(Portland, Oregon)
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire (a poem)
Some future historian will update Gibbon’s chronicle of Rome
Portraits of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney on the cover
Rumsfeld, Wolfowicz, Halliburton, Rove skulk throughout its fourteen volumes
Which generation shall write it, the only question
More bad news to follow, the likely response
---Sean Cruz, April 2008
=======================
...and the essay:
As the Bush/Cheney administration pushed the nation to the brink of catastrophe, General Eric Shinseki, Army Chief of Staff, testified before Congress that the Iraq operation would require several hundred thousand troops....
The General’s advice was ignored, as the White House ideologues dreamed of parades in Baghdad, Medals of Freedom on their chests, and the books they would write with “Triumph” in the title, all gained with a war fought on the cheap....
General Colin Powell warned, “If you break it you own it,” as the nation sat on its hands, assuaged by the comforting notion that Iraq’s own oil revenues would pay the damages, soothed by the certain knowledge that the blood sacrifices would be borne by people they did not know….
Even a cursory reading of the history of the Middle East shows that the region has been a broken bowl throughout all of recorded time, Iraq itself a notion bred by long-dead British and French diplomats, lines drawn in the sand and dust in a world where permanent political boundaries do not exist….
A calculated risk certainly, bolstered by the knowledge that Americans by and large are not prone to deep thought or historical reflection. The nation has carved out its current glory in the fields of spectator sports, obesity and shopping; no one can touch our heroes here; we are, with absolute calorie-laden certainty, clad in our world-class running shoes and emblematic sports apparel, Number One with a bullet, no one can beat an American for sitting in a chair with a sandwich….
Inheriting a vast budget surplus, the Bush-Cheney Frankenstein monster squandered all, hyper-concentrated wealth in the hands of the few, plundered the hopes of generations to follow, fractured the economic fabric in ways that mere bombs cannot touch, sacked the Nation Unconscious unconscious….
Today, middle-class Americans stand in bread lines of increasing length, manufacturing jobs spun overseas, their Nikes no longer so damn relevant….
In the future, shoes will be merely that; the prudent might learn how to make their own; “Just Tool It!!!” the nation’s new motto, printed on the gift cards we exchange for our beans and rice….
Too shrewd by half, the Nation has invested half a billion dollars into its unready Baghdad embassy as half-finished condo/office towers dominate American skylines, the barrage balloons of this World War, not worth blowing up….
Have you seen New Orleans lately? The Gulf Coast sinks to the bottom of the list, joining the veterans of all wars there, last among the least priority, the focus is on everything economic now….
Finding ever more Americans too obese to serve in the military and too few willing to enlist, the Nation’s armed forces lower enlistment standards to accommodate borderline criminals, a story foretold in Gibbons’ Rome, now here generations deep; try recovering from THAT any time soon….
The last polar bear will walk in the wild before the last backyard pool is dug in the desert; before Las Vegas tones it down a notch; before the last bogus environmentalist jets off on holiday splurge….
The point of decline of a nation, the tipping point of a civilization, becomes apparent when one generation cannot expect to achieve a quality of life equal to its predecessor, when its inheritance arrives pissed-on, pre-mortgaged and omni-leveraged beyond the horizon, the Mother of All Turds-in-the-Pocket, and good luck to you….
See Volume 6: “America before Bush, and After”….
Barack Obama campaign-spoke of “the fierce urgency of now”, these words just coming into bitter November focus for so many, sleepwalking as they were with the legacy of Ronald Reagan, patron saint of the selfish and short-sighted, a nation of individuals fixed on self-interest; now look at where we are, all but the wealthy and privileged fly ham-packed commercial….
Americans need no foreign enemy to wreak havoc among us; the model of righteous self-reliance, we can do it ourselves; this is where listening to talk radio will get you, the professional wrestling of topical discourse….
The laws and habits of the Nation require Change to wait until late January, no matter the dire straits, the urgent ferocity of Catastrophe, the now-ocity of crisis facing us; utter incompetence ticks time away, wastes away the clock, like the last eight years….
The Bush Administration retains its Constitutional right to be woefully wrong for two more endless months, vaporizing American jobs, Absolute Dead Weight, still damage to do before slouching off into exile….
In a parliamentary system, they would be gone already (note to students of American democracy—room for improvement here), the power levers switched over, a new puppy in the White House, no Lame Duck in the oven….
The system requires patience, the problems demand patience, sufficient to bridge to January 20, and then the patience to endure real hardship while change courses through the pond in gravitational waves, rocking the petals….
Somewhere, a foreclosed homeowner sits in the dark with a gun, waiting for the unlucky soul whose job it is to walk through that front door with a packing box, who will pluck out that Last Straw….
Moose-fed Sara Palin stands poised to take the helm in 2012, ready as she will ever be. The mere thought brings cheer to millions; guffaws and foot-stamping warm the most threadbare spots in the soul, protect against winter’s chill, a place for her towards the end of the book, splayed unpunctuated against the tide of reason….
What, me worry…?
--Sean Cruz, November 2008
====================
"Trajan was ambitious of fame; and as long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the most exalted characters." –Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 1
“War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied….War is a grave matter; one is apprehensive lest men embark upon it without due reflection.” –Sun Tzu, The Art of War
“If you invade an oil-producing nation on the other side of the world, it will cost you.” --Sean Cruz, www.Blogoliticalsean
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Oregonian prints Blogolitical "White Tide" Op Ed on Oregon Legislature
The Oregonian has published my op ed on the legislature in its November 13th issue.
I shared the page (equal ink!)with the great Thomas Friedman!
Here's the link:
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/11/a_blue_election_tide_or_a_whit.html
A longer version of the piece, titled "Blue tide--not white--sweeps Oregon House! The Senate is next!!" is posted on BlogoliticalSean here:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=30929496&postID=1123465582980233978
I shared the page (equal ink!)with the great Thomas Friedman!
Here's the link:
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/11/a_blue_election_tide_or_a_whit.html
A longer version of the piece, titled "Blue tide--not white--sweeps Oregon House! The Senate is next!!" is posted on BlogoliticalSean here:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=30929496&postID=1123465582980233978
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Saluting my sons on Veterans Day
Saluting my sons on Veterans Day
By Sean Cruz
Both of my sons, Aaron and Tyler Cruz, enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2000, joining an engineering battalion in southern Utah.
Their unit was put on alert, ordered to pack and stand by for deployment for Iraq early in the war, when President George W. Bush’s team began to realize that they didn’t have enough troops, although they would never admit this fact publicly. National Guard troops were activated far earlier than the public has ever realized, or cared to know about.
Their unit stood packed and ready, poised to leave for Ft. Carson, Colorado on 24 hours notice, throughout 2003. All of their equipment, vehicles and weapons were shipped for staging to Iraq.
Tyler was married and living in Utah.
Aaron was also living in Utah, but wanted to come back home to Portland and live with me. We had to obtain permission for him to come out here. I was able to bring him home in August 2003, and have written about this part of our lives in earlier posts.
The main thing was discovering the gravity and severity of Aaron’s physical and mental condition. He had not had adequate or competent medical care in all the years he had been living in Utah. Now he was facing life-threatening illness.
We came to learn that the reason their unit was held back on alert for so long was because their mission involved entering Iraq from the north, through Turkey, and that nation was not allowing U.S. forces through its territory at the time.
In November, 2003, their mission was changed, and my sons were ordered to report.
Aaron came downstairs to give me the news. He was going to join his unit and his brother. Nothing was going to stop him. Not even the warning from his doctor that his seizure disorder could put him into a coma from which he would not recover. He was going to Iraq.
I watched him pack on Thanksgiving day. He was gone the next day, sick as he was, clad in his dress uniform, driving to Utah.
I promised him his room would be exactly as he left it when he returned home, although I could feel in my heart that I would not see him alive again.
He called several days later to tell me that he had passed the Army physical, that he was cleared for deployment and combat. I couldn’t believe it was possible!
He had not disclosed any part of his true medical condition to the doctors, and they were happy to take everyone they could.
Eventually, the Army would decide to hold Aaron back in Utah for medical evaluation, but sent his brother Tyler on to Iraq, where he would serve as a .50 caliber machine gunner, escorting convoys across central Iraq for the next year.
The Army held Aaron in Utah for medical review. He could not leave the state. He received no pay and no medical care from Army doctors while he was there, and he died in April 2005, as predicted, after he suffered a seizure and fell into a coma.
I went broke supporting my son between the time the Army ordered him to report for deployment and his death.
I suspect that he was out of his anti-seizure meds.
Although Aaron is not a veteran of the Iraq war, that is through no fault of his own. He did all he could to get there, even attempting to transfer to other Iraq-bound units, if only the Army could overlook his medical condition, he hoped.
And he died a death common to veterans of this and other wars: alone, sick, broke, unemployed and homeless (his home was here in Portland).
His unit, back from Iraq, turned out in full dress for his memorial service, presented him with a flag; President Bush sent me a certificate, posted here:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=30929496&postID=5621767990810215403
Eight hours after we buried his brother, Tyler was on his way back to complete training for his second tour, a year spent in Ramadi, in combat every day and night.
I have had no information about Tyler in more than a year.
How I miss my boys.
To you both, on Veterans Day 2008.
Love, Dad
Photos of Tyler in Iraq:
Saluting my father, my hero, on Veterans Day
John Paul Cruz was my dad. He was born in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. His parents emigrated to the U.S. in the wake of the Mexican revolution, doing agricultural work in California fields and orchards, when he was an infant, just 4 months old. My grandfather also worked as a laborer on the Southern Pacific railroad.
There were hard times on both sides of the border: The oppression of colonial Mexico; the bloody chaos of the Revolution; struggle and poverty; obtaining permission to cross the border;travel as Mexicans in the United States; American bigotry; distances of class, language and culture; the Great Depression and then World War II.
My dad spoke much about going to war and coming home from war, but little about the war itself. My brother and I learned about WWII from reading the many books on the subject that dad brought home. I developed my love of history through reading the books he collected.
