When I started this blog I set a goal of blogging at least once a week. Obviously I have not met that goal. But I have some good excuses and the intention of getting back on the weekly blogging wagon. Here is a quick summary update of what I have been up to in the… Continue reading Catching up
Author: Eva Schweber
A sisyphian effort
A representative from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has targeted our zip code and is meeting with every business-owner. She asked for our thoughts on taxing gross (rather than net) income for businesses, specifically in reference to HB 2070 and HB 2119. Having not read the legislation, we rescheduled our meeting for yesterday.… Continue reading A sisyphian effort
A Drop in the Bucket
Small businesses are the invisible engine that drives both our local and our national economy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated $730 million to support small businesses. That is 0.05% (yes, I do mean 5/10 of a percent) of the combined bailout total ($700 billion from the Bush administration and $787 billion… Continue reading A Drop in the Bucket
Caveat Emptor
When a business registers on a government’s procurement website to bid on government projects, all of that information becomes part of the public domain. It is then perfectly legal for other businesses to either directly harvest that data, or pay the jurisdiction a fee for access to the data. Every time I have registered any… Continue reading Caveat Emptor
Economic Recovery Cabinet
Back in early February, Mayor Adams held his first Economic Recovery Cabinet meeting. The invitation list was large and included representatives from academia, chambers of commerce, large employers, developers and builders, organized labor, economists, government and nonprofits, attorneys, representatives from some key sectors, including: finance and banking, creative, manufacturing, entertainment and tourism and high tech,… Continue reading Economic Recovery Cabinet
Simplicity isn’t that Simple
This evening I went to the first of several public information meetings for small business trying to participate in the Go Oregon! program. Don’t know what I am talking about? Well, you are not alone. I consider myself to be more web-savvy than the average bear, and I know I am much more comfortable wading… Continue reading Simplicity isn’t that Simple
Starry-eyed Optimist
Keeping up with the Obama administration is a serious challenge for an amateur wonk like me. I can barely keep up with everything they are doing (which I see as a good thing), and I certainly can’t blog at their speed. I was writing my post on transparency and accountability last night and took a… Continue reading Starry-eyed Optimist
Transparency
Whenever I would walk in front of the tv as a child (and I mean from when I started walking onwards), my father would voice his objection by reminding me that I was not transparent. Which means I probably learned the word “transparent” before the average kid. I have also known for a long time… Continue reading Transparency
Cutting off Portlandia’s Nose to Spite our Face
We interrupt our regularly scheduled stimulus bill translation for an update on an issue that refuses to die. I was at City Hall this morning for an early morning meeting. As I was leaving at about 9am, I saw abut 10 people gathered outside with signs advocating for removing Sam Adams from office. I am… Continue reading Cutting off Portlandia’s Nose to Spite our Face
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Now in English.
Yesterday I read through the entire text of the of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It is a very long and challenging document to slog through, and I wouldn’t recommend it to many people. However, as a policy wonk, it was important to me to read text of the legislation myself. Since… Continue reading The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Now in English.
The World we live in 