Dudley's Dud Lead

A leading candidate for governor in Oregon, Chris Dudley, summed up the most of the major policies touted to create jobs in the US: cut taxes, reduce government spending, improving higher education. It is the fourth policy he proposed that caught my eye. He believes “[Oregon's] attitude towards business is a bad one.”

“We have a national reputation as a place not friendly for business and we need to change that.”

Oregon is not friendly for business. Huh?

It is one of only five states that have no sales tax. Who pays what when it comes to the state’s corporate tax ($10 is the minimum annual payment) is kept secret from taxpayers, whose income and property taxes are what mostly pay the bills in the state. A revenue limit returns excess taxes collected when the actual amount collected exceeds the estimated amount projected by more than 2 percent. Nike has its corporate home in Oregon and Intel is the state’s largest private employer. Oregon ranks 27th in state population and the 26th wealthiest state in terms of GDP, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Its unemployment rate is 10.7 percent.

If “not friendly for business” means the drop in timber production from federal lands, which was reduced by 96 percent in the 1990s, and the decrease in the timber industry in general, that is fair. Oregon remains, however, the leading producer of soft lumber production among the 50 states. While we are being fair, also note that Intel and Nike are both prime examples of how business friendly we are by letting corporations ship jobs that can be done in America overseas.

“There are 250,000 of our fellow Oregonians who are out of work, unemployed right now,” Dudley said. “I’m a believer that government doesn't create jobs but rather government creates the environment in which jobs can be created.”

The Republican candidate’s prescription for unemployment ills is no worse than the Republicans he was debating, nor of all Republicans anywhere. These ineffectual strategies are not worse than what Democrats have failed to do. It is just another example of the “shirts and skins” politics of America that continues to leave the unemployed out of work.

Homilies like Dudley’s will not get the job done.