BY SARAH ROSS
SALEM- Senate President Peter Courtney, D- Salem, and House Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Clackamas County, announced on Tuesday their intentions to use the week’s Emergency Board meeting to prevent cuts to senior in-home care and services for those people with disabilities.
During the Legislative Emergency Board meeting scheduled for Thursday morning, Hunt and Courtney expect to restore $17 million of the $158 million that the Oregon Department of Human Services was required to cut as part of the governor’s allotment process.
“We simply refuse to allow elderly people to be forced out of their homes and into more expensive nursing homes,” said Hunt in Tuesday’s press release. “We refuse to allow those suffering from physical and mental illness, and their families, to fall through the cracks in the state budget caused by this global recession.”
The Emergency Board took similar action in June to prevent a budget shortfall within the Oregon University System and is scheduled to meet again in September, following the next revenue forecast in August.
Courtney added that it has been the leaders’ goal all along to protect the vulnerable and to avoid higher cuts in the future.
“These will continue to be our guiding principles as the Legislature works to find ways to meet both our responsibility to maintain a balanced budget and our moral obligation to protect Oregonians who rely on state services,” stated Courtney in the same release.
The leaders hope to restore enough funding to the DHS to protect Oregon Project Independence, Medicaid In-Home Care programs for seniors, Community Mental Health programs, and the Developmental Disabilities Family Support Program.
So, the Governor cuts to make budget but the Oregon House and Senate leaders willy nilly negate these cuts. Kind of worrisome for bond holders of Oregon Muni’s. If we had, political gridlock this probably wouldn’t be happening. Time to put the Republicans back in control of the State House of Representatives.
This is simply Dave Hunt’s Public Relations mind at work. Remember how he and his cronies worded measure 66/67? In one session, they take from state education and give it to DHS. Then, he holds our children’s school year hostage. Dave Hunt says, If we cant raise taxes on the so-called rich, and small business, we will send your children home. Meanwhile, they added 20,000 state jobs, and continue to give raises to Oregon state employees. So, these union backed special interest puppets will maintain the status quo on tripling government in 16 years, giving raises, hiring new people, and then seek to cast republicans as evil and heartless.
Lets just accept this Press release from Dave Hunt for what it is: It is a ploy to cast Oregon State Democratic Socialists as senior friendly in an election year, and thats it.
As far as Oregon higher education, maybe 20% of jobs in this country require a college degree. In the real world of private enterprise, when a business plan is failing, the company gets restructured and downsized so it can compete.
I should ask Dave Hunt how a liberal Arts degree for Oregon State can compete in a globalized economy!
In the state education world they raise tuition and beg for federal and state funds. It amazes me that while that tenured professor is writing , and researching on meaningless self indulgent drivel or the 20th revision, that no one will ever read, a grad student is lecturing his class in a huge auditorium. So lets see $820 times 100 students equals $820,000 in revenue for an English 101 class. Hmmm, thats at least $2.5 million in yearly revenue for just one class. Oh and the book fee of $300 times lets say 300 equals $90,000 in book revenue.
Why on earth would a university require extra money from the federal or state government????
Abraham Lincoln would have just read the book, Clepped it, or took an online course. Others just do the Cliffnotes or just dont show up from partying the night before…………Yeah lets face it!
Will that University professor take a pay cut or restructure his health care plan? No I dont think so. No, they must continue to build empires and maintain the obsolete. Most tenured professors that are not associated with science, education, health , and law or any degree that requires a license or certification are just teaching advanced highschool curriculum. Lets face it, is a grad student teaching a class on the 20th revision of a $300 dollar arts and humanities book really a relevant education? The institution tells you it is.
What about relevant vocational education? Why is it that a Ukranian immigrant will attend an auto mechanic, diesel, or construction course and blow off a BA degree? Its because it is relevant experience, and that vocational school grad is employable right off the bat. The Oregon State humanities degree grad will wait tables to pay off student loans. Nationalized student loans. Forever!
So, is it good for education to continually support cost increases for obsolete and irrelevant classes.
Is it good for education for state employees to have cadillac health care plans.
Is it it good for education to maintain the status quo on empire building in lieu of downsizing?
In a perfect world, education is up to date and worthy of bankrupting the state budget to maintain.
Another scenario would suggest employee cuts, larger classrooms, or offering online ,100 level classes, and cutting the tenured professor force.
They do offer online courses, but at the same price as a normal college course ???? How can this be? How can an online course costs as much as a normal course? No building, no janitor, no building maintenance, no utillities, no fixed costs, just a computer and the 20th edition of liberal drivel.
Or should we expect our children to run up $60,000 in student loans, so that professor does not have to pay into health insurance?
In the Democratic Socialists world budget never decreases. While Oregon has lost 150,000 BA degree jobs, Democratic Socialist have increased the government payroll, and tripled the size of government in 16 years. Then to top it off, they seek to harvest DHS issues in an election year for PR kudos. Meanwhile, a doctor’s appointment costs Medicaid a thousand dollars an hour.
Lets face it, this is just Dave Hunt attempting to cast his Democratic Socialist cronies as senior friendly in an election year, while they have lost complete control of the Oregon Budget proccess. Dave Hunt and his cronies are incompetent! here lets see what $17 million actually is!!!!
hmmmm?
Here we go!
seventeen million divided by fifty two billion = 0.000326923077
Ok, this symbolic gesture that David Hunt is asserting in an election year is .000326 of the Oregon Budget. Now had I attended Oregon state, I could tell you what that is in a percentage. Here I will give it a try. I attended colorado State and just drank beer and chased women so math is a bit troublesome for me so, here we go.
(.03 would be 3 %) (.003 is 3 percent of 3%) and last but not least (.0003 is .3 of aaah hell)
So, Dave Hunt is holding an emergency session for .00003 percent of the budget and harvesting KUDOS???? interesting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_b1JFO2frw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FENP7j2vCso&feature=related