Free Bazaar Blog

Measure 66/67 effects that can be seen will be small and invisible in short term. Nobody will leave tomorrow. Govt. union employees who pushed for this will keep their jobs for the short term and will be happy. It will look like jobs have been saved.
Effects that cannot be seen: Companies and educated people who will decide not to come to Oregon. New companies that will not be formed. Companies which are on the edge of bankruptcy that will close with tax on Gross revenue rather than profit. People looking for change in career deciding to move outside of state. etc. etc.
Imagine mice on a ship of cheese eating through the cheese. Who wins???

The individual income tax share that the wealthiest Americans pay has steadily increased over time.
• In 1980, the individual income tax share paid by the top 1 percent of income earners was 17 percent. By 2004, the tax share for this same group had more than doubled, to 37 percent.

• The share of income tax paid by the top 5 percent and top 10 percent of income earners has also increased during the same time period, albeit not as drastically.

–In 1980, the share of income tax paid by the top 5 percent was 35 percent. In 2004, the share paid by this group had increased to 58 percent.

–For the same years, the top 10 percent of income earners paid 48 percent and 71 percent, respectively, of income tax.

• Over the same period, the share of pretax income that the top 5 percent and 10 percent earned increased from 21 percent and 31 percent to 29 and 39 percent, respectively.

Whereas the top 10 percent of income earners earned 39 percent of the pretax income, they paid 71 percent of individual income taxes.

I have mentioned this to lot of my friends and everybody is surprised about this fact. So, I figured I would find a reference and add it here for future.

Times of India reference

Indira Gandhi raised the top rate to 97.5 per cent, yet collections barely exceeded one per cent of GDP.