Ed, I think the people who designed measure 97 know full well the difference between sales and profits.  They don't want to hurt business.  They know full well that business will not pay this tax, which as you point out must be passed on to the consumer.  Measure 97 is not a business tax.  It is just a sales tax to be paid for by the consumer which they thought might pass because they called it a business tax and made people think they would not pay it.  This is progressives lying to people because they alone know what is best for all of us.  And in the case of measure 97 they think that the poor need to pay a disproportionately large share of the bill for public employees.