That's the only explanation I can muster from Oregon State Sen. Peter Courtney, who says the Democrats in control of the legislative and executive branches hope to jump-start the state economy by borrowing billions dollars for public works projects. Courtney said:

I don't know how else to deal with the declining job market. I have got to do what I can do to get jobs and get them now.

More than 8 percent of Oregonians are out of work (which is a point and a half above the national rate) and Courtney doesn't know any way to deal with it except for a huge run-up in the state's debtload? And this man is in charge of the state senate?

Surely the Dems can come up with someone with a little more imagination.

Kudos to the Vancouver, Washington fire department union, which decided this week to approve a pay freeze for its members. More than 90 percent of the members voted in favor of the freeze, which comes as the city (like most cities and businesses in the country) is dealing with an expected budget deficit.

Money quote from Fire Capt. Bill Garlington:

People are losing their jobs. The people losing their jobs are the people who are paying our wages.

Exactly.

I'm might quibble a bit, howevver, with how the Oregonian described Garlington's vote. Yes, his is a one-income household with college tuition bills looming on the horizon, but there are plenty of people in the same boat making a whole lot less than Garlington's near-$100,000 annual salary.

But nonetheless: it's nice to see a union that has a clue about what's appropriate and who's paying the bills.

in the United States Congress, why would I negotiate anything with Republicans regarding the Auto Workers' Manufacturers' bailout (or anything else, for that matter)?

Thanks to last month's elections, the Dems expanded their House majority by 21 seats, and will hold a 257-178 advantage when new members are sworn in next month. In the Senate, the GOP is holding on by the skin of its teeth; assuming Norm Coleman squeaks by Al Franken in Minnesota, Democrats will hold a 58-42 advantage. That means the Dems just have to pick off two votes (take your pick: Arlen Specter or George Voinovich or Olympia Snow or Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski or . . . ) to end a filibuster. If I were Harry Reid and I didn't get my way, I'd go home, too.

It's gonna be a long two years for conservatives, and there's not much we can do about it.

During the election, some suggested that Barack Obama had similarities to Ronald Reagan, insofar as both men came to national attention in a time when the country was primed and ready for a cultural shift.

After seeing the president-elect's ability to interact with shady figures -- be it Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright or Rod Blagojevich -- yet claim ignorance of their character and come out unscathed, I'm starting to see at least one comparison.

Barack Obama is either incredibly lucky that no one is willing or able to spill the beans on him; incredibly capable of ignoring the character of others in order to accomplish his goals; or incredibly ignorant of the people with whom he associates.

...but it sounds like Jack Bogdanski is pondering the possibility of riots in America.

He essentially says that the country is in such rough shape, that people are so frightened and downtrodden, that the country is heading in the wrong direction on so many fronts, that there is no way the new president can act quickly enough to satisfy those hurting souls. The result, like the built-up anger over racial discrimination, will be that "many Americans won't be willing to wait quite as long as I am to see some results."

He never comes out and says that riots are inevitable, but by invoking the Civil Rights era rioting and comparing that situation to today, it's not a difficult leap to think that Jack sees the parallels extending to the 1960s destruction of America's inner cities. It's also not difficult to imagine that others in a position to implement such violence also see the parallels, and are already working toward those ends.

The country is, in some ways, in rough shape, and many people are worried. But perhaps this is but one of many examples of the hazards involved in praying for The Obamessiah to wave his magic wand and bring the world together at the communal campfire of humanity. Now that The One has been elected, people are starting to realize (admit?) that Obama is only a man, and that miraculous change is not quite the reality they claimed two months ago.

...