Legislature "maxed out" state credit limit, but on what?
    The majority party took the state credit card on a spin last session, racking up so much debt that State Treasurer Ted Wheeler (D) issued a strong warning against further borrowing on Friday. But what did the state get for all that spending?
“We said it two years ago and we will say it again, borrowing to continue the legislature’s addiction to spending is fiscal mismanagement,” said Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day). “Unfortunately, that is exactly what the majority party has done, and we have little to show for their efforts.”
At the outset of the 2009 session, it took Democrats less than a month to charge $175 million in pork barrel spending to the taxpayer’s credit line. Called the “Go Oregon!” stimulus project, it turned out to be a pathetic failure. The project borrowed money to pay for maintenance projects around the state, a maneuver most businesses would avoid as fiscally irresponsible. Many of the projects were as silly as replacing door hardware, pulling up juniper bushes, treating roofs for moss and installing light bulbs. The Go Oregon! plan routinely failed to meet minimum requirements and benchmarks set for it.
Moreover, Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) wants Oregonians to regard it as a mere coincidence that $12 million went to his employer at Western Oregon University.
Most importantly, the $175 million in spending failed to make a dent in Oregon’s double digit unemployment rate. Today Oregon hovers at the same number of unemployed individuals as it did two years ago.
“Not only has the majority party spent beyond Oregon's self-imposed limits, but they have spent it foolishly,” said Ferrioli. "Democrat leaders in the Legislature "maxed out" our credit line, but Oregonians aren’t any better off today than they were two years ago.”
Wheeler said on Friday that the state must stop borrowing until the economy recovers. His warning was endorsed by the state’s Debt Policy Advisory Commission. The Legislature has authorized more than $1 billion in new borrowing this budget cycle, putting the state well over the recommended debt-to-income ratio.
If Democrats retain control of the legislature, their only option is to ignore the warnings of the Debt Policy Advisory Commission and continue spending at unsustainable levels.

Democrats Name Negotiating Team... 
Democrats and Republicans  to begin power sharing negotiations in evenly divided House.
  House Democrats today announced the four members of their team charged with negotiating a power sharing agreement with Republicans in the evenly divided chamber. The team includes House Speaker Dave Hunt (D-Clackamas County), Speaker Pro-Tempore Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay), Representative Jeff Barker (D-Aloha) and Representative Margaret Doherty (D-Tigard). Negotiations are set to begin Wednesday.
   "I am confident this diverse, experienced team will help us reach a fair agreement with our Republican colleagues based on continued cooperation throughout the legislative session", said Speaker Hunt, "We must put aside the rancor of the campaign season and honor the will of the voters. That means working together for the betterment of Oregon".

COURTNEY CHOOSES DEVLIN TO SERVE AS SENATE CO-CHAIR OF JOINT WAYS & MEANS...
   Senate President Peter Courtney announced Tuesday that Senator Richard Devlin will serve as Senate Co-Chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee in the 76th Oregon Legislative Assembly. As Co-Chair, Devlin (D-Tualatin) will be the lead Senator working to craft the 2011-2013 biennial budget for the State of Oregon.
   Senator Devlin has the experience and skills that will be required to lead the state budget-making process in the most difficult circumstances our state has ever faced,” Courtney said. “He has a reputation for being honest, fair and accessible. He has the ability to see the big picture and work with legislators from both parties and both chambers. He has a track record of getting the job done and getting it done on time.”
   Devlin was a member of the full Ways and Means Committee during the 2003, 2005 and 2007 sessions and also served on the Special Senate Budget Committee in 2003 and 2005. His Ways and Means experience spans the entire breadth of the budget. In his 14-year legislative career, Devlin has served on the Ways and Means Sub-Committees on Public Safety, General Government, Education, Natural Resources and Capital Construction. " In these challenging times, it is important to remember that the state budget is about more than spreadsheets and numbers. It's about meeting the needs of Oregonians and building a bridge to a brighter future for our children" Devlin said. "I am eager to take on the challenges ahead and thankful to the Senate President for giving me this opportunity".
   Devlin was first elected to the Legislature in 1996 and served in the House for three terms. He was elected to represent Senate District 19 in 2002 and earlier this month won re-election to his third term in the Senate. Most recently he served as Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2010.
   Devlin is a former member of the Metro Council, the Tualatin City Council, and the Tualatin Parks Advisory Committee. During his two terms on the Metro Council, Devlin chaired regional committees on green space conservation, intergovernmental relations, land use, transportation, and water issues.
   Born in Eugene, Devlin earned a Bachelor of Science in Administration of Justice from Portland State University and a Master of Arts in management from Pepperdine University. Senator Devlin’s occupational background is in adult and juvenile corrections and civil and criminal investigations. Additionally, he served in the United States Marine Corps. He resides in Tualatin with his wife Eliza. They have two children.

