“Read My Lips” How to Snooker Oregonians in Accepting More Taxes
By Diane Linthicum
May 19, 2025
“Our lives consist solely of trade-offs,” is a truism that is not entirely obvious. But most decisions are made from multiple options and choices. Some options will be better than others, some get cataloged as, “no choice at all,” and still others are fairly easy choices.
“It is never a good plan to increase taxes” is a political truism that should be obvious.
This is why the famous phrase, “Read my lips: no new taxes,” is so apropo. George H. W. Bush, rightfully spoke this truth as a pledge to American people that he would not allow them to be taxed any further. At the time this was an important stance for the leading presidential candidate at the 1988 Republican National Convention to make.
Raising taxes is a losing issue. Candidate Bush knew it; his speechwriter knew it; the American people knew it; and, Democrat Presidential nominee Bill Clinton knew it. Thus, Clinton successfully turned this truism into victory in the 1992 Presidential election.
The political elites imagine, “this is what the people wanted!” Yet, there are very few people who are in favor of having their taxes raised. They can only be convinced to vote for tax increasing bonds and ballot measures through incessant ad campaigns and political strategies that push the narrative that “the sky is falling or will fall” if we don’t fund this or that proposal. Think of the mindless global warming scare tactics.
Just look at the taxes being dreamed up by the Democrat party who control both chambers of the Oregon legislature. As representatives, they think of themselves as those who know best. Yet they know nothing about your personal or business finances, let alone anything about your family’s needs.
These politicians are extremely proud that Oregon does not have a sales tax. Unbeknownst to the public, this subtle virtue keeps the taxing authority within the legislature. Meaning, the Oregon’s legislature gets to pick and choose what to tax and at what rates. For example, there are sales taxes on all sorts of things, like, cars (internal-combustion or electric vehicle), tires, bicycles, trees, harvest activities, vape products, tobacco, beer, wine, marijuana along with others.
Being dyed-in-the-wool statists who apparently look forward to the time when state control will destroy our voluntary choices, they are disillusioned with conservative prudence. They also dislike our skepticism of big-government solutions so they continually work to drain economic resources from the private sector while transferring those resources to the public sector through their onerously contrived tax policies.
This overall assault on our private wherewithal is partly why local economies suffer the same fate as our state’s economy. Both state and local governments spend beyond their means so that their respective revenue problems arise from too much government, not too little.
Public sector and public service costs keep rising because of public employee union wage increases and the increasing costs for supplying training, certification, equipment and the financial burdens of the bureaucracy. These costs keep increasing because of raises, COLAs, and PERS benefits along with forced minimum wage increases in the private sector. In turn, this leads to product shortages, cost boondoggles, rent-seekers and everyone trying to pick everyone else’s pocket, via legislative intervention.
This is partly why over 4,000 bills were introduced in this 2025 legislative session. Many of these bills were trying to protect some segment of society from being ravaged by regulatory burdens while others were just rackets or economic carve-outs which are being forced into law by Oregon’s Democrat majority.
This phenomenon is part of George Orwell’s eerie genius in his book, 1984. In this cautionary tale he clearly expresses the uncanny notion that once the passion for power takes hold it will animate the coming bureaucracy.
Orwell recognized that a new aristocracy would be sculpted from the bureaucrats, sociologists, teachers, and regulators in the salaried middle class and the upper grades of the working class. His novel paints a bleak future arising out of the ideology brought together by the barren worlds of centralized government and their regulated industry classes.
The new bureaucrats were supposed to be less avaricious, less tempted by luxury, less hungry for raw power, and, above all, more conscious of what they were doing. Their efforts were supposed to be balanced by their moral superiority and thus they could lawfully become more intent on crushing opposition. Think lawfare.
In Soviet Russia this job was delegated to a bureaucrat who was known as a commissar. The commissar was not only a regulatory official but was also responsible for political education and organizational adherence. This job title recognized that the administration of laws in modern states carries with it enormous political power.
