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As a member of the middle class from Washington County struggling to get through this recession, I have the following question for Mr. Dudley:

Real wages have been stagnant and income inequality has been rising since the 1970's.  We recently heard on OPB that the top 20% hold 85% of the wealth (property, savings, investments, etc.) and the bottom 40% hold 0% of the wealth (with many in deep debt).  Wealth has been similarly stagnant, even though most Americans would like it more evenly distributed.  The recession ended in June 2009 and the economy has been expanding since then, but unemployment has been steadily high.  Which of these facts troubles you, and what would your tax and other economic policies do about them?

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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Investment in "bricks and mortar" is a fairly inflexible fiscal commitment.  Investment in community programs can be changed as needs change.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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corinnebsp,

Your comment assumes that treatment is better in a state hospital environment.  That certainly doesn't appear to be the case at OSH.  Decades ago deinstitutionalization started recognizing the limitations of isolated institutional environments.  The ultimate goal is functioning in the community, and it is neither humane nor legal to institutionalize individuals permanently.  Anything that might be learned in an institutional environment transfers poorly to the community.  Many states have had successful programs for diverting persons from state hospitals.  Instead of another hospital, it would be a better solution to create such programs, with adequate staffing, funding, expertise, and leadership.  More hospital beds simply delays development of such programs.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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I appreciate the collective wisdom of the previous comments. We have not yet made it to the mountaintop. To get there we must deal with the underlying drivers of racism, which are the deepest threats to democracy: the willingness of some to impose their will on others through economic power or violence. The cynicism in the realpolitik of the last eight years justifies such an approach. When justice, legislation, and executive order can be bought how can any of us be truly free? How can we pretend our democracy is healthy? The next civil rights struggles include those for true freedom of religion, where we judge someone by the content of their character, not whether they are Christian, or any religion. Dr. King was a shining example of the great possibilities in Christianity! Lately we've had more sorry examples of how it can be used to justify bigotry and to oppress. Perhaps another next front in the civil rights struggle is the disgraceful state of our failed correctional system. The disproportionate representation of minority populations in prisons is an acute symptom of the deeper problems discussed above.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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