  Kitzhaber names four "Budget Team" Group Learders...
   Gov. elect Kitzhaber named four "budget work teams" that  will address specific budget-shaping challenges as the governor begins tackling budget questions. Oregon lawmakers must address an expected $3 billion-plus budget deficit during the 2011 session.
The budget team leaders are:
.  Lynne Saxton CEO of ChristieCare and OHSU executive Pam Curtis, who'll lead the Early Childhood Team. The group will try to find "strategies for a sustained investment and unified effort in early childhood" as the moves would relate to longer-term objectives.
. Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Nancy Golden and Jeld-Wen Executive Vice President Ron Saxton, will focus on primary and secondary education issues.
. Oregon Business Council President Duncan Wyse and Lane Community College President Mary Spilde, will oversee discussions on post-secondary education.
. Brett Wilcox and George Brow, will help Kitzhaber develop "outcomes-based management" methods that help shape the budget. Wilcox is CEO of Summit Power while Brown is president and CEO of Legacy Health.
   The teams will work over the next six weeks to help Gov. elect Kitzhaber craft a 2011-13 budget. During his campaign Kitzhaber said that he wanted to craft a 10-year budgeting strategy.

Senate Republicans elect  leadership... 
   Following an election that saw the addition of two Republican seats in the State Senate, Oregon Senate Republicans unanimously re-elected Senator Ferrioli (R-John Day) as caucus leader for a fourth session. Ferrioli is Oregon's senior State Senator. The caucus also elected Senator Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro) and Senator Frank Morse (R-Albany) as deputy caucus leaders.
   Ferrioli said that Republicans will continue to fight for an agenda that cuts costs and creates jobs for the quarter-million Oregonians who are unemployed. "We reject the legacy of out-of-control spending," Ferrioli said. "Republicans will focus on bringing down spending and growing the economy.""Oregonians said with a loud voice that they want Oregon to go in a different direction with more balanced leadership," said Ferrioli. "We look forward to working hard to put Oregonians back to work and our state on a path for success and prosperity."
   Senator Jeff Kruse will continue as caucus whip. Senator Doug Whitsett (R-Klamath Falls) and Senator Chris Telfer (R-Bend) will serve as assistant majority leaders. Ferrioli is in his fourth term as State Senator.

The Oregon Health Authority...
The Oregon Health Authority is the organization at the forefront of lowering and containing costs, improving quality and increasing access to health care in order to improve the lifelong health in Oregon. The Oregon Health Authority is overseen by the nine-member citizen Oregon Health Policy Board working towards comprehensive health and health care reform in our state.
About ODS
Serving more than 1 million members, ODS is a multifaceted organization that provides a variety of affordable health plans and business services to customers throughout the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1955, ODS is headquartered in Portland and has offices in Medford, Ore., Milwaukie, Ore., Bend, Ore., and La Grande, Ore., as well as in Seattle, Wash., and Anchorage, Alaska. For more information, visit www.odscompanies.com.

