Rep. Richardson: Oregon: Confusing "Debt" with Revenue

DENNISRICHARDSON.ORG/NEWSLETTER, 3/18/2011 by State Representative Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point)

In the upcoming 2011-13 State Budget, $940 Million will be spent from General and Lottery Fund revenues just to service Oregon’s “tax supported” debt.

Imagine… $940 Million…nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS, that must be budgeted and paid “off the top.” Think of it…a Billion Dollars we cannot use to educate or provide health care for our children. A Billion Dollars we cannot use to protect our citizens or to provide care and food for our most vulnerable seniors. A Billion Dollars from the 2011-13 budget, siphoned off in payments on long-term debt. How did Oregon accumulate such a high amount of debt? I believe incurring such high and burdensome debt levels stem from Legislators who, in their efforts to do good with other people’s money, deluded themselves into confusing debt with revenue. And those debt payments must be paid for decades. It is sobering to realize that much of this debt will not be paid off until long after our grandchildren are grown, our children are retired, and we are dead and buried. Read more of Rep. Richardson's March 18, 2011 Newsletter...

Read More......

Mitch Daniels, thinking like a president

WASHINGTON POST, 2/18/2011 by Michael Gerson (Hat tip: John H. Detweiler) - President Obama's 2012 budget is the numerical embodiment of his State of the Union address - both being systematic distractions from the main, current tasks of governing. His plan includes, according to Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs, "no entitlement reform, no tax reform, no significant spending reform, indeed no meaningful change of direction of any sort." Read more at the Washington Post... Read More......

WW: Kulongoski Throws Bombs in Final City Club Address

WILLAMETTE WEEK/News and Culture, 6/25/2010 by Nigel Jaquiss - In a somber address to Portland City Club, Gov. Ted Kulongoski today laid out a bleak vision of Oregon’s present and grabbed hold of Oregon’s political third rail with both hands. ∴ The two-term Democratic governor is completing his final year in office and could be forgiven if he took the summer off. Instead, the former labor lawyer drew on the work of his “reset cabinet” to propose a bold set of approaches to a problem he diagnosed as follows: “the current structure of government is simply not sustainable anymore,” and “the government we have is too expensive to maintain.” ∴ The parts of the speech that were most prescriptive and are likely to generate the most heartburn concern K-12 education. Deviating sharply from his party’s orthodoxy when it comes to the third rail of public employees, Kulongoski said it’s time to stop focusing on how much the Legislature spends on education and start focusing on outcomes. [Emphasis added] Read more at WW...

Shocking revelations! --bc Read More......

Democrats may drag feet on 'unsustainable' budget for 2011

POLITICO, 4/12/2010 - Congress is poised to miss its April 15 deadline for finishing next year’s budget without even considering a draft in either chamber. ∴ Unlike citizens’ tax-filing deadline, Congress’s mid-April benchmark is nonbinding. And members seem to be in no rush to get the process going. ∴ Indeed, some Democratic insiders suspect that leaders will skip the budget process altogether this year — a way to avoid the political unpleasantness of voting on spending, deficits and taxes in an election year — or simply go through a few of the motions, without any real effort to complete the work. Read more at Politico... Read More......

CBO Chief: Nation's Debt Is "Unsustainable"

BENZINGA.com, 4/8/2010 by N.J. Beachum - Doug Elmendorf, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, stated today that the fiscal path of the U.S. is unsustainable and requires major intervention. ∴ Elmendorf pointed to an estimate that found that the national debt would swell from 53% of GDP to 90% of GDP by 2020 if Pres. Obama's 2011 budget is enacted as is. ∴ Increasing taxes, cutting spending, or a combination of the two are the only options on the table - and even then, major initiatives would need to be enacted. For example, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker suggested that Congress consider a value-added tax. Read more at Benzinga... Read More......

State spending on unsustainable path

PORTLAND INSIGHT/Opinion, 2/25/2010 - Huge budget shortfalls have become a tradition for Oregon’s state government – and the latest prediction from Salem is that they will continue for as far as the eye can see. Read more at Portland Insight... Read More......