Issues
Golden Fleece Award – Issue #43
$175 Million – And Nothing to Show For It!
This issue’s Golden Fleece Award, surrounded by solid gold brocade (we’ll do the same for anyone who wastes $175 Million of your bucks), goes to the Columbia River Crossings Managers.
Yup – $175 Million of your dollars dumped straight into the Columbia River. Most of it shoveled to consultants who weren’t bright enough to figure out that a bridge with only 95 feet of clearance is too low to allow passage of many (most?) cargo ships up and down the river!
Be glad this turkey is gone. If it weren’t we’d be paying more in mitigation costs for upriver manufacturers. How much more? These geniuses wouldn’t tell us.
But don’t be too hard on these dedicated public servants. In our minds it takes one heck of a lot of talent to totally blow $175 Mil.
Govt. Bureaucracies – The Eternal Growth Industry
The “Fighting Irish” grandstand is being demolished in preparation for the restoration of the old Waldport High School campus to open space use. This project is funded by a $3-million Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA has purchased all the structures and development rights at the site to prevent future development in a tsunami inundation zone. In turn, the Lincoln County School District will demolish and remove the school buildings, portable classrooms, and grandstands; restore the site into open space; and maintain the property in perpetuity with no future development other than that related to the open-space use.
Newport (OR) News, July 9, 2013
Lane Solutions Responds:
Huh? “Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant”? In case there’s a tsunami in Waldport? The last one was 49 years ago. How many hurricanes, tornadoes and floods have occurred since then in highly predictable places? What has FEMA done to “mitigate” these?
FEMA is the poster child for government bureaucracies. Created to relieve hardship caused by Milwaukee, WI floods, FEMA has metastasized into an ever-expanding governmental blob that looks for new “maybe-they’ll- happen” disasters to conquer.
FEMA’s website reveals that the idea for this national bureau “Began on a fall day in Washington DC while eating crepes.” Says it all, doesn’t it?
The website proudly proclaims FEMA’s mission as “Progressively mov(ing) innovation to the forefront of our thinking in emergency management.” Said mission is larded up with palaver about “stakeholders,” “think tanks,” transparent dialogue” and the like.
Are these the geniuses who mistakenly doled out $385 Million to Katrina victims? Whose “innovation” included leaving tons of bottled water and meals in Georgia when Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey?
Bureaucracies like FEMA are conceived in missions that expand to justify more employees, and grow like kudzu on steroids – eternally nourished by ever expanding government.
Hatched in Milwaukee, FEMA lives on in Waldport to tear down a football grandstand. It’s the poster child for government bureaucracies gone berserk.
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Ed. Note: Do you need a federally approved disaster plan for your pet bunny? You might. Find out why in a coming issue of Lane Solutions.
Generous OR Legislature State Aids Poor Ol’ Hyatt Resorts & Hotels
SALEM — In a last-minute flurry of money bills, Oregon lawmakers approved more than $1 billion for construction projects, salary increases and university tuition reductions Monday before shutting down the 2013 Legislature.
Legislation approved on the final day included money for — among dozens of other projects — a new or refurbished Multnomah County Courthouse, sidewalks in east Portland, a convention center hotel in Portland, a ton of construction on college campuses and even a raise for the governor.
Henry Esteve, The Oregonian
Lane Solutions Responds:
Now Hyatt Corp., owner of 492 luxury hotels, spas and resorts from Scottsdale to Dubai to Honolulu and back can breathe easy – because the ever generous Oregon Legislature has agreed to toss them $10 million to help build hotel #493 (and a Grand Hyatt at that!) at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.
Tina Kotek, House Speaker and Patron Saint of Largesse, assures us that this $10 million, as well as the rest of her $1 billion of giveaways means “(There) are going to be immediate jobs around the state.”
OK, now we get it: If Tina hadn’t tossed this cool billion after Hyatt, etc. it would have just been buried in some rich guys’ back yards. Right? None of it would have been invested in starting or expanding businesses and creating jobs. Not one cent.
Here Ms. Kotek reveals the basic belief of a statist: That the government is a more efficient allocator of resources than are private citizens and markets. Hey, it’s the thinking that turned Cuba, Venezuela, Romania, etc. into economic powerhouses! Can it do the same for Oregon?