They settled in Fairfield, California, where my grandparents lived out the rest of their days, where my father, first-born, led his two brothers and three sisters through the immigrants' maze so that each graduated from high school in this new land.
My dad, a citizen of Mexico, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943. He went ashore at Omaha Beach with the third wave of troops, fought through the hedgerows of Normandy, earned a commendation for his service under General George S. Patton during the Battle of the Bulge.
He would talk about the hedgerows. These might have been my first geography lessons. How the hedgerows came to be built, where they were located, why they were significant, how difficult they were to fight through....
He came home after the war, met and married the lady who would become my mother, became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. When I was a child, he became a patrol officer with the Solano County Sheriff's Office, where he would serve for 15 years.
An on-duty collision in the patrol car took his kneecap and ended his career. The damage to his chest would lead to heart problems that ended his life in 1975 at the age of 52. Heart surgery was in its infancy in those days. Procedures common today would probably have extended his life, and he might be alive today.
He is alive in my heart and that of my brother Dana. Every day. One could not ask for a better father figure than John Cruz, or for more perfect love than that he gave for his country and his family.
This photo was taken in Liege, Belgium, in 1944.
Monday, November 10, 2008
OHDC whistleblower letter #1
The first of three whistleblowing letters regarding the Oregon Human Development Corporation (OHDC) appears below.
I have taken some criticism for not following the chain of command, for going outside of the organization with these letters, but in actual fact I did so, much of that documented in internal emails to the OHDC Central Office.
The problem is that the OHDC chain of command goes no further than Fernando Guttierrez in the Central Office. This has been the case for many years, according to current and former OHDC employees.
Fernando insulates staff from Executive Director Ron Hauge and from OHDC's Board of Directors. OHDC provides no information to its employees regarding Mr. Hauge's activities or thinking, but rumors abound that he is rarely in his office, despite the charm of its 5th-floor views in Tigard. There is no evidence of any visioning by Mr. Hauge in either the short or long terms, and field staff have no information as to the future and direction of their employer.
Fernando also insulates staff from any information regarding the OHDC Board of Directors, its membership, meeting times and locations (if any) and agendas (if any).
The news that the economy is in crisis and unemployment rates soaring does not appear to have reached either Mr. Guttierrez or Mr. Hauge. More on this later.
As an Employment Specialist, my job was to find employment for clients seeking work, to monitor the status of employed clients over a period of time, and to submit signed reports to the Central Office. The most important reports are the quarterly status reports, which the Central Office uses to support its claims to the U.S. Department of Labor.
My employment began as the 2nd quarter 2008 reports were coming due, and there was intense pressure from the Central Office to get the forms filled out, signed and delivered.
I could see right away that the OHDC information system was a mess, because it didn't work. I learned from staff that no one knew how to make it work and that it had always been that way, which is why the organization functions on paper via fax and UPS.
I also saw that the status of many clients could not be confirmed, that many had not been seen or heard from in months. Fernando brushed that all aside, telling me to focus on a handful of current clients only, to ignore all the others.
It was easy to see that we would encounter the same problem when the next quarterly reports were due at the end of September.
I knew that I was not going to sign any document attesting that clients were being contacted by OHDC or were receiving services when I could find no evidence that this was the case.
Over the course of the summer, I received much pressure from the Central Office to remove from my case notes anything that did not support whatever claims OHDC was making to the feds. I refused to alter my notes. I will have more to say about this later in the series of posts.
Here's the 1st letter:
July 10, 2008
To Whom It May Concern:
Since entering employment at OHDC as Employment Specialist in the Gresham office on June 3, 2008, I have observed or become aware of a number of troubling issues, many long-term or endemic in the organization, that I have reason to believe are detrimental to its ability to fulfill its mission.
My observations are informed by my prior System Analyst experience in business computer systems, my family history as the son and grandson of Mexican farm workers, and by my position as Oregon State Senator Avel Gordly’s Chief of Staff. I have staffed Senator Gordly during her service on several Joint Ways and Means budget committees and on the Emergency Board since 2003.
Since many of the problems are related to OHDC’s computer and workflow systems, I will begin my comments in that area:
1. Observations re Information Services
There is no central file server in the OHDC system, and no backups in the field offices. Paper files are the only backup system in use.
All data is at perpetual risk of loss. All client files in the Gresham office reside on a single staff member’s computer, and I assume each office is configured the same way.
No two OHDC offices organize electronic files in the same way. The central office is currently attempting to standardize paper files, but no like effort is underway regarding electronic files.
Despite the ample provision of computer hardware in all of the offices, the OHDC information “system” ultimately operates via printouts sent (and often re-sent and re-sent again) between the central and field offices by fax and UPS. The organization essentially uses the computers as typewriters.
Nearly every management report pertaining to the requirements of the FJTP/WIA grant monies are keyed in by at least two employees, one in the central office and one in the field.
The OHDC electronic file system is chaotic, lacks any organizational concept or structure, and OHDC procedures require both field and central office employees to repeatedly re-enter data with no confidence that the result will be satisfactory in either the short or long term.
Paperwork errors in the central office and the workflow system itself creates unnecessary and unreasonable delays in clients’ receipt of reimbursement or other support funds and contributes to high levels of employee frustration.
Payments to clients or on behalf of clients are routinely held back by central office for one reason or another, often related to the illogical computer and workflow system that absolutely no one anywhere in the organization is master of.
The company providing computer support services has repeatedly made recommendations to OHDC to address these and other related issues, to no avail.
The Gresham office has a new ten-station flat-panel computer lab with overhead projection system for ESL instruction that mostly sits unused. The Rosetta Stone software that accompanies the lab does not work properly (or we lack any staff member who knows how to use it).
The OHDC website is badly in need of updating throughout. Board members are not identified, and no meetings or minutes are posted.
There are no recent OHCD success stories, identifying either client or employer partner, posted on the website.
It is doubtful that OHDC’s MIS staff has installed any traffic-analysis software on the company website that would provide information, for example, on who accesses the website and how they got there.
The online staff directory is months out of date.http://www.ohdc.org/directory.html
It is unclear what the role of the OHDC “MIS Manager” is, given all of the above.
It is also unclear what role other central office employees have in “managing” the OHDC system, and whether they have the qualifications to do so competently.
Some central office staff titles do not seem to correspond to actual duties, which appear to include monkeying ad hoc with the computer and workflow systems.
2. Staffing issue observations:
There are serious employee safety issues in the Gresham office, which is located in an area notorious for high rates of criminal gang activity. There is no active partnership with law enforcement in Rockwood, no alarm system or panic button for staff, and emergency exits are blocked due to the fear of intrusion from the rear of the building. Women feel particularly vulnerable.
Field office employee turnover is excessive.
Employee morale is low.
Opportunities for advancement within the organization for field staff personnel appear to be limited to the field offices alone.
Apparently, 100% of OHDC field office personnel are Hispanic and bilingual, but only a minority (1) of those in the central office are Hispanic or bilingual.
There appears to be little or no history of field employees successfully transitioning to central office positions.
Perhaps 40% of field office staff have been employed less than 6 months.
One experienced field office employee estimated that paperwork took up 40-50% of the employee’s time. My observation is that much of that paperwork is fruitless and reduces the employee’s opportunities to interact with either clients or employers.
3. Observations re clients and services
Central office employees are isolated from our clients; it is field office staff that deal with clients as human beings, not as numbers in a report.
There are scant records of successful placements and no active partnerships with employers in the Gresham area. This may be the case in other offices.
Employment Specialists are required to test the English proficiency of all new clients upon entry into the program, but no client progress reports of any kind are required of ESL instructors.
There is no record or report required of either (a) subject matter covered or (b) competency attained through the ESL class. The only measure of a client’s participation in ESL is the daily attendance sheet.
The central office routinely requires our clients to come into the field office any number of times to sign or re-sign forms without consideration for the trouble and expense imposed on the client, and with no sense that time is important to either staff or client.
For example, many of our clients need assistance to pay for the gasoline they must burn in order to get to the interviews we send them on, or to get to the job we have found for them, but there is no telling how long it will take for the central office to cut a check. The paperwork and process that the central office is developing will likely cause the value of the staff time required to exceed by far the cash value of the help provided to the client.
Our clients face overt racism and anti-immigrant hostility like no other population that is competing for these jobs. I am seeing Help Wanted ads for landscapers requiring English proficiency to mow lawns and trim bushes.
I have learned that only 20% of OHDC’s $ 1.8 million budget projected for the coming FY is allocated to client support services, the rest eaten up by overhead.
Closing comments and recommendations:
I believe that OHDC has many strengths upon which to build, but that several drastic steps are in order.
I also believe that—since our clients live on the thin margin and face significantly more difficult obstacles to stable employment in the present economic climate—the issue is urgent and remedial action must be taken immediately.
There is a major disconnect between the central office and the people we serve, brought upon in large part by the physical isolation of central office staff from the field offices and of the communities we serve, and by the astonishing lack of Hispanic employees and cultural competence within the central office.
Recommendations:
1. Change in leadership
2. Resolve file server and system backup issues.
3. Close central office and co-locate central office staff with field office providing direct services to reduce overhead and bring all staff into alignment with community and client needs.
4. Change at board level
Sincerely,
Sean Cruz
I have taken some criticism for not following the chain of command, for going outside of the organization with these letters, but in actual fact I did so, much of that documented in internal emails to the OHDC Central Office.
The problem is that the OHDC chain of command goes no further than Fernando Guttierrez in the Central Office. This has been the case for many years, according to current and former OHDC employees.
Fernando insulates staff from Executive Director Ron Hauge and from OHDC's Board of Directors. OHDC provides no information to its employees regarding Mr. Hauge's activities or thinking, but rumors abound that he is rarely in his office, despite the charm of its 5th-floor views in Tigard. There is no evidence of any visioning by Mr. Hauge in either the short or long terms, and field staff have no information as to the future and direction of their employer.
Fernando also insulates staff from any information regarding the OHDC Board of Directors, its membership, meeting times and locations (if any) and agendas (if any).
The news that the economy is in crisis and unemployment rates soaring does not appear to have reached either Mr. Guttierrez or Mr. Hauge. More on this later.
As an Employment Specialist, my job was to find employment for clients seeking work, to monitor the status of employed clients over a period of time, and to submit signed reports to the Central Office. The most important reports are the quarterly status reports, which the Central Office uses to support its claims to the U.S. Department of Labor.
My employment began as the 2nd quarter 2008 reports were coming due, and there was intense pressure from the Central Office to get the forms filled out, signed and delivered.
I could see right away that the OHDC information system was a mess, because it didn't work. I learned from staff that no one knew how to make it work and that it had always been that way, which is why the organization functions on paper via fax and UPS.
I also saw that the status of many clients could not be confirmed, that many had not been seen or heard from in months. Fernando brushed that all aside, telling me to focus on a handful of current clients only, to ignore all the others.
It was easy to see that we would encounter the same problem when the next quarterly reports were due at the end of September.
I knew that I was not going to sign any document attesting that clients were being contacted by OHDC or were receiving services when I could find no evidence that this was the case.
Over the course of the summer, I received much pressure from the Central Office to remove from my case notes anything that did not support whatever claims OHDC was making to the feds. I refused to alter my notes. I will have more to say about this later in the series of posts.
Here's the 1st letter:
July 10, 2008
To Whom It May Concern:
Since entering employment at OHDC as Employment Specialist in the Gresham office on June 3, 2008, I have observed or become aware of a number of troubling issues, many long-term or endemic in the organization, that I have reason to believe are detrimental to its ability to fulfill its mission.
My observations are informed by my prior System Analyst experience in business computer systems, my family history as the son and grandson of Mexican farm workers, and by my position as Oregon State Senator Avel Gordly’s Chief of Staff. I have staffed Senator Gordly during her service on several Joint Ways and Means budget committees and on the Emergency Board since 2003.
Since many of the problems are related to OHDC’s computer and workflow systems, I will begin my comments in that area:
1. Observations re Information Services
There is no central file server in the OHDC system, and no backups in the field offices. Paper files are the only backup system in use.
All data is at perpetual risk of loss. All client files in the Gresham office reside on a single staff member’s computer, and I assume each office is configured the same way.
No two OHDC offices organize electronic files in the same way. The central office is currently attempting to standardize paper files, but no like effort is underway regarding electronic files.
Despite the ample provision of computer hardware in all of the offices, the OHDC information “system” ultimately operates via printouts sent (and often re-sent and re-sent again) between the central and field offices by fax and UPS. The organization essentially uses the computers as typewriters.
Nearly every management report pertaining to the requirements of the FJTP/WIA grant monies are keyed in by at least two employees, one in the central office and one in the field.
The OHDC electronic file system is chaotic, lacks any organizational concept or structure, and OHDC procedures require both field and central office employees to repeatedly re-enter data with no confidence that the result will be satisfactory in either the short or long term.
Paperwork errors in the central office and the workflow system itself creates unnecessary and unreasonable delays in clients’ receipt of reimbursement or other support funds and contributes to high levels of employee frustration.
Payments to clients or on behalf of clients are routinely held back by central office for one reason or another, often related to the illogical computer and workflow system that absolutely no one anywhere in the organization is master of.
The company providing computer support services has repeatedly made recommendations to OHDC to address these and other related issues, to no avail.
The Gresham office has a new ten-station flat-panel computer lab with overhead projection system for ESL instruction that mostly sits unused. The Rosetta Stone software that accompanies the lab does not work properly (or we lack any staff member who knows how to use it).
The OHDC website is badly in need of updating throughout. Board members are not identified, and no meetings or minutes are posted.
There are no recent OHCD success stories, identifying either client or employer partner, posted on the website.
It is doubtful that OHDC’s MIS staff has installed any traffic-analysis software on the company website that would provide information, for example, on who accesses the website and how they got there.
The online staff directory is months out of date.http://www.ohdc.org/directory.html
It is unclear what the role of the OHDC “MIS Manager” is, given all of the above.
It is also unclear what role other central office employees have in “managing” the OHDC system, and whether they have the qualifications to do so competently.
Some central office staff titles do not seem to correspond to actual duties, which appear to include monkeying ad hoc with the computer and workflow systems.
2. Staffing issue observations:
There are serious employee safety issues in the Gresham office, which is located in an area notorious for high rates of criminal gang activity. There is no active partnership with law enforcement in Rockwood, no alarm system or panic button for staff, and emergency exits are blocked due to the fear of intrusion from the rear of the building. Women feel particularly vulnerable.
Field office employee turnover is excessive.
Employee morale is low.
Opportunities for advancement within the organization for field staff personnel appear to be limited to the field offices alone.
Apparently, 100% of OHDC field office personnel are Hispanic and bilingual, but only a minority (1) of those in the central office are Hispanic or bilingual.
There appears to be little or no history of field employees successfully transitioning to central office positions.
Perhaps 40% of field office staff have been employed less than 6 months.
One experienced field office employee estimated that paperwork took up 40-50% of the employee’s time. My observation is that much of that paperwork is fruitless and reduces the employee’s opportunities to interact with either clients or employers.
3. Observations re clients and services
Central office employees are isolated from our clients; it is field office staff that deal with clients as human beings, not as numbers in a report.
There are scant records of successful placements and no active partnerships with employers in the Gresham area. This may be the case in other offices.
Employment Specialists are required to test the English proficiency of all new clients upon entry into the program, but no client progress reports of any kind are required of ESL instructors.
There is no record or report required of either (a) subject matter covered or (b) competency attained through the ESL class. The only measure of a client’s participation in ESL is the daily attendance sheet.
The central office routinely requires our clients to come into the field office any number of times to sign or re-sign forms without consideration for the trouble and expense imposed on the client, and with no sense that time is important to either staff or client.
For example, many of our clients need assistance to pay for the gasoline they must burn in order to get to the interviews we send them on, or to get to the job we have found for them, but there is no telling how long it will take for the central office to cut a check. The paperwork and process that the central office is developing will likely cause the value of the staff time required to exceed by far the cash value of the help provided to the client.
Our clients face overt racism and anti-immigrant hostility like no other population that is competing for these jobs. I am seeing Help Wanted ads for landscapers requiring English proficiency to mow lawns and trim bushes.
I have learned that only 20% of OHDC’s $ 1.8 million budget projected for the coming FY is allocated to client support services, the rest eaten up by overhead.
Closing comments and recommendations:
I believe that OHDC has many strengths upon which to build, but that several drastic steps are in order.
I also believe that—since our clients live on the thin margin and face significantly more difficult obstacles to stable employment in the present economic climate—the issue is urgent and remedial action must be taken immediately.
There is a major disconnect between the central office and the people we serve, brought upon in large part by the physical isolation of central office staff from the field offices and of the communities we serve, and by the astonishing lack of Hispanic employees and cultural competence within the central office.
Recommendations:
1. Change in leadership
2. Resolve file server and system backup issues.
3. Close central office and co-locate central office staff with field office providing direct services to reduce overhead and bring all staff into alignment with community and client needs.
4. Change at board level
Sincerely,
Sean Cruz
Thursday, November 06, 2008
White tide--not blue--sweeps Oregon House! The Senate is next!!
(Portland, Oregon) While the rest of the nation celebrates a transformational election that could not have taken place without minorities in general and Barack Obama in particular gaining access to political power at the state level, the Oregon legislature is making ready to convene in 2009 as its least-diverse body in decades.
In Oregon, it is the irony of stepping backward to pre-civil rights times as President-Elect Obama prepares to take residence in the White House that rises to historical proportions….
Sal Esquivel, a moderate Republican from southern Oregon, hung on to re-election by his fingernails. He will be the House of Representatives’ sole non-white member for the 2009-2011 biennium.
The irony…the irony….
And as it has for the past three biennia, the Oregon Democratic Party will sift out all of its non-white candidates in its partisan primaries and send a completely Caucasian House delegation to Salem. With a single exception, the same for the Senate.
Some say race is not a factor….
Some say affirmative action is no longer relevant, that equality has been reached….
Some say that Oregon’s partisan primary system works as intended….
…I’m sure that last one is the case….
After all, it was created in a day when only white men could own property or vote in an Oregon election….
This fact was reflected in the many Measure 37 hearings I monitored over the past several years. Those hearing rooms were always filled with white people; the proceedings completely irrelevant to Oregon’s minority populations.
Measure 37 looked back, you see, to those days when a person of color could not own or purchase property outside of certain urban areas in the state.
To have a Measure 37 claim, you pretty much had to be white….
How quickly people forget….
As a candidate for Senate District 23, the most racially and ethnically diverse senate district in Oregon, every endorsement interview I attended was conducted by a panel of 100% white people, with a single exception….
American Federation of Teachers (AFT): all white
Carpenters Union: all white; the one minority present left mid-interview
Firefighters: all white
Sierra Club: all white
Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV): all white
Stand for Children: all white
Basic Rights: all white
SEIU: the single exception—one person in the room was also a minority
AFSCME: all white and already in the tank (see AFSCME-gate post)
Building Trades: all white
Planned Parenthood: all white
Oregon Education Association (OEA): all white
Portland Association of Teachers: all white
The panels themselves mostly consisted of paid lobbyists and a handful or less of union members ranging from hard core to novices.
Few of these interview panelists were actually constituents of the district I was seeking to represent.
As a Mexican-American, a Chicano, I have a lifetime of experience reading white people’s facial and body language. Most of these panelists had never sent a person of color to the legislature before, and had probably never seen the inside of the state capitol.
Those are big hurdles to overcome in a 15-20 minute interview.
I didn’t ask any of them for their money….
They already knew what they were going to do….