In the US, we have long expected better. We expect bureaucrats to protect us from all of life’s contingencies. Yet, simultaneously, we know this is something they can’t possibly do, but we fall for the false promises. Thus, we leave ourselves defenseless against our so-called “protectors”.
The time has come to, just say, “NO!”
What can you do?
First, don’t tax yourself into poverty because you think it might help. It doesn’t. Frugality is your friend.
Second, don’t approve local tax levies or new taxing districts out of fear that “the sky is falling” or someone might call you a cheapskate.
We exercise frugality in our homes and businesses and we must demand nothing less of our local, state and federal government.
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E-Mail Diane Linthicum: Diane@Diane4OR.com
“His summary was, “Economy is idealism in its most practical form.”
They are leaving because of Oregon’s punitive tax policies, increases in crime, the state’s cost of living, and escalating home prices. Meanwhile, employment and private sector opportunities continue to dry-up.
Here are a handful of the destructive ideas being considered:
But SB 762 was a sleight-of-hand ruse.
Additionally, Gov. Brown and Sen. Golden’s Fire Maps Bill (SB 762) removed the $25.00 per parcel limit on forest protection district assessments (taxes) as imposed by ORS 477.060.
The mainstream media is constantly telling us, “With the three-fifths supermajority in both the Oregon House and Senate chambers, Democrats can raise revenue without any bipartisan support.”
By Dennis and Diane Linthicum
He joined Hughes Aircraft Co. just before we were married and was involved with data-structure design, management and implementation endeavors when processing power was slow and expensive.
I mention these things simply to note that just like today our past had its share of fake news and fear-mongering. The problems were real and needed solutions. But we must remember that government is rarely the right tool. Problems are more readily solved in free, unhampered markets rather than by confiscating vast sums of money from misled taxpayers for poorly conceived ideas.
This morning’s newsletter will be short as I express my Thankfulness, I also want to encourage you to spend time with your friends, families and loved ones as we will have plenty to do in the near future. Courage, Resolve and Virtue must be our watchwords because the opportunities, here in Oregon, will be tremendous.
In short, this is our opportunity to fix this Tasteless Gruel.
Again, oppression does not grow within a neighborhood. Jim Crow laws were not universal but were created in the Democrat south as a means to keep their evil and repugnant attitudes alive following the Civil War. Most states across the US never created these atrocious laws, but those pernicious few are deemed historical fact for the entire nation.
So, this is what it looks like online (hand-written markups are mine):
In the Secretary of State’s race, my opponent keeps telling us that he wants to increase access to voting. What’s left? It is like watching the political equivalent of Molière’s Tartuffe, or Dickens’ Mr. Pecksniff where everything is spoken, announced and reported with sleek imagery, beautiful words and high-minded principles while the substance of a thing is missing.
In Oregon there were three valid forms of ID: a drivers’ license, a drivers’ permit, or a State issued ID card. HB 4133 added another option, a valid Social Security number. But look at the actual wording and you will see that a SSN is not required, rather only the final four-digits are required.
Why then, would legislators demand useless data as a valid method of identification? Would you vote for any legislator that is not capable of recognizing the blatant problems with this legislation?
Fraud, or fair-play? Does this make sense? Does it match the rhetoric?
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The God who gave us Life, gave us Liberty” and believed government should protect Life, Liberty and our own just pursuits for individual Happiness.
This is mainly because of the hard truths spilling from the news. These realities can no longer be ignored – inflation, housing, transportation, energy, food supplies, public-service degradation, forest management, air quality, immigration, organized crime, cartels, fentanyl, and behavioral health are all signposts that demand accountability.
This is more than an inconvenience because the confusion sown feeds fear and uncertainty in the public mind. This is quite palpable today and this confusion is getting fanned by the political elites in steering ‘consensus’ towards their projects, goals and/or proposals regardless of any flaws.
