Robin Hood is Alive and Well

I live is a very nice area of Costa Mesa called Mesa Verde. If my neighbors and I got together and decided that one of the folks living in our community was much better off financially than are we, so much better off that it just wasn't "fair," and we decided to pull a gun on him and relieve him of some of his wealth, which we then redistributed to those of us who participated, that would be called Grand Theft. We could be hunted down, arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated. Flash forward to Oregon...

Yesterday the good people of Oregon decided via a special election to raise income taxes on the "richest" Oregonians to 11%, the very highest marginal rate in the nation. Even higher than tax-happy California, New York and New Jersey. Those "rich" Oregonians make $125,000 per year or more and their neighbors think that's more than they need. They think those wealthy people can "afford" to pay more so that the rest can live more comfortably. And because they can afford it, according to the majority, they should be forced to cough it up for the good of the proletariat. This is Grand Theft without the messiness of all that arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating thing.

I heard a radio interview yesterday with the president of the largest employer in Oregon. He stated that his company would be relocating post-haste from the land of Robin Hood to some other business-friendlier state. Not surprising news, if you are blessed with common sense. Something that's in woefully short supply these days.

When the populace decides that they can vote themselves stuff at the expense of the minority, you have the beginning of the end of democracy. And it can only end badly. Businesses will flee, jobs will be lost, tax revenues will decrease, unemployment will skyrocket, property valuation will tank and property taxes will bottom out, the same trends we're seeing here in California. Apparently the citizens of Oregon couldn't bring themselves to look across their border and learn from the mistakes made in Sacramento. They're now destined to repeat them.

Stealing from the rich doesn't benefit the poor. After all, when was the last time a poor person hired anyone?