en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/321201 Comments by ocdave67 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Hundreds-rally-against-postal-service-cuts--136915113.html#IDComment259192572 1) How will removing these little "cash cows" improve the postal service? Some of these items are quite popular and draw people to spend more $$$ at the post office. I do agree in the sense that I do not purchase these items, but many customers do. 2)Raising the "business rates" would do more damage than good. Higher prices would mean less business mailings and much less revenue. Even the private shipping companies offer substantial price discounts to "preferred" aka "business rate" customers. 3)Same problem as example 2. Raising the "junk mail" rates would simply mean companies mailing much less fliers, which would equal lower revenue for the post office. I think that closing processing centers and underutilized post office branches offers the best chance to reduce their deficit. Limiting products or raising rates would be a final nail in their coffin. IMO. Mon, 9 Jan 2012 05:21:57 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Hundreds-rally-against-postal-service-cuts--136915113.html#IDComment259192572 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Hundreds-rally-against-postal-service-cuts--136915113.html#IDComment259091604 "The Postal Service is facing dire economic challenges that threaten its very existence and, therefore, threaten the livelihoods of our employees and the businesses and employees in the broader postal industry and overall economy, of which the Postal Service continues to play a large part. If the Postal Service was a private sector business, it would have filed for bankruptcy and utilized the reorganization process to restructure its labor agreements to reflect the new financial reality. Because this option is not available to the Postal Service, we believe that this extraordinary request is a key to securing our future and our continuing ability to provide universal service to our nation." Thanks for the link. The above quote says it all. Mon, 9 Jan 2012 02:25:58 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/Hundreds-rally-against-postal-service-cuts--136915113.html#IDComment259091604 http://www.kptv.com/money/27923825/detail.html#IDComment154193685 Hmmm, I was under the impression that most state workers are paid an annual salary. How does the state save money on a furlough day when the majority of the workers are paid on a negotiated salary? These furlough days are then a three day paid weekend for a salary employee aren't they? Fri, 20 May 2011 01:14:30 +0000 http://www.kptv.com/money/27923825/detail.html#IDComment154193685 http://www.katu.com/news/local/121228359.html#IDComment148920002 Another sad fact you have to realize is that after that 99 weeks of unemployment, companies are frowning on hiring these individuals. There are plenty of candidates for the jobs out there that have not been out of the employment loop as long and are being favored over the potential rusty candidate with more experience. If you were unlucky enough to become unemployed back in late 2008 and early 2009 when the market was extremely bad, you are suffering a second hit for being overlooked for your length of unemployment. The employment market is so one sided now that even companies like mine are now asking if you have ever been convicted of a felony. In the good years, we would have a 10-15 year cut off on this question but now use this as a tool to help eliminate some of the people applying for a position with us. I feel for you and your husband and hope things turn around for you but thought it should be said that the longer he remains unemployed the more likely he will be considered rusty and not up to par with a more recently unemployed person. Wed, 4 May 2011 21:05:53 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/121228359.html#IDComment148920002 http://www.katu.com/news/local/121157274.html#IDComment148569412 I am more curious to know if he was in the county legally. Tue, 3 May 2011 20:55:37 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/121157274.html#IDComment148569412 http://www.katu.com/news/national/121065299.html#IDComment148087110 Thank you Mr. Bush for putting the troops into Iraq and Afghanistan to eventually get this result. If we had elected a liberal democratic for your second term, we would never be over there and would be coddling and negotiating with terrorists like this man. Even Obama knew who to call to tell the good news to. Thanks for shunning the democratic threats of not funding the war during your second term and setting the groundwork to lead us to this victory today! Mon, 2 May 2011 09:53:40 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/national/121065299.html#IDComment148087110 http://www.kptv.com/news/27725931/detail.html#IDComment147431397 Wow.. This woman was so lucky that she actually fell inside the tracks and not across. This train would have rode safely over her even if the operator had not braked. I can't believe her luck, speechless. Sat, 30 Apr 2011 05:20:50 +0000 http://www.kptv.com/news/27725931/detail.html#IDComment147431397 http://www.kptv.com/news/27720432/detail.html#IDComment147320679 I appreciate what this officer did to protect the public, but I do have a problem with spending thousands of dollars on a funeral procession on the taxpayers dime. Why do these agencies feel that they need to bring in emergency vehicles from all over the state to memorialize this officer? Does the state have such a large excess of these vehicles that this will not effect emergency services in the state? Are the officers attending on the public's dime or are they all off duty? I can understand a pouring of support by officers from his department but can't live with the thought of money being spent like this for a funeral procession. What if the military held large military parades to honor every single soldier killed in Active Duty? Pay respects to the fallen officer but please consider doing so without a huge bill to the taxpayers. Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:18:51 +0000 http://www.kptv.com/news/27720432/detail.html#IDComment147320679 http://www.kptv.com/news/27712120/detail.html#IDComment147114824 Agreed, I am sure Ron will go back to Washington and continue to vote down border security measures and side with Obummer to have a mast amnesty. I can't believe how many times Oregonians have voted to keep this tool in office. Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:14:03 +0000 http://www.kptv.com/news/27712120/detail.html#IDComment147114824 http://www.kptv.com/news/27698312/detail.html#IDComment146970717 Don't let this news story rattle your chains. The was a feeble, unorganized attempt to get some attention for the union. Simply put, when you have a union of 2,500 TriMet workers and only a couple dozen show up for a rally that does not represent the wishes of the majority. Nothing to see here folks. Just a gathering of the minority "whiners". Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:55:23 +0000 http://www.kptv.com/news/27698312/detail.html#IDComment146970717 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120830309.html#IDComment146739687 You make a very good point about the expiration of tickets. I have also found that a round trip is almost impossible to make within that time frame. They seem to want to force customers to pay for a day pass in order for them to comfortably get their business done. This however would not alone encourage me to use TriMet. You mentioned about the length of time compared to car travel and that is an issue that TriMet will never solve. I simply am not going to take a bus with one or two transfers to work, requiring almost 2 hours to complete a trip from Milwaukie to Lake Oswego when I can make this trip in 30-45 minuets in my own automobile. Who really wants to spend another half work day sitting on a bus? Second issue that TriMet has with me is the very high crime rate at stops and the assaults happening on these buses. TriMet attracts the very undesirable members of society to their transit system. Sure, they get some regular working class riders on their system but they are outnumbered by citizens that have to ride the bus due to drug addiction or being sentenced by the courts for DUI. Who really wants to commute with this class of ridership? I don't and never will. Thu, 28 Apr 2011 06:04:22 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120830309.html#IDComment146739687 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120680784.html#IDComment146145874 Wouldn't a responsible pet owner keep their dog in check after a neighbor supposedly was threatening her children about the dog several weeks before hand? Why didn't Mrs. Peterson contact her neighbor or the police after these so called "threats" happened? Stories often get made up after an incident like this to make the public feel that the act was not warranted. It is a he said, she said, when it comes to a police report on the matter. Again, if Mrs. Peterson had reported the threats before this incident, the police may have had more to go on. To claim he whistled to the dog and made threats after the fact seem like a very convenient story. I also get the feeling that if these facts had been reported to the police. The authorities probably would have insisted that Mrs. Peterson keep her dog contained in her yard to prevent an outcome such as this one. Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:12:29 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120680784.html#IDComment146145874 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145959642 And what is the pay you think an average teacher should earn? Do you think that teachers salaries should be doubled, tripled, or ???. What do you expect for your $$$. Nothing?? Quid pro quo?? Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:11:57 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145959642 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145958281 I digress. 93k is the claimed amount of both salary and benefits for the average teacher. The fact the "in service, snow days" are indeed extra benefits. The biggest problem is that this profession does not have check and balances. If you're a teacher with seniority, your actual results are not to be considered for continued employment. Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:07:36 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145958281 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145956955 Care to explain "bitter"? Does tossing money at teachers somehow make you feel that a better education is happening? I am guessing you are more for "throwing money" at any problem and not caring about the end result. Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:03:26 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145956955 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145924263 How much do you think teachers should be payed? According to this article, they are earning on average "$93,000" a year not including benefits. This is also for a profession that has 3 months of vacation time a year on top of the vacation/sick time a teacher earns for time in the classroom. Lets also not forget the "in service" days tacked onto this profession. I would love to be able to have a couple "in service" days to tell our customers to take a hike while we take care of some internal business. I would also love to have a director/owner that would cancel work for the day due to a threat of snow. I hate risking my car and my health to show up on these "questionable" days. Why aren't teachers required to report and do their "in service" days at these times? Cry me a river for state employees. They always claim that the private sector pays more but you never actively find them pursing employment in this sector. They love these jobs that are near impossible to be fired from. Has either a raise in pay or in benefits in the toughest economy. Enjoying platinum health care benefits that only a very small percentage of private sector jobs offer. Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:50:56 +0000 http://www.katu.com/news/local/120619449.html#IDComment145924263 http://www.katu.com/home/related/120521189.html#IDComment145470742 I would like to see this "surcharge" handled at the state income tax level. I would cut the dependent deduction in half and limit the amount of children allowed to be deducted to two. I would also start implementing a school breakfast, lunch and snack tax at the schools in the amount of 5%. I would also raise the requirements of the reduced/free lunch programs provided by the state. If you don't like the taxes or income increase of the subsidized lunch programs, a parent could simply provide bag/boxed meals for their children. This would help society to accept the new attitude of "If you can't afford them, don't have them". I would also require the able bodied parents of the poor children to work off some of their benefits by providing janitorial, landscaping and other miscellaneous school tasks to make them earn some of their benefits they are provided. However, the liberals of the state would never approve of such common sense measures. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:39:37 +0000 http://www.katu.com/home/related/120521189.html#IDComment145470742 http://www.katu.com/home/related/120521189.html#IDComment145466185 I like your idea but there are issues that would have to be addressed. The playing field would not be even at the individual schools. Schools in the heart of the wealthy core Republican areas (West Linn, Lake Oswego, Happy Valley etc) would be at an advantage over schools that are in the core Democratic areas (Marshall, Benson etc). How would you implement a fair standard to the teacher stuck teaching in these schools? The teachers attempting to teach the children of the core democratic voting base would be at a HUGE disadvantage to the teacher in the primarily wealth, educated parent, republican based schools. Should teachers have to suffer for teaching in a district of the disadvantaged, uneducated core liberal base or do you have a suggestion for this inequality? Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:13:06 +0000 http://www.katu.com/home/related/120521189.html#IDComment145466185 http://www.kptv.com/news/27640782/detail.html#IDComment145216917 Good ole liberal controlled teacher unions strike again. I can't begin to fathom how many teachers, coaches, maintenance/lunchroom staff and administrators that would become unemployed if random drug testing was required in ALL school districts for employment. The unions would never accept this, however. They like to coddle their liberal minded members and put their profession above the necessary drug testing standards that should be required when an employee is involved with children. Sad.. :( Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:15:17 +0000 http://www.kptv.com/news/27640782/detail.html#IDComment145216917 http://www.kptv.com/news/27636211/detail.html#IDComment145184113 Thanks for following the correct protocol bomb experts! Glad to hear that it was not moved into an area with other citizens and beat on with a hammer and crowbar, killing officers and injuring others like the "expert" did in Woodburn awhile back. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:36:53 +0000 http://www.kptv.com/news/27636211/detail.html#IDComment145184113