The Oregon legislature has stepped up and
has followed sound advice from the people
they represent. They are attempting to enact
legislation that would reduce the size of the
reserve fund, ($400 million), which was carved
out of the new $6 billion k-12 budget, 
by $200 million dollars, thus providing an
additional $200 million dollars to this next 2
year budget cycle.
($225 million final amount of funding
increase.)

This effort would if successful prevent approx..
95% of the remaining scheduled layoffs and
program cuts

(Governor Kulongoski attempted to veto/
ignor the wishes of the voters, but was himself
strongly defeated in a veto over ride effort
spear headed by his own party.)

This would also put the OEA union into a stong
position to offer a two year pay freeze or raise
reduction that would then allow all layoffs to be
halted, and all programs to be restored.

Rainy day funds/reserve funds--Well it's
raining about as hard as recorded history has
ever seen.. And if this is not the time to use
reserve funds when will it be?

Colin Stuart McCoy

I find it an accurate indicator of failure in our
State political leadership, that Oregon is one of
the less than a handfull of states that spend
more on prisons than on Higher education.
what a bunch of geniuses.

Update-7-19-09 I think the "delay" in processes
that the tax increase proposals going through
Gov. Kulongoski's office if intentional is an
acceptable tactic. I think the gov. should sign all
but the corporate tax bills and veto the corporate
tax increase related one.

10/20/09 Update on the corporate tax bill signed.
As it appears now, I don't have a huge problem
with this tax under existing economic realities.

I am a believer in that over taxing corporate
profits can lead to a negative impact on economic
growth/activity.. key word/phrase here is
(over taxing). This bill appears rational enough..
let us hope it does not lead to imprudent over 
reaching in this form of taxation. 

Over the course of the last couple of weeks
I have been asked why my posting are so
religious?...I have also been asked why are
my posting so anti- religious?

So for those who may need clarification I will
state the following.

When it comes to matters of faith or a
persons religious beliefs.... to me that is a
personal matter that is not something I track
very closely, I'm much more interested in
observing how people interact with the rest of
humanity.

However...If your church or your faith or social
affiliations requires you to participate in
discriminatory or exclusionary beliefs or
practices...You will find me being as vocal
as I feel I need to be in order to confront
these intellectually/spiritually unsound
behavior/belief patterns.

I have a real problem with people/organizations
who because of their intellectual failures or lack
of needed education attribute to God or Jesus,
directives that are clearly anti-Jesus, or anti-
God.

People who have yet to get their minds around
the fact that when it comes to a person gender,
gender orientation, race or sexual orientation...
they were born this way.. the scientific evidence
is solid and really settles the matter for any
body who operates in a non-taliban manner.

So if you truly believe in God, things are the
way they are in these regards because it is
Gods design..Gods will.

The God or faith that I would be willing to
ascribe to will not ever accept that God, being
all knowing, compassionate, wise.. would ever
create beings that were not to be treated
as equal in all things related to human and
civil rights.

It's only when you are dealing with the
demented and uneducated aspects of
humanity that you find the human condition
assaulted/insulted by people who are in fact
clearly leaving their intellectual honesty at
the door, and are imposing their hate and
discriminatory social agendas against the
innocent.

The time has come for these people.
organizations, groups to grow up and rejoin
the human race, it's time for them to set
aside their mindless fears, hates, and
uneducated beliefs. The future for these
issues is here.

Within the next several years organizations
that discriminate or exclude in the name of
God, or Jesus will either grow up, or fade
away.

The period of human history where humans
can do evil in the name of God or Jesus, or
which ever diety they follow.. is coming to an
end!!!  

Colin Stuart McCoy

Something very wrong has happened.
An innocent and heroic guard was killed in the
performance of his duty. ( Reports have
stated that this guard, who by every account
was a wonderful person, was in fact holding
the door for the "shooter", trying to, in fact,
help him.

The shooter is a person with some serious
errors in thinkings and possessing some
very distorted facts/beliefs.

This was so needless..

I'm studying this all now.
More soon.

CSM

It appears based upon what I have come
across that the shooter had an intellectually
unsupportable degree of prejudice against
groups of people.

It also appears that the shooter had a distorted
and innaccurate understanding of the financial
institutions of our country. IE the Federal
Reserve. Rather than study the situation, it
appears that the shooter bought into various
conspiracy theories that have as of this date
been thoroughly disproved. Not saying there are
not serious problems with how we manage the
global finance system that needs to be corrected
just as soon as possible, but let us try and
keep it real, and the debate intellectually
honest and supportable by fact. Let us stay
away from the products of damaged and
uneducated minds.

6/19/09 It has now been reported that child
pornography has been found on the shooters
personal computer--Why is it that those that
are involved in "white" supremacy processes
or hate groups are always such poor
representations of their ethnic group?

I have serious problems with the situation in
Israel and Palestine, both sides have engaged
in processes that are impossible to support
fully. Israel deserves to exist in peace and
this must be recognized by all Muslim nations,
but Palestinians also have a right to their own
homeland as well, where they may live and
prosper in peace, and this must be accepted
by Israel.

People who choose to deny that the Holocaust
happened have serious problems with their
ability to study and perceive reality. It
happened, and had I the opportunity I would
have been willing to risk my life to end it.

CSM