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| Oregon Governor Kulongoski poised to push 'reset' - other states considering similar actions |
| 2009-09-08 |
| Looks like some are starting to get it. But I'm sure they'll figure out a way to fuc& it up somehow. On the very day that his predecessor announced hopes to be his successor, Gov. Ted Kulongoski signaled that he still has an important role to play in the final 16 months of his second term. That work, and what the next governor does with it, could result in a reshaped and reduced state government. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #9 I've lived & worked in Oregon my whole life. I don't need to read the article to tell you that the state is dominated by the public & teacher's employee unions. Liberals in this state are still living in fantasy land, the latest great fantasy being that they think they can 'not' build power plants for the impending 2000 megawatt need by 2020 and solve 85% of the shorfall of need by conservation. (seriously) Things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better, but this stranglehold cannot be released without the system having 'broken'. Bambi & crew are operating off a template and it's my belief they intend to break the system to have government fill the void with more government. This state's on the fast track to mediocrity (but the has the most expensive per-capita mass transit system) and they didn't even plan it. SNAFU (Note: If this country is genuinely 60%+ conservative, those LINOs & PINOs better get off their duff soon, or it won't matter that a liberal is standing shoulder to shoulder with me in a year; I'll still deck the crap out of him) btw, I am a small businessman/entrepreneur carving a living out of a diminishing disposable income, not sucking a DROP of the public stimulus tit... |
| Posted by: logi_cal 2009-09-08 22:00 |
| #8 The only way I see Oregon getting out of it's liberal induced depression is for a real change in our politics. Don't see that happening, especially since Ted's hotest replacement candidate is the retread Dr. Cool Kitzhaber. Going against liberal politics in Oregon is like pi$$ing into the wind. While you may feel some relief, you still end up all wet. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-09-08 11:38 |
| #7 Anonymoose Government run education is a disaster. Just make parents pay for their own childrens education directly. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-09-08 10:45 |
| #6 Oregon is by nature hostile to businesses and they don't even know it. They have a few darlings that they try not to pi$$ off more than usual, but trying to run any other sort of business usually sucks because the state is so miserable regarding taxes, paperwork, licensure requirements, and poor response from government regarding licensure issues and nonexistant oversight of broken and corrupt licensure agencies. They also feel that they need to be on the forefront as far as licensing requirements for everything go, and the legislators have no clue as to the resulting kinds of BS business owners have to deal with rather than run their business. These problems need to go away before Oregon will ever go anywhere. I also have a feeling this problem is not entirely limited to Oregon. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-09-08 10:32 |
| #5 There is still no political recognition that "business as usual" cannot be maintained. Though the federal government is the worst example by far, and Obama is all in favor of rationing everything to the people, the truth is that the only thing that must be rationed is government. Literally, government must be prioritized from top to bottom, with both *closed* federal and State constitutional requirements at the top. By "closed" I mean those that have fixed, not variable costs. The next level are those self-imposed, but non-constitutional legal requirements. These must be debated, because being outside of the constitution they can be reduced or eliminated. The level below that are constitutionally mandated, but variable costs, such as, at the State level, public education. These are often bloated with extra funding, and States could cut long and hard through the fat before they reached the muscle. Usually the largest single State budget item, this is where most of the savings come from. Most bloat is in administration, not classroom instruction. Finally, the lowest level is the vast number of largesse laws, business tax abatement, non-essential services, etc., etc., etc. Most of which can be suspended without major consequences. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-09-08 10:19 |
| #4 ...and remove ego stroking anti-business legislation that drives jobs and income out of the state. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-09-08 08:08 |
| #3 Reset only sets things back to the baseline. If the baseline is crap, you will still be in trouble. Cut taxes, slash spending on absolutely unnecessary stuff and you will see your economy turn around. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-09-08 07:08 |
| #2 Good to know that Ted has signaled he is really going to shake things up by naming a seven member panel to make more "sweeping recommendations". Nothing says 'leadership' like another panel or advisory group. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-09-08 07:01 |
| #1 You have to just to love this sort of brilliant, in-depth reporting: The process could result in changes such as further loosening state requirements on Oregon's largest universities because "loosening restrictions will ...will... not sure exactly what it will do, but it must be a good thing. doing something with federal restrictions on a myriad of health and human services programs, yes, doing "something" is a brilliant idea. or altering mandatory minimum sentences for violent offenders who account for 40 percent of a state prison population that has more than doubled since 1995. Because once we get free health care from the federal government, it won't cost the State nearly as much to pay for the result of all of those violent crimes. Good to know that Ted has signaled he is really going to shake things up by naming a seven member panel to make more "sweeping recommendations". It is all so clear to me now. |
| Posted by: Jumbo Slinerong5015 2009-09-08 05:19 |