Print Story

http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/26153434-47/tax-d...

The Register-Guard
http://www.registerguard.com/

GUEST VIEWPOINT: Tax vote: What is our vision of

democracy
Tax vote: What is our vision of democracy?
BY CARL BYBEE
For The Register-Guard
Published: Sunday, May 1, 2011 07:00AM
On May 17, will Eugene be voting on a city income tax, or on a vision for the future of
democracy?
Of course, this is not exactly the question voters will find on their ballots. The question
reads, Should the city impose a personal income tax on Eugene residents for four
years to support local schools?
At first glance it appears that everyone is on the same side of this issue. Everyone
agrees that education is good, that education is good for business, and that there is a
funding crisis for education.
Supporters have organized under the PAC banner Strong Schools, Strong Eugene,
arguing that the measure is good for kids and good for the economy.
Opponents have organized under the PAC banner Citizens for Jobs and Schools.
Clearly they support education and a strong economy, too.
The funding crisis seems real enough. Departing Superintendent George Russells
sustainable budget plan details steps to be taken in the face of a staggering budget
shortfall of $21.7 million for 2011-12. These include cutting administrative staff,
reducing the number of school days, considering a four-day school week, closing
schools (already implemented), cuts in supplies and services, laying off up to 11
percent of teaching and licensed staff (potential layoff notices have already been sent
to 108 employees), and increasing class sizes.
Eugene teachers are in the first year of a three-year contract that already includes wage
concessions, cutting six paid teaching days and halving experience-based step
increases.
Even one of the arguments from the anti-tax group is that the city income tax wont

1 of 3

5/4/11 12:10 PM

Print Story

http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/26153434-47/tax-d...

raise enough money to solve the budget problems.

So why isnt everyone on the same side of the issue?
Well, there are the details.
Given the urgency and scope of the crisis, should we act locally now or wait until the
state comes up with a solution? Will the tax have an immediate positive or negative
economic effect? Is the tax fair? Are there safeguards to ensure that the money is spent
on students?
But what about the larger question: Is this just a vote about a city income tax, or is it a
vote about what kind of democracy we want?
The view of democracy proposed by anti-tax activists goes by many names, but lets
call it the limited government model. It has been influenced by conservative and
libertarian thinkers ranging from Milton Friedman to Ron Paul. In its most current
version, as described by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., it is devoted to the
principles of fiscal responsibility, adherence to the constitution and limited
government.
Friedmans work stressed the threat of government to individual liberty and the
importance of the market in protecting free choice. Friedman believed that action on
behalf of the public good was not effective and potentially dangerous in undermining
individual liberty. Self-interest expressed through the market would result in the
greatest amount of individual liberty for all.
Public education, he believed, should be privatized, because it steals peoples money
through taxes to pay for something they may or may not want. Britains former Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher summed up the philosophy behind this view: There is no
such thing as society. In other words, any form of collective effort is a threat to
individual freedom.
These views, while not explicitly stated, are implicit in the current city tax debate. The
mission statement of Americans for Prosperity, one of the groups supporting the
anti-tax effort, focuses on engaging citizens in the name of limited government and
free markets on the local, state and federal levels. This prioritizes cutting taxes and
government spending in order to halt the encroachment of government in the
economic lives of citizens by fighting proposed tax increases and pointing out
evidence of waste, fraud and abuse.
It is also important to note that Americans for Prosperity celebrates Friedmans long,
uphill battle, fought over decades to persuade politicians and business people that
government is the problem, not the solution.
This is one vision of democracy.

2 of 3

5/4/11 12:10 PM

Print Story

http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/26153434-47/tax-d...

Another vision of democracy is what Francis Moore Lapp, political observer, calls
living democracy. For her, Democracy is not merely a set system of government,
something done to us or for us. It is the way we interact and experience democratic
principles such as transparency, mutual accountability and the dispersion of power
throughout our lives.
This view emphasizes a need to see individual liberty as dependent on the support of
an interdependent community, a balance between market and nonmarket values, a
belief and willingness to work for a common good, and a sense of mutual
responsibility. It depends on the willingness to balance individual needs with social
responsibility. Or as another political observer, Benjamin Barber, put it, to balance I
want with we need.
Members of the pro-tax group, like the anti-tax group, do not name any particular
vision of democracy as their source of inspiration. But their statements and literature
suggest a view sympathetic to the ideal of living democracy.
The pro-tax group draws a link between high-quality education, a competitive work
force and a healthy economy. But there are also statements about the health of the
community, now and in the future.
There are statements about the communitys responsibility to students, not just as
future employees but as future citizens. There are statements and provisions about a
tax that takes into account ones ability to pay and protects the poorest from additional
financial burdens. There are statements about the importance of providing adequate
resources to all students to develop to their fullest potential.
The Strong Schools, Strong Eugene group could have gone further to argue for an
even broader vision of education. It could have argued for education that fosters
life-long learning, wonder, imaginative thinking, enriched self-development, social
and economic equity, a deepened sense of responsibility to the common good and
engaged citizenship. It could have argued, along with Thomas Jefferson and John
Dewey, that access to and participation in public education are crucial to building a
sense of the public that makes living democracy possible. This would have been, in
these times, politically riskier.
On May 17, the vote will be not only about a city income tax for education, but for a
vision of democracy.
The youth in our community are watching and learning.
Copyright 2011 The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

3 of 3

5/4/11 12:10 PM