Fellow Oregonians, Listen up, I’m here to lay it out straight no sugarcoating, no Portland elite spin. Governor Tina Kotek and her Democrat supermajority have been hammering us hardworking folks with taxes and fees like it’s their full time job, all while Oregon’s economy wheezes and businesses pack up and leave for friendlier states. This ain’t leadership; it’s picking your pocket to fund their big government dreams. Let me break it down for you, neighbor to neighbor. First off, that disastrous transportation package, House Bill 3991. Kotek called a special session, twisted arms, and rammed through a 6 cent gas tax hike (pushing it to 46 cents a gallon), massive jumps in vehicle registration and title fees, extra hits on EVs, and doubling that payroll tax for transit. We’re talking thousands of dollars out of family budgets over time, all sold as “emergency” fixes for roads and bridges. She signed it late, hoping to kneecap the people’s referendum push. Thousands of us signed those petitions anyway, real Oregonians saying “enough!” The hikes got paused, and she eventually had to beg for repeal because the backlash was nuclear. Classic, create a crisis with bad policy, then act like the hero trying to fix it. Then there’s the corporate and business tax games. She signed on to decoupling from federal tax relief, SB 1507 clawing back over $300 million by killing breaks for small business stock, depreciation, and more. Republicans called it exactly what it is, a tax increase on job creators while she’s out there talking about a “Prosperity Council” to fix the mess her policies helped make. Businesses are filing bankruptcy at higher rates, CNBC rankings tanked, and folks with money are fleeing our sky high income taxes and estate tax (one of the worst in the country, kicking in at just $1 million). Her own council is now begging to raise thresholds on the Corporate Activity Tax and ease the estate tax because even they admit it’s chasing people out. Don’t forget the local hits she’s enabled or shrugged at, like Multnomah County’s Preschool for All tax hammering high earners. Kotek herself wrote letters worrying it’s driving top taxpayers away, shrinking the base. This is the pattern, tax the productive to fund endless programs, watch the revenue base erode, then hunt for more ways to tax the rest of us. Look, Oregonians built this state with timber, farming, innovation, and grit, not endless government extraction. Kotek talks “targeted relief” and “prosperity roadmaps” now because the polls and pocketbooks are screaming. But actions speak louder, more fees on drivers, more burdens on workers’ paychecks, more disincentives for business. We’ve got crumbling roads despite all the taxes already collected, homelessness exploding, and a cost of living crisis. We deserve better than this tax and spend cycle that punishes success and rewards inefficiency. Real prosperity comes from low taxes, smart regs, and letting Oregonians keep more of what we earn. Time to hold these politicians accountable, vote like your wallet and your kids’ future depend on it, because they do. OregonWolf, signing off, proud, taxed enough already, and fighting for the real Oregon. God bless this great state. 🇺🇸 🐺