THE STUMP

Oregon opinion articles, political commentary, cartoons and more

A new study confirms what many of today's college students sense: They are paying more and getting less. The Delta Project study found that college students are paying a rising share of the costs of their educations while colleges are spending less on student instruction.

And you can probably guess where public support per student has slipped the most: at community colleges. It's time that Oregon and other states give the 6 million community college students in this country their due.

We keep hearing Oregon's elected officials, from Gov. Ted Kulongoski on down, drone on about the "educational continuum," and investing in education from preschool through high school and college. The rhetoric is nice, but when the Legislature gets down to writing budgets, the voracious K-12 lobby takes the first big bite, the politically connected university system eats next, and community colleges, which serve the largest number of students in Oregon's higher education system, take the leftovers.

The study by the Delta Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, confirms a number of things that people have suspected about higher education in this country, but have not thoroughly analyzed. Among the findings:

Continue reading "College: Higher tuition, but less instruction and fewer student services" »

The prospective Treasury secretary owes the nation an explanation if he is to have any credibility

Tim Geithner's nomination to be Barack Obama's Treasury secretary seemed charmed at first, as financial markets welcomed his choice with enthusiasm. Investors knew the nomination was a crucially important choice for the nation, and they were relieved that Obama had chosen such a bright, independent thinker to take the reins of the foundering economy.

Yet Geithner himself has brought a dark cloud over his nomination, with disclosures that he failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes over four years, despite clear instructions from his employer to do so. Geithner has acknowledged the nonpayments, called them mistakes and has since caught up by paying $48,000 in taxes and interest.

There's a curious rush on both sides of the aisle to say Geithner's transgressions are no big deal. Democrats and even Republicans are quick to note how desperately the nation needs a Treasury secretary with Geithner's skills as a bank regulator and economist.

We beg to differ. Geithner's personal tax gaffe is a very big deal, and the Senate shouldn't pretend otherwise.

Continue reading "Tim Geithner's uphill battle" »

Last Sunday's Oregonian included an article questioning the state's Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) program in light of the current economic climate. Some might put the tax credit on their list to cut, but that would be a mistake. The BETC tax credit has been a key driver for Oregon's emerging green economy - the one bright spot in Oregon's economy today.

This isn't to say that the program shouldn't be examined to make sure it is achieving its goals and that the tax credit is applied wisely. But let's not trash one of the smartest tools the state has developed in recent times - one that other states are now trying to emulate - to create a green economy and create new jobs in Oregon.

In 2007, the Legislature expanded the incentives in the program for manufacturing and projects to better position Oregon as a national leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies to combat global warming.

In just two years, this program has delivered significant gains. Oregon has become home to seven international solar technology manufacturers, and is now recognized as the solar manufacturing capitol of North America. Hundreds of wind turbines have been installed in Eastern Oregon, creating thousands of jobs and providing on-going revenue to farmers, ranchers and counties in rural areas of the state that need economic opportunity.

Continue reading "The Business Energy Tax Credit Delivers for Oregon" »

Despite the dreadful economy, many are feeling vague stirrings of hope! For those of us who have long advocated for a fairer slice of the American pie for lower income people, could this be a turning of the ship of state at long last?

From my perspective as an affordable housing advocate, a few changes might begin to address the basic issue of an affordable place to live, and at the same time give a boost to our economy:

REFOCUS "HOUSING" to mean more than just Homeowners and Foreclosures. Fully 35% of Oregonians are renters and/or public housing residents, and they need to be included in the new stimulus menu. Much more needs to be done to assist homeowners impacted by the sub-prime lending mess, but it would be helpful to remember that many citizens will never be homeowners, and deserve consideration as well.

Continue reading "Housing: Hope in 2009?" »

Click on the cartoon below to see it in a more readable size.

Thursday's column: Honor system fails when cheating is too easy

You don't need to be disabled to get a disabled parking permit in Oregon. You don't even need to see a doctor.

No wonder it's getting harder to find a parking space in downtown Portland, where a disabled placard entitles you to free, all-day street parking. If the city and state don't better manage the demand, they'll hurt the people they mean to help.

