Fiscal Fitness

Some would claim that the Federal government is financed on the backs of a few wealthy taxpayers who pay a disproportionate amount. In fact, the Federal government is financed on the backs of the vast majority of Americans who make almost all their income from their wages and other sources on which the Treasury gets regular reports. Most Americans willingly pay their taxes and in fact often vote to increase them if they're convinced that they're being treated fairly, if they're getting full value, if they have confidence in the system.

We need that confidence at the Federal level; to get it fundamental fairness and equity needs to be an overriding principle.

We need a fair tax code. For too long, the budgets, the tax code, and the regulatory framework have been tilted in favor of people who needed help the least and shortchanged the people who need it the most. Regulatory shortcuts gave the financial markets, or the deregulated electrical markets, no adult supervision. The tax code, as Warren Buffett has famously pointed out, that has his receptionist pay a higher tax rate than he does, is a long overdue for correction. Why should we treat rich sugar producers in Florida with lavish subsidies while shortchanging hungry children? But for a combination of public indifference and political influence we shouldn't and we wouldn't.

We need a sustainable tax code. This has been my guiding star for public policy in Oregon throughout my career on the state, local, and Federal level. We must achieve balance with our financial resources, the planet, and the environment around us. We can no longer employ policies and practices that enrich a few, benefit many now, and inevitably shortchange our future. Sustainability needs to be the guiding principle in everything that we do.

If we were to treat all taxpayers the same way we treat ordinary taxpayers, there would be hundreds of billions of dollars of taxes collected because income would be reported and there would be far fewer exemptions to a evade the stated tax on the income. If we start reporting what we earn, squeeze out unfair differences, even the playing field for businesses to go ahead and compete, not to torture books and lobby, we will balance our books while we reduce the pressure on the taxpayers in the long run and increase their comfort and confidence in the result.