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Former President
says vote for Hillary, vote for change
With a surging crowd of over 2,500 in
the Bend High School gymnasium, former
President Bill Clinton told Central
Oregonians Monday night why a vote for
his wife Hillary is a vote for change.
In his hour plus address, Clinton touched on everything
from the economy to clean energy and the
housing market to Iraq.
Clinton described Oregon as a state with “democracy in
action” due to its various initiatives,
referendums, “user friendly” vote by
mail system, and the Oregon Health Plan.
He praised Oregon as a state which looks
toward new innovations in clean energy.
The Clintons view clean energy and energy efficiency as
a way to create more jobs and help the
troubled U.S. economy. Jobs can be
created not only through research and
development, but also production and
instillation of these technologies.
Clinton said clean energy can create
millions of jobs for any education
level.
“This plan is your best bet to put America back to work
and to do it the right way,” he said.
One of Hillary’s goals is to fund research and
development to mass produce a car which
would get 100 miles per gallon. Clinton
pointed out as with any technology, mass
production would make the car affordable
for every American as well as decrease
our dependence on foreign oil.
“Charge whatever you want (for oil), we’re going to
keep our $350 million in America, in our
pocket books,” said Clinton.
Clinton also touched on the troubled housing market and
his wife’s plan to help those families
who are in foreclosure with mortgages
they can’t afford. “Hillary is the only
person running, who would put an
immediate moratorium (on payments) for
90 days and go over every one of these
loans,” he said.
After the review process, brokers, who granted the
sub-prime mortgages, would then be asked
to participate in a bailout program
where they would take a 20 percent hit
and the government would put up 20
percent. As long as they paid their
mortgages, families would be guaranteed
to stay in their homes for five years.
Clinton described his wife as the best candidate for
commander-in-chief as well as a
diplomat. He said Hillary will send a
very different message to the world.
“America is back,” he said. “We are back
in the cooperation business. We are back
in the diplomacy business.”
Clinton stated we can’t tell the world there is one set
of rules for the U.S. and another set
for everybody else. “Hillary has represented
our country and is widely respected
around the world,” he said. “She has
made friends for America.”
A worry for many in the crowd was Iraq. Clinton shared
Hilary’s plan to bring troops home, but
not to have an immediate pullout.
Instead one and two brigades at a time
would be brought home and a contingent
of forces would remain in Northern Iraq.
Clinton said a small force needs to
remain behind to deal with al-Qaida and
other terrorists.
Though excited by many of Clinton’s proposals, the
crowd was very subdued as they listened
and learned about one of the democratic
nominees. “It’s so quiet. Why has it
been so quiet?” questioned Clinton.
“Because you know this country is in
trouble and we’ve got to change it.”
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Is the US heading
toward a recession?
The question
of whether the U.S. is heading toward a
recession, is in a recession, or looks to
avoid a recession has been tossed around
for the past several months. Many
Americans are waiting to hear a
definitive answer.
On Wednesday, Congress was warned by Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke that a recession
is possible. He stated the U.S. economy
is likely to shrink during the first
half of the year.
“It now appears likely that gross domestic product
(GDP) will not grow much, if at all,
over the first half of 2008 and could
even contract slightly,” Bernanke said.
Bernanke does believe the economy can rebound in the
second half of the year and continue
that growth into 2009. Though he
wouldn’t state if the economy is in a
recession, Bernanke pointed out the
National Bureau of Economic Research
will make the determination in the
months ahead by looking at a variety of
economic statistics.
The UCLA Anderson Forecast released in Mid-March
has forecasted for a weak growth in the
economy for 2008, but does not see any
signs of a recession.
“Our no-recession forecast remains nervously intact,”
wrote UCLA Anderson Forecast Director
Edward Leamer in a press release. “We
see a lot of problems in the fist half
of 2008, as housing remains to a drag on
the GDP growth and weakness in personal
consumption contributes as well.”
The housing market, unemployment, and high oil prices
will continue to be factors on the
economy. Leamer believes until he sees a
total lack of spending by consumers and
businesses due to a credit crunch, the
country will continue to avoid a
recession.
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Unemployment on the rise for
February 2008
Central
Oregon’s unemployment rates continued to
rise from January to February. Deschutes
County again had the lowest rate at 8.3
percent while Crook County had the
highest increase at 10.9 percent.
Deschutes County increased 0.8 percent which was an
unexpected rise for the month. However,
February did see employment gains after
January’s decline. This is the time of
the year the county normally sees an
increase in employment which will follow
through until summer.