The Democratic Party of Multnomah County itself played no role in the primary process itself; did not host a single public event, no forums or debates, staged nothing that might pose a threat to its incumbents' ambitions.
The publicly-funded Oregon League of Minority Voters (OLMV) spent the entire primary period ignoring minority candidates for the Oregon legislature, running and hiding, ducking and dodging, slippin' and slidin', stayed far away from the question of who would succeed Senator Avel Gordly in the Oregon Senate and who would serve in her old House seat.
Many of the OLMV members, you see, are secret members of the Committee-Once-Bent-on-Renaming-Interstate Avenue AND signed on to my opponent’s campaign, and you get the picture….
Did I mention that the OLMV is funded with your tax money?
But that was the past, and now we look to the future of the state, and how its legislature will reflect its citizenry….
That may be a couple of decades in the future….
The Senate has only two persons of color among its 30 members. Republican Senator Jackie Winters and Democratic Senator Margaret Carter are probably serving their last terms before retirement.
And then there will be none….
The clearest path to the Oregon Senate is through the House, but there is no place for people of color there, not for Democrats.
Individually, the Members are all good, hard-working, dedicated people….
But collectively, as a reflection of the state’s racial and ethnic makeup, issues and priorities, they fail to meet the rhetoric of inclusion and democracy.
They do make the case for open primaries and other electoral reform, though.
Oregon’s partisan primary system keeps us mired back in the era where decisions were made in smoke-filled rooms….
There was plenty of smoke in those endorsement interview rooms I was in….
You couldn’t see it, but you sure could smell it.
Sean Cruz
November 6, 2008
In Oregon, it is the irony of stepping backward to pre-civil rights times as President-Elect Obama prepares to take residence in the White House that rises to historical proportions….
Sal Esquivel, a moderate Republican from southern Oregon, hung on to re-election by his fingernails. He will be the House of Representatives’ sole non-white member for the 2009-2011 biennium.
The irony…the irony….
And as it has for the past three biennia, the Oregon Democratic Party will sift out all of its non-white candidates in its partisan primaries and send a completely Caucasian House delegation to Salem. With a single exception, the same for the Senate.
Some say race is not a factor….
Some say affirmative action is no longer relevant, that equality has been reached….
Some say that Oregon’s partisan primary system works as intended….
…I’m sure that last one is the case….
After all, it was created in a day when only white men could own property or vote in an Oregon election….
This fact was reflected in the many Measure 37 hearings I monitored over the past several years. Those hearing rooms were always filled with white people; the proceedings completely irrelevant to Oregon’s minority populations.
Measure 37 looked back, you see, to those days when a person of color could not own or purchase property outside of certain urban areas in the state.
To have a Measure 37 claim, you pretty much had to be white….
How quickly people forget….
As a candidate for Senate District 23, the most racially and ethnically diverse senate district in Oregon, every endorsement interview I attended was conducted by a panel of 100% white people, with a single exception….
American Federation of Teachers (AFT): all white
Carpenters Union: all white; the one minority present left mid-interview
Firefighters: all white
Sierra Club: all white
Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV): all white
Stand for Children: all white
Basic Rights: all white
SEIU: the single exception—one person in the room was also a minority
AFSCME: all white and already in the tank (see AFSCME-gate post)
Building Trades: all white
Planned Parenthood: all white
Oregon Education Association (OEA): all white
Portland Association of Teachers: all white
The panels themselves mostly consisted of paid lobbyists and a handful or less of union members ranging from hard core to novices.
Few of these interview panelists were actually constituents of the district I was seeking to represent.
As a Mexican-American, a Chicano, I have a lifetime of experience reading white people’s facial and body language. Most of these panelists had never sent a person of color to the legislature before, and had probably never seen the inside of the state capitol.
Those are big hurdles to overcome in a 15-20 minute interview.
I didn’t ask any of them for their money….
They already knew what they were going to do….
The Democratic Party of Multnomah County itself played no role in the primary process itself; did not host a single public event, no forums or debates, staged nothing that might pose a threat to its incumbents' ambitions.
The publicly-funded Oregon League of Minority Voters (OLMV) spent the entire primary period ignoring minority candidates for the Oregon legislature, running and hiding, ducking and dodging, slippin' and slidin', stayed far away from the question of who would succeed Senator Avel Gordly in the Oregon Senate and who would serve in her old House seat.
Many of the OLMV members, you see, are secret members of the Committee-Once-Bent-on-Renaming-Interstate Avenue AND signed on to my opponent’s campaign, and you get the picture….
Did I mention that the OLMV is funded with your tax money?
But that was the past, and now we look to the future of the state, and how its legislature will reflect its citizenry….
That may be a couple of decades in the future….
The Senate has only two persons of color among its 30 members. Republican Senator Jackie Winters and Democratic Senator Margaret Carter are probably serving their last terms before retirement.
And then there will be none….
The clearest path to the Oregon Senate is through the House, but there is no place for people of color there, not for Democrats.
Individually, the Members are all good, hard-working, dedicated people….
But collectively, as a reflection of the state’s racial and ethnic makeup, issues and priorities, they fail to meet the rhetoric of inclusion and democracy.
They do make the case for open primaries and other electoral reform, though.
Oregon’s partisan primary system keeps us mired back in the era where decisions were made in smoke-filled rooms….
There was plenty of smoke in those endorsement interview rooms I was in….
You couldn’t see it, but you sure could smell it.
Sean Cruz
November 6, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Mismanagement, waste, workplace hostility and fraud uncovered at Oregon Human Development Corporation (OHDC)!!!
by Sean Cruz
Portland, Oregon--
The Oregon Human Development Corporation, based in Tigard, recruited and hired me in early June of this year (2008) to fill their vacant Employment Specialist position in the Gresham office, located in the Rockwood neighborhood.
Although I was not looking for another job at the time, I jumped at the opportunity to work with OHDC’s clientele of largely Mexican farm workers. I am the son and grandson of Mexican farm workers, and OHDC was offering me an opportunity to return to my roots and help others transition from seasonal or migrant work to more stable employment.
Since OHDC has held a monopoly on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Oregon funds under the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) for the past 29 years, I assumed that they were doing a good job.
Almost immediately after beginning employment at OHDC, however, I became aware of an alarming number of problems and issues within the organization that led me to act as a whistleblower, documenting my concerns in a series of three letters I sent to the U.S. Department of Labor and other parties in July.
Among the allegations documented in those three letters:
1. No one knows who the OHDC Board members are. They do not appear to meet. Any queries about the Board are met with resistance from OHDC Central Office management.
2. Many client files contain little information about the client. What is clear is a pattern: OHDC reports to its funders that clients receive frequent contact and that services are provided, but there is little or no evidence in the files to support those claims. As an Employment Specialist, I received constant pressure to provide positive reports regarding clients I had never seen nor spoken with.
3. OHDC’s workflow and computer systems may be the most dysfunctional in North America. God knows how they get away with this. The (appropriately titled) MIS Manager lives in another state, racking up frequent flyer miles at farm worker expense.
4. ESL classes are vital to client success, because lack of English skills are their greatest barrier to employment and advancement. Over a period of years, OHDC has represented that its Gresham clients receive ESL instruction, but the only record of such are attendance sheets. There is no requirement that the ESL instructor teach any specific curricula or meet any goals whatsoever other than to see that clients sign the attendance sheets. No one knows what—-if anything—-was taught in the class. The instructor was a personal friend of Fernando Guttierrez, who hired and re-hired her.
5. Despite the long monopoly of WIA grant funds across the entire state of Oregon, OHDC has no active employer partnerships, not even with the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce or any of its members. This is really hard to believe, trust me, but that speaks to the level of incompetence at Central Office management level and disinterest on the part of OHDC’s Board of Directors.
6. My recommendations were that change be implemented at both the Board and Central Office management levels, and that the Central Office be closed down, with its remaining positions co-located with field offices providing direct services.
None of this endeared me to the long-entrenched Central Office management, but I received a great deal of support and encouragement from both current and former OHDC employees, all of whom recognized that OHDC maintains a hostile work environment and has done so for years.
I never received a reply from the DOL or any of the other parties I had sent the letters to, but OHDC management sure came after me for contacting their funders.
OHDC’s management could not dispute much of what I had written because I had simply written out what any observer could see. Their anger was focused on the fact that I had contacted their long-time funders.
One of the distinctive characteristics of OHDC is the split between Central Office personnel and those employed around the state in its various field offices.
Central Office employees have generally been there for more than a decade, some since the beginning, and with a single exception are non-Hispanic and are not bilingual or bicultural, even though nearly 100% of OHDC clients are Spanish-speaking. Central Office employees view their positions as career-length, and plan to retire in place.
Field office employees are 100% bilingual and bicultural, and with a few exceptions, are either terminated or move on in less than a year. The turnover rate must rank among the highest in any industry, and OHDC clients rarely have the benefit of a long-term relationship with a case worker.
OHDC management suspended me with pay for a couple of weeks mid-summer, then brought me back under a Work Performance Plan that was actually impossible to meet. Some of its key deadlines had already passed; it required performance levels far greater than any historical OHDC achievements; and, the Central Office controlled the information necessary to carry out the plan, but due to its massive ineptitude was unable to provide it.
In my three July letters, I did not allege the commission of fraud in OHDC’s reporting, although I strongly suspected it was the case.
As weeks went by, however, it became very clear that OHDC Central Office management was cooking the books so far as describing service delivery was concerned.
The WIA grants require quarterly reports on all clients, and the deadlines for these reports generate much pressure from Central Office to submit reports that will be viewed as a “positive” rather than as a “negative.”
I can tell you that the Central Office is carrying on its books as clients people who haven’t been seen or located in months.
The Central Office pressures field staff to report that these clients are participating in the program regardless. My refusal to do so was among the last straws before my employment was terminated on October 20.
In one case in the Gresham office, OHDC has reported the client’s SSN incorrectly for more than a year. I discovered the error in the days before my firing. The client’s correct (and legal) number is in the file on the client’s tax return, but every OHDC document going back to mid-2007 shows an incorrect number.
