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Is Portland Over?

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by Lee S, May 18, 2021.

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  1. Lee S

    Lee S Moderator Staff Member Past Donor

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    Jeff Gianola. a reporter for KOIN news in Portland has written a series of short news segments about the plight of Portland, Oregon and whether Portland will ever recover. The video shows street scenes of Portland which I can personally attest to being an accurate picture of Portland.

    https://www.koin.com/is-portland-ov...war-zone-portlands-reputation-transformation/

    There is a point in the first segment in which Mayor Ted Wheeler states that "“You know, there is a very fine line between compassion and enabling,” Wheeler responded. “It’s really hard for well-meaning, moral people in the city of Portland and progressives to come to the conclusion that sometimes the best love that you can give someone is tough love.”

    Is he making the argument that moral people and progressives are two separate groups? I am sure he misspoke, but progressives have been running Portland since 1956 so they more or less own this mess.

    Although the series is mostly accurate, I think the most important fact was overlooked. Most of the large insurance companies have decided to stop insuring downtown Portland businesses, and this is absolutely going to be the death blow for downtown Portland. People in Portland believe that businesses will come back to Portland, but how can they? Businesses rely on credit. Banks and credit agencies require insurance before they make loans. Businesses without a line of credit do not get started. No insurance equals no returning businesses.

    Businesses are fleeing Portland as fast as they can. Most are waiting for their leases to expire and then they are gone. My opinion is that Portland has already died, we are all just waiting for the twitching to stop.
     
    Lee S, May 18, 2021
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  2. 61falcon

    61falcon Well-Known Member

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    Well since it is 87% white they can't blame blacks for their demise.
     
    61falcon, May 18, 2021
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  3. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    Since when has that been under consideration?
     
    MJ Davies, May 18, 2021
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  4. Steady Pie

    Steady Pie Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The issue is not blacks, it's white upper class university students whose daddies didn't hug them enough... or possibly too much.
     
    Steady Pie, May 18, 2021
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  5. Tipper101

    Tipper101 Well-Known Member

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    Students aren’t told how to think. They’re told what to think, and once they’re told it, they’re sent to be good little soldiers of the Left, demonstrating and rioting as if they actually know anything about how the world works.
     
    Tipper101, May 18, 2021
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  6. Seth Bullock

    Seth Bullock Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    @Lee S I was in downtown Portland during normal business hours recently, and I was shocked. Downtown was a ghost town. Hardly any vehicular traffic or pedestrians, nothing open for business, trash floating around in the breeze and often just piled up.

    I had many thoughts, but one of them was that the citizens elected their weak, feckless city leaders, and you reap what you sow.
     
    Seth Bullock, May 19, 2021
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  7. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    it's gonna get much worse

    too many jobs being outsourced and too many products being imported, and now AI, as less and less have good jobs, it will get worse
     
    FreshAir, May 19, 2021
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  8. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    yeah, think that happened to Trump, something broke him
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2021
    FreshAir, May 19, 2021
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  9. Steady Pie

    Steady Pie Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's a possibility.

    There's nothing whiter and more privileged than a room full of left wing political activists.

    The mayor also shares a good deal of responsibility.
     
    Steady Pie, May 19, 2021
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  10. Lee S

    Lee S Moderator Staff Member Past Donor

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    I am not sure anyone is blaming blacks for anything in Portland, but if you want to assign blame, I think it should go to the voters of Portland who have opted for the corruption of single party rule. The city has elected Democrats as mayor and City Council members since 1956. Please understand that I am not blaming Democrats. The Democrats have become corrupted by unopposed entrenchment for over 60 years. There is never any time when any party is in continuous power for over six decades that this type of thing doesn't happen. The elected officials are never held accountable. As long as they have the (D) next to their name, they act like they have a get out of jail free card. Single party rule is the most dangerous thing any government on any level can have. Even when Republicans run candidates that are to the left of the Democrats, they will not get elected. The Democrats have no motivation to clean house and embarass themselves. Nothing gets fixed. Nothing will get fixed.
     
    Lee S, May 19, 2021
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  11. 21Bronco

    21Bronco Banned

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    He knows moral people and progressives are two different animals.
     
    21Bronco, May 19, 2021
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  12. Seth Bullock

    Seth Bullock Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The problem isn’t a lack of available jobs. The overwhelming majority of homeless street people are drug addicted or mentally ill. And we have no way to assertively intervene and treat them for those problems.

    But the homeless are not the reason why the businesses are boarded up and closed. We can thank the mostly white anarchists for that and the weakness of the progressive liberals who oversee the police and District Attorney’s office. And Portland voters keep on electing this sort of leadership, and so THEY are responsible for all of this too.

    The voters and their elected leaders have enabled and coddled the mob of thugs and miscreants, and this is their reward.
     
    Seth Bullock, May 19, 2021
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  13. garyd

    garyd Well-Known Member

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    No but Antifa and BLM are almost entirely responsible along with the idioctic response of the mayor for this situation.
     
    garyd, May 19, 2021
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  14. 21Bronco

    21Bronco Banned

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    A lot of that mental illness CAUSED by drugs, in fact. Thanks 70's liberal drug culture!
     
