This has nothing to do with those in politics. Its not their fault. (snicker)

You didn't show the inverse of this article and look who's #2,OMG it's those hicks across the river.

http://www.money-rates.com/news/10-best-states-for-making-a-living.htm

It is interesting that the Bottom 10 and the Top 10 both have a mix of red states and blue states. Liberal Oregon is among the Bottom 10, but so are conservative South Carolina and Montana. Liberal Illinois leads the Top 10 list, and Massachusetts is in at No. 6, but there too are Texas (No. 3) and Georgia (No. 7). Fascinating.

I agree with the comment about the disparity between Oregon and Washington:

I've lived in Montana and the politics are very different between there and here but there are other factors that prevent a Montanan from having the easy life. I've said that it's a great place to live if you can work for the government, because the only real private sector jobs are farming and ranching.

Oregon, on the other hand, has much more access to international and national trade, large population centers, major airports, access to two different railroads, and a lower cost of living than either Washington or California (or southern British Columbia). With all the built-in advantages, Oregon should be knocking the socks off of Washington and most of California in economic growth - but it's our political policies that are holding us back.

With income tax rate being the considered factor with the greatest variation, the linked article is mostly a weighted ranking of state income tax rates without actually saying so. Instead, it makes a great sounding pair of lists. "Watch the swinging watch... you're getting sleepy..."

Thank you, Erik for summarizing so succinctly what we all know and have been trying to sound the alarm on for quite a while now.

Erik, you mean western Oregon has all those great things, just like western Washington.

I would think those in eastern Oregon who take in all the trash out of Portland and generate quite a bit of Portland's electricity would differ about all the great things that arise from the Willamette valley.

Erik,
Care to cite some government policy examples that are unique to Oregon that holds us back from developing further/faster?

Wow! Saw that story earlier today. I just filed our tax return - no state income taxes here - and can think of about 12,000 reasons why that nonsense about "quality of life" sounds like so much hot air...

Mizz, shall we start with logging?

and continue with incessant, targeted tax breaks to industries like wind power, solar power, and sportswear that contribute virtually nothing to our economy (or in some cases a negative impact), while directly shutting down established industries like our lumber and timber products industry, agriculture...

Intel has been great except all that money doesn't stay in Oregon, it flows to Santa Clara, California. Adidas and Daimler Trucks see their money flow to Germany. Nike at least is headquartered here, but the profits don't get spread around and the social impacts don't hit home either (unless you are in the athletic program over at University of Oregon - and even then, only on Phil Knight's approved list of sports).

Washington has been keen to invest in their existing industries which has allowed Microsoft (which moved from New Mexico to Redmond very early on in their history sans any incentive) and Boeing (established around the time of the Alaskan Gold Rush which saw the Seattle area zoom past Portland as the regional commercial hub; up until then Portland was the hub north of San Francisco) rather than chasing around fad industries that are nothing more than fly-by-night jobs.