OHDC Central Office management is scrambling right now, trying to figure out how to correct this and still look good to the funders, with backdating among the top strategies.
I am aware of another case in the Gresham office where the client’s SSN belongs to another person. OHDC Central Office has taken no action.
Recently, a number of Central Office and field office staff attended a national farmworker conference in Washington, D.C. No information about the conference has been shared with employees who did not attend, but what has been disclosed is that drunkenness and poor conference attendance were issues there, with some employees disciplined and others not for the same offense.
Lastly, for the purpose of this writing, I want to blow the whistle one more time!
At a meeting convened at the Central Office on October 2, Fernando Guttierrez, OHDC’s long time Workforce Development Manager disclosed that “Ron and Chris are running the OHDC WIA grant in Nevada privately. That’s their own thing.”
Ron Hauge is OHDC’s mostly-absent Executive Director and Chris Evans holds the title of Community Resource Program Manager, although he neither manages or is aware of any actual community resources, by his own admission.
The Nevada operation was shocking news; as I had been researching OHDC and WIA issues all summer and had not come upon a scintilla of information to tie OHDC and Nevada.
There is no mention of Nevada on OHDC’s website, or in any internal communication. There do not appear to be any Nevada offices, and a Google search comes up empty.
How does a farmworker in Nevada access OHDC’s services?
I have filed a harassment complaint against Fernando Guttierrez and Ron Hauge with the Bureau of Labor and Industries, and I am talking to an investigator from the Department of Justice.
I will also send this posting to the group that received my three June letters.
Maybe this time they will take it seriously enough to show up and look through the files themselves.
Viva Cesar Chavez!!!
Sean Cruz
October 22, 2008
Portland, Oregon--
The Oregon Human Development Corporation, based in Tigard, recruited and hired me in early June of this year (2008) to fill their vacant Employment Specialist position in the Gresham office, located in the Rockwood neighborhood.
Although I was not looking for another job at the time, I jumped at the opportunity to work with OHDC’s clientele of largely Mexican farm workers. I am the son and grandson of Mexican farm workers, and OHDC was offering me an opportunity to return to my roots and help others transition from seasonal or migrant work to more stable employment.
Since OHDC has held a monopoly on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Oregon funds under the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) for the past 29 years, I assumed that they were doing a good job.
Almost immediately after beginning employment at OHDC, however, I became aware of an alarming number of problems and issues within the organization that led me to act as a whistleblower, documenting my concerns in a series of three letters I sent to the U.S. Department of Labor and other parties in July.
Among the allegations documented in those three letters:
1. No one knows who the OHDC Board members are. They do not appear to meet. Any queries about the Board are met with resistance from OHDC Central Office management.
2. Many client files contain little information about the client. What is clear is a pattern: OHDC reports to its funders that clients receive frequent contact and that services are provided, but there is little or no evidence in the files to support those claims. As an Employment Specialist, I received constant pressure to provide positive reports regarding clients I had never seen nor spoken with.
3. OHDC’s workflow and computer systems may be the most dysfunctional in North America. God knows how they get away with this. The (appropriately titled) MIS Manager lives in another state, racking up frequent flyer miles at farm worker expense.
4. ESL classes are vital to client success, because lack of English skills are their greatest barrier to employment and advancement. Over a period of years, OHDC has represented that its Gresham clients receive ESL instruction, but the only record of such are attendance sheets. There is no requirement that the ESL instructor teach any specific curricula or meet any goals whatsoever other than to see that clients sign the attendance sheets. No one knows what—-if anything—-was taught in the class. The instructor was a personal friend of Fernando Guttierrez, who hired and re-hired her.
5. Despite the long monopoly of WIA grant funds across the entire state of Oregon, OHDC has no active employer partnerships, not even with the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce or any of its members. This is really hard to believe, trust me, but that speaks to the level of incompetence at Central Office management level and disinterest on the part of OHDC’s Board of Directors.
6. My recommendations were that change be implemented at both the Board and Central Office management levels, and that the Central Office be closed down, with its remaining positions co-located with field offices providing direct services.
None of this endeared me to the long-entrenched Central Office management, but I received a great deal of support and encouragement from both current and former OHDC employees, all of whom recognized that OHDC maintains a hostile work environment and has done so for years.
I never received a reply from the DOL or any of the other parties I had sent the letters to, but OHDC management sure came after me for contacting their funders.
OHDC’s management could not dispute much of what I had written because I had simply written out what any observer could see. Their anger was focused on the fact that I had contacted their long-time funders.
One of the distinctive characteristics of OHDC is the split between Central Office personnel and those employed around the state in its various field offices.
Central Office employees have generally been there for more than a decade, some since the beginning, and with a single exception are non-Hispanic and are not bilingual or bicultural, even though nearly 100% of OHDC clients are Spanish-speaking. Central Office employees view their positions as career-length, and plan to retire in place.
Field office employees are 100% bilingual and bicultural, and with a few exceptions, are either terminated or move on in less than a year. The turnover rate must rank among the highest in any industry, and OHDC clients rarely have the benefit of a long-term relationship with a case worker.
OHDC management suspended me with pay for a couple of weeks mid-summer, then brought me back under a Work Performance Plan that was actually impossible to meet. Some of its key deadlines had already passed; it required performance levels far greater than any historical OHDC achievements; and, the Central Office controlled the information necessary to carry out the plan, but due to its massive ineptitude was unable to provide it.
In my three July letters, I did not allege the commission of fraud in OHDC’s reporting, although I strongly suspected it was the case.
As weeks went by, however, it became very clear that OHDC Central Office management was cooking the books so far as describing service delivery was concerned.
The WIA grants require quarterly reports on all clients, and the deadlines for these reports generate much pressure from Central Office to submit reports that will be viewed as a “positive” rather than as a “negative.”
I can tell you that the Central Office is carrying on its books as clients people who haven’t been seen or located in months.
The Central Office pressures field staff to report that these clients are participating in the program regardless. My refusal to do so was among the last straws before my employment was terminated on October 20.
In one case in the Gresham office, OHDC has reported the client’s SSN incorrectly for more than a year. I discovered the error in the days before my firing. The client’s correct (and legal) number is in the file on the client’s tax return, but every OHDC document going back to mid-2007 shows an incorrect number.
OHDC Central Office management is scrambling right now, trying to figure out how to correct this and still look good to the funders, with backdating among the top strategies.
I am aware of another case in the Gresham office where the client’s SSN belongs to another person. OHDC Central Office has taken no action.
Recently, a number of Central Office and field office staff attended a national farmworker conference in Washington, D.C. No information about the conference has been shared with employees who did not attend, but what has been disclosed is that drunkenness and poor conference attendance were issues there, with some employees disciplined and others not for the same offense.
Lastly, for the purpose of this writing, I want to blow the whistle one more time!
At a meeting convened at the Central Office on October 2, Fernando Guttierrez, OHDC’s long time Workforce Development Manager disclosed that “Ron and Chris are running the OHDC WIA grant in Nevada privately. That’s their own thing.”
Ron Hauge is OHDC’s mostly-absent Executive Director and Chris Evans holds the title of Community Resource Program Manager, although he neither manages or is aware of any actual community resources, by his own admission.
The Nevada operation was shocking news; as I had been researching OHDC and WIA issues all summer and had not come upon a scintilla of information to tie OHDC and Nevada.
There is no mention of Nevada on OHDC’s website, or in any internal communication. There do not appear to be any Nevada offices, and a Google search comes up empty.
How does a farmworker in Nevada access OHDC’s services?
I have filed a harassment complaint against Fernando Guttierrez and Ron Hauge with the Bureau of Labor and Industries, and I am talking to an investigator from the Department of Justice.
I will also send this posting to the group that received my three June letters.
Maybe this time they will take it seriously enough to show up and look through the files themselves.
Viva Cesar Chavez!!!
Sean Cruz
October 22, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
NW Airedale Rescue names 2008 Rescue Poster Boy: Rex
Salem-based dog rescue organization honors blind pooch “for his guts and Airedale spirit.”
Read the story, in the words of the man who saved him, here:
http://www.nwairedalerescue.org/
Link to Rex’s Page:
http://www.rexspage.blogspot.com
Sean Cruz is Rex’s seeing-eye person:
http://www.blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com
===================
Sunday, October 19, 2008
AFSCME-Gate, Oregon Senate District 23 and a word about ethics and lobbyists
You be the judge!
You are a candidate for public office (Senate District 23); invited to appear before a powerful union endorsement panel for an interview (AFSCME).
You recognize that the union has endorsed your opponent (Jackie Dingfelder) in the past, but since you have worked successfully with the union’s professional lobbyists across a wide range of issues for the past several years, you have an expectation that you will be treated fairly and honestly.
Your opponent is a sitting legislator, chairs a powerful House committee, and has earned notoriety for being the hardest-charging full-time campaigner in Oregon history. You are a huge underdog, irrespective of the fact that you are well qualified for the job. What can she/they possibly be afraid of?
You learn a few days before the interview that your opponent’s spouse (Tom Gainer) is an AFSCME organizer. Given the different surnames of the couple, it is a relationship that few outsiders are aware of, most importantly the constituents of Senate District 23.
Here is the question: Does the powerful union endorsement panel have a duty to disclose the conflict of interest?
I believe that they do….
Going into the interview, which took place at the AFSCME offices on January 25, 2008, I pondered bringing up the question, but decided to give the interviewers the opportunity to act honestly and with integrity, a test which they failed miserably and with smiles on their faces.
The interview proceeded cordially and ended with a nice round of applause, but no disclosure.
I can tell you that my opinion of the AFSCME lobbyists changed dramatically at the conclusion of the interview, but I made no mention of it.
I never heard from them again.
Months later, during the Williamette Week interview, my opponent disclosed (somewhat uncomfortably) that her largest campaign contribution ($ 5,000) came from AFSCME and that her husband, Tom Gainer, was an AFSCME organizer.
