What a Smorgasbord!

Little did I know when I wrote my first post this morning what a smorgasbord of articles there were in today's local newspapers about politicians and economics!

The Statesman Journal has another excellent front page article and editorial about local Oregon governments arbitraging to cover their mongo PERS obligations. Basically, they gave public employees the sun, the moon, and the stars for a retirement program and now that it must be paid for, rather than break the bad news to the taxpayers about coughing up, they tried to borrow money to make money. This is very much like people who took out loans to buy and flip condos during the heyday of the real estate market. We all know what happened to those folks when real estate tanked and yeppers, it's happening to the public agencies too for the same reason. The big difference is that these agencies pledged to use their taxing authority to back up the bonds they issued, so guess who gets to pay? The PERS mess will have to be cleaned up and Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer will get the bill, including now paying for the bonds the politicians issued to try to avoid facing us - and maybe getting thrown out of office as a result. Repeat after me: there is no free lunch!

www.statesmanjournal.com/section/gamble

Bill Church, the Publisher of the Statesman Journal also had an op-ed piece worth reading about why the corporate income tax increases passed by the 2009 Legislature are likely to hurt, not help the restoration of Oregon's economy. I am encouraged that some in the media are starting to catch on.

www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20091101/COLUMN0701/911010322/1113/OPINION

Finally, perhaps my favorite piece of the day was in The Oregonian with the following as the sub-headline:

"Estimates for Gov. Ted Kulongoski's legacy-making program were changed, costing Oregon taxpayers 40 times more"

At last, a "why" behind one government financial shenanigan - it's about Ted's legacy, not what is good for Oregon. Ted wants to make Oregon a showcase for "green energy" as his legacy and he pushed a bill through the Oregon Legislature dispensing big subsidies for "green" companies who locate here. If it was such a good deal, why did he feel it was necessary to hide a cost to the state budget that is 40 times larger than he disclosed? Why because he knew it was pretty much hooey and he wanted his legacy and the heck with the cost.

www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/state_lowballed_cost_of_green.html

These are just some local examples of political chicanery that will end up costing all of us - not the "other guy" - a lot of money. Whether it's Ted in the above case or some other politician elsewhere, it's about ego - they know best. Unfortunately, when they screw up, which is often, we - not they - have to pay. I can hardly wait for the bills for national healthcare and "cap-and-trade" to hit my mailbox. When is enough, enough?