"Right now," says George MacGillis, a disabled veteran from Portland, "it seems that all you have to do is stub your toe to get one."

City officials acknowledge the problem and are looking for better ways to manage on-street parking. Two changes spurred the soul-searching. First, the number of people using disabled permits to park on downtown streets has grown by 35 percent since 2005. In the highest-demand retail core, one in five cars holds a disabled permit, according to the last city survey.

Also, state law no longer requires cities to provide free unlimited street parking to everyone with a disabled permit. The new state mandate covers only wheelchair users. Last year's change in state law forces Portland to look more closely at a system that runs on trust and karma more than anything else.

Karma gets you only so far, in a city where parking one car downtown costs $2,000 a year.

Continue reading "Disabled parking in Portland, part II" »

A real-life adopted detainee
Although Robert Boyer was being facetious regarding a government "Adopt a Detainee Program," (Letters, Jan. 12) he might be pleased to know that it has been tried successfully before.

In World War II this is precisely what the U.S. government did. German nationals who worked for Standard Oil were removed from their ships in August 1939 and interned at Fort Lincoln in Bismarck, N.D. in May 1941, months before Pearl Harbor.

Late in 1943, after several years of internment, the government started approving the "enemy aliens" for parole to work in the local community as laborers, mechanics and so forth. Since the men were deemed "dangerous to the safety of the United States" it seems incongruous that local families eagerly accepted the men to reside in their homes.

In 2005, while visiting Bismarck, I contacted two of the families my father was paroled to during the war. You see, my father was one of those harmless adoptees.

SHIRLEY A. WEISS
West Linn

Continue reading "Letters to the editor: Adopted detainee, wilderness, TV coupons" »

Gov. Ted Kulongoski challenges Oregon lawmakers to do what they need to do to make life better for Oregonians ("A call for taxes and hope," Jan. 13).

The interpretation: Be strong enough to sacrifice the current senior and disabled population for children's healthcare and other less significant items he wants to address.

Oregon has been without a senior- and disabled-friendly governor for about 10 years.

I want to call upon the teachers unions to back off for a few years so other agencies can catch up with their budgets. You have had the lion's share of the lean for years. Now that the budget is getting cut to the bone, please, give a little.

STEVE HAWKS
Warrenton

Continue reading "Letters to the editor: Governor's challenge: daunting, derided" »

Chrysler, Ford and GM are showing their latest technology at car shows. Why not do this at a first class motorsports facility, known as the world's fastest city park? At car shows people see static displays, at PIR they can actually see, ride along and drive the latest thinking.

Enough with the doom and gloom, lets get to work and support American industry!

We did the world's first biodiesel fueled drag run at PIR on April 19, 2002. It was televised live by KOIN TV, that footage got global exposure. The event I'm proposing will be called 'Cool Fuel
On Track 09'. This will be an international expo for all clean, renewable 21st century tech and energy. Everything Oregon stands for can be put on display at PIR. Wind, solar and all the new industry being courted can be displayed in real time at one location. There will be an
open invitation for all automakers.

This would put Oregon and Portland on the world stage. We talk about a sustainable future, at PIR we can show how it works. With the right support, this is a can-do. Please get behind this effort.

Bill Isbister is with Cool Planet Racing -'CPR'

Here are the five finalists for this week's Jack Ohman caption contest. Vote for your favorite. We'll close off the voting about noon on Friday, and contact the winner.

We'll post the next caption contest cartoon early Friday evening.

Thanks again for all of your contributions to our contest.

Welcome to The Oregonian's caption contest. Here's how it works:

• The Oregonian's award-winning editorial cartoonist Jack Ohman draws a cartoon.

• You supply the proposed captions by selecting "Post a comment" below. (Full directions after the jump.)

• Editors pick the finalists and you vote for the best idea. The winner receives a signed color print of the completed cartoon.

Continue reading "Round 16: Choose your favorite!" »

By the time President-elect Barack Obama takes office next week, or shortly thereafter, there will be legislation on his desk to accomplish something his predecessor twice refused to do: Expand government-sponsored health care to children of working families.