The disclosure raised some eyebrows around the W Week table, but the paper failed to follow up the lead.
The AFSCME endorsement and cash contribution helped the Dingfelder/Gainer campaign garner other endorsements and contributions, including several thousand dollars’ worth of free wine, used to fuel still more fund-raising and glad-handing activities. Parrrr-ty!!!
All of the other union and special-interest organizations followed the AFSCME lead in this race, which explains how the unions locked up in support of Jackie Dingfelder.
She was able to raise a campaign war chest in excess of $ 100,000, more than ten times any other legislative race in the state, not to mention the large hoard of free alcohol.
On the surface, the endorsements seem to demonstrate broad support, that the AFSCME endorsement was decided on the merits of the respective candidates, and that is the illusion the Dingfelder/Gainer campaign has fought hard to create.
But the reality is that it was (and is) an inside job.
AFSCME gains a seat in the Oregon Senate.
What this means for the constituents of Senate District 23 and all Oregonians has yet to be seen.
Lots of campaign promises to be kept; legions of lobbyists to satisfy….
There still may be some free booze left….
If not, they know where to get more….
Vote yes on Measure 65, Open Primaries!!!
If you want to upset the applecart, and bring real change to the Oregon Legislature, write in Sean Cruz for Senate District 23.
--Sean Cruz, October 19, 2008
You are a candidate for public office (Senate District 23); invited to appear before a powerful union endorsement panel for an interview (AFSCME).
You recognize that the union has endorsed your opponent (Jackie Dingfelder) in the past, but since you have worked successfully with the union’s professional lobbyists across a wide range of issues for the past several years, you have an expectation that you will be treated fairly and honestly.
Your opponent is a sitting legislator, chairs a powerful House committee, and has earned notoriety for being the hardest-charging full-time campaigner in Oregon history. You are a huge underdog, irrespective of the fact that you are well qualified for the job. What can she/they possibly be afraid of?
You learn a few days before the interview that your opponent’s spouse (Tom Gainer) is an AFSCME organizer. Given the different surnames of the couple, it is a relationship that few outsiders are aware of, most importantly the constituents of Senate District 23.
Here is the question: Does the powerful union endorsement panel have a duty to disclose the conflict of interest?
I believe that they do….
Going into the interview, which took place at the AFSCME offices on January 25, 2008, I pondered bringing up the question, but decided to give the interviewers the opportunity to act honestly and with integrity, a test which they failed miserably and with smiles on their faces.
The interview proceeded cordially and ended with a nice round of applause, but no disclosure.
I can tell you that my opinion of the AFSCME lobbyists changed dramatically at the conclusion of the interview, but I made no mention of it.
I never heard from them again.
Months later, during the Williamette Week interview, my opponent disclosed (somewhat uncomfortably) that her largest campaign contribution ($ 5,000) came from AFSCME and that her husband, Tom Gainer, was an AFSCME organizer.
The disclosure raised some eyebrows around the W Week table, but the paper failed to follow up the lead.
The AFSCME endorsement and cash contribution helped the Dingfelder/Gainer campaign garner other endorsements and contributions, including several thousand dollars’ worth of free wine, used to fuel still more fund-raising and glad-handing activities. Parrrr-ty!!!
All of the other union and special-interest organizations followed the AFSCME lead in this race, which explains how the unions locked up in support of Jackie Dingfelder.
She was able to raise a campaign war chest in excess of $ 100,000, more than ten times any other legislative race in the state, not to mention the large hoard of free alcohol.
On the surface, the endorsements seem to demonstrate broad support, that the AFSCME endorsement was decided on the merits of the respective candidates, and that is the illusion the Dingfelder/Gainer campaign has fought hard to create.
But the reality is that it was (and is) an inside job.
AFSCME gains a seat in the Oregon Senate.
What this means for the constituents of Senate District 23 and all Oregonians has yet to be seen.
Lots of campaign promises to be kept; legions of lobbyists to satisfy….
There still may be some free booze left….
If not, they know where to get more….
Vote yes on Measure 65, Open Primaries!!!
If you want to upset the applecart, and bring real change to the Oregon Legislature, write in Sean Cruz for Senate District 23.
--Sean Cruz, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Anatomy of a Portland patrol towing empire
A Blogolitical Sean reader provided the following information in a comment on an earlier post, “Portland tow truck set on fire!”:
=====================
towmater said...
Let me give you a couple more things to think about.
These are all the companies owned by a Mr. Gary Coe:
(1) Private Parking Auditors: Patrols parking lots and writes tickets, calls for Retriever for the tows.
(2) Retriever Towing: tows cars for parking infractions, patrols parking lots and handles district 3 police calls. Has two impound lots and shares three of Speeds Supertow's four lots.
(3) Oregon Lien: Puts liens on the impounded cars so that they can be auctioned. They do this for both Speeds and Retriever within about a week of being impounded.
(4) Speeds Auction Yard: Sells the cars not picked up from auction. For both Speeds and Retriever. They also auction cars for just about every charity you could imagine, not for free though.
(5) Speeds Supertow: Normal Towing. You call they come get you. They also handle police calls for district 5 and 8. They charge more than any other tow in town and they give a 20% discount to dealerships and shops. The dealerships and shops in turn charge full price to the cars owner for the tow and make a nice profit for picking speeds.
(6) Fleet Sales West: Custom makes tow trucks and towing equipment. They're the only one in town, so everyone goes to them or has it brought from out of state. They're also called Golden West Towing in California.
(7) Speeds Auto Service: Does all the fleet maintenance for not only the tow trucks but all Gary's other companies and they'll turn a wrench for people off the street. They're also a car dealership for the nicer cars.
(8) Speeds Auto Body: Does all the body work for the fleet of tow trucks and anyone they bump into.
(9) Auto Adventure: Chops cars up for parts and sells those parts nation wide.
(10) Coe Consulting: Sells the secrets to Gary Coe's success in twelve easy steps.
(11) Cascade Coach Town Cars: Drives people around like a taxi but for a lot more.
(12) Pacific Executive Service town cars: Also does the expensive taxi service but mostly to the airport.
Gary has the American dream, a monopoly. He has his fingers in three police districts. No other tow company can claim that inside Portland. He has over fifty trucks (all new) and six impound yards total. Bigger than anyone else in the State of Oregon. Gary controls a lions share of the contracts with dealerships and shops through 20% discount/kick backs. Gary also has his own lobbyist in the Oregon Legislature and has been President of several towing organizations.
The Tow Truck Drivers are poor and manipulated. They make commission off the tow. So its in there best interest to tow a lot and bend the rules, speed, cut corners.
They have no Union, no medical benefits. Most will be hurt several times on the job and will only last a couple of years.
None of these drivers have certification or CDLs. Their training is in-house or if they're lucky a traveling trainer (NATA) will come through town and give them some wall paper. Nobody ever fails those schools and they’re hosted on company property.
All these driver's sign a non-disclosure when hired so they can never speak about the truth.
They Drive 12 to 14 hours a day and have 24 hour on call shifts which means they are on the road more than a driver with a CDL legally could be. Big Rigs are only allowed to drive for eleven hours and they have to keep a log. Many of these Tow trucks are as big as a semi truck too.
Yes, many of these driver's are rude. But under these conditions who wouldnt be. Everybody hates them including their boss, they get little sleep, sacrifice there families, make $30,000 a year for it and are constantly exposed to stress and confrontations.
I hope you'll take all this to heart. I know it might not be printed do to libel concerns, but if you investigate it at all you'll see it's all fact. Thank You.
===============
Thanks to Towmater for providing this information.
=====================
towmater said...
Let me give you a couple more things to think about.
These are all the companies owned by a Mr. Gary Coe:
(1) Private Parking Auditors: Patrols parking lots and writes tickets, calls for Retriever for the tows.
(2) Retriever Towing: tows cars for parking infractions, patrols parking lots and handles district 3 police calls. Has two impound lots and shares three of Speeds Supertow's four lots.
(3) Oregon Lien: Puts liens on the impounded cars so that they can be auctioned. They do this for both Speeds and Retriever within about a week of being impounded.
(4) Speeds Auction Yard: Sells the cars not picked up from auction. For both Speeds and Retriever. They also auction cars for just about every charity you could imagine, not for free though.
(5) Speeds Supertow: Normal Towing. You call they come get you. They also handle police calls for district 5 and 8. They charge more than any other tow in town and they give a 20% discount to dealerships and shops. The dealerships and shops in turn charge full price to the cars owner for the tow and make a nice profit for picking speeds.
(6) Fleet Sales West: Custom makes tow trucks and towing equipment. They're the only one in town, so everyone goes to them or has it brought from out of state. They're also called Golden West Towing in California.
(7) Speeds Auto Service: Does all the fleet maintenance for not only the tow trucks but all Gary's other companies and they'll turn a wrench for people off the street. They're also a car dealership for the nicer cars.
(8) Speeds Auto Body: Does all the body work for the fleet of tow trucks and anyone they bump into.
(9) Auto Adventure: Chops cars up for parts and sells those parts nation wide.
(10) Coe Consulting: Sells the secrets to Gary Coe's success in twelve easy steps.
(11) Cascade Coach Town Cars: Drives people around like a taxi but for a lot more.
(12) Pacific Executive Service town cars: Also does the expensive taxi service but mostly to the airport.
Gary has the American dream, a monopoly. He has his fingers in three police districts. No other tow company can claim that inside Portland. He has over fifty trucks (all new) and six impound yards total. Bigger than anyone else in the State of Oregon. Gary controls a lions share of the contracts with dealerships and shops through 20% discount/kick backs. Gary also has his own lobbyist in the Oregon Legislature and has been President of several towing organizations.
The Tow Truck Drivers are poor and manipulated. They make commission off the tow. So its in there best interest to tow a lot and bend the rules, speed, cut corners.
They have no Union, no medical benefits. Most will be hurt several times on the job and will only last a couple of years.
