WOW! Oregon tax referendum drive nets 125,000 signatures!
Taxpayer Association of Oregon breaking news,
Picture: Grassroots coordinator Paulette Pyle speaks in front of a massive stack of referendum petition boxes. Left is Ross Day of Common Sense for Oregon. On the right is Russ Walker (Freedomworks) and Andrew Over (State Director Oregon GOP).
The Stop Job Killing Taxes campaign turned in an incredible 129,500 signatures (petition 301) and 126,183 (petition 302) which is more than double the needed requirement.
The rally at the steps of the Secretary of State’s office was led by Paulette Pyle a veteran grassroots activists and agriculture-forestry advocate. Several small businesses stepped forward to telling a compelling story. A local car dealership businesswoman said that their minimum tax would go from $10 to $30,000 a year – a 3,000% increase at a time when car dealers are reeling in losses. The businesswoman shared to the crowd that she once asked her local lawmaker, who voted for the tax, as to how any business could pay such taxes when profits plunge. The clueless politician responded to her question, “You can raise the price of your cars and trucks”. The audience gasped at response. Other business owners shared about painful layoffs and even more layoffs to come if the tax passes.
Picture: Grassroots coordinator Paulette Pyle speaks in front of a massive stack of referendum petition boxes. Left is Ross Day of Common Sense for Oregon. On the right is Russ Walker (Freedomworks) and Andrew Over (State Director Oregon GOP).
The Stop Job Killing Taxes campaign turned in an incredible 129,500 signatures (petition 301) and 126,183 (petition 302) which is more than double the needed requirement.
The rally at the steps of the Secretary of State’s office was led by Paulette Pyle a veteran grassroots activists and agriculture-forestry advocate. Several small businesses stepped forward to telling a compelling story. A local car dealership businesswoman said that their minimum tax would go from $10 to $30,000 a year – a 3,000% increase at a time when car dealers are reeling in losses. The businesswoman shared to the crowd that she once asked her local lawmaker, who voted for the tax, as to how any business could pay such taxes when profits plunge. The clueless politician responded to her question, “You can raise the price of your cars and trucks”. The audience gasped at response. Other business owners shared about painful layoffs and even more layoffs to come if the tax passes.
Jeff Kropf of Americans for Prosperity Oregon Chapter spoke and said “It is wrong to raise taxes in a recession which will cost jobs at the same time when the state has five billion in reserves and is hiring new employees.” A chart near Jeff Kropf showed how private sector jobs dropped by over 70,000 while government jobs grew.
Russ Walker spoke on how over 10,000 Freedomworks volunteers helped circulate petitions and created a flood of volunteer signatures.
One lady in the crowd, who was waving her American flag, was Becky Roth. Becky personally gathered over 700 signatures by going door to door of every small businesses she could find. Many business owners did not know about the tax and were shocked. Employees wanting to keep their jobs flocked to Becky to sign the petition like a modern day Paul Revere.
Now the focus goes from the initiative petition referendum process to defeating the business tax and income tax measure at the ballot.
P.S. the Taxpayer Association wanted to thank all of the people that helped the coalition gather so many signatures. Your efforts paid off.
Russ Walker spoke on how over 10,000 Freedomworks volunteers helped circulate petitions and created a flood of volunteer signatures.
One lady in the crowd, who was waving her American flag, was Becky Roth. Becky personally gathered over 700 signatures by going door to door of every small businesses she could find. Many business owners did not know about the tax and were shocked. Employees wanting to keep their jobs flocked to Becky to sign the petition like a modern day Paul Revere.
Now the focus goes from the initiative petition referendum process to defeating the business tax and income tax measure at the ballot.
P.S. the Taxpayer Association wanted to thank all of the people that helped the coalition gather so many signatures. Your efforts paid off.
125,000? Not bad.
Well no matter. I'm sure the effort will be reported as shocking, 125,000 extremists who are all probably racists? How shocking!
Step up and take your state back!!!!!!
If not you, whom? If not now, when?
Democrats...take money from people who work and give it to people who don't.
So, roughly twice as many signatures as needed to get it on the ballot were turned in. Given that ACORN was not the group turning in the signatures one has to wonder if double the amount will be enough to qualify?
Bob T:
I think this is a precaution from the days of Sec of State Bradbury and how he and his buddies went way out of their way to disqualify signature sheets. Even though he's gone, no one wants to take chances on this sort of thing (but Kate Brown is pretty good so far).
Bob Tiernan
Portland
The joke was - one has to wonder if twice the number of signatures being turned in is enough to combat the odd propensity for there to microscopic examination of the integrity of such signatures on conservative issues.
The reason why I find it funny is because this scrutiny seems to only pop up on conservative issues but yet validation of legal citizenship during the entire voting process itself is to seen as draconian enforcement by those same scrutinizers.
This is where the ACORN reference comes into play. The humor being that the government funds a group that has as its job description "election fraud" as juxtaposed with the intense scrutiny given to Republican signatures by those who tend to have no issue with ACORN. It was a play on the inconsistency of the self righteous who always claim to be looking out for everyone's rights.