Community Voices Weekly: Time for a sales tax?

Happy Sunday, Lookout Eugene-Springfield,

In February, a letter-writer sized up Oregon’s social services and infrastructure needs and wondered: Is it time for a sales tax?

The responses came in swiftly, from full-throated agreement to steadfast opposition. One response, from Eugene letter-writer Douglas Berg, opposed the idea, calling it “one of the most regressive of all taxes.”

But after taking time to read through Gov. Tina Kotek’s Prosperity Council report, he wrote in a guest column that he now thinks Oregon needs major tax reform.

“I’ve long opposed sales taxes because they place a larger burden on low- and middle-income people, who spend a greater share of their income on consumption. But after reading this report, I’ve changed my view,” Berg wrote.

Like last time, it didn’t take long for his guest column to draw a response. Why should the state implement a sales tax when the federal government could raise taxes on those who can afford it?

“The best way to fix regressive taxation is with progressive tax rates. There is no reason that people who earn more than $184,500 per year should enjoy a payroll tax break,” Eugene letter-writer Steve Hiatt wrote.

Our healthcare “system”

From PacificSource’s decision to stop insuring Lane County Medicaid patients, to PeaceHealth’s ill-fated emergency department staffing switch, it’s been a rough year for healthcare in Lane County. Rough enough that several Community Voices contributors wrote in calling for change.

To Hugh Prichard, the former executive director of the Eugene Hospital and Clinic (which became PeaceHealth Medical Group in the mid-1990s), hospital staffing challenges are a symptom of the misaligned incentives between providers and insurers.

“The ultimate answer to America’s lack of a healthcare system lies in a scheme that provides coverage for everyone. This day is coming, simply because the current situation is untenable,” Prichard wrote.

And to Eugene letter-writer Nancy Nickel, the nonstop rise in health insurance premiums makes an effort to introduce universal healthcare in Oregon an urgent priority.

“Premiums skyrocket while insurance companies deny care and amass profits, and Medicaid cuts are significant. Disastrous health outcomes are inevitable,” Nickel wrote.

A no-compromise defense of public lands

Thirty years ago this month, local environmental activists pulled off a historic victory. A 343-day blockade of the Forest Service Road 2408 at Warner Creek east of Oakridge successfully resulted in the blocking of salvage logging there.

Among the activists was Shannon Wilson, who co-led the Cascadia Forest Defenders organization, which sprang into action and and helped lead the blockade.

But 30 years later, Wilson wrote in a guest column, the same forces are working just as hard to exploit our forests for profit.

“Myself and many conservationists know what is needed now for the survival of all native species and Homo sapiens: a return to the unwavering concrete foundation of no-compromise, zero-extraction principles on public lands,” Wilson wrote.

How about some empathy for the homeless?

Reactions keep pouring in about congressional candidate Monique DeSpain’s July 27 guest column, which placed the blame for Eugene’s homelessness crisis on local and state political leaders’ left-wing policies.

With a few exceptions, the reaction has been uniformly negative. And that continued last week.

Eugene letter-writer Bruce Abel attributed rising homelessness to a broad range of economic issues, including a lack of affordable housing.

“Blaming the homeless for their situation is a way for those with greater life comforts to avoid the emotional discomfort of social inequities,” Abel wrote.

And fellow Eugene letter-writer Ryan Collay decried the toxic discourse around discussing homelessness, urging readers to remember that everyone has a story.

“Stop listening to leaders who have no soul, no answers, no actions that would actually do something to help,” Collay wrote.

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