None of these drivers have certification or CDLs. Their training is in-house or if they're lucky a traveling trainer (NATA) will come through town and give them some wall paper. Nobody ever fails those schools and they’re hosted on company property.
All these driver's sign a non-disclosure when hired so they can never speak about the truth.
They Drive 12 to 14 hours a day and have 24 hour on call shifts which means they are on the road more than a driver with a CDL legally could be. Big Rigs are only allowed to drive for eleven hours and they have to keep a log. Many of these Tow trucks are as big as a semi truck too.
Yes, many of these driver's are rude. But under these conditions who wouldnt be. Everybody hates them including their boss, they get little sleep, sacrifice there families, make $30,000 a year for it and are constantly exposed to stress and confrontations.
I hope you'll take all this to heart. I know it might not be printed do to libel concerns, but if you investigate it at all you'll see it's all fact. Thank You.
===============
Thanks to Towmater for providing this information.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Portland Poster Child for Open Primaries in Oregon: Senate District 23
The 2008 elections for Senate District 23 and its two House components, HD 45 and HD 46, illustrate perfectly the value to Oregonians of Measure 65.
When the voters of these three districts open their ballots, they will see that they have no real choice in who will represent them in the Oregon House and Senate.
Much like elections in the former Soviet bloc and in North Korea, one candidate is all the system needs to produce in order to validate the result.
The voters are losers not only because the present, partisan system denies them a choice on Election Day, but also because the candidates for these public offices are able to spend the entire period between the primary and the general election laying low, avoiding controversy, playing it safe, and public discourse is thus both stifled and irrelevant to the outcome.
The question of who will represent HD 46 was decided back at the March filing deadline, when Ben Cannon was the only applicant.
It is likely that other candidates would have been willing to step up and try to overcome the incumbent’s advantages if the system held out the possibility of a second shot at the title, but it does not do so and Mr. Cannon drew a double walk, May AND November.
The questions of House District 45 and Senate District 23 are an entirely different matter.
There were two or more applicants for each of these jobs in the primary, and under Measure 65 there would still be two candidates for each office in November, and thus a reason to educate voters and to be educated by voters.
Amazingly enough, at no time during the entire year were the candidates for Senate District 23 and House Districts 45 and 46 called upon to appear jointly for a public sizing-up.
One of the burning questions of the day that would have been of great interest to the constituents of SD 23, HD 45 and HD 46, since it involves two major streets that slice through the Senate district, is the street-renaming effort organized by the Committee-Once-Bent-on-Renaming-Interstate-Avenue.
The Committee is now making an assault on the entire lengths of Broadway and 39th Avenue, which run through the district, and Grand, which doesn’t.
None of the three candidates in the November General Election have had diddly-wink to say about the renaming effort, doubtlessly because they do not want to risk losing the support of the still-secret members of the Chavez Boulevard Committee, but it is a legitimate subject for public discussion.
The constituents have good reason to want to know where the candidates stand on the issue.
The fact that the street-renaming Avenistas have chosen the path most likely to frustrate and anger the residents of the streets in question makes the question all the more important to voters.
Of the available options under city code, the Avenistas have opted not to talk to the residents, but to gather signatures from across the city….
…and the fact that Jackie Dingfelder was the lone legislator who supported renaming Interstate Avenue last fall (see link below) would seem to indicate that she also supports renaming one or more of these streets after Cesar Chavez, but who knows?
The lone candidates for HD 45 and HD 46 aren’t saying, either.
=========================
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Measure 65:
“Voters would be better able to choose their true representatives by approving Measure 65 and adopting the "top-two" open primary.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/10/open_oregons_primaries.html
=====================
Letters in support of renaming Interstate Avenue:
http://www.cesarechavezboulevard.com/letters.pdf
======================
Sean Cruz writes Blogolitical Sean:www.blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com
When the voters of these three districts open their ballots, they will see that they have no real choice in who will represent them in the Oregon House and Senate.
Much like elections in the former Soviet bloc and in North Korea, one candidate is all the system needs to produce in order to validate the result.
The voters are losers not only because the present, partisan system denies them a choice on Election Day, but also because the candidates for these public offices are able to spend the entire period between the primary and the general election laying low, avoiding controversy, playing it safe, and public discourse is thus both stifled and irrelevant to the outcome.
The question of who will represent HD 46 was decided back at the March filing deadline, when Ben Cannon was the only applicant.
It is likely that other candidates would have been willing to step up and try to overcome the incumbent’s advantages if the system held out the possibility of a second shot at the title, but it does not do so and Mr. Cannon drew a double walk, May AND November.
The questions of House District 45 and Senate District 23 are an entirely different matter.
There were two or more applicants for each of these jobs in the primary, and under Measure 65 there would still be two candidates for each office in November, and thus a reason to educate voters and to be educated by voters.
Amazingly enough, at no time during the entire year were the candidates for Senate District 23 and House Districts 45 and 46 called upon to appear jointly for a public sizing-up.
One of the burning questions of the day that would have been of great interest to the constituents of SD 23, HD 45 and HD 46, since it involves two major streets that slice through the Senate district, is the street-renaming effort organized by the Committee-Once-Bent-on-Renaming-Interstate-Avenue.
The Committee is now making an assault on the entire lengths of Broadway and 39th Avenue, which run through the district, and Grand, which doesn’t.
None of the three candidates in the November General Election have had diddly-wink to say about the renaming effort, doubtlessly because they do not want to risk losing the support of the still-secret members of the Chavez Boulevard Committee, but it is a legitimate subject for public discussion.
The constituents have good reason to want to know where the candidates stand on the issue.
The fact that the street-renaming Avenistas have chosen the path most likely to frustrate and anger the residents of the streets in question makes the question all the more important to voters.
Of the available options under city code, the Avenistas have opted not to talk to the residents, but to gather signatures from across the city….
…and the fact that Jackie Dingfelder was the lone legislator who supported renaming Interstate Avenue last fall (see link below) would seem to indicate that she also supports renaming one or more of these streets after Cesar Chavez, but who knows?
The lone candidates for HD 45 and HD 46 aren’t saying, either.
=========================
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Measure 65:
“Voters would be better able to choose their true representatives by approving Measure 65 and adopting the "top-two" open primary.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/10/open_oregons_primaries.html
=====================
Letters in support of renaming Interstate Avenue:
http://www.cesarechavezboulevard.com/letters.pdf
======================
Sean Cruz writes Blogolitical Sean:www.blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The prophetic words of George W. Bush, "last throes", and political capital
PORTLAND--As the presidency of George W. Bush enters ‘the last throes’ stage (to borrow from The Immortal Words of Dick Cheney*), leaving our children and grandchildren an inheritance of trillion-dollar debt, the world economy in collapse, an exhausted military and depleted National Guard, the nation mired in two wars on the other side of the globe, a still-devastated New Orleans and Gulf Coast, fifty million Americans without health care, and the prospect of holiday layoffs looming large for millions more, I recall the words that lept out at me during Mr. Bush’s first press conference following his 2004 election.
Mr. Bush: “…You asked, do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style…I earned some capital. I've earned capital in this election -- and I'm going to spend it….”**
At the time, these words and the cavalier way in which he expressed them, caused me great concern; they were going to lead to a bad end, I thought, and here we are….
To begin with, he did not have the mandate he believed he had, and thus was beginning his second term wildly overestimating his political capital*** bank account.
Even with both houses of Congress firmly in Republican control, he had no margin for profligacy, but he was unaware of the fact….
Secondly, the man was notoriously intellectually lazy and—-prior to the 9-11 attacks-—was setting new records for presidential time away from the office, a largely-overlooked character flaw that he had displayed throughout his entire working life.
Mr. Bush’s efforts—-and the nation’s well-being—-would be saddled by a mind incapable of thinking too deeply or for a prolonged period of time, and by a will to work hard that was far weaker than the standard that the job requires.
The man famously celebrated his own mediocrity….
This created the vacuum that Dick Cheney was all too eager to fill, and here we are.
In recent past elections, Republicans succeeded in large part because they were able to sidetrack the issues that matter by mounting character attacks against their opponents and focusing the debate on issues like gay marriage in the weeks leading up to the day ballots are due.
This time, that strategy won’t work. The character attacks, the side issues, all will be overcome by the gravity of the multiple crises we face today, that we know we will face for years to come.
Barack Obama will be elected the next President of the United States, sweeping Democrats into office all across the nation.
The mandate for change will be clear; there will be no need to send the question of who will lead the nation to the Supreme Court as occurred in 2000, The Year That Democracy Failed….
From the Bush Presidency forward, the only way to go is up, back up….
--Sean Cruz
October 12, 2008
===================================
*Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says
Monday, June 20, 2005, WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office.
==================================
**In his first press conference after the November 2004 election, George W. Bush spoke about political capital:
Q Do you feel more free, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, in terms of feeling free, well, I don't think you'll let me be too free. There's accountability and there are constraints on the presidency, as there should be in any system. I feel -- I feel it is necessary to move an agenda that I told the American people I would move. Something refreshing about coming off an election, even more refreshing since we all got some sleep last night, but there's -- you go out and you make your case, and you tell the people this is what I intend to do. And after hundreds of speeches and three debates and interviews and the whole process, where you keep basically saying the same thing over and over again, that when you win, there is a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view, and that's what I intend to tell the Congress, that I made it clear what I intend to do as the President, now let's work to -- and the people made it clear what they wanted, now let's work together.
And it's one of the wonderful -- it's like earning capital. You asked, do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style. That's what happened in the -- after the 2000 election, I earned some capital. I've earned capital in this election -- and I'm going to spend it for what I told the people I'd spend it on, which is -- you've heard the agenda: Social Security and tax reform, moving this economy forward, education, fighting and winning the war on terror (emphasis added).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/11/20041104-5.html
================================
***America's New Political Capital: President Bush infects Washington with his favorite buzzword. By Chris Suellentrop, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004
(excerpted)
We've become accustomed to talking about all kinds of abstract capital in recent years—human capital, social capital, intellectual capital—but Bush's definition of political capital makes the metaphor particularly inapt. For one, you don't spend capital. You invest it. But Bush's understanding of the idea dictates that it be spent rather than saved. As Karl Rove put it in 2001, "If you don't spend it, it's not like treasure stuck away at a storehouse someplace. It is perishable. It dwindles away." What kind of economic message is that from a president who wants to encourage an ownership society?
