The Hillsboro Argus
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Saxton for Governor
Saturday, October 21, 2006
When Ron Saxton came to see us, he drew two lines on our conference room board. One represented state income. The other represented state expense. They were parallel and headed up. As Brainstorm NW put it, "The first biennial budget (1987-1989) adopted by this nascent (Neil Goldschmidt) Democrat dynasty was $3.8 billion. Now 20 years later, the most recent biennial budget has reached $12.5 billion - an average biennial increase of 23 percent. During that same period of time, Oregon total personal income grew at an average rate of about 13 percent per biennium."
Since Vic Atiyeh, our last Republican governor, 20 years ago, Democrats have run the office. That folks permeates down to the state's bureaucracy. It is time to shake it up. If we don't, we will surely continue down this path of inefficiency and end up on the rocks of brutal tax reform, Sizemore style.
There are some clear differences between these candidates and their platforms. Ted Kulongoski believes the government is truly here to help us. And he wants to increase the size of government to that end. Read increase your taxes to pay for it. The public employee unions clearly benefit from this mind set. It's vital for their survival to "empire build."
Saxton sees it another way. This thing hasn't been reorganized in 20 years. He would like to "sunset everything, department by department. Show the people where you are spending the money." He believes there are efficiencies, not in a city-by-city approach but in a "services by services approach." This could be especially true in Oregon schools. He points to duplicated efforts by school districts within the same geographical region. Could some of the services like payroll be privatized and shared? "The money that should be going to the classroom is being used for support services, union jobs that Kulongoski will not cut."
From what we've seen for the past four years, Saxton is right. Oregon is not living up to its potential. It is time for a change, and we believe Saxton to be the leader Oregon needs, to fix our highways, shore up our immigration response, redefine our education priorities (it's about our children, especially K-3) and get control of the budget. Ron Saxton needs to be our next governor. Now, we urge our readers to make it happen. W. Clark Gallagher
From what we've seen for the past four years, Saxton is right. Oregon is not living up to its potential. It is time for a change, and we believe Saxton to be the leader Oregon needs, to fix our highways, shore up our immigration response, redefine our education priorities (it's about our children, especially K-3) and get control of the budget. Ron Saxton needs to be our next governor. Now, we urge our readers to make it happen. W. Clark Gallagher
Hillsboro Argus Editorial
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