Letter: Advocates for M66 and 67 are playing games with priorities

CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES/Opinion, 1/7/2009 by John H. Detweiler - The Oregon Legislature is playing "Washington Monument" with the voters. ∴ There is an old tale that circulates in federal budgeting circles that when the U.S. Park Service doesn't receive enough money from the Congress, the Park Service closes the Washington Monument and tells the tourists to go to Capital Hill and complain to their senators and representatives who will hopefully - from the Park Service point of view - give money to the Park Service. ∴ We keep hearing that if measures 66 and 67 do not pass, the Legislature will have to make some very painful adjustments to the budget in February. ∴ Had the most important items been funded by taxes in place and the least important items funded by the new taxes imposed with HB3406 and HB2649 - measures 66 and 67, there would be no adjustments to make. The least important items would just not be funded, and the Legislature wouldn't have a problem.

John H. Detweiler
Corvallis