Cascade CounterPoint

President Trump is not the only one refusing to accept election results. The general manager of TriMet, Doug Kelsey, is claiming that the $3 billion Tigard light rail project is still alive, even though Portland-area voters rejected a proposed funding measure by a wide margin last month. At a recent public meeting, Mr. Kelsey stated that Tigard light rail would be built eventually because “demand...

Clearly, in the middle of a turbulent year, Oregon businesses’ innovation and creativity shine through, despite the heavy weight of lockdowns and restrictions. Even so, the next few months will be critical for many local businesses. Oregonians should rally behind their local businesses this holiday season. That might be the Christmas miracle we all need. Be sure to leave us a review on iTunes and...

Oregon’s government is finally feeling the pain of lockdowns. Last April, an executive order banned the eviction of tenants based on non-payment until June 30, 2020. This action has been extended twice and currently ends January 1st. Now that the year is coming to a close, the Legislature is deciding whether to extend the moratorium for another six months or let it sunset. But this time, constitue...

Be sure to leave us a review on iTunes and share with friends! COVID-19 cases are spiking in Oregon and hospitals across the state are struggling to keep up. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reports that over 80% of Oregon’s adult Intensive Care Unit beds are full. But the OHA has continued to suppress health care facilities and services, by using Certificate of Need (CON) laws. For more than 50...

The quintessential American holiday, Thanksgiving evolved from the Pilgrims’ celebrations to thank God for the harvests that saved Plymouth Colony. What most people didn’t learn in school is that nearly half the Mayflower Pilgrims died of starvation because many refused to work in the fields. Plymouth Colony originally had a socialist economy. Land and crops were held in common. In the words of Go...

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates up to 500,000 birds are killed annually in the United States due to wind turbine collisions. The number of deaths will continue to increase as more turbines populate our nation’s landscape. Raptors are especially vulnerable to colliding with wind turbines due to their flight patterns. They typically soar during high winds, bringing them in line with s...

Governor Kate Brown recently decided to take her Coronavirus “ two-week pause ” one step further by issuing an aggressive statewide “ two-week freeze ” running from November 18th through December 2nd (with an additional two weeks for Multnomah County). Like our podcast? Be sure to leave us a review on iTunes and share with friends! Among its many restrictions, the freeze forces restaurants and bar...

Like our content? Be sure to give us a review on iTunes!  “What is going on?” That’s what many Oregon parents are asking as their kids struggle with online learning, all while public officials flip-flop on education policies during a wave of COVID-19 cases. On October 30th, Governor Kate Brown added to the mayhem. On the same day the state announced a record breaking number of cases, the gove...

While many people in the Portland region value efficient governments, prevailing wage laws are rarely questioned. Prevailing wage laws drain tax-payer funded resources by increasing the labor costs of public construction projects such as affordable housing. These laws were originally enacted to shut out minorities from construction jobs in the 1930s. Portland and Metro are currently using more tha...

Did you know that more than three-fourths of Metro’s park lands purchased with bonds since 1995 are hidden from the public? You might as well call Metro’s lands haunted. Metro has no problems with this fact, no matter how shocking this number is to its residents. In fact, with its newest land acquisition -- an 86-acre property in the Sandy River Basin -- Metro makes it painstakingly clear that thi...

Metro is proposing $5.2 billion in additional payroll taxes to fund a train that creates congestion, a pedestrian bridge that is minutes away from another, and a roundabout that cost over 18 times its original price. Rachel and Vlad go over some ridiculous flaws in Metro’s Measure 26-218 and urge a “no” vote. Learn more at cascadepolicy.org or by emailing info@cascadepolicy.org. As always, be sure...

On Thursday, October 15, Portland General Electric pulled the plug on the Boardman Coal Plant, PGE’s largest power plant. Boardman had a nameplate capacity of 550 firm megawatts of power and was decommissioned 20 years prematurely. While environmentalists celebrate the plant’s closure, utility executives are still trying to figure out how they will keep the lights on in our region. That’s because...

