More on Sales Tax, for Good Measure

* As a member of Bill Popejoy’s team of volunteers and a lifelong Republican, I object strongly to the mailer received just prior to election concerning Measure R. I realize that voters turned down the tax increase overwhelmingly and that alternatives must now be developed, but to suggest that “You can help Advance the Republican Revolution” and “by voting No on Measure R, we can keep taxes low while balancing Orange County’s deficit through elimination of wasteful spending” is blatantly false and misleading.

No mention was made that the discretionary budget of roughly $450 million had been reduced by 41%. Instead it states that “greater savings in the $3.7 billion county budget can be achieved,” giving the false impression that cuts in programs funded by federal and state government can result in significant savings to the county. I have yet to see one example to back that up, yet it was repeated over and over by the Republican leadership and other opponents of the measure.

The mailer states, “Higher taxes don’t help the economy, they hurt it.” True, and not only do I believe this, I have also worked to support this supply-side principle ever since the Reagan Revolution. But come on, the nearly $2 billion is equal to about five times the annual discretionary budget. Also, no mention was made of the costs of a prolonged bankruptcy: much higher borrowing costs resulting from defaults on current debt and the impact on the economy of continued economic uncertainty.

I am not revisiting the battle; it is over, and alternatives, however harsh, must and will be found. Rather, I am simply trying to point out the misleading nature of the aforementioned mailer by my party.

And to top it off, to be called a “counterfeit Republican” by Chairman [Thomas] Fuentes is an insult and apologies are in order to a lot of authentic Republicans who voted for the Popejoy plan, paraphrasing Churchill, as the worst plan except for all others.

THOMAS P. KEMP

Newport Beach

* For a newspaper that constantly strives to increase its circulation in Orange County, you seem determined to alienate the thousands of Orange County residents like myself who voted down the proposed sales tax increase Measure R.

An old adage warns against throwing good money after bad. Giving more of our hard-earned tax dollars to bureaucrats and politicians who have just bungled us into bankruptcy does not make good financial sense. You pointed out that investors are now casting an “icy glare” at Orange County bond offerings. On election day, we voters did the same thing. We refused to invest in the credibility of the current county government.

The last time we agreed to a sales-tax increase, it was for Measure M, the so-called transportation tax. As a result, our freeways have been torn up for years in construction projects to build car-pool lanes, which have done nothing to relieve traffic congestion. And millions are being spent on planning mass-transit rail systems like L.A. County’s Red Line. Orange County supervisors could have given voters a choice between raising the sales tax still further and diverting Measure M funds to bankruptcy relief. But no--it was Measure R or nothing. We chose the better alternative.

THOMAS A. SCHENACH

Huntington Beach

* The Orange County Transportation Authority says, “We are willing to help the county through its difficult times, but we have to answer to the taxpayers who voted to improve our freeway network.”

I think the Orange County voters should have a vote in the first part of 1996 to redirect the money in Measure M (designed for urban rail projects) to help the county out of bankruptcy.

The OCTA says there should be no vote on the Measure M money designated for urban rail projects, because the Orange County voters approved Measure M in 1990.

If the OCTA is so sure the Orange County voters want to keep the money in Measure M for urban rail projects, why do they not want a vote?

Let the Orange County voters have a say in whether the Measure M urban rail project’s money should go to help Orange County get out of bankruptcy.

GARY A. MUDGE

Garden Grove

* Orange County’s financial difficulties provoke sardonic smiles in less-developed countries having problems servicing their debts to First World nations. Here you have the stronghold of conservative Republicanism, bitter opponent of foreign aid to the irresponsible boondocks of the world, the political cradle of none other than Ronald Reagan, [negotiating] a moratorium instead of facing the music and buckling down to honor its obligations. Hypocrisy, your slip is showing.

HANNS JOHN MAIER

Ubatuba, Brazil