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Golden Fleece Award
Lane Solutions proudly presents this issue’s Golden Fleece Award with a Silver Star (awarded to any government department that blows $10 Million or more of your money to (big drum roll, please) the OREGON EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT!
These are the 1400 public servants who doled out $1.5 Billion in unemployment checks last year (again – your money).
Investigations revealed that this gang had wasted about $30 Million on computer software that (surprise, surprise) doesn’t work! Oh, well, it was just $30 Million. And it wasn’t even their money. Sort of makes you wonder about the $1.5 Billion, doesn’t it?
The “Experts” Know Best. Right?
The authors contend that people on Medicaid could be harmed by treating patients with a particular illness the same way, which will occur with the rules adopted by the Health Evidence Review Commission.
By: Debbie McCabe and Lorren Sandt, The Lund Report
Imagine walking into your doctor’s office and seeing someone else standing there, telling you they get to make the final decision about your healthcare. Instead of doctors and patients making important health decisions, they make the final call.
For those in Oregon’s social safety net, that day is coming. The Health Evidence Review Commission, or HERC, is designed specifically to cut healthcare costs by overriding decisions made by doctors and their patients.
Lane Solutions Replies:
This is the essence of The Progressive Movement. It rests on the assumption that average citizens (or even private doctors) just aren’t smart enough to make the decisions that affect their lives. Because they “just don’t get it,” all government has to do is collect a bunch of “experts” who can make the decisions for them. After all, it’s “For their own good.” Most of the time it’s “For the children.”
So these self-appointed gurus decide what kind of bags we need for our groceries and light bulbs for our houses. They tell us how much water should flow into our toilets and out through our shower heads. They tax us for foods and drinks they say are bad for us. And they give us the medical treatments that are best for us. That’s because they care so much about us.
But with each intrusion of the “Experts” into our lives a bit of freedom disappears. With each decision “For our own good” we have less control of our own lives. Even if it is always “For our own good.”
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Legislators Pick Winners and Mostly Losers – Again
SALEM — The $150 million reincarnation of Oregon’s manufacturing BETC (Business Energy Tax Cuts) — in talks for months and still in flux — appeared for the first time in writing Thursday in the waning days of the legislative session.
Details were spelled out in a 78-page tax bill amendment that shored up several expiring credits. The manufacturing Business Energy Tax Credits would die off, replaced by a $25 million annual pool.
Although green energy companies remain the priority, the move diversifies taxpayers’ portfolio beyond solar manufacturers. High-dollar recipients such as SolarWorld and SoloPower have been pummeled by foreign competition and a tough economy.
Lane Solutions Responds:
Here we go again. Solyndra, Abound Solar, A 123 Energy. What do they have in common? They’re companies the Federal Government picked as winners and dumped over $1 Billion of your tax dollars into – and lost. And there are plenty more, ahem, “problems” where these come from.
This is what happens when government picks winners and losers. Like when the Oregon Dept. of Energy loaned $10 Million to SoloPower, with Portland taxpayers on the hook for half. Most or all of the money’s gone. And they’re not the only one in Oregon.
But our legislators continue to believe that they’re smarter venture capitalists than private venture capitalists. They can’t see that if there were buckets of bucks to be made off “clean energy” some company would jump at the chance with their own dollars. But then our guys and gals in Salem have your dollars to play with. And, like the old saying goes, “There ain’t no end to the good you can do with someone else’s money. – The Oregonian, June 27, 2013
Tell us what you think below in the comment section
Federal Forest Management – Real Solutions for Real Jobs
By Jay Bozieviech
As a vocal supporter of Lane County’s successful public safety levy, I was encouraged to see so many citizens step up to support our local law enforcement and help keep violent offenders in jail.
However, as I testified to the Oregon House of Representatives, the levy doesn’t offer a permanent solution for stable revenues for essential services, nor does it assure a stronger economy in the future.
While voters approved an important but temporary lifeline for public safety programs, it is critical for Congress to provide a comprehensive solution that resolves the annual uncertainty of county timber payments.
I am hopeful that Congress will continue to work on solutions that restore active management to our Federal forestlands, including the unique O&C lands that, in the past, created jobs and a thriving economy for communities and reliable funding for county governments.
The Federal O&C Act of 1937 specifically set aside 2.4 million acres of these Federally-owned forest lands for the economic benefit of 18 Western Oregon counties. Unfortunately, the Federal Government has failed to keep its promise to O&C counties, and litigation and conflicting regulations have only made the situation worse.
When timber was still being harvested on O&C lands Lane County alone received around $17 million annually. In today’s dollars, this equates to about $30 million per year. To put this in perspective, the recently passed public safety levy will generate less than half that revenue without adding significantly to jobs. The levy, while desperately needed, is only a “Band-Aid” fix to a serious and long-term problem.
Rural Lane County citizens cannot afford to fund public safety without some change in a rural economy devastated by the lack of federal forest management. One result of this devastation is that 80% of students in Mapleton and Oakridge school districts are on free or reduced lunch programs. Poverty and unemployment consume government and rural communities’ resources without adding jobs that could pay to fund essential services.
Lane County has a large population base, a diversified economy and other attributes such as a world-class university. Other O&C counties are not so lucky. Many of these rural communities once thrived with vibrant timber-based economies, but now suffer from higher unemployment and higher poverty levels.
It’s easy to scorn the voters in other counties who recently rejected public safety levies, but criticism of these Oregonians reveals ignorance of the serious challenges of funding services where many people don’t have jobs and can’t afford higher taxes. Though Lane County voters approved the levy, I believe it is wrong to single out and penalize counties that are not as prosperous as we are.
It is a grave mistake to ignore the importance of renewable natural resources that exist in our O&C forests. Sustainable management of these resources will benefit both our economy and local governments. It is heartening that members of Oregon’s Federal delegation understand this and that our Governor is also advocating for changes in Federal policy. It’s great to see they are willing to cross party lines to find a permanent solution.
While the bipartisan Walden/Schrader/DeFazio “O&C Trust, Conservation, and Jobs Act” remains on the table, we have also seen Sen. Ron Wyden release a “framework” of possible legislation.
I hope our delegation continues to work together on a bill that helps rural communities across all O&C counties. I believe we have a solution that protects environmentally sensitive lands while allowing more timber harvesting where it is environmentally sustainable. Thanks to an existing Federal law prohibiting the export of raw logs from Federal lands, wood products from O&C lands would be processed and milled by workers here at home, thus creating jobs that pay taxes to fund county services.
By putting people back to work in the woods we can lift more rural communities out of poverty. Creating jobs combined with reliable timber receipts will generate more tax revenues to sustain vital services.
Now that the public safety levy has been approved and Lane County has some short term stability, we need Congress to pass real solutions to help fund these services over the long term.
Jay Bozievich – West Lane County Commissioner
A Big Thanks From Sheriff Turner – And a Promise
The Sheriff’s Office has been working hard to hire staff and prepare the jail for the July 1 opening of more jail beds.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office (“LCSO”) will bring on new staff and open up more jail beds in two phases, culminating in the reopening of 131 more jail beds by July 8, 2013 – all in the name of making Lane County a safer place to live. Housing areas of the jail that had been collecting dust are being cleaned and refurbished to hold inmates once again.
To keep all of the costs down we have been using inmate workers to complete much of the work. They are cleaning and painting the cells as well as re-grouting the showers in the housing areas that are being reopened. 14 previously laid off LCSO Deputy Sheriffs have accepted recall notices and will return to employment with LCSO. These are positions that were vacant and can be immediately filled and put to use.
We will fill the remaining 32 Deputy positions during a second recruiting campaign. These will be directly paid for with the levy money. In the near future we will be recruiting and filling the remaining 6.5 positions that make up the rest of the positions which will be paid for with the levy.
The Sheriff’s Office is working hard to get the jail beds reopened as soon as possible so the community can begin to feel some relief from the daily capacity based releases that we have all endured for far too long. The planning began well before the levy passed in hopes that it indeed would; now this preplanning is paying off by accelerating our opening of the additional beds.
