[gbiddulph]

Pastor, thanks for that information on the Oregon tax.  Isn\'t it interesting how the rich find a way not to pay higher taxes?  That has been the way of the world for millennia.

I would agree that higher education is a better investment than many other things.  But I don\'t think the extent of the coming state budget crises, caused by excessive government, has really sunk into the consciousness of most people.  Perhaps in 2011 as Jerry Brown attempts to balance the California budget and fails and talks about scary cuts -- and then raises taxes on "the rich" until another million or so upper middle class people leave California -- will start the process of reality sinking in.

The current model of large public institutions paid for by taxpayer sudsidies cannot be maintained indefinitely in most states unless at least 1 of 2 things take place (and probably both):  1)state benefits to government workers and K-12 teachers are massively cut or 2)state Medicaid payments are massively cut.  Go look at the state budget of your average Pac-10 state, the growth rate of Medicaid payouts and education payouts and then ask yourself how long the current model can last.  Something has to give.

Until now, the solution has been to raise taxes on "the rich," which really means the upper middle class because the truly rich find ways not to pay higher taxes by, for example, moving their primary addresses to Jackson Hole or Sun Valley when California raises taxes.  As Pastor points out, Oregon raised taxes on the rich but revenues didn\'t increase.  That solution will not work long-term because the taxpayers then move out.  I believe California has lost 1.5 million people (most of them in the middle class to upper middle class range) in the last decade.

[gbiddulph]

Pastor, thanks for that information on the Oregon tax.  Isn\'t it interesting how the rich find a way not to pay higher taxes?  That has been the way of the world for millennia.

I would agree that higher education is a better investment than many other things.  But I don\'t think the extent of the coming state budget crises, caused by excessive government, has really sunk into the consciousness of most people.  Perhaps in 2011 as Jerry Brown attempts to balance the California budget and fails and talks about scary cuts -- and then raises taxes on "the rich" until another million or so upper middle class people leave California -- will start the process of reality sinking in.

The current model of large public institutions paid for by taxpayer sudsidies cannot be maintained indefinitely in most states unless at least 1 of 2 things take place (and probably both):  1)state benefits to government workers and K-12 teachers are massively cut or 2)state Medicaid payments are massively cut.  Go look at the state budget of your average Pac-10 state, the growth rate of Medicaid payouts and education payouts and then ask yourself how long the current model can last.  Something has to give.

Until now, the solution has been to raise taxes on "the rich," which really means the upper middle class because the truly rich find ways not to pay higher taxes by, for example, moving their primary addresses to Jackson Hole or Sun Valley when California raises taxes.  As Pastor points out, Oregon raised taxes on the rich but revenues didn\'t increase.  That solution will not work long-term because the taxpayers then move out.  I believe California has lost 1.5 million people (most of them in the middle class to upper middle class range) in the last decade.