But first, let me tell you the true story of the time my uncle
called me an idiot, and proved it in 30 seconds.

I was 19, a sophomore at Dartmouth, and thought I was all that and a bag of crisps.
I mean, Ivy League, right? It was a summer family barbecue, and I was preaching
(I was just a perfect little propagandized irrational liberal drone back then)
that the War on Poverty wasn't working because -- wait for it! --

Cliffhanger. First a little more about the war that has started.

We've prevailed against sales tax proposals, and that's good.
But liberals never believe that businesses pay their "fair share", and they've
conned the public into taxing businesses more and more and more, and that's bad.

So huddling sitting around the cauldron bar one night, someone cackled quipped,
"Hey! We can get a sales tax by just hiding it as a tax on business sales!"
And another, inspired by the boldness, "And let's tax every level, from start to finish,
so that it's the biggest sales tax in history, but completely hidden."

Some have said it would take witchcraft a big lie to get a sales tax in Oregon.

Our speakers this month are here to show us the battle ahead.

Rebecca Tweed & John Tapogna

Rebecca Tweed is the Campaign Coordinator for Defeat The Tax On Oregon Sales,
the official statewide coalition of Oregon consumers, taxpayers, small and
large businesses, associations and organizations who have joined together to
oppose IP28, the $6 billion tax on Oregon sales proposed for the 2016 state ballot.

John Tapogna is President of ECONorthwest, the largest economic consulting firm
in the Pacific Northwest. John's areas of expertise are in education, healthcare,
human service, and tax policy. In education, he has directed evaluations of dropout
prevention programs, the impacts of small class sizes, and the efficacy of small schools
for clients like the Oregon Business Council, the Chalkboard Project, and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to joining ECONorthwest, John was an analyst with the U.S.
Congressional Budget Office.

So, see? We've got big guns rolling in, too. To save this state from a tax that doesn't care
if a business is even profitable, that makes no exceptions for the basic necessities like
food, housing, clothing or even healthcare and healthcare insurance, and applies to every
level of sale of a product, from the manufacturer to the warehousing distributor to the store.
Honestly, I don't think a tax on sales this big has been tried anywhere in the free world,
where the tax can be applied to the whole price of the product 2, 3, 4 times or more.

The largest tax increase in Oregon history, and the proponents don't care at all
who gets put out of business, or out of their home, or just plain out of luck, as long as
revenue goes into the state coffers. And the most regressive tax possible, too.

OK, more of my true story:

So, after my exclamation about business taxes being too low, my uncle slowly shook his
head and said, "Tom, you are an idiot!" Well, my bag of crisps and I rose up, all
Dartmouthy indignant, and complained, "Hey!" But he just kept talking, "I've had a business
in Portland for 25 years, and I've NEVER paid any taxes!" Even more indignant, I exclaimed,
"What do you mean, no taxes? You should be in JAIL!" Then came the coup de grace: "No, idiot,
pay attention: I don't pay any taxes. My customers pay my taxes!"

My mouth fell open, I rocked back on my heels, and I literally drooled on my shirt as the
propaganda I had been fed got peeled off of me. I became a conservative on the spot, repented of
being a complete economic idiot, and swore to myself that I would never trust a politician who
did not ADMIT to this simple, and obvious, truth: businesses pay NO taxes, their customers do.

In the 40+ years since then, I've studied that moment over and over, and the hard facts just
became inescapable: every business, and every person who has adjustments they can make, writes
the check for any tax, but then transfers the cost somewhere else. Businesses quit hiring, lay
people off, raise prices, or move. People who have discretionary income don't buy as many pizzas,
go on as nice a vacation, or don't buy a new car, and start mowing their own lawn again. And the
shifts in behavior keep happening until that tax hits the people who simply can't adjust, because
every nickel is for essentials: the poorest among us. And those are the people who pay the price,
in lost jobs and opportunities as well as higher prices.

And here's the 10-second, two-line bumper sticker distillation of those years:

Which brings me back to the war, again. The one you and I are in, NOW!

To beat this thing called IP28, go tell your neighbors, "Don't be like that Ivy League idiot Tom
Harrison, who thought businesses were going to somehow magically cough up more money." Ask them, "Why
do the proponents of IP28 hate the poor so much, that they want them to pay 5-10-15% more for food?"

You get the idea. Remember, it's war. Come to the induction ceremony, Wednesday night.

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