Is there a job for every unemployed Oregonian?

Even if every private employer with an open job in Oregon filled the position, there would still be a considerable number of unemployed Oregonians — at least that was the case this summer. That was the finding of the Oregon Employment Department's summer Job Vacancy Survey. In July, there were 157,300 unemployed Oregonians and 42,900 private-sector job openings. That pencils out to about 4 unemployed residents for every one job.
www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2013/10/is-there....html

Why Is Right to Work Right for Oregon?

Since the U.S. Supreme Court Beck decision in 1988, no American must join a union to hold a job. But in 26 states, including Oregon, workers still have to pay union dues. The plaintiff in that historic court case, Harry Beck, is now an Oregonian. He recently told Cascade that"Beck Rights are not enough. No one should be forced to pay dues to a union they choose not to join.” Come join Steve Buckstein to discuss this situation, and what Oregonians can do now to grant workers more employee choice. Cascade Policy Institute
Cost:Free Noon October 16, 2013 Cascade Policy Institute 4850 SW Scholls Ferry Rd. Suite 103 Portland, Or. 97225
Sponsored By O'Donnell, Clark, and Crew.

The governor condemnes a proposed "right to work" initiative!

The people Oregonians elect to make laws, their legislators and the governor, enjoy an uncomfortable relationship with the initiative process, which allows citizens and interest groups to take proposed laws directly to voters. This natural tension is on full display these days, as Gov. John Kitzhaber plays whack-a-mole with a slew of proposed measures that predict a battle between business and labor interests in November 2014. The governor has been trying to convince those involved to stand down, because a business-labor spat will make tax reform – the governor's next big project – even harder to pull off than it would be normally. In true whack-a-mole fashion, however, two more proposed initiatives popped up recently despite the governor's efforts. Both are the work of public employee unions, and both respond to proposed initiatives that would make it more difficult for them to collect money. Kitzhaber might prevail eventually, but at the moment there's plenty of posturing and uncertainty. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. The state's powerful unions are worried by the possibility that voters will allow public employees to choose how to spend their wages. Jill Gibson Odell, co-sponsor of the right to work proposal.
www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/10/initi...river

Health Care Town Hall October 16, 630-8pm 10301 NE Glisan St.

Folks, please make a note of this important townhall meeting to be held this Wednesday evening regarding the Oregon Health Care Plan hosted by Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer. She will also be joined by Sen. Jackie Dingfelder and Rep. Michael Dembrow. One of the agenda items is to explore a"Single Payer” system (see 3rd paragraph from the end). Is this a nudge or a push? We need to fill this event with conservative minded people that support individual choice and privacy with their healthcare. That don’t want"Navigators” and the IRS in the middle of their personal health matters and finances. Let’s use this opportunity to educate others about the concerns with Obama Care and to glean more information about the Oregon Health Care Plan. Sen. Jackie Dingfelder, Rep. Michael Dembrow and Alissa Keny-Guyer will be joined by Dr. Bruce Goldberg, director of the Oregon Health Authority Director, and David Barenberg from Cover Oregon, Oregon's new Health Insurance Exchange program. Sen. Dingfelder, Rep. Dembrow and I will also mention legislation we have worked on to promote other ways to improve health and health care access, through exploring a SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM, promoting access to healthy food, limiting toxic exposure, and reaching out to under-served populations. Rep. Keny-Guyer is the Vice Chair of the House Health Care Committee, she is delighted to see how these health initiatives are already starting to lower the cost of health care AND improve the health of our citizens.
Please bring your questions and comments and make your voices heard. As always, respectfully and peacefully.
Carla Pletka, President Oregon 912 Project

Gov. Kitzhaber eyes divisive ballot measures

Gov. John Kitzhaber is negotiating to keep two sets of inflammatory initiatives from becoming ballot measures in 2014 so they don’t threaten his plans to reform the state’s tax system in 2015. One set of three initiatives would effectively turn Oregon into a"right to work” state. They would apply only to public employment, but public unions are larger and more well organized in Oregon than private sector unions. The other two would forbid the state from collecting union dues or political donations through members’ paychecks, which would make it hard to collect dues at all. The other set of initiatives would raise taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. They were all filed by Patrick Green, long-time executive director of Our Oregon, a coalition of left-leaning groups, including nearly all Oregon’s prominent unions.
www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20131013/NEWS/310...eck=1

Restricting honest consumers hasn't reduced meth abuse in Oregon!!

It seems that despite the best efforts of Oregon policy makers and law enforcement, methamphetamine (meth) abuse continues to ravage the Beaver State. Recent media coverage, including an Oregonian special report, has unveiled a newer, darker side of the Oregon drug scene: Mexican drug cartels trafficking meth into our state. In the past, they were on the fringe; more meth was produced locally. That has changed. They are now the dominant supplier. And the meth problem has become less predictable, more expensive, harder to spot and generally more violent. The infiltration of drug cartels is the logical outcome of the state's steady decline in local meth production. Since 2005, Oregon, along with surrounding Washington and California, began to see a drastic drop in the number of meth labs busted in the state. The vast majority of Oregon's decline in meth production took place prior to the passage of any prescription law. The fallacy of the Oregon experience has lived on long enough. It is time for policymakers across the country to understand that Oregon's prescription law for pseudoephedrine has failed to achieve its goals. Meanwhile, honest Oregonians who simply want to buy effective cold medicine over the counter have been forced to suffer due to tight restrictions on their personal freedoms.
www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/10/guest...river

ODOT hires managers' children for summer jobs

Managers at the Oregon Department of Transportation arranged temporary agency jobs for their children this year despite state rules that prohibit nepotism in hiring and the use of an official position to obtain financial gain for a relative. At least eight children of employees secured temporary jobs for two to six months making between $11.33 and $15.27 an hour, most within the Transportation Department's information systems and technology units, according to records requested by The Oregonian. ODOT's situation sounds, at the least, like a violation of the spirit of state rules, said John Dienhart, director of the Center for Business Ethics at Seattle University's Albers School of Business. They included the daughter of Ron Winterrowd, the manager of information systems at ODOT; the son of Dave Ringeisen, the manager of the department's transportation data section; and the son of Lynn Cartwright, a project delivery manager in the information systems department who retired in 2012 and is now collecting a pension of $91,000 a year, while working 20 hours a week at her old job.
www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/10/odot...river