    21Bronco, May 19, 2021
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  15. fmw

    fmw Well-Known Member

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    It was once a beautiful and clean city, a friendly place. At least it was when I lived there before the California invasion. I think you can blame it on the voters who have installed total incompetents to manage the city. Perhaps they will have the common sense to fix their votes in the future.
     
    fmw, May 19, 2021
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  16. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    there are many problems, bu tyes, lack of good jobs is part of the problem, as is drug abuse by those that have just given up or are mentally ill

    I agree, not doing something is wrong, these people need help, mental health, drug rehab, whatever, they need help though and need to be gotten off the streets

    people say we can't afford to help them... I say we can't afford not too
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2021
    FreshAir, May 19, 2021
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  17. ButterBalls

    ButterBalls Well-Known Member

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    There is a very lovely story HOW that came to be, but that's not the topic and you are correct in your statement!

    Lets just say it could actually be considered the birthplace of the White supremacy!
     
    ButterBalls, May 19, 2021
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  18. Lee S

    Lee S Moderator Staff Member Past Donor

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    I like where you are going with this in that you are looking to fix the problem and not the symptoms. At least we can estblish a bridge towards a respectful debate so I am grateful for your comments.

    I don't think funding is the major issue on this. The City of Portland is spending something like $200K on each homeless person and there is talk in the City and State government of raising funding up to $400k per person. (These numbers are based upon the ludicrously low estimate of the number of homeless people in Portland so it isn't like these numbers should be taken too seriously, but the funding per person amount is a place where we can start discussions.) Even if we accept a number as low as 100K per homeless person, it seems like Portland is getting nothing for the money they are spending. I would be willing to bet that if you tripled the funding for homelessness, you would simply triple the number of homeless people in Portland.

    A hobo was sleeping on the porch of our office an when he was shooed away he left a resource guidebook of homeless services in Portland. The book was about 4 inches by 6 inches and more than three quarter inches thick, There are already thousands of programs available to the homeless in Portland and the proplem only continues to get worse. I honestly don't think funding is the issue unless you start looking into whether homeless funding is simply enabling, as Mayor Wheeler mentioned in his video.

    There is no lack of jobs in Portland. Construction Companies are advertising jobs starting at $30 an hour plus as much as $2,500 signing bonus for anyone, regardless of training, who will show up and work. Companies are desperate in hteir search for workers. This doesn't seem like the problem, based upon anecdotal evidence.

    Of course there are those who are mentally ill and are a danger to themselves and others, but Oregon is the state that the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was written, set and filmed in, and that movie had the greatest possible influence on Oregon mental health policy. As long as the state bases its mental health policy on a work of fiction, the mentally ill problem is never going to get solved, so arguing about it seems like a tremendous waste of time.
     
    Lee S, May 19, 2021
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  19. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    yeah, it is getting out of control, if nothing is done, it only gets worse - and your right, doing nothing is costing more and destroying towns



    there will always be those that can't be helped as they do not want to be helped, first thing to do for many though is get them off the drugs and offer assisted living for awhile to keep them off, when they are able, help them get jobs, help them learn to pay bills, ect... then eventual a place to rent they can afford (affordable housing is another issue)

    by assisted living, I mean jail, medical facility then a hope house type setting that helps get them on their feet after they have been free from drugs for awhile - otherwise they go right back to what they know
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2021
    FreshAir, May 19, 2021
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  20. garyd

    garyd Well-Known Member

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    And the Trump admin through Ben Carson was at least every where but crazyfornia where the leadership seems to think that crapping in the streets and covering the parks in discarded needles is a human right.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2021
    garyd, May 19, 2021
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  21. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I did not see anything change under Trump or Obama sadly, this is more a city\state issue, though maybe the feds could help them come up with a game plan and some funding
     
    FreshAir, May 19, 2021
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  22. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    fake news, the war on drugs has been a failure, no one wants to get someone on drugs help as it would only get them in more legal trouble and not help them

    many do not want to get involved with family or friends needing help as it could get them or their loved ones in legal trouble

    Bush jr had a OWI and such, he recovered, cause the family had the money and the means to help him, he never had to worry about affording a place to live, ect....

    "Jeb Bush Drops Guard to Share Family Account of Addiction"

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/...ard-to-share-family-account-of-addiction.html

    issues with heroin and crack in the Bush family
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2021
    FreshAir, May 19, 2021
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  23. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

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    You do know that many people got hooked through legal prescriptions for pain medications, right? This crisis was engineered by big pharma and now they are paying for it. But they have killed more people and ruined more lives than we can even know.


    https://www.americanbar.org/news/ab...opioid-lawsuits-generate-payouts-controversy/
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2021
    HereWeGoAgain, May 19, 2021
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  24. 21Bronco

    21Bronco Banned

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    China thanks you. They export a lot of those pain meds.

    Because instead of treating illnesses, we give people pain meds to help them cope. Sure, they're addictive. That's not a right or left issue. Conservatives want to see reduced reliance upon pain meds.
     
    21Bronco, May 19, 2021
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  25. garyd

    garyd Well-Known Member

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    They dude in fact the homeless population was in decline every where but CA and possibly NYC who wouldn't cooperate.
     
    garyd, May 19, 2021
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