People who argue that Oregon’s public schools need more tax dollars lost another battle this month. Our Secretary of State just released an analysis of spending on school district support services.

In 2001, the latest year for which nationwide data is available, Oregon spent . . . Read more!

On May 1, Portland’s North Interstate light rail line opened for business. The cost to taxpayers was $60 million per mile, or $350 million total. The train, which runs from downtown to the Expo Center, replaces TriMet’s bus line 5, which used to go all the way to Vancouver. Now Vancouver customers must leave the train at Kenton and transfer to a bus to cross the river—their daily commute takes longer.

Oddly enough, superior transit service could have . . . Read more!

In April, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) announced a two-year pilot project to allow liquor sales in up to six large grocery stores. The liberalization of liquor sales comes only 71 years after the end of Prohibition. Certainly, this step is more about increasing government revenue than serving consumers better, just as was the recent allowance of Sunday liquor sales.

The OLCC has a conflicting mission: to both . . . Read more!