The OC Blog Back Issues Our Mission Contact Us Masthead
Sudsy Wants You to Join the Oregon Commentator
 

On Failure

In case you’re interested, Ben Cannon (D-Portland), the guy who wanted to raise Oregon’s beer tax by ~1600%, has a piece over at Blue Oregon in which he tries to “aw, shucks!” his way out of legislative embarrassment:

There is no training manual for being a legislator. You don’t have a boss, you have 60,000 voters. Heck, you don’t even have an official job description to fall back on.

Like many jobs, this is one you learn by doing.
As my second legislative session draws to a close, I can assure you that I am still learning.

Well, golly. It’s nice to know Ben’s learned something from this massive waste of taxpayer dollars. I guess now that he’s got a little experience under his belt, he realizes what a terrible idea his proposal was, and has abandoned any illusions of trying to resurrect it, right?

Absolutely not… I have tried to apply the above lessons to a new version of the tax.

The first thing on his list of reasons why we need to increase the tax?

Oregon hasn’t raised its beer tax in more than 30 years.

One of the posts in the comments section put it nicely:

I love the rationalization the just because a tax hasn’t been raised in awhile it is your profound duty to see that it be raised.

Indeed.

  1. Betz says:

    Oregon has drafted some pretty ridiculous laws regarding beer and alcohol … “Honest Pint” bill? Please, if you are really that concerned about getting every last drop of alcohol soaked into your bloodstream, simply grow a pair and step up to drinking the hard stuff.

    C.T.: They already have upped the prices on homebrew ingredients … but not because of taxes, this is more of a direct “supply-and-demand” issue. Currently there is a hop shortage, which has upped the prices on the cost to make beer, and how much a 6-pack costs in the stores. I remember a couple years ago, 1 oz. hops = $1 (@ Valley Vintner). The place up here in Beaverton now charges $7.00 / 2oz. ~ 3.50 per ounce. Outrageous!

    Emily: Send me your Ninkasi recipe … Haven’t seen that one posted around yet.

  2. Sakaki says:

    I’d rather see the image of my boot in Ben Cannon’s face.

  3. George Orwell says:

    If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on hand reaching for a delicious beer – forever.

  4. C.T. Behemoth says:

    True enough…

    That is, until they start taxing the hell out of beer-making ingredients.

  5. Emily says:

    Worst case scenario, we become Scandinavia and homebrew. Shit, think of all that sweet flow you could be pocketing if you brewed your own, 5 gallons at a time! Equipment’s cheap enough, considering a cube of Beast ice is $15. You love Ninkasi? Well it’s a nice full homebrew that could knock that shit off of it’s high horse easy, for about $.50 a bottle. Get into it, and your only problem will be that you can’t drink beer fast enough. You’ll have five taps on the porch and be drunk all day before you can say lickety-split.

  6. Stachelrodt says:

    We must stop Cannons bourgeois agenda

    Alcoholic proletariat of Oregon Unite!

  7. C.T. Behemoth says:

    All we have in Oregon is its natural beauty and amazing local alcohol with which to numb ourselves from the consistently terrible economy and the blathering on of holier-than-thou diversity freaks and uber-patriot dumbasses. We already have to pay money on top of our taxes to enjoy the natural (public) beauty that private enterprise profits from, don’t take our alcohol away from us.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.