A RealClear Opinion poll released at the end of September revealed that parents with children in school increasingly—and overwhelmingly—favor the concept of school choice. More than 2,000 registered voters were asked this question: “Recent federal legislation gave governors new funding they can use for K-12 education. Some governors have let families control the funds for the purchase of education...

On October 2, Helping Hands unveiled its latest transitional housing facility. After Wapato Jail collected dust for 14 years, Jordan Schnitzer bought the facility to create a homeless shelter. Allen Evans, someone who spent years battling homelessness, was eventually tapped to lead the effort. During months-long negotiations and media coverage, many public officials denounced the plan to house hom...

Listen to Helen Doran, program assistant for External Affairs at Cascade Policy Institute, talk about her homeschooling background and how this drives her support for school choice! Do you have any questions or feedback? Email Helen at helen@cascadepolicy.org, and as always, be sure to leave us a review on iTunes and share with your friends!

Hardly a week goes by that Metro isn’t reaching into your pocketbook or getting deeper in debt. This week, Metro will move forward on issuing $28 million in bonds. Why does Metro need to borrow $28 million? There are two reasons. First, Metro needs the money because that’s how much it’s going to cost to set up its new system to collect TWO new income taxes that go into effect in the New Year. We w...

Listen now to Dr. Eric Fruits and a roundtable discussion about providing a money-back guarantee for Oregon public education. This recording comes from Cascade Policy Institute's September 24th virtual policy picnic. To learn about future events, be sure to visit cascadepolicy.org and sign up for our newsletter for more information. Oregon parents are concerned about the increasing inequity in edu...

Oregon’s very own NuScale Power, a nuclear company developing small-modular reactors (SMRs), has officially received a final safety evaluation report from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission . NuScale is the first company to be issued a report for an SMR by the Commission, and receiving one serves as a technical review and design approval for the new technology. This is a major milestone for Nu...

Public school parents are now part of the educational workforce, except they’re not getting compensated. There is an equitable solution to this. Do you like our content? Be sure to give us a review on iTunes and to subscribe! Email info@cascadepolicy.org to learn more!

Freedom is America's precious treasure - and never too far from being lost. Despite the unprecedented events of 2020, let's remember to pause and reflect on this day of remembrance for all who died and were affected by the events of September 11th, 2001. Freedom is a gift. Let's never forget it. Do you like our content? Be sure to give us a review on iTunes and to subscribe! Email info@cascadepoli...

"Metro spent years finding ways to spend money on transportation projects, while spending about two months figuring out how to pay for it. They only settled on a payroll tax because polling was good." Listen to Vlad Yurlov talk about Metro's newest tax measure, a $5.2 billion dollar payroll tax that will primarily go to building a light rail to Bridgeport. Enjoy Coffee with Cascade? Be sure to giv...

President Trump is frequently accused of lying. But, he doesn’t have a monopoly on falsehood. Look around the Portland region and you’ll see our local politicians lying to us time after time. And their lies have real consequences. Listen to Dr. Eric Fruits, Vice President of Research at Cascade Policy Institute, talk about Metro's "Get Moving 2020" measure and how Metro is deceiving voters. Follow...

California’s recent blackouts should serve as a warning to officials in the Northwest as we continue to increasingly crowd out fossil-fuel plants in favor of renewable alternatives. The rolling blackouts were a “perfect storm” of events, resulting from sudden drops in solar and wind power, a heatwave driving up demand, the sudden loss of a natural gas powered plant, and the inability to import ele...

Metro tried to predict the future of the tri-county region in 1995. Now, 20 years into the 40-year plan, Cooper Conway explains how this prediction has affected Oregonians today.  Contact Cooper for questions at cooper@cascadepolicy.org or email info@cascadepolicy.org. 

Oregon guidelines for the 2020 fall semester have been remarkably inconsistent, causing confusion and mayhem for faculty, parents, and students alike. The Oregon Department of Education recently released new guidelines that allow students with special needs to have limited in-person instruction but with reduced hours and class size. This includes students with disabilities, English language learne...