By Sean Cruz
Portland, Oregon--
We live with the consequences of many disastrous public policy decisions, arguably none more plainly evident than the flooding of Celilo Falls, radioactive sites aside….
The flooding of Celilo Falls is the American equivalent of the Soviet decision to drain the Aral Sea, taken in the same era, the wrong people in charge, all thinking in the very same way….
This US Army Corp of Engineers movie was shot in 1956, one year before a confluence of short-sighted idiots at the state, local and federal levels deliberately destroyed all that you see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Ku9HIyQNQ
The Army film documents the fact that there was no shortage of information available to the decision-makers. They knew what they were about….
Another video, “See Through the Water”, tells the Celilo story in the words of the Celilo people themselves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXFYu7l_rNk
The rock structure of Celilo Falls lies intact below the surface of the pond that now covers this place.
Someday, a study will be taken, weighing the costs and benefits of reclaiming Celilo Falls and all that it stands for, versus the costs and benefits of maintaining the dam at The Dalles, and a decision will be made in favor of Celilo Falls and the salmon, someday….
It is only a matter of time until we get to that place, as these two videos make plain. There are costs and benefits either way. It’s time to do the math.
No reasonable person living today would consider building a dam to flood Celilo Falls. The notion, just like draining the Aral Sea, would be unthinkable….
There is a way to engineer getting the occasional barge up and down the river, and a way to generate power and a way to bring Celilo Falls back to life as surely as there is a way for a man to walk on the Moon….
Were it not for the terrible decisions of a previous generation, were Celilo Falls flowing today, this place would be regarded as one of the world’s greatest heritage sites, and every effort would be made to preserve the Falls and the cultures it sustained forever, to the last human breath, we would all stand together….
It is time to start the Celilo Falls clock ticking, time to do the math, time to stand vigil for the day that the waters roar and the earth shakes anew….
It is time to light the fire that will still be burning when Celilo Falls reappears, when the salmon leap and all the world celebrates, it is time to light the fire….
Showing posts with label Oregon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oregon. Show all posts
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Looking at the numbers: Analyzing Chris Dudley's Point/Budget Ratio
By Sean Cruz
Portland, Oregon—
Oregon GOP candidate for Governor Chris Dudley has articulated several different long lists of things he would like to do if elected, all of which cost money, which means that numbers are important in this election. A simple Point/Budget Ratio analysis can provide valuable insights into the numbers.
As a public service, recognizing that it can be difficult for the average voter to ascertain what the numbers mean, here are the lists, along with the budget information the Dudley campaign has provided to show how each item would be paid for, and a 2-step process for analyzing Chris Dudley’s Point/Budget Ratio:
18-Point Plan called “Education for our Economic Future”
20-Point ”Plan to Create Private Sector Jobs and Stimulate the Economy”
26-Point “Plan to Control Spending and Reform Government”
67-Point “Plan to Make Everything All Better in Oregon’s Corrections System”
= 131 Total Points
Two-Step Point/Budget Ratio analysis:
1. Total points = 131
2. Total budget information provided = Zero
Chris Dudley’s Point-Budget Ratio is therefore 131/0.
I hope this information is helpful for the Undecided in this race.
Portland, Oregon—
Oregon GOP candidate for Governor Chris Dudley has articulated several different long lists of things he would like to do if elected, all of which cost money, which means that numbers are important in this election. A simple Point/Budget Ratio analysis can provide valuable insights into the numbers.
As a public service, recognizing that it can be difficult for the average voter to ascertain what the numbers mean, here are the lists, along with the budget information the Dudley campaign has provided to show how each item would be paid for, and a 2-step process for analyzing Chris Dudley’s Point/Budget Ratio:
18-Point Plan called “Education for our Economic Future”
20-Point ”Plan to Create Private Sector Jobs and Stimulate the Economy”
26-Point “Plan to Control Spending and Reform Government”
67-Point “Plan to Make Everything All Better in Oregon’s Corrections System”
= 131 Total Points
Two-Step Point/Budget Ratio analysis:
1. Total points = 131
2. Total budget information provided = Zero
Chris Dudley’s Point-Budget Ratio is therefore 131/0.
I hope this information is helpful for the Undecided in this race.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Chris Dudley campaign offers a free ride to college and more free ponies!
By Sean Cruz
Portland, Oregon—
Oregon Republican candidate for Governor Chris Dudley has announced a new education “plan” right on the heels of his 26-Point “Plan to Control Spending and Reform Government”.
