system.
Confiscating the fruits of a person’s labor will
naturally remove their desire for work.
While this may sound like common-sense, I fear our
governor has missed this point. The Democratic-socialist
party’s legislative agenda includes enormous
disincentives for productive labor, capital formation
and investment.
History tells us that increasing a tax, like the "sin
taxes" on inhalant products, cigars and cigarettes will
decrease their consumption. Yet, no one asks what might
happen to the productive industries for malt beverages
and wine when taxes are applied to those products. Also,
imposing higher taxes on personal, corporate, and
out-of-state income will decrease the activities that
produced that income, not the other way around. The same
negative consequences will impact our transportation
industries as higher boating fees, aviation, diesel, and
gasoline fuel taxes are bandied about.
Lastly, increasing our property taxes is supposedly the
price we have to pay to live in Oregon.
What’s left to tax or regulate out of existence? Ohh,
yeah, … our 2nd Amendment rights! The gunsmoke and
mirrors gang is just getting started.
Their propaganda message is, “Oregon’s children are only
safe in gun-free zones.” In other words, your home must
become a gun-free zone. However, we know that gun
control laws only work for law-abiding citizens, which
by default means only law-breakers and criminals will
own firearms.
Guns are not the biggest problem which citizens, and/or
children, face with regard to their lives, health and
safety. Have you seen the statistics for opioid
overdoses or automobile fatalities? Recently, economist
Antony Davies and political scientist James R. Harrigan,
reported that Americans are artificially tied up in
knots over violent crime—particularly crimes committed
with “assault weapons.”
They note, “This concern,
statistically speaking, is fairly irrational. You are
far more likely to be killed by being beaten or stabbed
than you are to be killed by any kind of rifle,
‘assault’ or otherwise.”
Their timely podcast goes through
the actual numbers, here.
Liberty and respect for the individual demands that we
act in the interest of the individual – not in the
interest of the state.
If we don't stand for rural Oregon values and
common-sense – No one will!
Best Regards,
Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate 28 |
