2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session arts arts and culture author ballot measures basketball bomb books boy scouts budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal college courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration internet kitzhaber law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana marriage media medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes technology television terrorism theater third parties transportation union university of oregon washington wildfire women

I don't know how many blind students there are in Oregon, and I don't pretend to understand their educational needs.  What I do understand is that by putting kids with special needs of all kinds into the same over crowded classrooms, we are not helping anyone.  In fact, we are hurting everyone. 

The premise is that we can accomplish the same thing with less money.  The premise is that the classroom doesn't suffer.  I reject these premises.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

Most of this economic crisis is due to rich folks not spending enough money, sitting on the sidelines waiting to spend their money thinking they'll get a better deal if they wait.  You should walk up to the guy in the Ferrari and thank him for feeding a car salesman's family for a couple of months.  By buying that car, he had to pay a luxory tax, registration fees (probably on top of his daily driver), will have it maintained at very high cost by a local mechanic, probably take it to PIR and pay track fees, etc.  Believe me, Ferrari's are a far more effective way of redistributing the wealth of rich folks than new taxes.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

Putting the principle aside for a moment, the Pentagon is funded by federal taxes.  I believe the discussion today is about the state budget shortfall.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

But I should add....that money would go to fund social security..not a source of state income.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

What will be the affect of sending blind students to their home districts?  Will they be plunked down in a classroom with 34 kids in it headed by a teacher with no training in how to teach blind students?  A teacher who is already dealing with all of the other "mainstreamed" kids with special needs?  Sounds like we will be dumbing down our educational system even further, further solidifying our schools position as a glorified day care center.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

Right on.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

While it has become conventional wisdom to blame the "rich", whoever they are, it is perhaps helpful to understand that the mortgage meltdown, which triggered this recession, began when middle class folks "decided" to stop paying their mortgages because the values of their homes dropped below their UPB.  Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't caused by millions of poor ignorant folks duped into 2/24 ARMS by predatory lenders.  Yes, that happened, and the media covered those folks extensively, but it wasn't the major cause.  Middle class folks advised each other to stop paying their mortgage because it would take them years before they were above water again....so they quit.  At that time, there was historically low unemployment, and no other visible cause for the rising foreclosure rate.  

posted 4 years ago
view in context

If we can spend this money on clearing brush, which frankly seems  pulled out of the air, why can't we spend it doing things that add more value?  It seems that we are cutting back on state services left and right, but suddenly we can afford to clear brush?  This doesn't make sense.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

A little off topic:

I started biking to work everyday a few months ago.  It took a while to dial in my commute (the rain gear, back pack, the right route, techniques for keeping my chain/derailleurs clean and working well in the wet and grit), but I save a lot of money on gas and bus fees.  I also had to make adjustments to things like dry cleaning schedule, and learn how to pack work clothes to avoid wrinkling.  But I've lost 15 pounds and I'm astonishingly more fit over the hills.  I get to work faster, and my whole life is better.

posted 4 years ago
view in context

This discussion is troubling to me for a reason that is maybe only obvious to an outsider.

We are talking about this because of the "hipness" of the local food movement, which is part of a larger, smug self image that Oregonians have about themselves as being progressive.  It's shocking to me that there isn't better support for school nutrition in general in Oregon, given the state's smug self image. 

As a parent, this isn't the only shocking thing about our lack of support for kids.  We have one of the shortest school years in the nation as well.  We compete for that title with some of the lovely states of the SE US. 

When it comes to kids, even in Oregon, we suddenly start to poormouth.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
view in context

Accountability.  Part of the reason people support the kicker is because they lack a sense of control or visibility over how tax funds are managed.  The kicker maintains a level of visibility over the state's revenue stream.  People are uneasy that our legislators will manage the kicker money foolishly, and in effect, raid the rainy day fund with pork style spending or worse.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
view in context

I feel you have misunderstood the point. The point isn't that he or I don't support the wilderness designation. I absolutely do. If you had read what he said, he said that cyclists support preservation of wild lands. The part that we don't agree with is the exclusion of bicycles from such lands. As for the word glutenous...I'm not sure that word means what you think it means. Or maybe you just mispelled it.

posted 4 years, 4 months ago
view in context

Well said. Thank you.

posted 4 years, 4 months ago
view in context

Surely many who moved here from out of state realize eventually that the "green" self image of Oregonians is so much self congratulation. There is little to back it up. Oregonians love their SUVs and McMansions as much as anyone else. The 40 year old bottle bill doesn't make you green. I think they forget the "reduce and reuse" portion of "reduce, reuse, recycle". They recycle a few bottles, give themselves a pat on the back, rerward themsleves with a stumptown latte and throw the paper cup in the trash.

posted 4 years, 4 months ago
view in context

I and my family are avid cyclists. When we moved here 11 years ago, I imagined my wife and two kids biking through the many beautiful wilderness areas. I learned that there are very few trails that allow cyclists. There were better MTB opportunities in every state I've lived in (Minnesota, Illinois, Massechussetts, even Iowa) than Oregon. It would be sad if the few remaining places were made unavailable. I suspect it will nudge law abiding folks to sheepishly become scofflaws.

posted 4 years, 4 months ago
view in context

A corporation is not a person. All of the people who work for the corporation have to pay taxes on any realized income like the rest of us. This includes the most highly compensated people in the corporation. The corporation has tax shelters for very good reasons. Primarily, these are there to encourage investment in, say things like alternative or renewable energy. Personally, since "most" of us work for corporations, I hope that we don't tax them so that they can be competitive in the global economy...so that I can continue to be employed and..er...pay taxes to support things like our university system. Doh!

posted 4 years, 4 months ago
view in context

I think you are thinking along the same lines. Now that these guys are going to be public employees, and the companies are taking out loans from the government, they need to pay that money back first, with interest. Miss a payment to the government, and do what would happen to me if I miss a tax payment. Send them to jail. How's that for incentive?

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
view in context

I'm sorry, but executive pay is NOT a side show. If a liberal is someone who is generous, only with other people's money, then what do you call someone who is a risk taker but with other people's money? A wall street executive? A "risk taker" is not someone who's worst possible outcome after making a gigantic mistake is that he/she becomes unimaginably wealthy. These guys need to feel "personal" pain. Without the personal pain, there is no incentive to make good decisions. Without incentive for good decisions, or fear of bad decisions, the system doesn't work.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
view in context

None of this is any different from any company in the private sector. You need to attract and retain the best employees. In order to do this, you need to provide an environment that they want to work in. That doesn't mean that you don't hold them accountable for setting and meeting objectives. Come on!! In fact, one of the things that harms employee morale the most is when people are NOT held accountable. This makes the employees who really do work hard resentful of those who don't. They want to find a place where their efforts are recognized and rewarded.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
view in context

One of the mistakes that the government always makes when it tries to do something like this, is that they don't understand that measuring performance and making adjustments based on observation is a continuous process. You don't just put the measurement in place and never change it. You put the measurement in place, see if it is working to guide your process, whatever it is, in this case teaching, and adjust what and how you measure and continuously improve.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
view in context