You know it is bad when the uber liberal Oregonian newspaper editorial board rejects tax increases, even if it is for the wrong reasons. At least they recognize what the socialists don’t, namely that there is a destructive element to permanently raising taxes to during Oregon’s worst recession.

Yet one of the biggest lefty bloggers in Oregon, Steve Novick, is mystified and tied in knots over this stunning revelation by the state’s biggest and most liberal newspaper. He then goes on a nonsensical rant that only reaffirms that extreme left is out of touch with ordinary Oregonians. In fact, he insults them! http://www.blueoregon.com/2010/01/the-oregonian-editorial-board-and-meas...

Steve starts off by likening the editorial board’s listening to “corporate lobbyists” (as if they cant think for themselves on rare occasions) to an addiction to an abusive love relationship. As funny as that seems, he hypocritically refuses to recognize that the O’s editorial bias (95% of the time) is almost always in line with his elitist, socialist views, not to mention the public employee union’s heavy influence on the newspaper, something Steve steadfastly refuses to acknowledge.

Then he insultingly and arrogantly bemoans the fact that the voters twice rejected temporary tax increases during the aftermath of the 9/11 recession and that because of this history, the anti tax forces are winning the hearts and minds of the average Oregon voter. Elitists like Steve just hate it when the people reject his socialist ideas and how dare the unwashed masses listen to the evil corporation’s arguments about how this will hurt all Oregonians, as if they are too stupid to figure it out on their own. Even Obama has recognized what these common folk understand, simply that you don’t raise taxes during a recession.

He does understand the stakes here in this special election to repeal MZ 66 and 67 as he articulates correctly that if these taxes are repealed, then the limited government forces like AFP have the momentum and it will be nearly impossible to pass new taxes in the upcoming special session. That is really what has he and his elitist, big government public employee union friends worried more than anything because it means they wont be able to grow government bigger and bigger so they can establish their permanent union controlled majority in the state government. They know that if Oregon voters are asked again almost immediately to vote on “income tax increase light” a possibility by the way from the upcoming special session, it will probably also be rejected, as is our history.

So then he lays out the reality that if the measures fail then the legislature must immediately begin cutting state spending. Yes this is the correct direction (I endured 5 special sessions doing this as a legislator in 2002) but it doesn’t have to be the critical services that the left’s fear mongering ads on TV portray. Rather, it could entail the Senate Republican’s plan which doesn’t cut critical services, but uses cuts to public employees, ending fund balances and other reasonable ideas to fill the hole. I haven’t even gotten started on other alternative ideas such as lowering the 8% PERS guarantee, suspending some of the 2 billion dollars of spending on information technology or privatizing some state agency functions, all which will save hundreds of millions.

The real danger that the leftists like Steve see in the repeal and subsequent budget cuts is that it will pit government unions and their allies against each other as their lobbyists (some funded by taxpayers) fight to preserve their slice of the pie and the weakens their coalition for the upcoming elections. The SEIU will end up fighting the OEA and so on, which would be a comedy to that one would could not ignore, unless of course you were the socialist elites at BlueOregon, like Steve. They wouldn’t dare breathe a word, but instead they would just go on ranting about how stupid the Oregon voters were and continue to try to push their class warfare arguments.

Nothing like a lib being in a tizzy to provide some comic relief for us limited government folks.