The question the Post asked in 1993—what in the world is political capital, anyway?—still hasn't been answered satisfactorily. Why, for example, didn't Bill Clinton have capital to spend on health care, in Bush's view, but he had some to spend elsewhere, apparently? Does any other kind of capital have restrictions on where and how it can be used? Edward J. López, an economist at the University of North Texas, delineated two types of political capital in a 2002 paper for the Review of Austrian Economics: "reputational" capital, a politician's "standing with voters and other unorganized interests," and "representative" capital, which includes the powers that stem from a politician's office. But Bush doesn't mean anything that rigorous. In fact, he'd probably scoff at the idea. He just uses it as a substitute for the goodwill that an election gives an executive with the legislature, and he probably likes the way it paints him as a CEO-president.
The president doesn't have any capital, and he knows it. Like a citizen of Weimar Germany, he has a wheelbarrow full of hyper-inflating cash that has to be spent before it becomes worthless. "Political Confederate dollars" doesn't have quite the ring of "political capital," but it's a better metaphor. Any takers?
http://www.slate.com/id/2110256/
Mr. Bush: “…You asked, do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style…I earned some capital. I've earned capital in this election -- and I'm going to spend it….”**
At the time, these words and the cavalier way in which he expressed them, caused me great concern; they were going to lead to a bad end, I thought, and here we are….
To begin with, he did not have the mandate he believed he had, and thus was beginning his second term wildly overestimating his political capital*** bank account.
Even with both houses of Congress firmly in Republican control, he had no margin for profligacy, but he was unaware of the fact….
Secondly, the man was notoriously intellectually lazy and—-prior to the 9-11 attacks-—was setting new records for presidential time away from the office, a largely-overlooked character flaw that he had displayed throughout his entire working life.
Mr. Bush’s efforts—-and the nation’s well-being—-would be saddled by a mind incapable of thinking too deeply or for a prolonged period of time, and by a will to work hard that was far weaker than the standard that the job requires.
The man famously celebrated his own mediocrity….
This created the vacuum that Dick Cheney was all too eager to fill, and here we are.
In recent past elections, Republicans succeeded in large part because they were able to sidetrack the issues that matter by mounting character attacks against their opponents and focusing the debate on issues like gay marriage in the weeks leading up to the day ballots are due.
This time, that strategy won’t work. The character attacks, the side issues, all will be overcome by the gravity of the multiple crises we face today, that we know we will face for years to come.
Barack Obama will be elected the next President of the United States, sweeping Democrats into office all across the nation.
The mandate for change will be clear; there will be no need to send the question of who will lead the nation to the Supreme Court as occurred in 2000, The Year That Democracy Failed….
From the Bush Presidency forward, the only way to go is up, back up….
--Sean Cruz
October 12, 2008
===================================
*Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says
Monday, June 20, 2005, WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office.
==================================
**In his first press conference after the November 2004 election, George W. Bush spoke about political capital:
Q Do you feel more free, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, in terms of feeling free, well, I don't think you'll let me be too free. There's accountability and there are constraints on the presidency, as there should be in any system. I feel -- I feel it is necessary to move an agenda that I told the American people I would move. Something refreshing about coming off an election, even more refreshing since we all got some sleep last night, but there's -- you go out and you make your case, and you tell the people this is what I intend to do. And after hundreds of speeches and three debates and interviews and the whole process, where you keep basically saying the same thing over and over again, that when you win, there is a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view, and that's what I intend to tell the Congress, that I made it clear what I intend to do as the President, now let's work to -- and the people made it clear what they wanted, now let's work together.
And it's one of the wonderful -- it's like earning capital. You asked, do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style. That's what happened in the -- after the 2000 election, I earned some capital. I've earned capital in this election -- and I'm going to spend it for what I told the people I'd spend it on, which is -- you've heard the agenda: Social Security and tax reform, moving this economy forward, education, fighting and winning the war on terror (emphasis added).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/11/20041104-5.html
================================
***America's New Political Capital: President Bush infects Washington with his favorite buzzword. By Chris Suellentrop, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004
(excerpted)
We've become accustomed to talking about all kinds of abstract capital in recent years—human capital, social capital, intellectual capital—but Bush's definition of political capital makes the metaphor particularly inapt. For one, you don't spend capital. You invest it. But Bush's understanding of the idea dictates that it be spent rather than saved. As Karl Rove put it in 2001, "If you don't spend it, it's not like treasure stuck away at a storehouse someplace. It is perishable. It dwindles away." What kind of economic message is that from a president who wants to encourage an ownership society?
The question the Post asked in 1993—what in the world is political capital, anyway?—still hasn't been answered satisfactorily. Why, for example, didn't Bill Clinton have capital to spend on health care, in Bush's view, but he had some to spend elsewhere, apparently? Does any other kind of capital have restrictions on where and how it can be used? Edward J. López, an economist at the University of North Texas, delineated two types of political capital in a 2002 paper for the Review of Austrian Economics: "reputational" capital, a politician's "standing with voters and other unorganized interests," and "representative" capital, which includes the powers that stem from a politician's office. But Bush doesn't mean anything that rigorous. In fact, he'd probably scoff at the idea. He just uses it as a substitute for the goodwill that an election gives an executive with the legislature, and he probably likes the way it paints him as a CEO-president.
The president doesn't have any capital, and he knows it. Like a citizen of Weimar Germany, he has a wheelbarrow full of hyper-inflating cash that has to be spent before it becomes worthless. "Political Confederate dollars" doesn't have quite the ring of "political capital," but it's a better metaphor. Any takers?
http://www.slate.com/id/2110256/
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Sean Cruz sends a shout-out to Lars Larson!
Portland, Oregon--
Lars Larson and the Big Time (a poem)
Lars, I saw your bit on the Larry King show
Seems he had never heard of you
You impressed him with your comments
Enough to draw a grimace or two
An idiot working a small-time fringe
And a buffoon to boot, so told
The dancing eyebrows
How did this nut get in here?
--Sean Cruz
Lars Larson and the Big Time (a poem)
Lars, I saw your bit on the Larry King show
Seems he had never heard of you
You impressed him with your comments
Enough to draw a grimace or two
An idiot working a small-time fringe
And a buffoon to boot, so told
The dancing eyebrows
How did this nut get in here?
--Sean Cruz
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Portland Oregon: Sean Cruz thanks Governor Sara Palin!
Notes on the Vice-Presidential Debate:
Governor Palin’s sentences are mostly unpunctuated by commas or periods, words fly out by the bucketful....
She changes direction mid-paragraph, mid-sentence, mid-thought, without appearing to notice that she is genuinely superficial across a wide spectrum of issues....
For the first time in my life, I feel reasonably qualified to assume the duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Vice President of the United States of America.
It took a B.A in Political Science, six years of hard work in the Oregon Senate, the encouragement and support of the incumbent and many others, and the recognition of the Oregonian editorial board for me to feel qualified to serve in the Oregon Senate, representing Senate District 23.
But, in less than an hour this evening, I realized that if Sara Palin is qualified for the VP job, then so am I!
Fantastic!
To be clear, I wouldn’t take the VP job if it were offered.
…but it is somehow validating to find myself qualified for such high office
Thank you, Governor!
And no matter what anyone says, you are every bit as smart as Dan Quayle.
Don’t let them tell you otherwise.
Sample:
IFILL: Governor, are you interested in defending Sen. McCain's health care plan?
PALIN: I am because he's got a good health care plan that is detailed. And I want to give you a couple details on that. He's proposing a $5,000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. That's a smart thing to do. That's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program and unless you're pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately, I don't think that it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds. But a $5,000 health care credit through our income tax that's budget neutral. That's going to help. And he also wants to erase those artificial lines between states so that through competition, we can cross state lines and if there's a better plan offered somewhere else, we would be able to purchase that. So affordability and accessibility will be the keys there with that $5,000 tax credit also being offered.
That’s a health plan?
Link to the complete debate transcript:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/debate.transcript/index.html
Governor Palin’s sentences are mostly unpunctuated by commas or periods, words fly out by the bucketful....
She changes direction mid-paragraph, mid-sentence, mid-thought, without appearing to notice that she is genuinely superficial across a wide spectrum of issues....
For the first time in my life, I feel reasonably qualified to assume the duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Vice President of the United States of America.
It took a B.A in Political Science, six years of hard work in the Oregon Senate, the encouragement and support of the incumbent and many others, and the recognition of the Oregonian editorial board for me to feel qualified to serve in the Oregon Senate, representing Senate District 23.
But, in less than an hour this evening, I realized that if Sara Palin is qualified for the VP job, then so am I!
Fantastic!
To be clear, I wouldn’t take the VP job if it were offered.
…but it is somehow validating to find myself qualified for such high office
Thank you, Governor!
And no matter what anyone says, you are every bit as smart as Dan Quayle.
Don’t let them tell you otherwise.
Sample:
IFILL: Governor, are you interested in defending Sen. McCain's health care plan?
PALIN: I am because he's got a good health care plan that is detailed. And I want to give you a couple details on that. He's proposing a $5,000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. That's a smart thing to do. That's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program and unless you're pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately, I don't think that it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds. But a $5,000 health care credit through our income tax that's budget neutral. That's going to help. And he also wants to erase those artificial lines between states so that through competition, we can cross state lines and if there's a better plan offered somewhere else, we would be able to purchase that. So affordability and accessibility will be the keys there with that $5,000 tax credit also being offered.
That’s a health plan?
Link to the complete debate transcript:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/debate.transcript/index.html
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