And thumbs up to Gov Kate Brown and company for making a persons life just a little bit better.

Effective July 1st, minimum wage in Multnomah and Washington County is $11.25 per hour.

Now if this means I have to pay an extra 35 cents for the best buffet in town (ROUND Table PIZZA) but at the same time the people who are working hard to provide an always great meal will have some extra change in their pocket.....

I'd say that's a FAIR trade.

My last job in government contracting was back in 2010. I lost my CPA certification, went on unemployment until 2012. My mother at 81 died of COPD because she was a big tobacco smoker, had to sell her house and move into a condo for a third of the value of the old home. I am fear what will happen by 2020 with automation and robotics. Jobs are going to continue to disappear with companies like Amamzon at work. Food prices will skyrocket, and the only thing that will be affordable will be gas if not replaced with electric cars sooner than we think. But we need to think big and develop ways to make electricity without burning coal or relying too much on nuclear like France or Japan. Eastern Europe got burned with Chernobyl. We cant let that happen again.

I Hate this crap I think everyone who breaths should call there congressman and senator's about this we all have rites but this only gives power to the company not the workers that make them millions we and our constitution give us the rite to live and work and worshipp not to dye in poverty i went to a interview one time. I walked through the building cashiers stock people guys unloading trucks entered the office the manager told me his name I returned mine put his feet up on the desk and said I don't need you you need me.I thought just for a second and replied well are you going to cashier well no are you going to stock well no are you going to unload trucks well no.Then you do need me like you need the others that are doing there jobs well your a smart man when can you start I would no work for you if you paid in gold and walked out that the way so many companies think let every body leave watch there profits drop tunes change quick

I never signed up for jobcase it kind of made its way to me so here I am not to complain as many do here but to offer a simple observation. When the nation's budget was in balance around 2000 it was a pristine job market. If you wanted a certain job in a certain company at whatever rate, it was yours. I got 5 staff accounting job offers in two weeks. Then came the budget deficits again, a nation living beyond its means. So what do you think would happen? A great recession that we really haven't recovered from. I have say that today's people are so ignorant of how good things used to be when we cared about these issues. There would be no jobcase or all of this misery if people were responsible and not so ignorant. It's the root of all the troubles we face now in this new and unfortunate society.

From the President on down for several terms has said that the economy is good, and life is good. We have people coming to this country to live the dream, no dream here, a nightmare. I am on #10 scam job from the internet reciters, Career Builder, Zip Recruiter and several others. My contact information is on my resume and out there for the price of a computer and internet connection. Use to be we went to a job place and went inside a office and asked or there was a posting in a new paper or sign saying they were hiring, Now it is over the internet and open to anybody . I have had offers of job and had several job but still unemployed, I worked very hard for 30 years then went back to school. I was told that my life would become better and wouldn't have to be called a outlaw truck driver because I tried to give my family a good life. Now I have had to drop out of school because the colleges charged my student loans to the max and wanted more, and there was no more no job and in income. Then the state said we will help get you a job, do this do that jump here and go there and we will get you trained for a new job, that again the school wanted more money then the grant to finish getting enough training. Now willing to do anything get me emails and text messages from people who think they can print checks and get me to send them money. Again there is no money left. wow, what happened to this country ?

no comment

This President has promised much including work and jobs. Make sure that they are doing what they promised or face being voted out, replaced!!

Boston, NY and other large cities have restaurants and other places of business that have decided to shut down for the day and others for an entire week in protest of this nation's unlawful treatment of immigrants; especially children --- this type of civil disobedience makes me proud that many businesses today are putting people before monetary increase.

Power to the People; Power to all the People. This is how the vietnam war was ended----

People need and want to work; they need to be valued and regardless of age or race or any other issue individuals in so-called power have against the working class; We Shall OverCome and We Are Stronger In Numbers-----Bravo

The following is a response to Tom Orr's insightful "Poor in Indiana: Part III." The marked link below will lead the reader to Mr. Orr's discussion of the "cliff effect."

Supporting those who have fallen into poverty makes humanitarian sense. Failure, however, to provide an effective transition from poverty to independence turns that support into a trap. The grants social service agencies fight over frequently add bells and whistles to that trap, not a way out. That's both disrespectful and condescending.

Effective transitional support would encourage decisions that lead to independence. That makes economic and humanitarian sense. It also treats people with respect.

So let me see: dependence or independence? Perhaps what we have chosen to pay for is precisely what we are getting. So let's be honest. Rather than blaming irrational policies for thoroughly predictable results, we elect to blame the poor for remaining dependent.

That's amazing, but I suppose it's easier than changing how we allocate grant money. Of course, it's not defensible morally or intellectually; it's just easier. Consequently, the poor are not the only ones who make "bad" financial decisions. They are, however, more likely to endure sanctions--even when their decisions are good ones

Tom Orr's Series Entries:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/poor-indiana-part-i-thomas-orr https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/poor-indiana-part-ii-thomas-orr The Cliff Effect: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/poor-indiana-part-iii-thomas-orr

A Tiny Solution to a Really Big Problem February 9, 2017 (Indianapolis, IN) Homelessness is a problem throughout Indiana and the nation, but its face has changed. People once thought of the typical homeless person as a single male–perhaps with a substance abuse problem–who visits each local homeless mission on a circuit.

Of course, one can still find people who fit that stereotype. But it’s not the face of today’s homelessness. Instead, it’s a homeless family–a single parent with children. The parent may even work; most of the homeless do. But he or she doesn’t’ earn enough to care for the children and pay for rent. Sometimes, it’s a two-parent family living out of a van or finding refuge at a homeless shelter. Today’s homeless are much like the families living next door to you, except they don’t have a door.

Some homeless advocates now think that a solution to this national problem might be the “tiny home,” the home-type made famous by Tiny House Nation, a popular series on cable TV’s the A&E Network. Last month, Leon Longyard, a community advocate, presented the “tiny home” strategy to a group that represented local organizations committed to combating poverty and homelessness.

Longard said that tiny homes could provide “adequate and sustainable shelter” for homeless Indianapolis families at a very reasonable cost—about $10,000 per home. The recent federal funding of $5 million to fight homelessness in Marion County could subsidize enough of these homes to provide the city with a useful tool to care for its homeless residents. In fact, the executive director of the Coalition of Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, Alan Witchey, showed support for such a project. He said that the best way to determine if this strategy would work for Indianapolis would be “by actually doing it.”

Though the Indianapolis homeless community is the largest in the state (4800-8000 individuals), other Indiana cities lead the way in employing this strategy to meet the needs of the homeless. Last July, Muncie’s Bridges Community Services, a non-profit community outreach, took delivery of six Amish-built tiny homes, each costing about $2600 (like the house pictured above). That delivery of tiny homes is part of the Bridges’ PennyLane project, a micro-village concept offering coordinated social services. The project is especially designed to meet the needs of homeless individuals who have proved difficult to serve in the past.

Anyone who has served the homeless community will follow with interest the Muncie project as it unfolds. Longard says, however, that it might take a long time before this idea becomes reality in Indianapolis. I hope that he’s wrong. Tiny home micro-villages with coordinated social services is an exciting idea. It deserves a careful trial. Indianapolis should catch up to Muncie.

David Richardson