– The Associated Press

PORTLAND — As he wraps up his work, a corporate turnaround expert initially hired for $100,000 to fix Oregon’s troubled health care insurance exchange has billed the state for nearly $600,000 under an expanded contract, a newspaper reported…

[Clyde] Hamstreet was hired after the state agency launched a website that couldn’t come close to fulfilling the promise of seamless online sign-ups for health insurance…

…He hasn’t yet submitted an invoice for August, The Oregonian reported on Thursday…

“We didn’t do this job to make a lot of money off the state,” Hamstreet said…

…The Cover Oregon board hired Aaron Patnode, a former Kaiser executive who said Hamstreet and his executives did exceptional work on tasks that included:…

Boosting morale and communication.

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/32082669-75/cover-oregon-turnaround-bill-at-600000-and-rising.html.csp

Our Response and Your Comments

Cover Oregon – it’s like when you put your hand under your table in a cheap diner and stick five fingers deep into a wad of well chewed bubble gum. You just can’t get rid of it.

This magnificent creation of the Beaver State government burned through $248 million, which paid for, among other things: a website that didn’t work; a bunch of goofy folk songs that made Oregon look like a state of stoned karaoke crooners at a cheap Holiday Inn; and $650,000 in bonuses to retain the brainiacs who created the stupid website and folk songs.

But that just wasn’t enough, was it? Now they’ve tossed another $600,000 of taxpayer dollars after a consultant who, for $100,000, was supposed to, among other things, boost morale and communications.

We’re sure that this clever fellow boosted his morale. How did he do with yours? After all, you paid for  it. As for “communications,” we suggest that you send some very clear messages the next time you vote.