More wingnuttery from Dennis Richardson

After the disastrous newsletter Richardson sent out a few weeks ago in which he stated that gay rights and the VA Tech massacre are both "tragic, one would think that Richardson would be a little more particular about what he sends out.

Apparently not.

Richardon's latest missive includes a crazy-assed plea for Oregonians to embrace House Joint Resolution 44, which would replace property taxes on real property with an assessed value of $10 million or less with a 5% sales tax.

Richardson goes into advocacy mode:

Replacing the real property tax with a retail sales tax would spread the cost of state and local government over a far wider population of taxpayers. Presently, millions of tourists come to Oregon, enjoy its beauty and use its facilities, without paying a dime of taxes to help cover the costs.

In addition, it is estimated that between 10-15% of Oregon’s personal income currently avoids taxation—a huge amount of money. And the truth is the wealthiest population in Oregon is the retirees who are moving to our state.

In each instance, it makes sense that tourists, tax-dodgers and wealthy-retired folks should share the burden of paying for the services they use and enjoy, even if they don't earn Oregon wages and don't pay much, if any, income tax.

Tourists don't pay taxes in Oregon??? How about gas taxes? And what about taxes on lodging? And airport fees and taxes? Car rental taxes and fees? Tourists who come to Oregon most definitely pay taxes. Why do the people of Central Point insist on saddling the rest of Oregonians with a guy who quite clearly doesn't understand the tax system in our state even though he's been a legislator for NINE FOUR AND A HALF YEARS.

And are we really going to create a tax loophole for people whose property is worth $10 million? I know that the Oregon GOP has a hardon for tax cuts--but this is nutball to the tenth power, even for them. Its also way out of line when it comes to the values of Oregonians--who have little patience for tax giveaways for the wealthy under the guise of "fairness".