Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Guisto has suggested using the new and unused Wapato correctional facility in North Portland as a refugee center for displaced Gulf Coast residents. Portland officials should not hesitate to follow his advice. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens have been displaced from their homes, and this $58 million housing facility [...]

Willamette Week recently touted Oregon’s congressional delegation as “winners” for bringing home $2.7 billion of federal bacon for road and transportation projects. Unfortunately, Oregon’s federal taxpayers are perennial losers. If you were robbed, and later recovered a few of your possessions, would you consider yourself a winner? The federal government continually squanders resources on

This week, the Oregon State Legislature will meet for the 200th calendar day this session. At a direct cost of $28,500 per day, these meetings have already cost Oregon taxpayers millions of dollars this year. Indirectly, the future cost to Oregonians will be even larger. Longer sessions give legislators more time to pass unnecessary laws [...]

Government action often has unintended negative consequences. Of course, these consequences are generally forced upon powerless citizens, who are far removed from the eyesight of lofty judges and politicians. However, sometimes these consequences come back to haunt the very officials who created them. We may witness just such a scenario in the aftermath of the [...]