" To Bored:
Your handle says it all. Like most Americans they are bored with the events that are shaping their future. They'd rather be watching American Idol, than pay attention to their money. Sparring with Joey? Pleeze, I don't have to spar with Joey. He's proven that he had no plan to save anything. What a joke that was. By the way, have you looked at your 401k lately? You should be scared, very scared. Your government has sold you and your children into debt slavery. "

" Welcome Back Joe! "

" Anyone else out there tired of listening to the GREAT mike allen. You would make a great back up to Mike Savage. You certainly show us what kind of guy you are......jousting with Joey means to me you need to get a LIFE "

" Same old same old, Pinocchio Joe said the biggest problem the City had was a payroll that was out of control. Since Pinocchio Joe came into office the City has given the Public Works employees and the Fire Department a raise, along with a cost of living increase to all the Managers and other staff. I also hear the City is now paying the (2) Public Works Directors the City now employees $120,000 per year.Sound like a Washington Politicain to you? "

" Sorry guys, I tend to digress a bit. However, we are witnessing a historical event that will forever shape our country.
If you have any doubts about who really runs this country, check this out, it puts some things in perspective. Maybe losing a pool, etc... isn't the end of the world, but this could very well be.

If you've been following the news at all, I guess you know who runs the country now.

Here is a group of men that meet regularly and pass out 10's and 100's of billions of other people's money. Some are representing the U.S. and some are representing other nations or their companies are international.

The most disbelieving person in a "banking cartel," should now see that they have moved around more money this year than our Congress did outside of S.S., Medicare, Interest and Defense.

Think about that, our government runs on about $500-600 billion outside those four departments and these men in just a couple of months moved around that much money. Now you know why both parties are tied to Banking and the corporations and media that Banking controls. These Banking Leaders "are the Federal Reserve System" and they pull the strings, not the Board of Governors. Remember that each Federal Reserve Bank has its own board of directors and the Board of Governors only appoint 3 of the 9 on the board.

Due to the 3% required ownership, only the biggest banks are "majority shareholders" in the Federal Reserve Bank they operate under. You are seeing, now revealed, before the whole world that the PPT, (President's Working Group) members are the most powerful people in the world when they are working with the major banks in the world, not just here.

You heard Paulson state that some of the biggest financial leaders in the world were working with them on the Fannie and Freddie and the Lehman and now the AIG "fixes." There is no longer any wondering who controls things. It isn't Congress and it isn't the President and it isn't either party. It is central banking and small group of people at the very top of the international banking elite that control most of what goes on in the financial system and supply of money for our government.

"The eyes of our citizens are not sufficiently open to the true cause of our distress. They ascribe them to everything but their true cause, the banking system; a system which if it could do good in any form is yet so certain of leading to abuse as to be utterly incompatible with the public safety and prosperity. The Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution."

- Thomas Jefferson "

People, what I've been trying to tell everyone is that we have much, much bigger problems than what we face here in Ontario. Be prepared. Pay off debt now. Cash is King. Don't trust anyone except your own intuition as to what to do with your money. "

" Hey Mike....Joey will start stealing his beers! But there is hope. It's called the corner at Walmart. Watching you two argue over beer makes me thirsty! Grab me a cold one! "

" To Joey,

I presume you don't know Jack about economics, like most Americans. You don't have a clue what's happening right now do you? Let me tell you. You are going to die broke and your kids will be in debt slavery for all of their lives to some foreign government that will own them. Our central bank, the FED, just sold all of us down the river. They will soon cry that they are "broke" and our Treasury (you and I) will bail them out. At that point, not only did these private banks gain control of the majority of our assets, but they did it in a way without any cost to them. You won't be able to afford to buy me a beer, because I can tell you don't have a clue about what's happening to you and your family. Do you? I'll give you a clue....cash is and will always be King. Get your money and get it now. Good luck to you. I wouldn't wish what's happening right now to all Americans on anyone. Not even you dude. "

" It sounds like at this point in the blog we have the same old thing: Two old foes taking shots at each other and now we have reached the stature portion of the show.

How about some options for the city.
1. The city is going broke, get some money.
1a. Tax people for services.
1b. Impose a city-wide sales tax. (I have heard rumors that our Wal-Mart is the highest-grossing Wal-Mart in Oregon. Hmmm)
1ba. Impose a spray paint tax, or just make it criminal to buy. Because if spraypaint is made illegal, only criminals will have spraypaint. Call it graffitti law.

2. Stop wasting money. But first get some money!
2a. Let the taxpayers of the city know exactly where our money goes. Prepare financial statements that show in detail where our money goes. Transparency goes a long way toward efficiency. Hire an outside accounting firm to let the citizens know why we are in such bad shape.

