Oregonian: Oregon in "death spiral" Gov.-elect Kitzhaber tells business leaders

[Poll_Blind]

From The Oregonian Oregon in "death spiral" Gov.-elect Kitzhaber tells business leaders:

Oregon is headed for a fiscal catastrophe unless its leaders make dramatic changes in the way the government spends its money and delivers services, business leaders told state officials Monday.

Gov. –elect John Kitzhaber agreed and said he is willing to work with the business community on specific actions to boostthe state economy and make state programs more efficient.

"On its current course, Oregon is literally on a death spiral," Kitzhaber told about 1,000 business, political and community leaders at the annual Oregon Business Summit.

--snip--

Kitzhaber's comments helped set an urgent tone for what is expected to be a difficult year of paring back in Salem and around the state.

The main problem, which Kitzhaber and a number of other speakers outlined, is that a soaring demand for government help -- caused by the recession and an aging population -- has outstripped the state's ability to pay.

And if that's not bad enough, business analysts at the meeting reported that Oregon wages have slipped well below the national average, making it all the more difficult to pay for schools and to keep families on the edge out of expensive safety net programs.

Whole article worth reading!

PB

[zehnkatzen]

1. Of course, business could ramp up and stop complaining about nonexistent high taxes …

… but that's just me thinking inside the box.

[HuckleB]

4. +1

[LWolf]

2. I'm waiting to hear, this spring, about the next round of cuts

to the education budget which will cause another round of layoffs, salary cuts, and program cuts for school districts. What will Kitzhaber do to mitigate those hits?

[missgoose0314]

3. Glad I left

I lived in Portland for nearly five years and while there are lots of things I miss about it, I definitely don't miss looking for a job out there. It's a city that has no business sense to begin with and is unprofessional at best. I had hoped to move back at some point, but after reading this I won't. I'll stick to my original plan and high-tail it to Canada.

[HuckleB]

5. Yo, two posts!

And ranting against Portland.

:rofl: