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Oregon ranks 39 of 50 in economic outlook
In the midst of economic turmoil, federal bailouts, and budget deficits in more than 40 states, a new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate funded free-market think tank, attacks government spending as part of the problem.
The report, Rich States, Poor States: the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, claims to demonstrate that the federal bailout will encourage out-of-control spending by states, without requiring them to make the tough decisions needed to bring about financial stability. In fact, the report is a mash-up of right-wing talking points, heavily manipulated data and cultural stereotypes tarted up as legitimate sociology.
“States were quick to increase spending and add programs during the good times,” said Representative Gene Whisnant, ALEC’s Oregon State Chairman and a man in need of a career change. “We need to make tough choices to live within our means. The best solution to our budget woes is to control state spending and promote policies that foster economic growth and job creation.”
Co-author Dr. Arthur B. Laffer is famous for the so-called “laffer curve,” and his claims during the 80s that cutting taxes would increase tax collections. Rich States, Poor States presents rankings of the 50 states based on which states are best adhereing to right-wing economic ideology.
Oregon, with its progressive personal, business and estate taxes in place of regressive sales taxes, and with an inflation-adjusted minimum wage, ranked near the bottom, according to this pack of right-wing hacks, but the part of the state doing best is the Portland metro area - precisely where the most restrictions and rules are applied. The Portland Alliance awaits an appology from Mr. Laffer and Mr. Whisnant.
Crisis-line calls surge with down economy
Calls to Oregon’s 24-hour crisis and suicide prevention lines run by Oregon Partnership are coming in at a rate of about 50 percent higher than a year ago. And the economy is a major reason.
“It’s been this way since September of last year,” says Leslie Storm, Director of OP’s Crisis Line Program. “It stands to reason that when the unemployment rate goes up and people are hurting financially, so does the tension level for more Oregonians.”
OP reports a slight increase of calls in March 2009 compared to February 2009. Last month, 1,584 calls came into LifeLine (OP’s suicide prevention line) and 1,111 calls came into HelpLine (OP’s alcohol and drug crisis line). In January 2009, the lines received 71 percent more calls than it did the previous January.
“I wish I could say that with spring, we’ll see fewer calls,” says Storm. “But people are always surprised to learn that normally, we see an upsurge in deaths by suicide in April. Those suffering from depression, for example, are energized to take action.”
Psychologists point out that someone deeply depressed often lacks the energy to plan and follow through with a suicide attempt, but once a depressed person starts to come out of his or her depression a bit, there’s enough energy to make a plan.
Storm adds that intervention is often sufficient for people to look for safe options and be available for those thinking of suicide.
OP’s Suicide Prevention Line (1-800-273-TALK) is the state’s only suicide crisis hotline certified by the American Association of Suicidology and is part of the National LifeLine Network.
Oregon Partnership’s HelpLine (1-800-923-HELP) provides crisis intervention, including confidential alcohol and drug crisis counseling and treatment referral.
Operated by experienced staff and approximately 75 volunteers who undergo 56 hours of crisis line skills training, the four lines – including The YouthLine and Linea de Ayuda - are the lifeblood for those in crisis and feel they have nowhere else to turn.
For this past fiscal year, more than 25,000 people received immediate assistance from this efficient and cost effective operation.
Amtrak Searching For Original Pullman Porters
Amtrak is trying to contact former Sleeping Car (Pullman) Porters. Many porters were active in Portland’s black community during the last century. Anyone with info can contact Sauyna Connelly at (202) 906-4164 or connels@amtrak.com.
U.S. struggling in Mexico border crackdown
The Obama administration in late March announced plans to crack down on the smuggling of guns and money pouring south from the United States into Mexico that are helping to fuel violence by Mexican drug cartels.
The administration said it will intensify inspections of southbound traffic, with every rail shipment to Mexico due to be inspected, mobile X-ray units to inspect cars, and advanced license-plate readers to identify known smugglers.
But David Higgerson, director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency’s field operations in Arizona, said the state’s ports of entry were built to screen traffic heading north from Mexico.
“The obvious problem is and always has been (that) the ports were never built to check stuff going south. It was always considered to be not really our problem,” Higgerson said in an interview. “Well, it is our problem obviously with the cartels and all the other stuff that’s going on.”
Banks Increased Loans to Insiders
According to reporting published in North Carolina’s Charlotte Observor, the nation’s banks have made over $41 billion in loans to their directors and top executives. Many of these same banks have taken government money in recent months.
Loans of money by a bank to its employees and directors may seem like a bad joke, but apparently it is legal.
Bank of America, for instance, loaned $624.2 million to coporate insiders in 2008 alone! The largest loans went to three directors and their companies.
Bank of America ranked fourth on the list of biggest insider lenders. At the top was JPMorgan of New York, which held $1.48 billion in insider loans, mostly by directors or their companies.
No. 2 on the list is Wachovia, with $747 million in insider loans. Wachovia did such a fantastic job last year that it no longer exists as an independent company.
“Insider loans, ranging from home mortgages to multimillion-dollar lines of credit for big companies, are legal but are largely shrouded from public scrutiny,” states reporter Stella M. Hopkins.
”Banks don’t have to explain increased insider lending. They don’t have to disclose individual loan amounts or terms for any insiders, including executives. Directors and their businesses, often the largest insider borrowers, are completely shielded. Directors must approve insider loans greater than $500,000, so they sometimes vote on loans for each other or the executives they oversee,” she said.
Seven of the banks with the largest amounts of insider loans were also recipients of more than $50 billion from the banking bailout.
Portland to Plan Response To EPA Rule
City Commissioner Randy Leonard, Oregon Wild, and Friends of the Resevoir invite the public to an important meeting on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Long Term 2 (LT2) Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, and how the City of Portland and the Congressional delegation may proceed in response to the rule.
The meeting is hosted by the Mt. Tabor, South Tabor and Arlington Heights neighborhood associations and will be facilitated by Resolutions Northwest.
The Portland City Council committed in January 2005 to pursue alternative forms of compliance for the LT2 rule. This meeting will detail the strategies the City is pursuing to comply with the new regulations including obtaining a variance and asking the city’s Congressional delegation to introduce and seek passage of federal legislation allowing Portland to continue to use its Bull Run source water without additional treatment and continue to use its five open finished drinking water reservoirs for drinking water storage.
The meeting is Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m to noon, at Glencoe Elementary School, 825 SE 51st Avenue, Portland. The meeting will be in the cafeteria, and there might be punch and pie.
Male Circumcision Reduces Some STD Risk
Heterosexual men who undergo medical circumcision can significantly reduce their risk of acquiring two common sexually transmitted infections — herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the cause of genital herpes, and human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cancer and genital warts, according to a report in the March 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Circumcision had no effect on their risk of becoming infected with the bacterium that causes syphilis, however.
The findings build upon earlier clinical research funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), part of the NIH, which found that circumcision decreases a man’s risk of acquiring HIV infection through heterosexual intercourse by more than 50 percent.
The biological reasons why circumcision may reduce the risk of HSV-2 and HPV infection, but not syphilis, are not entirely known. As with most strategies to prevent sexually transmitted infections, adult male circumcision is not completely effective. Therefore, the authors note, safe sex practices, including consistent condom use, are still necessary to provide the best protection against such infections.
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