3. Taxpayers need to understand that governmnet by the people, etc., requires you to participate in it.

4. Vote!!!
4a. Help someone else vote!!! "

" Oh Mikey,
You've been getting too many beers from the fridge. You think combining city and county government services is a good idea? Sure, go get your permits at Inspectors Inc, you'll notice the price had gone up some. Everything you want will be so handy, right there in Vale. I hope you and Ray get what you want. Pool, library, police. "

" To Mikey:
Bla Bla Bla. If you can reach up to the counter, why don't you go get the big boys a beer... Shut up already "

" Joey, little Joey or whoever the he.. you are, if you had the courage to use your real name, maybe then we could have an adult conversation. I sure as heck hope you don't have any money in the market. Today is the beginning of a new era of the U.S. and it unfortunately doesn't look too good. We'll see the media try to spin all of this and may even see a bit of a rally. But, ultimately you are going to see a decline in the economy like we've never seen before. This isn't just my opinion, but the opinion of a lot of economists who see no way out of the mess we are currently in. One way or the other, we the taxpayers, the little guys will ultimately be holding the proveriable bag of debt for a long, long time. I've been trying to tell people and the city to prepare themselves for this. I hope you have all listened. "

" To Michael Allen:
First: I didn't write the last post.
Second: looks like you are showing your true colors. did it make you feel better to call me a little man. your not so big yourself...little Mikey. "

" Ray,
You're right. I think a good example of how this done is the City of Jacksonville and the City of Honolulu. Both of which include all county and city functions under one consolidated form of government. No duplication of services or personnel costs.

Hey, Ray some interesting stuff happening this weekend with Lehman. If the Lehman problem of solvency isn't solved this weekend, Monday could be the beginning of some very "interesting" times. I'll email you later with my take on what's going down and I do mean down. I think you know this already, but remember "Cash is King." I'd have plenty of it readily available soon. "

" Ray. With all due respect resistance to change is why the mayor was elected "

" Mike Allen. Much could be done to lessen the financial strains on the city by turning over all of the police functions to the Malheur County Sheriff. Vale did it when its Council discovered it could no longer afford a 24/7 police force; Nyssa should do it and so should Ontario. Ask Vale how much it saved them and whether the change has been accepted by the residents.

When you were on the Council, the argument about the 911 call centers was on the agenda: Should there be one for the county and one for the city of Ontario, or just one for the county was the question. The most practical and least costly solution was to have a consolidated call center for the county, even though it might have been located in Ontario but it didn’t happen. It would have been an excellent way to save some money and a very good first step toward creating a single police force for the county.

Malheur County is broke also. The County Commission is stuck in neutral and I think other than praying for resurrection of the PILT (payments in lieu of taxes) by the US Congress, they don’t have a plan or a clue either. If they have a plan, it is to start reducing people next year.

An added point is that the Sheriff is elected to office, while city Police Chiefs are bureaucrats. Sheriffs tend to look out for the constituents who put them in office, while bureaucrats are, well, bureaucrats.

Consolidation always reduces costs but seldom improves services. But given the “financial” strains of the greater community, consolidation might be the only way to keep about the same number of “police” on the job in the county.

There would be a lot of resistance to change and it would require some extraordinary leadership, which makes it unlikely to happen. The elected officials of all the city governments and the bureaucrats heading the departments, including the finance and budget people, would have to devise a plan and put it forth as an option.

Since I can vote for the Sheriff and don’t have any direct say over who my Police Chief is, I’d go for the Sheriff. When I call 911, I just want an officer to appear quickly. Whether that officer is from the Sheriff’s office or the Ontario City Police, I really don’t care. However, an officer whose boss is someone I can vote for would please me the most.

There are a lot of other areas where consolidation of services could save the taxpayers millions of dollars but that is not the motivation of those having the power to make it happen. In fact, operational efficiency and/or reductions in staffing are just not in the heads of bureaucrats, and our elected officials do not have the interests of the taxpayers foremost in their minds and, I think, are actually working for the bureaucrats most of the time in order to keep peace in the factory, so to speak. "

" Little Joey,
It takes a real man to admit that he made a mistake. Why don't you own up to some of yours? I don't think you can, because you're just a "little man". I'll match my successes and my failures with you anytime, Boy. Step up or shut up. "

" Take a stand, fight for yourself. Maybe this is why you failed in the first place, didn't have the male fortitude to make a decision. Please don't just agree, and offer me a beer, and I sure don't want to sit and drink one wiht you. "

" It is called lack of leadership and vision, this Mayor and Council dont have a clue, with any luck maybe this election can change that. "

" And WHO lead the group pressuring Mike Allen? Hint: He's currently active in the blogs and he's Mayor. Many of those business owners that helped pressure the council don't even LIVE here? It's time to take our community back but I don't look for that to happen with a business friendly Mayor who I am still waiting on to tell the body politic how he and his slate plan on keeping the library and pool open. Remember the advertisement? "

" Joey,
I stated in my blog that the council I was part of, didn't make those decisions. It was a mistake, but it will be an even bigger mistake if those decisions aren't made now. We're still basically broke and are entering a period of time where revenues will be declining, not increasing. The clock is ticking and I'm afraid it may be too late for some of the "non-essential" departments to survive. I'll go get us both a beer...we're going to need it. "

" To Michael:
You really mean the tough choices that you didn't make either...Right, You had most of the same choices and chose not to make them, the business license for one. You talk alot but you didn't get anything done either. so shut up and get me a beer! "

" They are stuck in neutral, because the council and staff all know there is no magic bullet out there to solve the financial problems of the city. The same problems that were with us 5 years ago are still with us. The decision of what departments are absolutely necessary and what departments aren't was made back then. It's all of record, there's no need to reinvent the wheel here. The hard part for the council is to actually face facts that the city is for all intents and purposes going broke. That was true 5 years ago and more true today. The real telling tale of that fact is that they unfortunately had to fund the "gang" enforcement officer with contingency funds. That's not a good sign. We're borrowing from the city's savings for a long term commitment, which means it can't and shouldn't be sustained for very long. Bite the bullet guys and make those hard decisions that we (the former council I was a member of) should have made a long time ago. It won't be the end of the world. "