Let's Pay More!

Oregon ranks #4 in the U.S. in per capita state spending. What an honor! And we keep hearing that Oregon doesn't tax us enough. Right. And of course we get what we pay for. Right. Secretary of State Richardson said that the state threw away almost $100M it can't account for. Sounds to me like the state has plenty of money. 

Consider also that Oregon has consistently ranked in the bottom 5 states for high school graduation rates. And our roads are in great shape. Right. The traffic app Waze just released the worst states to drive in and Portland led our state as the 5th worst in the entire United States. 

Oregon is still growing - #11 in the country - for now. One wonders, though, how much longer that will continue as the bloom continues to leach off the rose. 

www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/per-capita-state-spending/?activeTab=map&currentTimeframe=0&selectedDistributions=per-capita-state-spending&selectedRows=%7B%22states%22:%7B%22all%22:%7B%7D%7D,%22wrapups%22:%7B%22united-states%22:%7B%7D%7D%7D&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Per%20Capita%20State%20Spending%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D

www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2017/01/oregons_graduation_rate_among.html
www.oregonlive.com/trending/2017/12/portland_is_the_5th_worst_plac.html