en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3913644 Comments by CommanderZZZ http://www.katu.com/politics/Creative-Advocacy-Network-proposed-portland-income-tax-sam-adams-jessica-jarratt-miller-157637225.html?clmob=y#IDComment376042195 There is no reason for the schools to be begging for money at all. There is plenty of money, but it isn't being managed correctly. Much of the money that goes to education is wasted before it ever hits the classroom or a teacher's paycheck. Teacher's unions and public employees unions are only a small part of the problem. Every American should have access to decent healthcare and many of the benefits that City, State, and Federal employees receive. Unfortunately, you are right in one regard...the current benefits for public employees is not on par with that of most workers in the private sector. This must change, but not by taking reasonable benefits away from unionized workers. The answer is to have large corporations and their 1 percent owners contribute their fair share to the country and the economy. Public education is an important element of any healthy society. I'm guessing that one of the reasons that you can read and write is because you went to school. Thu, 7 Jun 2012 17:44:37 +0000 http://www.katu.com/politics/Creative-Advocacy-Network-proposed-portland-income-tax-sam-adams-jessica-jarratt-miller-157637225.html?clmob=y#IDComment376042195 http://www.katu.com/politics/Creative-Advocacy-Network-proposed-portland-income-tax-sam-adams-jessica-jarratt-miller-157637225.html?clmob=y#IDComment376036325 Normally, I don't agree with you, but you hit it dead center on this one. Thu, 7 Jun 2012 17:33:42 +0000 http://www.katu.com/politics/Creative-Advocacy-Network-proposed-portland-income-tax-sam-adams-jessica-jarratt-miller-157637225.html?clmob=y#IDComment376036325 http://www.katu.com/politics/Creative-Advocacy-Network-proposed-portland-income-tax-sam-adams-jessica-jarratt-miller-157637225.html?clmob=y#IDComment376032931 This is clearly a bad idea that is divisive. Creating a city income tax for ANYTHING, begins a slippery slope that will lead to abuses later. It is unfortunate that art and music have been extensively cut from PPS. However, there are different and better ways to fund art and music education... if the community believes that they are important. A number of writers here are unfairly targeting classroom teachers as the problem. It is true that there are serious problems within the Portland Public School District, but generally teachers are not it. The majority of the issues for PPS are a result of poor resource management by the district administration. Rather than cut the many over-paid and unnecessary positions within the administration, they take the "more taxes" route. Usually, I have strong disagreements with the anti-government and cut services crowd, but not on this particular issue. There are almost always enough resources already available for the true needs of the community. But, when tone-deaf politicians like Sam Adams and the City Council perpetually misdirect money to their own narrow and elitist pet projects it creates distrust, which sets one (or many) groups within the community against one another. It smells like another Sam Adams initiative designed to add to his narcissistic legacy as one of the worst mayors in the history of Portland. Thu, 7 Jun 2012 17:27:35 +0000 http://www.katu.com/politics/Creative-Advocacy-Network-proposed-portland-income-tax-sam-adams-jessica-jarratt-miller-157637225.html?clmob=y#IDComment376032931 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Live-Blog-May-Day-protests-149682515.html?clmob=y#IDComment352242262 In most regards, I agree with you. Social media reaches out to a wide swath of people with disparate values and beliefs.That attracts individuals with less than noble objectives. In other words, you don't need that much forethought, planning or commitment to show up at the designated time and place. That's unfortunate. To be more than anger, and to be a serious movement, there must be more clearly defined issues, and there must be some form of leadership that can articulate the desired messages. There are many other problems with using social media as a tool to organize demonstrations. One of the biggest problems is the nature of the media itself. When your information comes in tiny bits and bytes the key issues tend to be over-simplified. This is also true with "comment" sections, blogs, and other electronic media elements. Nonetheless, people need to communicate, and these are popular communication tools of our time. Tue, 1 May 2012 21:31:54 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Live-Blog-May-Day-protests-149682515.html?clmob=y#IDComment352242262 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Live-Blog-May-Day-protests-149682515.html?clmob=y#IDComment352200669 Protesters in Portland have it pretty easy compared to marchers in many other cities across the United States. Generally, the police show restraint, and most people here are tolerant; acknowledging that as Americans we have a right to free speech and public assembly. In New York the police are pretty quick to take out clubs and use force to remove people, even when they are well within the city guidelines for protest and assembly. Still, anyone who gets out and takes a public stand against the wholesale illegal activities