The Dudley education “plan” and his “Plan to Control Spending” have two points in common:
The first point is that both “plans” drastically ramp up spending without explaining where the new money is going to come from.
The second point is that there are no actual budget numbers attached to either “plan.”
A third point to make would be the fact that neither “plan” makes much sense.
The tea party anti-government mentality at the core of Dudley’s campaign isn't concerned with real solutions and mostly couldn't pass a basic civics exam. They just know what they don't like.
What they don’t like is government spending, budget and fee increases, and the expansion of bureaucracies, yet Dudley’s “ideas” offer precisely that.
The fact that Oregon's population is increasing drives both budget and fee increases. So does inflation. Neither factor can be controlled by politicians or political parties. Those are conditions that are imposed on Oregon from without.
The Oregon legislature and the new Governor must find ways to deliver essential services in the face of shrinking revenues, a cobbled-together revenue system that was never designed as a “system”, and these outside forces.
Dudley's free scholarship "idea" offers yet another uncontrollable budget scenario, which is the number of graduating seniors with GPAs of 3.5 and up in any given year, multiplied by the actual cost of tuition, which can be expected to rise over time in increments that cannot be predicted. Uncontrollable spending.
A real plan would have the numbers attached. What would the cost be if Dudley's "plan" was implemented in 2010, using the numbers available right now? The point is that the numbers are available, but the Dudley team realizes that their supporters don't care anyway.
In a televised interview, Dudley stated that he wants to create a new exam that every high school senior must pass in order to graduate. When the reporter asked what would happen to the students who didn’t pass the new exam, he responded that he wanted to add tutoring in the lower grades so that no student would fail to read at grade level.
He says he wants to hire tutors, but offers no plan for how that might happen, where the funds would come from and how much money it would require.
The Dudley fans couldn't care less.
Dudley wants to take a whack at teachers, but ignores the fact that many of them are spending their own money on classroom supplies and taking furlough days.
He's stepping into that charter school/online school quagmire, too. The religious right thinks that public schools are too liberal and wants to bleed off their resources, the anti-government types can only be satisfied when they've closed everything down, and the ignorant are often dead set on remaining so.
Dudley's lack of basic fitness for the job of Governor, the utter absence of real solutions in his campaign rhetoric, and his unwillingness to enter into any open discussions of the issues important to Oregonians, are all combining to make it very difficult to maintain my neutrality in this race.
Every idea, good or bad, has a price tag associated with it, and it is not helpful to the discussion for candidates to throw out ideas with no budget numbers or revenue sources attached.
A plan without the numbers is just empty rhetoric.
I'll grant that a lot of people are happy with just that.
Portland, Oregon—
Oregon Republican candidate for Governor Chris Dudley has announced a new education “plan” right on the heels of his 26-Point “Plan to Control Spending and Reform Government”.
The Dudley education “plan” and his “Plan to Control Spending” have two points in common:
The first point is that both “plans” drastically ramp up spending without explaining where the new money is going to come from.
The second point is that there are no actual budget numbers attached to either “plan.”
A third point to make would be the fact that neither “plan” makes much sense.
The tea party anti-government mentality at the core of Dudley’s campaign isn't concerned with real solutions and mostly couldn't pass a basic civics exam. They just know what they don't like.
What they don’t like is government spending, budget and fee increases, and the expansion of bureaucracies, yet Dudley’s “ideas” offer precisely that.
The fact that Oregon's population is increasing drives both budget and fee increases. So does inflation. Neither factor can be controlled by politicians or political parties. Those are conditions that are imposed on Oregon from without.
The Oregon legislature and the new Governor must find ways to deliver essential services in the face of shrinking revenues, a cobbled-together revenue system that was never designed as a “system”, and these outside forces.
Dudley's free scholarship "idea" offers yet another uncontrollable budget scenario, which is the number of graduating seniors with GPAs of 3.5 and up in any given year, multiplied by the actual cost of tuition, which can be expected to rise over time in increments that cannot be predicted. Uncontrollable spending.
A real plan would have the numbers attached. What would the cost be if Dudley's "plan" was implemented in 2010, using the numbers available right now? The point is that the numbers are available, but the Dudley team realizes that their supporters don't care anyway.
In a televised interview, Dudley stated that he wants to create a new exam that every high school senior must pass in order to graduate. When the reporter asked what would happen to the students who didn’t pass the new exam, he responded that he wanted to add tutoring in the lower grades so that no student would fail to read at grade level.
He says he wants to hire tutors, but offers no plan for how that might happen, where the funds would come from and how much money it would require.
The Dudley fans couldn't care less.