According to the Oregon Employment Department, eight
out of the last ten months, Deschutes
County has beat expectations. The
largest job increases occurred in the
local government sector as well as
professional and business services.
Declines continued in construction,
natural resources, retail trade, and
leisure and hospitality.
The average unemployment rate for February in Oregon
was 6.4 percent and nationally was 5.2
percent. For more information on the
unemployment rates visit
www.qualityinfo.org.
Information provided by Oregon
Employment Department
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Sheriff installs
X-Ray Machine at Courthouse
The next time
you go to the Deschutes County Justice
Building, you will have to walk through
a new x-ray system. The system was
installed in the courthouse on April 2.
This new security measure will provide a safe
environment for officials, court
employees, case participants, and the
visiting public. Following a state
mandate, the Sheriff is required to
provide security for the county
courthouse.
Those who enter the courthouse will be required to
remove all items from their pockets and
walk through the metal detector. In a
press release, Sheriff Larry Blanton
said if you wouldn’t take an item to the
airport; don’t bring it to the county
courthouse.
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FireFree
Dates Announced
The FireFree dates have been announced
for this spring. FireFree encourages
residents to prepare themselves for the
upcoming wildfire season by gathering up
yard debris and creating defensible
space around their homes.
Residents are also encouraged to prune trees and clear
flammable vegetation that encroaches on
the minimum 30-foot buffer zone around
homes and other structures.
FireFree allows residents of Central
Oregon the opportunity to recycle yard
waste and debris at no charge at area
landfills and transfer stations.
The Knott Landfill in Bend will accept yard waste from
April 19 through April 27. The Deschutes
County Transfer sites will take yard
debris on May 3 and May 4 from the Negus
Transfer Station, Fryrear Transfer
Station and the La Pine Transfer
Station. In Sunriver, residents can drop
by their debris to the Sunriver Compost
Site on May 3 and May 4.
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Annual Recognition Dinner,
Last Chance for Tickets
Title Sponsors
 On
April 7, the Chamber will host its
Annual Recognition Dinner at the
Riverhouse Convention Center. The awards
for Large Distinguished
 Business
of the Year, Small Distinguished
Business of the Year, Outstanding
Organization of the Year and Citizen of
the Year will be announced. If you
plan on attending, but haven't contacted
the Chamber, act now! Please sign up
on-line
HERE!
or call 382-3221 by
Friday, April 4 at noon.
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Upcoming
events .
April
15, 2008: Professional Development
Series -
“The Art of Negotiation”, featuring
speaker Jim Dover of The Partners
Group. Jim comes highly recommended
both as a speaker as well as a very
effective negotiator. Some of you may
recognize him as having been the long
time VP of HR at St. Charles, a role
that obviously carried varying degrees
of negotiation, conflict resolution,
listening skills and much more. Register
online
HERE or call the Bend Chamber
at 382-3221.
April
18, 2008: Maximum Impact Simulcast:
Advance. New Hope Church of Bend will
participate as a local host for this
leadership event. The simulcast will
include over 80,000 business
professionals participating via
satellite downlink in 600 churches
across North America. The list of
speakers include the following : Dr.
John C. Maxwell; New York Times
Bestselling Author, Patrick Lencioni;
Fast Company Founding Editor Bill
Taylor; Former Nike Creative Katalyst
Kevin Carroll, Authors Andy Stanley and
Andy Andrews, and ESPN Analyst Dick
Vitale. For more information, visit
www.maximumimpact.com/mis and to
register, call New Hope Church at
389-3436.
April 24, 2008: Community First Bank proudly
presents the tenth annual Central Oregon
Business Expo. The Business Expo is
Central Oregon’s premiere
business-to-business networking event of
the year; featuring an informative
kick-off luncheon, free business
workshops, and the opportunity to
discover the region’s growing business
community all under one roof in one day.
The event will take place at the
Deschutes County Expo Center from 1 p.m.
to 6 p.m. with a Kick-off Luncheon from
11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event is free
to attend. Booth space is still
available. For more information go to
www.visitredmondoregon.com.
April 24, 2008: “Selling to the Government: The
Inside Scoop on Government Contracting”
presented by the Government Contract
Assistance Program (GCAP) and Central
Oregon Community College’s Business
Development Center present. This is a
free class which will be held at COCC’s
Redmond Campus from 9 a.m. to noon. Sign
up to get an overview of the Government
Contract Assistance Program and find out
how to register for Federal contracting
opportunities. Pre-registration is
required. Call COCC’s Business
Development Center at 541-383-7290!
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