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It's the white collar jobs that are lacking, bringing our pay as a state to a lower level.  There are plenty of other states paying their blue collar people at the same level, if not lower than here.....

Think about it.....our minimum wage is higher than most states, so you would think that would help our average.  The fact we are still lagging points to the higher income earners, not the lower.

posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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Who was in control of the state legislature during Gov. Kitzhaber's last terms as governor?

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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Dr Kitzhaber please explain how Oregon's budget is divided among the different line items: Education, human services, transportation etc, and what affect accross the board budget cuts would have on each of these areas.

Secondly, how will the changes already made to PERS affect our obligation to government retirees in the future.

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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If we cut Capital Gains taxes in Oregon, what guarantee do we have that businesses are going to expand and hire more employees?

I would also like to know if the State of Oregon spends money on infrastructure like bridges, roads and sewer; what percentage of those construction jobs go out for bid to private sector construction companies?

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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if you have a good stockbroker, he'll sell some of the dogs as well as the good stocks to wipe out your gains.  In our tax practice, we see very few middle income retired people paying "through the nose" in capital gains.

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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You can assert that cutting capital gains will stimulate job growth all you want; but you can not have job growth without demand for products and services. 

Business owners could pay zero tax, but if there is no demand for their products they won't hire one additional worker.  Established businesses know to stay in business you have to be fiscally conservative with your working capital.  Demand drives business. Period.

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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You need to decide whether you want to be in farming for the long haul or if this is just whimsy.

I have been in agriculture since I bought an abandoned nursery in 1985.  It is  a long hard struggle to survive, that's what a farmer hopes for, survival.

Ultimately, without off farm income, we couldn't make it. 

For young people, you need to be realistic, when the crop is coming in, you have lots of friends that want to aplaud you for you efforts, but those people are far and few between when the real work happens, on a cold, wet and rainy sunday morning; when something has gone terribly wrong, and your ability to survive also depends on your ability to solve a problem without help.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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