Steve Duin of the "Oregonian," a real smart guy and by far Oregon's best columnist , nailed it today. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/
"... the new "ethics" rules promoted by House and Senate have changed the timing of that influence peddling, not the impact... " Duin wrote.
Exactly. It's not the Prime Rib or Crab Cakes at Bently's Grill in Salem, not even golf in Maui. It's campaign contributions. And until we tackle the hard issues surrounding that, nothing will change, except, as Duin writes, we may get "a revealing display of the Democrats' priorities. And loyalties..."
We have been let down by Democrats before. Kulongoski's first term was a hideous display of ineffectuality. And while Kitzhaber was battling a ferocious ebb tide against Republicans who had national money and momentum on their side, we do wish more had happened with him at the helm. Barbara Roberts was best at casting the non-accomplishments of Barbara Roberts as if they weren't.
Dems have also shown an ability to peddle the bike for their own interest groups. If the Republicans have the Beer and Wine lobby, the Dems have the Oregon Education Association -- which, by the way, may be as responsible for mediocre schools in Oregon as ANY budget cut.
So, my guess is we are seeing already in Salem a harbinger of disappointment. A window dressing, limits on prime rib when we need to limit the toxicity of large campaign contributions. It's not the dinners, folks, it's the ability to buy misleading 30 second spots aired over and over on KATU.
We won't get universal health care that helps business and the poor. We won't get real tax reform -- yes, a sales tax, even a regressive sales tax -- that provides relief to property owners and income earners and taps visitors to pay for what they use in our state. We won't get election reform, because those who make the laws benefit from the current corrupt system.
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5 comments:
" the Dems have the Oregon Education Association -- which, by the way, may be as responsible for mediocre schools in Oregon as ANY budget cut."
It'll be interesting to see Kulo's relationship with the Unions, especially the OEA, evolve over the next couple of years. The Gov has said that the last campaign was his last.... he really doesn't need the unions to fund his campaign (unless he wants to be a 72 year old Freshman Senator from Oregon. Not likely.)
With Chalkboard providing some reform projects, could Kulo surprise us in the educational arena by supporting something that the unions find a threat to their headlock on mediocrity in the schools?
I hope so and expect not.
Universal health care run by the government will be waste of money and an example of inefficiencies as are most government programs. To see how the government runs things look at DMV or USPS. In the case of USPS we see private operators who run a MUCH tighter ship. One might argue that the price that UPS or FexEx charges is high compared to USPS, but if you took the government subsidies away from USPS those prices would be higher than the private carriers.
For a recent, first hand, personal comparison, try this read.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243439,00.html
A sales tax? Why? Who really pays? Please don't try to sell me the 'tourist' line again. We already tax the motel rooms and the gas, we will get a pittance from the souvenirs that they buy and the meals they consume. No the people who really pay will be me and you as we pay more for cars, trucks, TV, stereos, the big ticket items, the items that the tourists won't buy. Not to mention the revenue (and possibly jobs) that will go away when some of our border stores aren't doing a brisk business anymore - for example the Cosco store just across the river from Vancouver. It presently does the BEST business of any of the Cosco stores in Oregon. Tack a sales tax on and the buyers from Vancouver no longer have a reason to come; a sales tax is bogus. Worse, once you let a sales tax in they just keep tacking on 1 cent here, a tenth of cent there - it never stops.
I could easily argue against your gay marriage stand, but this isn't the place for it.
Single has no facts.
His argument by similarity (Health care = DMV = USPS) is bogus.
Fox News isn't news, and the story referred to by "Single" is an odd, anecdote-based piece that says little, proves nothing.
The "market" does not work in health care, because the individual receiving the service is not the one paying for the service. Which is why our horribly inefficient system sends the poor to emergency rooms for want of basic care. Even if the market did work, is that what we want as a society?
While a sale tax may be regressive, hurting the poor more than the rich, it could offset income tax and property taxes. See the studies.
And if it was that easy to argue the gay marriage stand, "Single" would have done so.
Universal health care down't necessarily mean socialized medicine run by the government. There are many ways to deliver coverage - insurance pooling, etc.
If we make this a priority, it can be done and done well. There are plenty of creative minds out there who can come up with a program that is fair, universal and efficient.
Problem is, there are powerful interests who don't want things to get better becasue tehy make money off the current chaos. And the have the ear of government.
Once again, the government fails to represent the interest of its citizens in favor of teh interests of insurance companies, drug manufacturers, etc.
Make a posting regarding gay marriage, Eye - then I'll dispute you, I just didn't think this was the appropriate place to voice my reasons against it here (on this posting).
You claim my argument is bogus but provide no proof. While the story is anecdote-based, it's no less true. Do some research see how many people from Canada (those who can afford it) come to the USA to have certain procedures done because the wait time in Canada is far too long. The fact that the story was anecdote-based doesn't make it any less true. The fact that it was on Fox News doesn't make it any less true (although all liberals shrink from Fox).
Outside of the Military what other job does the government do that private firms can't/don't do better, more efficiently and cheaper? In most cases government takes over a task and it's slower in reacting, more (much more) expensive and usually does a worse job. Your refutation didn't include anything to really refute my examples, just your 'opinion'.
Finally, regarding a sales tax, IF it offset property taxes that MIGHT be one thing, but mark my words, let a sales tax in here and eventually property tax (and/or income tax) will be right back where it was/is and we will have a sales tax on top of it. I also notice you had no refutation that in the case of a sales tax WE would be the ones (not the tourists) who paid the lions share. You did not refute that some of the bigger border stores would be hurt which in turn would hurt the state's economy - again, all I got from you was an opinion. You need to do better than that.
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