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LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Article Excerpt
Byline: The Register-Guard

Law enforcement tax won't fly

Tax the corporations, not us! Through legislation, big business has reduced its obligations to support our systems from a 60 percent share to a begrudging commitment of 16 per- cent.

A new measure on the ballot will not persuade property owners across Lane County to add $400 or $500 per year to our second or third mortgages, especially since rural residents don't get the same benefits as city folk.

County residents don't get free library cards; we must pay $80 to get in. We pay the U.S. Forest Service for fire protection over and above money allocated for city protection. The police, and even animal control, will not investigate a crime in our neck of the woods, let alone patrol our areas.

No, we rely on our neighbors and our guns to keep expenses down. Four hundred dollars a year is better spent increasing our arsenal than for bloated government budgets. To us, government at all levels can never live within its means.

Progressive thinking would dictate that jails don't solve drug problems and that a crackdown on shoplifting is a boon for tax-evading big box stores. It has also been pointed out that the existing property tax structure is unfair. One must solve that before coming out with any petition for new taxes.

The bottom line is we would be better off busing every last criminal in our jails and prisons to Washington, D.C., and dropping them off there...

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