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on Live from Salem
I was born in Oregon and have been a taxpayer for almost 40 tears. I have been subsidizing the college system in this state for almost 40 years yet I couldn’t afford to send my two children to college but at the same time made too much for them to get any assistance whatsoever. I’m sick of subsidizing illegal immigrants, period! What we should do is make it illegal to hire them and aggressively enforce the law, they would leave on their own.
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Kicking Off A New Session
What part of illegal don’t you understand? The earth and the US are overpopulated. The US can’t solve the problems of other countries by allowing unwarranted immigration, legal or otherwise. “Saving” a few from the various injustices in their countries is only feel good behavior, it doesn’t make any difference in the big picture and doesn’t solve the problem. How many illegal immigrants do you suggest we allow, the entire population of Mexico? Where does it stop?
posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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on Kicking Off A New Session
The biggest problem with education in Oregon is that there is no one governing authority that parents can go to to get results. It’s the only “State” funded service that doesn’t answer to the Governor. If citizens have a problem with any other State agency they can register a complaint with the Governor and it will be addressed. When it comes to the school system in Oregon a parent can register a complaint with the local system Superintendent and make a case with the School Board but that’s like the fox guarding the hen house, nothing ever changes, bad teachers are protected, bad policies are impossible to challenge.
posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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on Kicking Off A New Session
Here is my list of things to consider:
1) Eliminate all tax breaks, credits, and loopholes and start over which will level the business playing field.
2) Revise tax structure to reward investment in jobs in Oregon instead of low capitol gains taxes and tax breaks for the wealthy.
3) Eliminate pet government groups like the ERT Team.
4) Make parents pay for school bussing, California does it.
5) Eliminate Measure 11 mandates.
6) Eliminate Measure 5 mandates.
7) Ask public employees, not managers, what can be cut and how to streamline government, they do have good ideas.
8) Ignore anything Chris Telfer says.
posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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on The Meaning of Marriage
I will never understand why people like Maggie Gallagher feel they have the right to legislate their morality on others. She most likely wouldn’t want a particular Religious belief or specific moral forced on her, why does she feel she has the right to do that to others? Lead by example, live your life as you wish and leave others alone to live their lives as they wish.
P.S., I’m in full support of same sex couples gaining the same rights as we opposite sex married couples, like the marriage tax penalty.
posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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on Obama's Popularity
Yes Tom, where are all the citizens that were so concerned about President Obama running up the deficit now? Apparently it’s ok to add to the deficit if it’s for a good cause like tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Obama's Popularity
Yes, the plutocracy has already won.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Obama's Popularity
Thank you Congressman Peter DeFazio, you are the only one that seems to get it. Once again Democrats snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! Democrats have the chance to say no to more deficit spending and welfare for the rich but instead they are trading $40 billion in unemployment benefits for $700 billion in tax breaks, both unfunded. Democrats couldn’t see an opportunity to win the day if it bit them on the behind!
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Compromise
Trading extended unemployment benefits for extending tax breaks for the rich isn’t compromise; it’s the same old take the easy way out that’s gotten us into the current situation. We need to cut the deficit, all the so called experts say that will require increased taxes and budget cuts. It’s time for our politicians to grow up, smell the coffee, and start making the hard decisions.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Bagby Hot Springs
My sister has extreme eczema, I love her, but she leaves skin everywhere, on the toilet seat, in the guest bed, everywhere, I know it’s not contagious, but I don’t let her in my hotub either.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Bagby Hot Springs
Well good for you I guess but icky, it’s a public bath.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Bagby Hot Springs
Every time the USFS gives a campground to private contractors the fees immediately double or triple. The USFS could afford to manage the same site if they doubled or tripled the fees. The only difference between government and private sector services is who ends up with the money, if the government provides the service employees with decent retirement and benefit packages end up with the money, if the private sector provides the service the owners of the company end up with the money and employees get minimum wage, no difference in cost to the customer whatsoever.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Bomb Plot in Portland
Religious people of all faiths are the problem. They are the cause of hatred, violence, misinformation, and ignorance throughout the world. The rest of us are dragged along in the wake of their poor behavior, we are associated with them because of the country we live in and the politicians they elect. Muslims aren’t the problem, all religions are the problem.
posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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on Spore to Spoon: Mushrooms in Oregon
Hmm leitmotiv, since caves and highway get trashed it’s ok to trash the forest too, interesting argument. I’ve spent a lifetime in the forests of Oregon and I’ve never seen any other user group as inconsiderate and filthy as commercial mushroom pickers.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Spore to Spoon: Mushrooms in Oregon
Your guests can say that commercial mushroom picking doesn’t impact the forest all they want but I’ve seen it. I packed a pack full of trash out of the John Day Wilderness every day during bow season and saw a dumpster size pile of trash left behind by irresponsible commercial pickers. Human waste all over the forest. The reality is, again, they have done no environmental impact analysis on the activity. I have no problem with private individuals picking a few mushrooms for personal use, but that’s not what were talking about here.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Spore to Spoon: Mushrooms in Oregon
Mushroom picking in the national forest is a travesty against nature that must be stopped. It is also a taxpayer subsidized abuse of our community owned natural resources. The US Forest Service has not done any environmental impact analysis on mushroom picking. The commercial rape of our forests by 1000s of mushroom pickers is removing nutritional material needed by our forest animals. They trash the forest, leave garbage, trample wildlife and fauna, defecate everywhere and threaten other forest users. 100s of them illegally picked mushrooms in the John Day Wilderness all summer and left tons of trash everywhere. I talked to the fish and game and the USFS and they said they ticketed them all summer and tried to get them to leave but they just don’t have enough personnel to handle them. We can’t ride OHV in the forests anymore, get hassled for camping more than 14 days but we as taxpayers build them a huge camp near Chemult, provide them with porta-potties, and garbage service. Enough already!
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Ballot Measure 5 Turns 20
Measure 5 has created legal tax inequity between neighboring properties. Taxation is supposed to be equal under the law. Why should I pay a greater proportion of the tax burden because I remodeled and added on to my house or because I bought a new house? My son, a young person and fairly new homeowner is paying a disproportionately high amount of the tax burden at a time in his life when he can ill afford to. Yea it’s great for people that stay in the same home for a long time but it is simply unfair.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Ballot Measure 5 Turns 20
Since most of school funding, including transportation, comes from statewide taxes school districts don’t care how much transportation costs. They locate mega size schools on the fringe of town because land is cheap and mega size schools theoretically have lower operating costs. Unfortunately school size and location makes it impossible for most students to walk to school which causes the need for bussing. Transportation costs are eating too much of our education dollars. In California parents pay for bussing. We need to do something to reverse this trend, build smaller neighborhood schools and require parents to pay for bussing.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Philosophy of Taxes & Spending
I support both Social Security and Medicare, but all the deductions on you pay stub are taxes.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Philosophy of Taxes & Spending
So if you look at your pay stub your net pay is only 20% less than your gross? Not mine, it’s about 40% and I never get a return that amounts to anything.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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