Stocks down, savings up and China wants a world currency

BLOOMBERG, 6/26/2009 - U.S. stocks fell, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index the first two-week decline since March, after the highest American savings rate in 15 years spurred concern that consumer spending will slow and oil retreated. The dollar dropped after China’s central bank reiterated a call for a worldwide currency. Read more at Bloomberg... Read More......

LETTER: Consider urban renewal district in the long term

CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES, 3/3/2009 by John Detweiler - In May, Corvallis is going to vote on establishing an urban renewal district in downtown Corvallis and paying for it with tax incremental financing.

Those who are for the urban renewal district tell us that this financing will not increase our taxes. However, money will be diverted away from financing general government to financing the renewal district over a 20-year period, which may well result in local governments raising taxes to make up for this lost revenue.

Urban renewal districts in other cities have cost the Corvallis School District over nine teachers so far. If we vote in our URD, Corvallis will lose a fraction of another teacher each year for a period of 20 years.

And, our other local taxing bodies will lose $23.4 million dollars over this 20-year period.

Readers can refer to http://www.peak.org/~detweij for the details on how I computed these numbers.

If we enact the URD, we will have committed over $23 million for the next 20 years at a time when Oregon’s economy and government finances are in complete disarray. Is this a prudent thing to do? Will our local governments try to raise taxes to cover important requirements that we can only guess at now?

John H. Detweiler, Corvallis

See also: CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES OPINION - Editorial: Morse right to seek Rainy Day Fund refill Read More......

ORP: Chairmans Report #2

February 2, 2009
Together, as a Team, we are an awesome force!
Bob Tiernan
WASHINGTON DC, WOW #1

WOW!!! . . . WHAT A WEEK! Andrew and I were in Washington DC last week for the RNC convention and we accomplished a lot! But the BIGGEST event was electing Michael Steele to be the next RNC Chairman!!! It was an incredible and historic moment. And Oregon had EVERYTHING to do with him getting elected. I volunteered to be a “whip” for Mr. Steele and ended up leading the charge to get him elected.

Chairman Steele will be coming to Oregon soon to visit us and help us raise money at a huge fund raising event. It will be up to all of us to make sure that event is a success!!

Also, Chairman Steele asked me to be on his Transition Team and to help him make the necessary changes at the RNC to assure his success as the next Chairman. I accepted his offer on behalf of all Oregon Republicans, knowing how important it will be for Oregon to have a VERY close relationship with the RNC and the RNC Chairman. I will leave for Washington, DC on Thursday and work there through Monday putting together Chairman Steele’s transition plans.

• Andrew and I accomplished much in Washington, including the following:Met with Congressman Walden to discuss the ORP, our plans and how he can help us. Greg pledged to do “everything he could,” including making a large donation.

• Met with Gordon Smith. Gordon gave Andrew and me a lot of advice and was very helpful. Gordon pledged to donate several thousand dollars to the ORP.

• Met with the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) about the upcoming races in Oregon. It also pledged to help us with people and resources.

• Met with several vendors that do mailings and phone banking. We discussed strategies, coordinated strategies, high tech, innovation and costs. We learned a lot and cemented some key relationships.

• Met with the Washington and California state chairmen, and agreed to work together in the future. We are forming a close relationship and will be working in concert to develop a “west coast strategy” to beat the democrats. Both the Washington Chairman (Luke Esser) and Californian Chairman (Ron Nehring) ended up voting for Chairman Steele. Both Mr. Nehring and Mr. Esser will be coming to Oregon to attend our event for Chairman Steele.

• Met with several RNC directors to coordinate assistance in high tech, voter registration, FEC compliance and, most importantly, training tools. Andrew was very helpful in setting up these “multiple meetings.” The RNC is going to be VERY pledged to provide us a great deal of assistance.

Again, it was a GREAT four days, and we got a lot done. Oregon came away from this meeting a LEADER in the eyes of the other states and a key player in the RNC’s future.


OTHER NEWS & DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PAST THREE WEEKS!
WOW #2!

1. NEW OFFICE BUILDING -- We have located a NICE office building for our NEW headquarters. It is a GREAT space, close to the freeway and easy to get to from anywhere in Portland. Moreover, we have plenty of parking, nearby restaurants, and it’s a building we can all be proud of. Best yet . . . we rented the space for less than one-half the going price. It is located at Washington Square, just off 217, in the Lincoln Center.

2. STAFF UPDATE -- Kevin Hoar, Washington County Chairman, is our new Head of Field Operations. Kevin will work 20-40 hours a week coordinating, supporting and providing service to the counties on behalf of the ORP. Kevin’s job will include candidate recruitment, candidate support, data base development, media and messaging and helping counties establish “best practices.” Thank you Kevin!

3. LEGISLATOR COMMUNICATIONS -- Andrew, Kevin and I met with our Republican State Senators and House Representatives in separate meetings. We presented a power point over view of the ORP, goals, objectives, and our 100 day plan. All Senate and House Republicans COMMITTED to donating and helping the ORP. Thus far, we have collected over $10,000. WOW!

4. CONTRIBUTIONS -- Speaking of donations, have you sent yours? I know that many of us feel our TIME is our donation. I am asking you to ALSO donate at least $100.00. We need the money to continue to JUMP start our machine. Things are going well . . . but we can use your help. THANK YOU . . . in advance!

5. FUNDRAISING -- We have met several times with Lori Hardwick our Fundraising director. We have sent out two fundraising letters, over 1,000 of which I personally signed.

6. COMMITTEE CHAIRS – Committee chairs will be selected as early as tomorrow. The Chairs will then select committee members. The Chair’s selections will then be reviewed and approved by me.

7. CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTING -- FEC filings have been done and we are current with all reporting requirements.

8. MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS -- Andrew and I met with four TV stations news directors and assignment editors. They were pleased to meet us, and we asked them to COVER our issues. We will send press releases that are quick, to the point and have GREAT sound bites for them. We have sent out five press releases thus far and have been interviewed on the radio seven times in the past 20 days.

9. ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST COURTNEY -- The ORP filed an Ethics complaint against Senate President Peter Courtney for voting YES on the $178 Million stimulus package. The package (which is only stimulating the growth of government) had $31 million set aside for Western Oregon College where Senator Courtney works. Over 35% of the “Stimulus Package” went either to Senator Courtney’s employer or to the district he represents.

That’s just the start! We are working on many other things and making some GREAT headway. I appreciate all of your hard work at the county and district level getting your plans, goals and objectives finalized and implemented! Keep working hard, and working together.

Together, as a Team, we are an awesome force! Read More......

The Triumph Of The Creative Class

Forbes.com Commentary by Joel Kotkin

Barack Obama rode to his resounding victory on the enthusiasm of two constituencies, the young and African Americans, whose support has driven his candidacy since the spring. Yet arguably the biggest winners of the Nov. 4 vote are located at the highest levels of the nation's ascendant post-industrial business community.

Obama's triumph reflects a decisive shift in the economic center of gravity away from military contractors, manufacturers, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, suburban real estate developers, energy companies, old-line remnants on Wall Street and other traditional backers of the GOP. In their place, we can see the rise of a different set of players, predominately drawn from the so-called "creative class" of Silicon Valley, Hollywood and the younger, go-go set in the financial world.

These latter business interests provided much of the consistent and massive financial advantage that the Illinois senator has accrued since early spring. The term "creative class" was popularized by former George Mason professor Richard Florida, who used it to describe those with both brainy business acumen and a very liberal cultural agenda borrowed from the bohemians of the '60s. Read more at Forbes...

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