of large corporations and financial institutions that are ruining America deserves some credit. Some of the protesters are unemployed, and simply bored. However, many of them are genuinely committed to affecting positive change. Without any protest, there is nothing to slow down Goldman, Chase, Citi, Bank of America, and others from further degrading and corrupting our political process. But, if you like bailing out billionaire CEOs with tax dollars, or if you believe in exempting bank executives from criminal accountability, then things may not seem that bad. As long as your social security check shows up on time, and your pension keeps paying out, maybe it's not your problem. Many of us have had the opportunity to benefit from the educational and employment opportunities that used to be available in America. Today, those same opportunities do not exist for a lot of people. Getting a good education and having a good work ethic are often not enough to get part of what used to be "the American dream." Tue, 1 May 2012 20:12:48 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Live-Blog-May-Day-protests-149682515.html?clmob=y#IDComment352200669 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment304315171 To Riptorn conservative operative w/ 4,549 comments posted I looked at the survey you linked to, and on the surface it seems reasonable. Most people don't think the gross tax rate is too low, it's more that the effective tax rate after deductions and loopholes is too low for individuals and corporations, particularly considering the growing deficits. It appears that both Republicans and Democrats are finally starting to appreciate this, and that there could be some agreement there. Unfortunately, translating anything as sensible as meaningful tax reform into reality is probably too much to hope for. Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:04:21 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment304315171 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment304307658 Calling AIG a success ignores the fact that the government (taxpayers) had to bail them out with more than $200 Billion. If you mean by "success" that some of the people who nearly destroyed the US economy got paid obscene and undeserved bonuses then that's one twisted way to look at it. As for "valuable services" would that be things like credit default swaps? I guess too that you didn't notice that in my post I said "reported" and that I put the entire text in quotation marks. Maybe in your world quoting is stealing, and stealing is succeeding. Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:49:35 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment304307658 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment304300980 I'm critical of many elements of the Occupy movement, including not seeking permits. Also, setting-up an extended camp attracted street people and the mentally ill, which caused most of the damage and created most of the problems. Homelessness and mental illness are problems too, but they weren't supposed to be the focus of the message. I don't automatically assume that if someone doesn't support Occupy that they also support corrupt corporations, but if you read many of the posts here that is the case. I am a small business owner, and several people in my family are educators. I am ACTIVELY involved with my neighborhood association, and I have never defecated in a park. My question to you: why do you assume that just because somebody supports peaceful protest and free speech that they break stuff and tear up the parks? Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:37:17 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment304300980 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment303964687 OK ALL YOU BLIND DEFENDERS OF CORPORATE AMERICA WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS? Reported today: "Last week, the American International Group (AIG) reported a whopping $19.8 billion profit for its fourth quarter. It was a quite a feat for a company that was on its death bed just a little over three years ago, so sick that it needed a huge taxpayer bailout. But if you dug into the numbers, it quickly became clear that $17.7 billion of that profit was pure fantasy — a tax benefit, er, gift, from the United States government. The company made only $1.6 billion during the quarter from actual operations. Yet A.I.G. not only received a tax benefit, it is unlikely to pay a cent of taxes this year, nor by some estimates, for at least a decade.This rule-twisting could deprive the government of tens of billions of dollars, assuming the firm remains profitable. The tax dodge — and let’s be honest, that’s what it is — also will most likely help goose the bonuses of A.I.G.’s employees, some of whom helped create many of the problems that led to its role in the financial crisis." Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:29:09 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment303964687 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment303829394 ALEC has been a very effective go-around strategy for corporate interests that want to circumvent the democratic process. In other words, if your company or industry can benefit from certain legislation it is easier to sway the legislators when you're at a resort and buying the drinks (among other things). So this is a well-targeted group and an issue to address with protest. It's odd that the tea party crew can't see this, since they are frequently criticizing corrupt politicians and government representatives. It's unfortunate that the protest leadership has not taken the initiative to get a permit to march because not having a permit lowers the moral high ground of a worthy protest. It also erodes some public support. Nonetheless, the cause is just, and ALEC is a menace to society and an enemy of democracy. Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:00:21 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/protest-140653793.html#IDComment303829394 http://www.katu.com/news/business/CEO-of-Ore-research-firm-arrested-on-insider-trading-charges-139519143.html?clmob=y#IDComment294996843 U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is doing a good job of taking on Wall Street corruption and crime. However, he still is just hitting the easy targets, and the lower level perpetrators. He does have a strategy and history of making the smaller perps provide information on the higher ups, and then working his way up the chain. So, it is something, and maybe a good start. Bharara can't do it alone, but it's refreshing that there may be at least one "Elliot Ness." Now he needs a bigger team of "Untouchables." Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:49:06 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/business/CEO-of-Ore-research-firm-arrested-on-insider-trading-charges-139519143.html?clmob=y#IDComment294996843 http://www.katu.com/news/business/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139036839.html#IDComment288581007 To Riptorn (political operative with 4,438 comments posted) The government used money from all of us to bail out the big banks that made $ billions in profits betting on the real estate market (many investors lost $ billions). Then they made $ trillions getting free money straight from the Federal Reserve at zero percent interest. Four years later, the government tells the banks that they must give every state $200 million (a small bit) of the money that they got for free from taxpayers and the Federal Reserve. A few of those irresponsible home owners may get a loan adjustment, and a few people who were evicted from houses through the use of forged documents may get $2,000 somewhere in the future. That's socialism for the banks and Wall Street. It happened under Bush, and it continues under Obama. But you have an interesting strategy: trying to divert attention to all that by blaming it on home owners that are being evicted. At worst, home owners who default break a civil contract, while many bank officers knowingly broke the law and committed felonies by directing forgery and fraud. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:51:58 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/business/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139036839.html#IDComment288581007 http://www.katu.com/news/business/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139036839.html#IDComment288558263 Consider someone who rented for 5 -10 years. They paid their rent, and they were basically ok that they weren't getting 10 percent a year appreciation on a house investment. They also didn't get a mortgage deduction on their taxes. For 10 years the real estate industry kept hounding them to buy a house and be part of the " American Dream." Federal and state governments made programs to encourage anybody and everybody to buy a home. The banks and mortgage companies pre-approved them to buy houses that cost 40 percent more than they wanted or could afford. Or, someone in their home for 20 years that they bought cheaply was making their payments, and was grateful their net worth increased every year for owning a house. For years they were barraged daily with offers from their own bank and offers from other banks with mailings, calls, bill stuffers, and tv and radio ads telling them to use their "home" equity. A portion of those people said "ok" I guess I'm a dope if I don't do it. They bought a house or took a home equity loan, and in each case there were dozens of pages of small print legal items attached that would confuse a 3rd year attorney. But, everything was ok because housing prices could only go up, and unemployment was 4 percent or less. Behind the scenes, Wall Street broke-up and re-sold those loans over and over, knowing the bubble was about to burst. To keep it from bursting too soon they ignored prudent lending standards, and they falsified documents and balance sheets. When it finally blew up, they told Congress the world would end if they weren't bailed out immediately. Henry Paulson (Bush's man) told them they all needed to take government bailouts whether they need them or not so the public wouldn't crash the most troubled institutions. The rest, so they say, is history. Except...what about all those people who could no longer pay their mortgages or home equity loans, or just lost their jobs because unemployment shot up to 12 percent? Well, of course it was their faults. So here is the cool part: The government used money from all of us to bail out the big banks that made $ billions in profits betting on the real estate market (many investors lost $ billions). Then even better, they made $ trillions getting free money straight from the Federal Reserve at zero percent interest. Four years later, the government tells the banks that they must give every state $200 million (a small bit) of the money that they got for free from taxpayers and the Federal Reserve. Oh yeah, a tiny few of those irresponsible home owners may get a loan adjustment, and a few people who were evicted from those houses through the use of forged documents may get $2,000 somewhere in the future. Yep, that's Socialism, but not for the poor or middle-class. That's socialism for the banks and Wall Street. It happened under Bush, and now it continues under Obama. But, why not blame your neighbors instead of your Republican or Democratic officials or the bankers who gave themselves $ billions in bonuses? Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:05:52 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/business/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139036839.html#IDComment288558263 http://www.katu.com/news/business/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139036839.html#IDComment288364777 "There were many small wrongs that were done here," said U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. "This does not resolve everything. We will be aggressive about going after claims elsewhere." So let me get this straight. The banks have no vulnerability to state or federal civil suits. Individuals can still sue, but let's be real, what's the chance of a single owner successfully suing any of the banks? Bank of America/Countrywide are off the hook for fraudulent appraisals. Only privately held mortgages issued from 2008 - 2011 get any adjustments (virtually all of the damage was done prior to 2008 and half of all mortgages are held by Freddi & Fannie, and not included). States can still pursue criminal investigations of bank and mortgages companies, but they're going to take $200 million and then turn around and go after the same people for criminal charges (which are much harder to win than civil suits). In an election year when Democrats and Republicans are taking money from everyone with a checkbook, I just don't see any substantial prosecution happening. If we see the heads of the big five banks in court for fraud, then I'll be a believer. Until then, put your money under your mattress where it is safe. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:33:25 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/business/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139036839.html#IDComment288364777 http://www.katu.com/news/national/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139014099.html#IDComment288068897 Instead of paying their way out of this, why not investigate, indict and prosecute the bankers and Wall Street CEOs who committed the fraud? The acts that led to the housing collapse were criminal and fraudulent. Almost every segment of the real estate industry participated, but particularly Wall Street. Then after wrecking the economy and taking out $ trillions, they still had the arrogance to flaunt their disregard for state and federal laws through "robo signing" (forgery). This "settlement" is a payoff, and it doesn't do anything to deter, punish the individuals at the top and their government allies who stole wealth, and ruined the housing and real estate market. Nobody wins on this one; not the people who lost their homes, or the people who continue to pay their mortgages on time and at full rate. This is the ultimate slap in the face to all Americans, except for those in the banking and finance industries. Corporate criminals working in tandem with the federal and state governments. Shame on the state AGs for caving in. Thu, 9 Feb 2012 17:18:05 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/national/States-banks-reach-25-billion-foreclosure-abuse-settlement-139014099.html#IDComment288068897 http://www.katu.com/politics/Lawmakers-consider-bills-to-help-homeowners-avoid-foreclosure-138818959.html#IDComment286455622 I can understand how you can feel that way, and there is some truth to what you are saying. You should be angry, but some of your anger seems to be misdirected to people who are already suffering loss and pain. Surely, you can't believe that losing your home is fun. What is your alternative? Should we put the people who can't pay their mortgages in prison? The people who need to sent to prison are the high-flying bankers and Wall Street power brokers who knowingly caused this to happen. Instead, they pocketed $ billions with no repercussions. Now they are creating new ways to steal through other schemes in other sectors. If you want justice, then help to go after them. If you know of politicians or government officials that are corrupt or inept, then point them out, and go after them. Democrats, Republicans, local, national, there are scoundrels in all directions. