Portland, Oregon, is a left-wing haven, a bastion of the progressive politics that is a mainstay along the West Coast. Almost every liberal ballot initiative has a chance of passing—it’s just the makeup of the cities. But now and then, even liberal residents of these areas stand-up to outright lunacy. We can debate whether they have brought on much of the issues maligning urban life by electing insane leaders to local councils another time. Now, let’s discuss this little measure that would have enacted a small capital gains tax on residents which would be allocated to a lawyer’s fund to help people fight evictions. Alas, a tax proposal that even the most ardent progressives couldn’t stomach. It went down in flames, with 82 percent rejecting the measure (via National Review):
In Portland, Ore., 82 percent of voters rejected a ballot measure that would have created a new local capital gains tax to fund free lawyers for people being evicted from their homes. @NRO https://t.co/URdacf2sbv
— Ryan Mills (@RyanAMills77) May 17, 2023
Voters in Portland soundly rejected a proposal on Tuesday that would have levied a new tax on county residents to pay for free lawyers for tenants evicted by their landlords.
The ballot measure, supported by dozens of tenants rights and housing groups, would have created a 0.75 percent capital gains tax to provide people facing eviction with lawyers.
About 82 percent of voters rejected the measure.
Supporters of the tax said it would help to combat rampant homelessness in the far-left city, and it was intended to target the wealthy. But the proposed tax on the profit made from the sale of real estate, stocks and bonds, businesses, and art, did not exempt middle-class or low-income residents, and likely would have affected seniors, families, and small-business owners.
The Portland Business Alliance called it “one of the most disastrous proposals ever put before Multnomah County voters.”
“Capital gains aren’t just for rich people,” the alliance said in opposition to the proposed tax, which could have been increased at any time with no limit. “If it were to pass it would establish the first local capital gains tax in America, with an astonishing half of the generated tax dollars going simply to collecting it. It would make Multnomah County clearly the highest taxing jurisdiction in the nation.”
Not just businesses opposed this insane tax proposal; virtually everyone did. As NRO noted, the entire local political leadership opposed the initiative, including the Portland city council, four county commissioners, and Mayor Ted Wheeler. All concluded that there were better means to fund measures to combat homelessness. When the communists look at and repudiate a policy proposal, what else is there to say? Granted, that doesn’t excuse other liberal cities along the Left Coast, like Seattle, going along with a phased-in minimum wage hike some years back which led to the restaurant industry collapsing. It doesn’t excuse Rain City for allowing left-wing rebels to seize portions of the city during the summer of 2020 or the ridiculous new protocols for policing regarding chasing suspects. Take these little wins when you can, but always know that another insane ballot measure is probably in the works as we speak.