On Friday September 21 at the University Club in Portland, Oregon the World Affairs Council of Oregon hosted Dmitri Trenin, a frequent guest on NPR, and leading expert on Russian US Relations. Trenin gave a fascinating 90 minute talk, including answering several questions. He highlighted that Putin has an 80 percent approval rating and added … Continue reading World Affairs Council Hosts Russian Dmitri Trenin
Category: Politics
Yesterday the OIC met and awarded $1.2 billion in investment contracts. The meeting included a presentation from Leon Black (Pictured below) who is personaly worth $4-5 billion. Dick Solomon and Katy Durant both disclosed conflicts of interest, former OIC Chair Gerard Drummond was in attendance as was expected candidate for State Treasurer Ben Westlund. This … Continue reading OIC Awards $1.2 B, Solomon Discloses Conflict, Leon Black Presents, Westlund Treasurer Candidate
Today the Oregonian printed a story by its top political reporter, a great reporter, Harry Esteve, that missed a splendid opportunity to celebrate a new political party in Oregon, the Independent Party. Instead the story, obviously heavily edited, looks like it was submitted by PR firms representing the Democrats and Republicans. In addition, the print … Continue reading Oregonian Undermines New Independent Party, Does Not Disclose Website
Today Ted Sickinger of the Oregonian printed an excellent story, summarized at end of this post, noting that the public utility commission is "negotiating" to allow institutional investors in PGE to circumvent the law, as indicated by PUC analyst Bryan Conway. This is surprising and perhaps also a sign that the commission is still compromised … Continue reading PUC Staff Urged to Use Leverage to Enforce the Law
Russia now conducts most of its energy sales in US dollars and this has greatly benefited Europe in the form of lower energy costs as the dollar has depreciated. The declining dollar may also explain why Europe and other big purchasers of energy have not pushed to have more energy sales in Euros, which would … Continue reading Putin Sets Stage for Energy Sales in Russian Rubles
Today the Oregonian ran a story by reporter Jeff Mapes about SEIU President Joe DiNicola, Mapes noted that: "The largest union for state employees in Oregon is embroiled in a messy political and legal struggle over a claim from its elected president for nearly $110,000 in back overtime pay. Outraged members of Local 503 of … Continue reading Union Chief Under Fire for Wrong Reasons
The following 142 page report chronicles news stories and related commentary surrounding the Texas Pacific Group's bid to acquire Portland General Electric. The purpose of this archive, with dates ranging from August 26, 1998 to October 25, 2005, was to provide material to various parties involved in defeating the proposal. It is especially useful using … Continue reading TPG’s Attempt to Purchase PGE – Extensive News and Commentary Archive
State Senator Vicky Walker wrote an outstanding piece of legislation that closed a much abused loophole that had allowed electric utilities to bill ratepayers for taxes yet not remit those taxes to the respective federal, state and local taxing authorities. For her good work, Warren Buffett and other utility executives contributed heavily to unseat her … Continue reading Vicky Walker – Utility Tax Reform Leader Runs for Secretary of State
Opposed to the sale of the Dow Jones Corporation, which owns the Wall Street Journal and Barrons, to Rupert Murdoch, I issued the following press release on PR Newswire, Parish Opposes Dow Jones Sale. Much to my surprise, PR Newswire did not post the press release in the manner expected because, according to its own … Continue reading PR Newswire and Business Wire – Soviet Style Journalism?
Ben Bernanke could indeed be one of the great fed chairman if he implements a few simple programs and takes a tough lesson from George Bush Senior. The problem is that he will have to take on his predecessor, Alan Greenspan. Greenspan, at 81, is now collecting large fees working for speculative hedge funds in … Continue reading Ben S. Bernanke – An Unused and Effective Tool