Obama, as promised, will sign the bill. And in doing so, he will reverse one of the most vexing legacies of departing President George W. Bush: His bullheaded refusal to see kids' health insurance coverage as anything but a drain on the treasury.

Wednesday, less than a week before Obama will be sworn in as president, the House voted to reauthorize the Bush-blocked children's health insurance legislation that now covers about 7 million children of working parents. The bill also expands the program to cover an addition 4 million children, financed in part by a 61-cents-a-pack increase in federal taxes on cigarettes.

Continue reading "At last, hope for children's health care" »

Mayor Sam Adams is getting the jump on creating jobs,
but scrutiny, skepticism and debate are still in order

It's hard to say "not so fast" to any economic stimulus plan right now -- since the whole point of a stimulus is to act fact. Spark the economy.

Quickly.

We do not deny, as well, that it's a relief to see Mayor Sam Adams and the Portland City Council proving they can move with impressive speed. This week, they released an economic stimulus plan to address the economic downturn, outlining $500 million worth of investments in roads, sewers, housing and water projects, which they say would create 5,000 jobs.

Most would have been created eventually, anyway. Still, moving up some of the projects may be a good idea. Last fall, Adams and City Commissioner Randy Leonard collaborated on an analysis of projects already on the city's books, to determine which should be expedited, because they would do the most for the economy.

It was a laudable goal. Every new job in Portland will be welcome in the dark period ahead, when double digit unemployment is expected. Still, public projects labeled "stimulus" shouldn't be rushed through without careful scrutiny.

You've heard, of course, of "greenwashing," when projects are given an environmentally-friendly sound, whether or not they have actual, measurable environmental benefits? Right now, every construction project in America, it seems, is being sold as an economic stimulus.

In the rush to build, and to stimulate, there's a very real danger that normal standards of accountability will be buried in shovels of verbiage.

Continue reading "When push comes to shovel" »

Elin Miller, an EPA administrator in Seattle, wants us to take climate change personally. Sure - but we need to serious - very serious - about this problem of global warming.

Her Jan. 3 column ("Take climate change personally in 2009,") is well-meaning, but her prescriptions are not even a Band-aid on the extent of change that is needed. Avoid a few car trips if we can, she encourages; make our homes energy efficient; join a climate discussion group or two.

All these are measures that will make us feel good but will, in actually, do little to address the problem of climate change. We need to be honest about that before we can hope to make any progress at all. So do all our state and federal representatives, including Gov. Kulongoski.

Global warming is, simply, the most serious and most difficult problem ever faced by mankind. Our very method of achieving wealth, health, and comfort is at the same time slowly destroying our planet, perhaps akin to how chemotherapy can rid you of cancer while destroying the remainder of your being.

This is a sound, definite scientific conclusion, no longer in any real doubt, yet widely misunderstood and nothing at all like anything we are used to.

Continue reading "Climate change: The last, final problem" »

As Shashank Bengali of McClatchy newspapers reports, cyberspace is the newest front in the battle between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinians are blogging daily on the carnage they are living with in Gaza, tech-savvy Israelis have created a Facebook application that aims to show the world what it's like to live under the threat of Hamas rocket fire, and even the Israeli military is going online, creating a new YouTube page, which includes the video above.

Here's where you can find some of the Israel-Gaza activity:

Sameh Akram Habeeb, a Palestinian journalist with a degree in English Literature, blogs at Gazatoday.blogspot.com. He writes:

Dear Editors, Journalists and Friends, "Israeli Report: 27 Israelis killed by Palestinian rockets from 2005 till now" Meanwhile, more than a thousand Palestinians killed in 19 days by Israeli deadly rockets!

" Israeli MP and Leader: Afghdor Liberman says that "Gaza has to be erased from the Map by Nuclear bombs like what Americans used in Heroshima and Nagazaki."

Israeli military operation is still increasingly killing more Palestinians mostly civilians. The victims are in contrary of the announced aim of targeting militants. Around 490 of the victims are children while 160 are women. Israeli Artillery intensified the shelling scale leaving more victims and destruction.
This is a new report for the 19th day of Gaza War and the outcomes of Israeli invasion.

Continue reading "Cyberspace: On the ground in Gaza" »