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 19:56:06 +0000 http://www.katu.com/politics/Lawmakers-consider-bills-to-help-homeowners-avoid-foreclosure-138818959.html#IDComment286455622 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Police-Cyclist-hurt-after-running-red-light-hitting-car-138849524.html#IDComment286446320 Well, my bad. The bike accident that I saw on Glisan yesterday afternoon was a different one. I've checked all over to see what the outcome was, but it's not showing up anywhere on local news or the bike blogs I have checked. So I assume the rider was ok. It was a pretty big deal though: three police cars, and traffic blocked both ways on NE Glisan and about 75th. That just supports my point though, of how frequently this sort of thing happens. I'm definitely not a neo-con (you can check any previous posts), but I have to agree with some of them on some of the bike issues in Portland. For better or worse, bicycle travel is a modest (less than 10 percent) portion of the method for traveling through Portland. Cyclists may feel like they have strength in numbers, and the clubby feel of the bicycle community gives them the freedom to ride however they want to. Really though, it may seem like there are a lot of people riding bikes, but there are ten times more people driving cars. I won't go through all the multitude of things that have been said by cyclists and drivers over the past 10 years about who and what is right about this or that. Just this, I don't ride much anymore, and there is a reason. Even if you are a safety-freak, it's still not safe. If you take foolish chances you will get hurt eventually. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 19:41:58 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Police-Cyclist-hurt-after-running-red-light-hitting-car-138849524.html#IDComment286446320 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Police-Cyclist-hurt-after-running-red-light-hitting-car-138849524.html#IDComment286445322 Well, I guess theoretically that is possible. Maybe the rider broke through the time-space continuum. More likely, I saw one bike accident, and assumed it was the one in the story. You never know though, maybe I was in a time warp. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 19:40:34 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Police-Cyclist-hurt-after-running-red-light-hitting-car-138849524.html#IDComment286445322 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Police-Cyclist-hurt-after-running-red-light-hitting-car-138849524.html#IDComment286442472 Well, my bad. The bike accident that I saw on Glisan yesterday afternoon was a different one. I've checked all over to see what the outcome was, but it's not showing up anywhere on local news or the bike blogs I have checked. So I assume the rider was ok. It was a pretty big deal though: three police cars, and traffic blocked both ways on NE Glisan and about 75th. That just supports my point though, of how frequently this sort of thing happens. I'm definitely not a neo-con (you can check any previous posts), but I have to agree with some of them on some of the bike issues in Portland. For better or worse, bicycle travel is a modest (less than 10 percent) portion of the method for traveling through Portland. Cyclists may feel like they have strength in numbers, and the clubby feel of the bicycle community gives them the freedom to ride however they want to. Really though, it may seem like there are a lot of people riding bikes, but there are ten times more people driving cars. I won't go through all the multitude of things that have been said by cyclists and drivers over the past 10 years about who and what is right about this or that. Just this, I don't ride much anymore, and there is a reason. Even if you are a safety-freak, it's still not safe. If you take foolish chances you will get hurt eventually. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 19:36:25 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Police-Cyclist-hurt-after-running-red-light-hitting-car-138849524.html#IDComment286442472 http://www.katu.com/politics/Lawmakers-consider-bills-to-help-homeowners-avoid-foreclosure-138818959.html#IDComment286365497 Some people need to watch less Fox "news" and take an hour and a half to watch the Academy Award winning documentary "Inside Job." It deals with more items than just Mortgage fraud and real estate market manipulation, but the film does connect the dots very well. It wasn't just the banks and mortgage companies involved. Greed motivation by many segments of the financial and real estate industries drove this irresponsible behavior. Loans were pushed on a lot of people that otherwise wouldn't have considered themselves qualified to purchase a house. But, when they had their local real estate agent telling them that they were idiots if they didn't buy a house, with mortgage brokers pushing nothing down loans (even if the buyer had something to put down), with everyone believing that the price of houses could only go up, with speculators, flippers, developers, builders, title companies, escrow companies, and appraisers making fortunes, and yes, the government encouraging home ownership for everyone...well why wouldn't this be a formula for disaster? While they did contribute, individual buyers were the least guilty of the guilty. Beyond that, once the economy started crashing, you got a whole new set of people falling behind...the people who were qualified and could afford their homes until one or both of the income earners in the household lost their jobs. Still, the main culprits are Countrywide, B of A, Goldman, Citi, Chase, and the rest. So they bear the most responsibility to clean up the mess. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 17:34:15 +0000 http://www.katu.com/politics/Lawmakers-consider-bills-to-help-homeowners-avoid-foreclosure-138818959.html#IDComment286365497