Oregon: Home of the backroom tax giveaways
According to Good Jobs First, a nonprofit Washington D.C.-based research group, Oregon does a miserable job in disclosing the names of companies receiving state and local tax breaks, cash grants and other subsidies for job creation.No kidding. It's such a dark little place we inhabit sometimes. The scams just go on and on, and nobody in politics, law enforcement, or the media is both smart enough to figure it all out and brave enough to blow the whistle on it. You get in trouble around here just for asking questions about it.
Go by streetcar, go by sheepcar.
| Posted at 4:42 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (6)
Asking questions about how tax dollars are spent? That just makes you a hater. Can't you see that Mayor Creepy's creative class initiatives are going to leave us all rich and successful with superpowers, and he can't get it done if you keep QUESTIONING him?
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | December 9, 2010 5:37 PM
Hey, go easy on the media. They will report any press release any government agency send them.
Posted by Abe | December 9, 2010 5:54 PM
"Oregon does a miserable job in disclosing the names of companies receiving state and local tax breaks"
Because they do a miserable of actually creating jobs for all those tax breaks.
I mean heck, if maybe 100 new jobs (Vestas) costs $10m and just keeping 200 old jobs (Rentrak) in town only costs $20M in prop tax breaks, why would you even questions how effective these are?
Posted by Steve | December 9, 2010 6:58 PM
Has anyone ever done a study to determine what percentage of the U.S. economy is based on crime, fraud and waste?
In other words, when you add up illegal drug sales, burglaries, vandalism, prostitution, employee theft, under-the-table cash transactions and wages, credit card scams, stock market swindles, faulty or unnecessary repair work, unscrupulous contractors, clerks who short-change customers, government corruption, etc., I'm guessing that we could very well be right in line with Kenya, where one-third of the country's economy is based on illegal activity, as reported by BBC News today.
Posted by Peter Apanel | December 9, 2010 8:28 PM
The whole TriMet approval of the Portland (milwaukee) light rail boondoggle project has been very discouraging to me. I presented testimony to the Board against it as did many others. This Board is appointed by an almost aloof governor, rather than elected. Maybe it wouldn't make a difference. But Milwaukee citizens voted down this project twice. Then Metro steals future federal funds from other purposes and gifts to badly managed TriMet to ensure the dreadfully expensive project gets off the ground anyways.
Very, Very discouraging for folks wanting to believe in citizen based government. I feel for all the citizens in Clackamas county who know the new car registration fee will actually end up going to this light rail boondoggle.
Posted by Bob Clark | December 9, 2010 10:09 PM
At least Oregon is right up there with the rest of the world.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-10/corruption-rises-over-3-years-transparency-international-says.html
Posted by phil | December 10, 2010 4:48 AM