Old charges come back to haunt Ben Westlund. But is it fair?
The Associated Press reports a confidential letter detailing a 2-year old harassment charge included more harassment than previously reported. Is it fair to bring this up? No it is not for three reasons. First of all, Westlund admitted his errors. Most politicians don’t. Second, the victim, a fellow State Representative, has acknowledged that the issue is resolved and is good friends with Westlund. Third, bringing up such private controversial matters can have the unexpected result of throwing the victim a new set of problems. When sexual harassment charges get tossed around by outside parties it can lead to other women being afraid to pursue their complaints.
Rep. Linda Flores: Rethink criminal home placements
[State Representative Linda Flores Release]Reopening Controversial Home Points to Need for Legislative Changes
Flores Leads Caucus Agenda Call for Reform
(Salem) A new state report on a controversial home for people found “guilty except for insanity” points to the need for legislative changes according to State Representative Linda Flores (R-Clackamas). “This new development backs up my concern for the lack of training and other uniform standards in state policy for placement of these homes,” Flores said today. “I’m concerned the same problems will soon impact a neighborhood in Clackamas County because this is not isolated to Washington County. We’re seeing these issues crop up across Oregon.”
Say It Isn't So, Barack
Presidential candidate Barack Obama promises voters that he is a different kind of politician. There hasn’t been much proof of that yet, but Obama did hint early on that education reform might be the issue where voters actually would see “Change.”It would have been a perfect fit for Obama. As an African-American, he would know better than most whites just how poorly America’s inner-city school districts perform. The national dropout rate for African-Americans is 45 percent.
Senate Republicans announce “Real Solutions. Right Now.” agenda
Tort reform still lives in Oregon
By Tyler Smith,Recently you may have heard about Initiative Petitions #51 and #53 and the litigation surrounding the efforts to get these initiatives on the ballot. The initiatives were two tort reform measures (#51 was contingent fee caps and #53 was sanctions for frivolous pleadings). The labor unions were preparing to spend millions to defeat these measures. Before we get too far, this raises and interesting question- What do Oregon’s teachers union (OEA) and public employee unions (SEIU) and (AFCME) have to do with tort reform? I will let you comment on that…
How NOT to fund health care
The Executive Director of the Oregon Health Fund Board submitted a “Straw Plan” to the board on July 24th which included suggestions about how to finance a new health care program for Oregon. Unfortunately, these funding suggestions seem to violate at least one of the principles the Board is charged with meeting.The enabling legislation for the Health Fund Board (SB329) sets out a number of principles for a new Oregon health care system. Principle 3 states:
“Financing of the health care system must be equitable, broadly based and affordable.”
Jeff Merkley gets asked on bill removing private ballot
Waste and Fraud in Portland’s Pearl District
There is an old joke that claims that Christopher Columbus was the first liberal Democrat.
1. When he left to discover America, he didn’t know where he was going.
2. When he got there he didn’t know where he was.
3. And it was all done on government money.
There is no place where Democrats are more liberal or the joke more true than Portland, Oregon. Portland’s ruling liberal elites dash from one “socially responsible” project to the next, throwing millions of dollars of tax money at every perceived “need” and never bothering to find out if the need is real, the money was beneficial, or the project was complete. What the hell, it’s not their money and there is plenty more where that came from.
Senator Floyd Prosanksi proposes mandatory bike helmets
Oregon State Senator and bike advocate Floyd Prosanski proposed mandatory bicycle helmets for all-ages. What came as a surprise was the fact that Senator Prosanski is probably the most civil libertarian member in the Legislature. Bicycle activist rebuffed the idea saying that the hassle would result in people using bikes less. Hmmm, let’s apply this theory to other regulations and taxes.The Great Good Done by Labor Unions
To understand the great amount of good that labor unions have accomplished in this country, one only need take a look at General Motors. Its stock price is now the lowest it has been in the past half century. The labor unions, with highly unreasonable salary demands, health care coverage demands, work without pay demands, insane work rule demands, and many other crazy demands too numerous to mention, have helped create this mess. GM management caved to the UAW far too often, so they are not blameless either.Oregon Schools Must Go Digital Part II
For all the naysayers who chimed in on my call for growing the Connections Academy on-line enrollment statewide to save energy and money, these facts might be of interest:Candidate Lindland calls for offshore drilling
[Matt Lindland Press Release] July 29, 2008 -Matt Lindland calls on Oregon Legislature, Governor to proceed with off-shore drilling
Help Oregon’s sagging economy and provide gas price relief
Eagle Creek--Today Matt Lindland, business owner and Olympic silver medalist, joins Oregon Senator Whitsett in calling for an end to the moratorium on off-shore exploration for oil and natural gas resources. Lindland won a convincing primary battle for House Dist. 52.
In Gold We Trust?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) ran a full-page ad in yesterday's Oregonian newspaper (page A5). It read:
“
Continue reading "In Gold We Trust?"Insuring deposits up to
“Without anyone losing a
First You Borrow, Then You Beg...
By Alyssa EggebrechtMany private banks and financial institutions are in trouble because they supplied the market with too many sub-prime mortgages. However, what has not been well understood is the Federal government's mechanism for over stimulating sub-prime lending through government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together now back $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt.
Lars Larson on Teachers and Performance Pay
Should teacher pay be tied to teacher performance? You know, the idea seems perfectly common sense to me. Tie the pay of teachers to the performance of teachers. Now, I know I’m going to hear from teachers who say, “Well, how do you do that? How do you figure out the good ones and the bad ones?”
If you are a teacher and you are in a building. You tell me you can’t figure out which of the teachers are really good and deserve higher pay and the ones who are really bad and don’t deserve to be paid at all or deserve to be paid lower salaries? If you can’t tell me the answer to that question, you probably shouldn’t be teaching in that building. You certainly shouldn’t be a principal at that school.
