Summary

Why has Governor Ted Kulongoski left at-risk and abused kids waiting during six years of his administration? His rallying cry is “Kids can’t wait,” but a close look at Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Welfare programs uncovers the troubling fact that his administration certainly has allowed many children to wait. . . . Read more!

Summary

Ask even reasonably knowledgeable people how big the Oregon state budget is this biennium, and they likely will tell you that it’s around $15 billion, which is actually just the General Fund. The All Funds Budget is $48 billion—$6,376 per year for every man, woman and child in Oregon. Taxpayers deserve to know exactly how much their government is spending. . . . Read more!

Summary

Calculating the true per-student cost of public education in Oregon is complicated, but taxpayers have a right to expect government to be transparent about spending and to provide honest figures — calculated from a taxpayer’s perspective. . . . Read more!

Summary

Journalist Andrew Gumble recently wrote in The Independent (UK): “Poverty deepens when the wealthy don’t care. Poverty deepens when the super wealthy simply get greedy. No other explanation is possible.” In fact, many other explanations are possible. . . . Read more!

Summary

Oregon’s economy will create an estimated 250,000 new jobs over the next decade, and 20,000 jobs are currently unfilled in the Portland area. But employers are having a tough time finding qualified candidates to replace retirees and to fill new positions. The private and nonprofit sectors can help. . . . Read more!

Summary

The governor’s Task Force on Comprehensive Revenue Restructuring recently discussed imposing a tax on commercial parking spaces to raise revenue for Oregon’s highway transportation system. The argument was made that businesses, not consumers, would pay; but ultimately this is yet another hidden tax that likely will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices. If we want to tax shoppers, then we should tax them openly and not make business our hidden tax collector. . . . Read more!

Summary

As if helping kids weren’t hard enough, Oregon foster parents may one day be forced to join the powerful public-sector unions. Oregon’s legislature passed a bill to unionize home health care workers last year, and a bill in Washington State already has been introduced to treat foster parents like state employees. . . . Read more!

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A Portland delegation saw what real education reform looks like on a recent visit to the Big Easy. . . . Read more!

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For over 25 years, an increasing number of other countries have established some form of personally held accounts in response to their own social security and pension crises. Following their lead is a smart and sustainable way to reform our own Social Security system before it is too late. . . . Read more!

Summary

The Social Security System worked well when there were sixteen workers to support each retiree, back in 1950. Now there are only three workers supporting each retiree, and soon there will only be two. The system is headed toward financial disaster. Congress must address these concerns, and Oregonians should lead the way toward reforming the system. . . . Read more!

Summary

Dick Stamm’s experience on an Illinois school board shows what four dedicated people can do to improve education in their district. During his tenure, test scores rose from the 54th percentile to the 90th. . . . Read more!

Summary

While supposedly a boon for tobacco prevention efforts, the Master Settlement Agreement is just another backroom deal between trial lawyers and state officials that primarily serves their own interests. The revenue for states is not legally tied to tobacco prevention efforts, and most settlement funds are used for General Obligation Bonds for Oregon’s state budget. . . . Read more!

Summary

The demand for school choice is growing. The Children’s Scholarship Fund-Portland has a ten-year history of demonstrating the value of a small grant program in providing a “hand up” to grade school kids from low-to-moderate-income families. . . . Read more!

Summary

Tata Motors’ Nano, the cheapest car in the world, was launched this month in India, to the delight of lower-income households able to afford their first car. While environmentalists and city planners fear an increase in pollution and congestion, the Nano is safer and more ecofriendly than other options available to the poor. . . . Read more!

Summary

The slogan, “Business should pay its fair share,” misses the point. No business ever pays any tax. People pay taxes, and exactly which people pay a business tax is hard for economists to determine. . . . Read more!

Summary

Welfare dependent people need access to physical, social and economic mobility to become self-sufficient. Opportunity Cars generates access to both physical and economic mobility through its financial fitness classes and car purchase program in Crook County, Oregon. . . . Read more!

Summary

A recent study of public sector retirement funds by The Pew Charitable Trust’s Center on the States found that “Oregon currently has the best-funded pension system in the country.” This claim for Oregon’s $50-plus billion system is only technically true if we leave out the liabilities generated by $6.2 billion in pension obligation bonds issued to help reduce PERS rates. . . . Read more!

Summary

Clean-up of pollution from motor vehicles has been one of the great American success stories in modern times, and the success will continue for decades due to technological innovation and auto fleet turnover. The best thing politicians can do for the environment is to let automakers and their investors bring the next generation of improvements to the world. . . . Read more!

Summary

While TriMet has agreed to some reforms in the wake of the MAX security crisis, a much better solution would be to allow consumers to have real choices in transit service. Here in Portland, privately operated automobiles formerly served successfully as unsubsidized, flexible, quasi-public transportation directly responsive to popular demand. . . . Read more!

Summary

“Income inequality” is a central part of the debate surrounding poverty and economic growth. However, a better alternative to the term “income inequality” is “opportunity inequality.” Poverty is not about what or how much you consume but about limited opportunity and freedom. . . . Read more!