Dudley wants to take a whack at teachers, but ignores the fact that many of them are spending their own money on classroom supplies and taking furlough days.
He's stepping into that charter school/online school quagmire, too. The religious right thinks that public schools are too liberal and wants to bleed off their resources, the anti-government types can only be satisfied when they've closed everything down, and the ignorant are often dead set on remaining so.
Dudley's lack of basic fitness for the job of Governor, the utter absence of real solutions in his campaign rhetoric, and his unwillingness to enter into any open discussions of the issues important to Oregonians, are all combining to make it very difficult to maintain my neutrality in this race.
Every idea, good or bad, has a price tag associated with it, and it is not helpful to the discussion for candidates to throw out ideas with no budget numbers or revenue sources attached.
A plan without the numbers is just empty rhetoric.
I'll grant that a lot of people are happy with just that.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Oregon Measure 75 is Dead on Arrival, its public expense has just begun
by Sean Cruz
Portland, Oregon--
Proponents of Measure 75 and the Wood Village Casino have placed their bets on the “Pass” line, but they will come up craps regardless of how the November vote turns out.
Measure 75 is fatally flawed with several violations of the Oregon Constitution.
The first issue lies in this line: "The Legislative Assembly has no power to authorize, and shall prohibit, casinos from operation in the State of Oregon."
The Constitution clearly requires the Legislative Assembly to take action to prohibit this or any other non-Tribal proposed casino from operation in the State of Oregon.
Should M75 pass, the legislature "shall prohibit" its operation.
The second issue lies in Article I, Section 20 of the Oregon Constitution, which states: "No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens."
Rossman and Studer's casino measure stomps all over Section 20:
Under M 75, the only permissible casino location in the state would be at the former Multnomah County Kennel Club, specifically, at 944 NE 223rd Avenue, Wood Village, which just happens to be under the control of Rossman and Studer, for their exclusive benefit, a clear violation of the Oregon Constitution.
M 75 defines “gaming operator” as “The owner of the property identified in Section 14 of this 2010 Act”.
In addition, Section 17, Paragraph (5) of M 75 amends ORS 320.011, creating a special immunity from taxation for the Wood Village casino operators, specifically, from the $125 per-device excise tax.
If those aren’t flaws enough, M 75 would grant these exclusive privileges and immunities to Rossman and Studer for 15 years, renewable for another 15 exclusive years.
A better, more accurate ballot title would have been
"The Rossman-Studer Full Employment Act."
Both the coming court battle and the action of the legislature are going to cost a great deal of public money, and we can thank Rossman and Studer for sticking us with the bill. Remember that when they come back for another go in 2012.
You can eliminate much of that expense by voting "NO" on Measure 75.
Talk about problem gamblers….
Portland, Oregon--
Proponents of Measure 75 and the Wood Village Casino have placed their bets on the “Pass” line, but they will come up craps regardless of how the November vote turns out.
Measure 75 is fatally flawed with several violations of the Oregon Constitution.
The first issue lies in this line: "The Legislative Assembly has no power to authorize, and shall prohibit, casinos from operation in the State of Oregon."
The Constitution clearly requires the Legislative Assembly to take action to prohibit this or any other non-Tribal proposed casino from operation in the State of Oregon.
Should M75 pass, the legislature "shall prohibit" its operation.
The second issue lies in Article I, Section 20 of the Oregon Constitution, which states: "No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens."
Rossman and Studer's casino measure stomps all over Section 20:
Under M 75, the only permissible casino location in the state would be at the former Multnomah County Kennel Club, specifically, at 944 NE 223rd Avenue, Wood Village, which just happens to be under the control of Rossman and Studer, for their exclusive benefit, a clear violation of the Oregon Constitution.
M 75 defines “gaming operator” as “The owner of the property identified in Section 14 of this 2010 Act”.
In addition, Section 17, Paragraph (5) of M 75 amends ORS 320.011, creating a special immunity from taxation for the Wood Village casino operators, specifically, from the $125 per-device excise tax.
If those aren’t flaws enough, M 75 would grant these exclusive privileges and immunities to Rossman and Studer for 15 years, renewable for another 15 exclusive years.
A better, more accurate ballot title would have been
"The Rossman-Studer Full Employment Act."
Both the coming court battle and the action of the legislature are going to cost a great deal of public money, and we can thank Rossman and Studer for sticking us with the bill. Remember that when they come back for another go in 2012.
You can eliminate much of that expense by voting "NO" on Measure 75.
Talk about problem gamblers….
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