Just got back from S. E. Louisiana Cash price regular $2.59.CC $ 2.69 Their roads are in as good or better shape alot of the freeways are elevated over water and surface roads get about twice the rain as the Willamette Valley but New Orleans a city about 2/3 the population of Portland runs on a budget roughly 1/5th of Portland
Yup. I was in Houston last month. Gas prices roughly the same. Houston streets can be a mess, but that's largely because of the gumbo the place is built on.
Meanwhile, I just drove over Santiam Pass and down 126 to Eugene and back. It's a pothole dodging contest on the latter. It's needed a pave-over for the last couple of years.
I see more and more people moving out of Oregon. Which of course will mean less people needing public transportation. But I'm not an economist so what do I know? I do pretty well understand people though and know that Oregon taxes are killing us!
I really admire our hardworking Republican legislators in Salem. To get up every morning and face the prospect of having your well thought out proposals tossed back in your face with a laugh would be enough to say the hell with it. Sooner or later the Democrat ruination of Oregon will come to an end.
We really need an independent audit of how our tax money is spent. Not saying that there is graft and corruption, but it is getting really hard to continue living here with no economic growth and growing prices for everything. I don't want to leave my state, but I may not be able to afford it here very soon.
Legislators better have the blatherator up and running full steam to try to cloud all this over.
The entire bill is so larded I’m surprised it can squeeze into their chambers. Hard to be shocked anymore about this state’s political machinations, but this one clears the bar.
Why do I get the sense that the majority of this is going to go toward the fancies of hipsters in Portland while the rest of the state continues to decline, and yet is going to largely be paid for by people who don't live in Portland.
The proposed gas tax increases are indexed to inflation so the gas tax would go up at the same time as the price of the underlying gasoline goes up. A double whammy.
Funds from the proposed sales taxes on new and used cars are not limited to the highway trust fund. So we solve the ODOT funding emergency by adding a new sales tax which could provide funding for the next spending emergency, i.e. in education, wildfires, homeless shelters, etc.
Republican legislators must avoid compromise on this bill. Let the Democrats own this thing. I believe like tolling, this is an 80/20 issue. It will hurt dems much more than repubs.
At least in Portland, the problem with public transportation is...the public. I gave up on the streetcar when a guy sitting behind me tried to slam his head through the window ...followed by a ride on a Max train that was being colonized by a gaggle of bums and two women (both delirious) who took a seat and threw a blanket over it to make a tent. And then, at around 11PM, the train I was on stopped suddenly at the Lloyd Center (a gandbangers' paradise stop) and ordered everyone off, no reason given.
For socialists, public transit has nothing to do with actual "transportation." It's a part of the collectivist cult (for thee, not me) that aims at replicating the delights of East Germany.
OregonLive.com just posted this article about the "near-final" tax hikes to fund ODOT.
"This proposal, obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive Friday, proposes raising the state’s gas tax to 50 cents next January and to 55 cents in 2028. It also suggests raising all vehicle title fees by $70 and registration fees by $50."
Transit payroll tax would triple to 0.3%. Sales tax on car sales would be 1% used cars and 2% on new cars. They are shopping the plan to try to get some Republicans to sign-on.
Good question. That wasn't on the list circulated this week. But they are talking about breaking transportation into multiple bills, so I wouldn't assume the tire tax is dead until the session ends.
Every time I drive to Portland I am reminded of the multimillion dollar white elephant on the south side of I-84. Over-funded and under-utilized, what a waste (except for the very few that actually use it).
This “petulant child” is OUTRAGED at the blatant waste of funds and the total lack of foresight by the Kings of ODOT
🤬
Just got back from S. E. Louisiana Cash price regular $2.59.CC $ 2.69 Their roads are in as good or better shape alot of the freeways are elevated over water and surface roads get about twice the rain as the Willamette Valley but New Orleans a city about 2/3 the population of Portland runs on a budget roughly 1/5th of Portland
Yup. I was in Houston last month. Gas prices roughly the same. Houston streets can be a mess, but that's largely because of the gumbo the place is built on.
Meanwhile, I just drove over Santiam Pass and down 126 to Eugene and back. It's a pothole dodging contest on the latter. It's needed a pave-over for the last couple of years.
I see more and more people moving out of Oregon. Which of course will mean less people needing public transportation. But I'm not an economist so what do I know? I do pretty well understand people though and know that Oregon taxes are killing us!
I really admire our hardworking Republican legislators in Salem. To get up every morning and face the prospect of having your well thought out proposals tossed back in your face with a laugh would be enough to say the hell with it. Sooner or later the Democrat ruination of Oregon will come to an end.
We really need an independent audit of how our tax money is spent. Not saying that there is graft and corruption, but it is getting really hard to continue living here with no economic growth and growing prices for everything. I don't want to leave my state, but I may not be able to afford it here very soon.
This is the latest report on the agency Democrats want to shower more money on.
https://archive.ph/2025.06.03-141213/https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/06/we-are-in-the-dark-everything-is-a-crisis-oregon-department-of-transportation-managers-reported-lack-of-communication-trust-from-agency-leaders.html?outputType=amp
Legislators better have the blatherator up and running full steam to try to cloud all this over.
The entire bill is so larded I’m surprised it can squeeze into their chambers. Hard to be shocked anymore about this state’s political machinations, but this one clears the bar.
Why do I get the sense that the majority of this is going to go toward the fancies of hipsters in Portland while the rest of the state continues to decline, and yet is going to largely be paid for by people who don't live in Portland.
That’s the beauty of the Oregon Grift. Portland benefits, largely on the backs of those who don’t live there.
The proposed gas tax increases are indexed to inflation so the gas tax would go up at the same time as the price of the underlying gasoline goes up. A double whammy.
Funds from the proposed sales taxes on new and used cars are not limited to the highway trust fund. So we solve the ODOT funding emergency by adding a new sales tax which could provide funding for the next spending emergency, i.e. in education, wildfires, homeless shelters, etc.
Republican legislators must avoid compromise on this bill. Let the Democrats own this thing. I believe like tolling, this is an 80/20 issue. It will hurt dems much more than repubs.
Right!! Democrats. It will be as great as Newsoms bullet train TO NO WHERE!! No more taxes!!
At least in Portland, the problem with public transportation is...the public. I gave up on the streetcar when a guy sitting behind me tried to slam his head through the window ...followed by a ride on a Max train that was being colonized by a gaggle of bums and two women (both delirious) who took a seat and threw a blanket over it to make a tent. And then, at around 11PM, the train I was on stopped suddenly at the Lloyd Center (a gandbangers' paradise stop) and ordered everyone off, no reason given.
For socialists, public transit has nothing to do with actual "transportation." It's a part of the collectivist cult (for thee, not me) that aims at replicating the delights of East Germany.
OregonLive.com just posted this article about the "near-final" tax hikes to fund ODOT.
"This proposal, obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive Friday, proposes raising the state’s gas tax to 50 cents next January and to 55 cents in 2028. It also suggests raising all vehicle title fees by $70 and registration fees by $50."
Transit payroll tax would triple to 0.3%. Sales tax on car sales would be 1% used cars and 2% on new cars. They are shopping the plan to try to get some Republicans to sign-on.
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/06/oregon-democrats-set-near-final-tax-proposals-for-major-transportation-package.html
By the way, is the proposed tire tax still included?
Good question. That wasn't on the list circulated this week. But they are talking about breaking transportation into multiple bills, so I wouldn't assume the tire tax is dead until the session ends.
Every time I drive to Portland I am reminded of the multimillion dollar white elephant on the south side of I-84. Over-funded and under-utilized, what a waste (except for the very few that actually use it).