  The Repeal To Replace? An insurance company wistle blower explains why the most controversial provisions of the law will survive...
by Wendell Potter
   Conservatives who voted for congressional candidates because they pledged to repeal and replace the health-care-reform law are in for a rude awakening. Once those newly elected members of Congress have a little talk with the insurance industry's lobbyists and executives, they will back off from that pledge. They will go through the motions, of course. They'll hold hearings and take to the floor of both Houses to rail against the new law, and they'll probably even introduce a bill to repeal it with much fanfare-but it will all be for show. That's because health insurers, one of Republican candidates' biggest and most reliable benefactors-the industry contributed three times as much money to Republicans as to Democrats since January-can't survive without it.
     We Need to Talk About Death... Although I was ashamed of many of the things I did during my career, I didn't plan to speak out about the industry's devious practices until I saw Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, tell President Obama at the end of his March 2009 White House Forum on Health Reform, "You have our commitment to play, to contribute, and to help pass health-care reform this year." Then I knew the industry's disingenuous charm offensive had begun. Soon after that I read that, Aetna chairman and CEO Ron Williams, the driving force behind the industry's effort to get the individual mandate enacted, had met with the president half a dozen times. I knew Williams was trying to persuade the president to drop his insistence on the public option and to embrace the individual mandate. Sure enough, Williams got his wish.
   Despite all the attacks on "Obamacare," the new law
props up the employer-based system that insurers and
large corporations benefit from so greatly. It also guarantees that private insurers will get billions of dollars in new revenue. And the insurers won't have to share a penny of that windfall with a government-run public option the president once said was necessary" to keep insurers honest."
   I know what the insurers are thinking because, not long ago, I was on their side. I am sorry to admit it, but
over nearly two decades I had a hand in planning the industry's PR and public-policy strategies to either kill or shape any health-care reform proposal that might hinder profits. I was part of the strategic communications team that planned and carried out the successful attack on the Clinton plan in the 1990s as well as the one that killed the patients' bill of rights a few years later. I left my job handling communications for Cigna in 2008 because I didn't have the stomach to be part of yet another spin campaign to cheat Americans out of the reform they needed.
   For months before I left my job, I worked closely with my counterparts at the other big insurers to develop the list of must-haves our well-connectedarmy of lobbyists would take to Capitol Hill when lawmakers began drafting reform legislation. Despite their public statements to the contrary, insurance companies really liked much of what was in both House and Senate versions of the bill-big chunks of which they actually wrote behind the scenes-especially the requirement that all Americans buy insurance if they're not eligible for an existing public program like Medic-aid or Medicare.
   During the reform debate, the industry's deception-based PR strategy had two active fronts. One was a highly visible charm offensive designed to create an image of the industry as an advocate for reform and a good-faith partner with the president and lawmakers in achieving it. The second was a secret fearmongering campaign using shadowy "AstroTurf" groups and business and political allies as shills to disseminate misinformation and lies-like the one about the creation of "death panels"-with the sole intent of killing any reform that might hurt the bottom line.

Debt Doomsday: Coming in May 2011...
   America's debt ceiling currently stands at $14.3  trillion. This is the level that, by law, the government's debt is not allowed to exceed. Trouble is, the government's present debt has swelled to $13.7 trillion.
   This means that at the current rate, we're on course to smash through that $14.3 trillion ceiling around May 2011 (although it might happen a month or two later, depending on what budget cuts are enacted in the next few months and how quickly they're implemented).
   So what will the government do about this? Same thing it's done almost every year since 1962: Raise the debt ceiling so America can pay its bills. Congress really has no choice in the matter either. If the ceiling isn't raised, we've got a problem. A very big one.
   A Fistful of Dominos...
   Without Congressional approval for additional debt, the U.S government cannot pay its bills - most notably, interest payments on treasury bonds, bills and notes. If America defaults on those payments, or even misses them by just one day, the domino effect would be brutal...

~ Domino #1: The country would lose its AAA credit
rating and those bonds, bills and notes would no longer enjoy their status as the safest investments on the planet.
~ Domino #2: In turn, a lower credit rating would mean
that the United States would pay higher interest on its bonds in order to attract investors. Result?
~ Domino #3: A tidal wave of selling through fixed income markets, driving interest rates higher still.
~ Domino #4: Social Security would be hit hard, as its funds are invested in Treasuries. Suddenly, Social Security would have far less resources than just a day or two earlier.
~ Domino #5: If money is pouring out of so-called "safe" investments, you can bet that in that kind of environment, the demand for riskier investments would be next to nil. Stocks and financial markets around the globe would plummet. So why is this year's Congressional raising of the debt limit different than every other?
To Raise or Not to Raise?
Simple: This year, some members of Congress have said they won't vote to raise the debt ceiling. And they may be serious this time.