The media likes to tell us that the Harris team has it all wrapped up. But this too is puffery. Unfortunately, the majority party here in Oregon always falls for fake media news and think the same way. But they are all struggling against reality; they can’t defeat truth.
We can count housing units and ask, are we building a continual supply chain of new homes? We can measure the economy and ask, is Oregon inspiring private business entrepreneurship, full-time employment, real property rights and prosperity?
This is really just common-sense and believe me, on county-by-county basis this is very do-able. Look at the following numbers; look at the turnout in your county. How do we reach these people?
They put great stock in the necessity of personal virtues for freedom. Virtues like peace, patience, understanding, forbearance, and self-control were viewed as non-negotiable for remaining free from the chains of tyranny.
Together we can and will turn Oregon back to the common-sense values of hard work, freedom for small businesses and entrepreneurship, utilizing our abundant natural resources both productively and sustainably, and ensuring excellence and ingenuity in our educational outcomes.
We don’t need any more go-along, get-along, happy-camp Republicans who will ride along with the Four-Modern-Horseman of the Apocalypse – Tax, Spend, Regulate and Rule.
committee hearings. Many of these financial injustices have now become part of the fabric of our lives, but isn’t that the point? We have become so accustomed to, or so enamored with some program or another, that most of us don’t remember why it was done in the first place.
from fiction and propaganda. He was not willing to allow himself (or us as readers) to be led away by a, “weird mixture of the irresponsible, megalomaniacal ideas which erupted from German thinkers during the nineteenth century.”
Today, I’ll speak to one issue. I am endorsing one person as the best representative for District 28 in the battle for Oregon’s future – Diane Linthicum!
She is a skilled policy analyst and Diane has keen insight into the legislative process and is willing to, “Just say, No!” to detrimental policy ideas.
to account with regard to CxVid, I never made false claims or tried to sell any products, other than TRUTH. Yet, because my Newsletter referred to CxVid. And… in my next breath I mentioned the high possibility of fraXd. That was enough to get my account served up to Omnivore. This is nothing less than government control over what speech is acceptable and what is not. (… No, this isn’t just a private company exercising their private contract rights.)
These guys can’t define a woman and don’t know the difference between a heifer and a bull-calf. They have totally screwed up our education and criminal justice systems, increased homelessness, poverty, and drug abuse, and put the economy into the ditch. So, why not give them control of our thoughts, speech and language too?
Whether these actors are elected office holders, executive appointees, agency directors or only members of the bureaucratic army, everyone is just doing their job. They are happy to be employed. They don’t want to be cancelled. It’s better to keep your mouth shut than get into trouble. Everyone seems to be happy doing their job, doing the bidding from higher up…
The media outlets squabble about the possible shut-down because it is divisive. Regardless of which political party will face the hard facts of our nation’s fiscal future, the other party will continue to advance their programs. The threat of a government shut-down just adds repetitive rhetorical resonance to the meme-machines and allows the shouting to continue. What becomes clear is that without constitutional integrity it’s time to get a bigger manure-spreader for Congressmen and women.
But government money is never free. The regulatory requirements for using federal funds are rarely of practical or fiscally responsible natures. They always carry a political burden.
Republicans. However, it is still highly energized by money and the wholly inappropriate goal of sexualizing our youngest children and grandchildren.
Proponents for restoration of voting rights conveniently ignore that felons lose other civil rights as well, such as the right to sit on a jury, own a gun, obtain various professional licenses, work as a public-school teacher or a law enforcement officer. While these other civil rights are actually lost for a lifetime, the current restrictions on voting only remain in effect while the felon remains in prison.
We see powerful social engineers and academic policy pundits using statist power to exert public control without any limits or boundaries. These idealogues are willing to cancel, quarantine, and re-educate anybody who disagrees. In fact, F.A. Hayek, in his book, The Road to Serfdom (1944), notes that social and industrial planner Henri Saint-Simon, thought those who did not obey his proposed planning boards would simply be, “treated as cattle.”
