Where Do You Plan To Spend The Money

When you become elected to office, one of the many things that will need to be done is creating a budget.  Take a good look at the Federal proposed budget for 2012, found at the link below:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy12/index.html

Now ask your self this little question:

From where is the money coming from, and how does your community going to pay the bill?

Follow The Money!

Here is what the State of Oregon is doing with the stimulas money, that pile of cash the Fed's are geiving away.

http://www.oregon.gov/recovery/StimulusReporting/index.shtml

Good reading!

Sherman

The Non Stimulus Effect

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about the effect that the Federal Stimulus package, Obama Just signed it, will have on the economy of Oregon. The total impact for Oregon businesses will be minimal and the impact on individuals even less.

The Oregon legislature, a few days prior to the signing of the bill by Obama, cut the Oregon tax code loose from the Federal tax code. This was done because the Federal package contains tax cuts to businesses and to individuals. Tax cuts are said to cost the government of Oregon money.

However, Oregon has a two-year budget processes in which they project the amount of tax dollars that the state will receive. The legislature, and the governor, then makes spending plans based on the projection. They do not make plans on spending the based on how much actually comes in. The result is that there is a “shortfall” which is the amount of money they are projected to not receive. At no point in the budget process do they actually spend real money.

At no point in the process do they make any real cuts or spending adjustments either. It is all based on projections of what they think will wind up in the state coffers or not wind up there. Therefore the only way for them to keep the budget balanced is to cut services, or raise taxes and fees. A federal tax cut for business is good for the business. They get to stay open, pay employees, pay state, federal, local taxes and fees.

But the budget “projection” shows a shortfall in state collections, can’t have that, resulting in the raising in fees at the local and state level. Explaining why the state took the action that they did. An action that both the governor said was to balance the budget and keep schools solvent, schools that gobble up piles of money and fail to educate the children in their care.

So Average taxpayer, making forty grand or less at a job that will not give you a raise this year. No tax relief for you because the state is unwilling to run heir budget process based on real money.

Sherman

Pending Doom In Oregon State

Every one likes a raise; at least I haven’t seen anyone turn one down. Oregon is one, of at least two states, that have automatic raises built into their basic wage law. The supporters of this idea point out that people at the bottom are more deserving, then the rest of us, and need the money.

There are a few observations to make about this:

1. Employers cannot always raise prices in order to cover the added cost. More so in an economic climate where they are lowering their prices in order to attract business.

2. The last time the basic wage was raised one hundred people in Portland Oregon found them selves out of a job. Mostly restaurant workers, because the management of the various restaurants decided that they could do with one less shift. A good method of controlling cost without raising prices.

3. This year businesses are looking to lay people off rather than providing wage increases. The question, with the unemployment rate in Oregon at 8.1 percent, is how the State legislature can defend the automatic wage increase. The automatic wage increase puts people out of work.

Since the practice of raising the basic wage was instigated there have been, state wide, one thousand businesses close their doors in the state of Oregon. If the average employment by those one thousand businesses employed ten workers each, then raising the basic wage automatically has cost ten thousand people their jobs.

The final observation is simply this. Entry-level jobs, jobs that require little or no skill, will be given to illegal aliens. These people will take money under the table and then deprive the legal citizen of a job.

In my opinion, this is what happens when legislation is not thought through and then the people in power do things on a purely emotional basis.

Government Figures To Take Your Next Raise.

The Governor of Oregon is a lot of things, has been called a lot of things, will be called a lot of other things, but apparent intelligence does not seem to be one of the things he is called lately.

Having taking Oregon down the mythic “humans cause global warming” road, he now takes a “government confiscates your raise" detour. He has sent to the mambe pambe Oregon legislature a method to raise money for “road projects. Proclaiming himself to be the Oregon answer to FDR, something he is never going to be, our “great” governor has decided to hurt as many people as possible.

The method he is using is two fold, first he ignores the fact that Oregon already gets money to repair and build road with. The FEDS pay Oregon money to maintain and upgrade National highways, including Interstate 5, and every time you purchase fuel for your truck or car the state of Oregon gets money. Second he ignores that fully half of the road money Oregon spends on road repair goes for anything but roads. Parks, bike paths, public light rail, public bus systems, but not roads because bike paths state wide move .5 percent of the population. That is one half of one percent state wide and only for nine months of the year.

At no point is the money spent on “roads” ever qualified before the public, so the public does not know that Oregon wastes money like there is no tomorrow.

His proposal is to raise the taxes, or fees, on automotive and heavy truck licenses plates, driver’s licenses, registrations and a new fee. We remind you all that Department of Ecological Quality (DEQ) inspections are a scam designed to make the State of Oregon money.

The fee proposal, in money is as follows, notice the new fee:

• Increasing the motor vehicle registration fee from $27 to $81 year to raise an additional $308 million
• Increase the motor vehicle title fee from $55 to $110 a year to raise an additional $100 million.
• Creating a $100 first-time title fee to raise $33 million.
• Increasing the state gas tax from 24 cents to 26 cents per gallon to raised an additional $58 million.
  
  Our governor’s reasoning is that the best thing to do, to help the economy, is to spend money. Spend money building and repairing roads that should have been maintained already. Since the maintenance money has been already spent on non-road things, the governor has decided that the State needs more money. Notice he is not advocating for more thrift in spending or even accountability in spending.
  
  What the effect of all this will be is that the people, the ones the governor wants to put to work, will not be able to get to work because they cannot afford the transportation. Busses and trains you see do not go to road projects. Did we mention that the “unforeseen consequences” is Oregon will have a plethora of unregistered, un-inspected, unlicensed autos and trucks, driven by an equal number of unlicensed drivers?
  
  Heaven forbid that once the “common man” gets a raise they can stick the money in savings, pay down debt, buy a newer car, purchase better health insurance, take the wife and kiddies out to a “real” restaurant. Oh no we need more “transportation” repair and projects. When is the last time the governor actually road the Portland light rail during rush hour? No, better spend money building and repairing roads while denying workers the ability to get to work.
  
  And the people in politics say we never see it coming, indeed!
  
  Egor