Tax hike SUPPORTERS offer poll showing voters favor Measures 66, 67

OREGON LIVE, 12/30/3009 by Harry Esteve - Proponents of two ballot measures that would increase taxes released poll results today showing strong voter support for both measures. ∴ The poll, paid for by Vote Yes for Oregon, a labor-backed group that supports the tax increases, shows that with less than two weeks before ballots go out, voters say they favor Measure 66 by a margin of 55 percent to 38 percent, with 7 percent undecided. The numbers are identical for Measure 67. ∴ Measure 66 sets higher tax brackets for high income earners. Measure 67 raises taxes on corporations. The vote-by-mail election is Jan. 26. ∴ "The key message coming through is, these measures are better than the deep cuts to services everyone cares about," said Scott Moore, spokesman for Vote Yes for Oregon. "And they're better than broad-based tax increases that affect the middle class." ∴ The survey was conducted last week by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, of Washington D.C. It sampled opinions from 610 likely voters statewide. ∴ Opponents of the tax hikes discredited the poll as a public relations stunt. Advocacy groups typically keep their polling private, said Pat McCormick, spokesman for Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes. ∴ Releasing the results to the news media "is clearly intended to sway public opinion in their direction" -- not find out how voters are leaning, McCormick said. "These data are not an accurate reflection of where voter attitudes are."