While the reopened beds won’t eliminate the early releases, they will allow the jail to hold more violent offenders rather than releasing them into the community. Anyone interested in employment opportunities within the Lane County Sheriff’s Office should visit http://jobs.lanecounty.org
I am excited about the progress so far and I have you, Lane County citizens, to thank for this opportunity. We are working on the annual audit of all expenditures of levy funds and I hope the information will be available soon so citizens can track how their money is being spent and ensure that it is spent exactly as you intended. The actual audit is relatively simple, but making the information it generates available on an ongoing basis is what I’m hoping for. It is also important to mention that the money is “carryover” money, so it cannot ever be used for a different purpose. If there is money left at the end of the five years we can continue using it for public safety until it is exhausted.
I plan to provide regular progress reports to the public on our use of the levy funds and to keep up a very robust public meeting schedule to continue to keep the Sheriff’s Office and our progress on everyone’s mind!
From all of us who work in your Sheriff’s Office to keep you safe -Thanks again to all of you who helped make this happen.
As always, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have a question or issue.
Thanks again!
Tom Turner – Lane County Sheriff
Paper, Plastic or Unintended Consequences?
The debate about Eugene’s plastic bag ban is getting heated.
The City Council’s champion of the bag ban [Alan Zelenka] on Monday said he will propose that the council exempt people who receive food stamps from paying the 5-cent charge for paper bags in the city’s recently enacted prohibition on thin, single-use plastic retail bags. Southeast Councilor Alan Zelenka said he will propose the exemption as a way to make the ban less of a burden on low-income people. – Eugene Register Guard, June 11, 2013
Lane Solutions replies:
We believe that this sort of constant fine tuning is the inevitable result of governments’ attempts to force changes in citizens’ behavior. First the Eugene City Council bans plastic bags in the interest of the environment. Their goal? Encourage use of reusable bags. One result has been increased use of paper bags. Paper or plastic – which uses more total energy? According to a study cited by UO chemistry Prof. David Tyler this March, it’s paper. Which leaves more solid waste? That’s right – paper! Now comes the unintended consequence of poor people struggling to pay $.05 for each grocery bag. Next follows a lengthy debate on exempting the bag charge for the poor. Inevitably, there will be conflicts of interest with the Council picking winners and losers. Which products will qualify for the exemption? Groceries? Soft drinks? “Essential” hardware? Producers and retailers will lobby the Council to exempt their products from the bag charge. The result? More unintended consequences, more debates and more regulations.
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Special! Rep. Richardson on Salem’s “Blame Game”
I was first elected to the legislature in 2002, yet I am still surprised by the political “blame game” that occurs at the end of most Legislative Sessions. [To see a brief YouTube on this subject, click here.]
Last week, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber spoke to the House Republicans and requested an additional $275 million in tax increases. He promised that if Republicans joined the Democrats in voting for tax increases the additional revenue would enable the legislature to help publicly funded K-12 schools, community colleges, universities and youth mental health programs. In other words, “it’s for the kids.”
I reminded the Governor that:
- The Democrats control the spending priorities and drafted the State Budget;
- There is a $1.91 billion (12%) increase in the 2013-15 Budget over the current one; and
- If he’s only asking for less than 2% of the $16.5 billion State Budget, then surely he could find such a small amount in the State Budget “for the kids,” without raising taxes on Oregonians.
I also reminded the Governor that, notwithstanding the $1.9 billion of additional revenue, he and his party are once again holding the K-12 school budget hostage, and acting like a tax increase is required to fund it. It’s an obvious set-up. If the Republicans fail to agree to the proposed tax increases, the Democrats will, once again, play the “blame-game,” and accuse Republicans of neglecting children, hating schools and abandoning seniors. This is a transparent and unfortunate case of playing political games instead of focusing on actually helping the kids and other Oregonians. (Click here to read entire article)
– Oregon Representative Dennis Richardson
Lane Solutions Replies:
Rep. Richardson couldn’t be more correct. Like Martha and the Vandellas sang, this time for the Democrats there’s “Nowhere to Run to Nowhere to hide.” They’re in charge of the Oregon House, Senate and Governor’s office. They can spend where and when they want to. They can spend every cent “For the kids.” But they chose to spend it to subsidize health insurance for families of four making up to $94,000/year. After all – unlike kids, these moms and dads will vote.
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