Small favors
We Oregon Democrats, licking our wounds and getting out our picket-sign-making kits for a long four years, can at least take comfort in yesterday's state legislative elections. The State Senate will be controlled by the Democrats, and the Republicans' voting margin in the Oregon House will be much smaller.
At least it's something.
Unless the Oregon Supreme Court tosses it again, Measure 37 is going to make a real mess of state and local government. At least we'll have a somewhat more enlightened crew presiding over the massive (and ultimately futile) job of trying to cope with it.
| Posted at 2:00 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (1)
What will M37 cost? I think it should be far less than anticipated.
I think that the present market value is based on assumptions about the perpetuation of ever decreasing interest rates. Yes, the values are too high because of “expectations” of even lower interest rates in the future and expectations that Congress will do whatever is necessary to perpetuate hyper-inflation in housing.
Do not be distracted by the Wizard behind the curtain that says look only at the low price of payments on your homes. This low-payment-only focus is a trap for the unwary and the gullible poor and middle class.
The first step is for everyone to go to a Gamblers Anonymous class. One could alternatively go sit in a bar and just observe the regular video poker addict run up a whole bunch of points on the machine and then fritter them away in a frustrated frenzy.
Today’s homeowners are more like glorified renters. Ninety percent of the home purchases are enabled by easy money from the money printers. The money is printed with the same ease with which a video poker machine uses electrons to change the number on the screen representing the credits accumulated.
Jack – I strongly disagree with your argument that the new crew of Democrats is more “enlightened[.]”
The Democrats are just one face of the Jekyll and Hyde government blob. They represent the happy idiots that make Bush’s tax-breaks-for-the-rich possible. If you want something genuinely radical then I can provide it -- if you can stand the price of deflating the housing asset price bubble.
My passion in undergrad was not to please the professors and get a good grade but to critique every damn thing they said. My focus then was international economics and development stuff. My focus (and passion) in law school, at Lewis & Clark, was no different. I couldn’t care less about the grades.
I think the folks championing Affordable Housing NOW have their heads screwed on backwards. They are working for the folks who want capital-gains asset-bubble profits, not the poor. M37 is the perfect vehicle that will let me get my point across, even though I voted against M37. The “mess” is an opportunity, and it can be done in a manner that is compatible with the spirit of SB 100 and the needs of the folks served by local government.
Posted by ron | November 3, 2004 11:56 AM