Little People Stars Sue Washington County building inspectors

Little People Stars Sue Washington County building inspectors By Oregon Tax News Little People, Big World stars Amy and Matt Roloff decided to sue Washington County for $200,000 and legal costs after John Wheeler, a Washington County building services inspector, allegedly trespassed on their Hillsboro farm on July 16, 2010. The complaint holds that Amy…

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Texas Free Market Policies Beat California’s Economic Strategy

Texas Free Market Policies Beat California’s Economic Strategy Texas managed to pull itself out of the recession with its free market policies during a time when California’s economy continues to decline. The Chief Executive magazine ranked California as the worst business climate in the nation, while Texas’ ranked the best. Experts attribute Texas’ vast natural…

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Warning Signs for Renewable Energy

Warning Signs for Renewable Energy By Oregon Tax News Signs of renewable energy storm clouds… – 86% of new Congress Freshmen oppose climate change legislation – 17 Senators signed a letter calling ethanol indefensible and unwise – Both Al Gore and Obama’s Energy Secretary Steven Chu blasted ethanol in the past few weeks – The…

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Does Portland need to borrow $548 million?

Money is not the teacher problem in Portland By Richard Leonetti, By Oregon Tax News, A response to the Portland Public School’s call for a half-billion education bond and The Oregonian Editorial Board’s response. Not so fast with a property tax increase of $2.00 per thousand for Portland Schools. Portland Schools already have borrowed $470…

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Are MBAs a waste of time and money

By Oregon Tax News, – Did you know that of the 50 best-performing CEOs in the world only 14 had an MBA? Josh Kaufman, a 28-year-old entrepreneur and former assistant brand manager for Procter & Gamble (P&G), thinks business school is a waste of time and money. Instead of paying $80,000 to $100,000 to attain…

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Youth unemployment remains low

The youth jobless numbers are staggering, and it is wrecking housing, consumer spending and marriage rates By Oregon Tax News, This year, the nation hit a record high unemployment rate more than 17% of 20 to 24-year-olds. The Labor Department reports that even young adults with college degrees face a 9.3% jobless rate. The figure…

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Bush Tax Cuts: Ore. Fed-Tax Code link Impact

By Oregon Tax News, How Would the Expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts Affect Oregonians? The Bush tax cuts, set to expire at the end of the year, have many Americans worried about how it will affect their taxes. According to the Wall Street Journal, “If returning lawmakers don’t pass legislation by December 31, the…

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$107M flap caused by one state’s highest paid

$107M flap caused by one state’s highest paid By Oregon Tax News, State radio network is 22% over budget Plans to build a statewide emergency radio network are running late and $107 million over budget, according to internal state audits and reports. The documents indicate that mismanagement, missed deadlines and hidden costs have pushed up…

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Oregon, Washington and Virginia Eye Liquor Reform

Oregon, Washington and Virginia Eye Liquor Reform By Oregon Tax News,  In November, Washington voters will have the opportunity to vote on two initiatives regarding the privatization of liquor stores and revising laws concerning regulation, taxation and government revenues from the distribution and sale of spirits.  If passed, Initiatives 1100 and 1105 will close state…

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Four taxes that failed in June

 Tax increases on oil companies, soda pop, income and parcels  failedin June. Oil tax loses in Congress At the federal level, Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent Senator from Vermont, led the unsuccessful Congressional effort to pass legislation to repeal oil tax breaks.  Senator Sanders argued that big oil companies make billions in profits and do…

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