Pundits like to claim California voters are anti-tax. Of course, we've raised various all kinds of taxes at the state level -- including the Prop 10 cigarette taxes in 1998, and the Prop 63 millionaire's tax for mental health programs passed in 2004. Still, even though our reputation remains, we've got nothing on Oregon, where no tax has been approved by statewide voters since1930.
Until now. On Tuesday, Oregon voters delivered a huge victory for progressives by approving Measures 66 and 67 -- raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 and large corporations to generate $733 million to close the state's budget deficit. The Oregon legislature had approved the taxes last summer, but a corporate / teabagger alliance organized to put it to voters in a referendum.
One wonders if the national media will cover this victory at all - much less at the levels of the Massachusetts Senate race. Although they'll almost certainly ignore it, the lessons for California are enormous and extremely important.