Lars Thoughts – Oregon’s Employment Department Wants Praise After A Promise To Do The Job They Should Have Been Doing For Years

I stick to a simple rule.  Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  I count Governor Kate Brown and her loyal state employee union members among the comfortable…they don’t miss paychecks or pensions or elections.  These so-called public servants leave hundreds of thousands of unemployed citizens waiting months to get benefits they EARNED.  Today, most of the news headlines do a PR spin job for the Governor’s NEW plan: “employment division launches a new strategy”.  This new strategy?  To do 100% of their work “as soon as possible”. People without paychecks can watch new website numbers, quote, “so Oregonians can watch our progress”. I’m sure THAT’s a comfort to the jobless woman staring at a pile of unpaid bills on her kitchen table and the threatening calls from creditors.  She can log onto the state’s website and watch the numbers creep slowly in her direction, at the speed of government. Since most of you work in the private sector like I do, let me ask you.  If you failed to do your job for more than two months…when the boss shows up to ask “what the hell” you tell her, “, I plan to get my work done as soon as possible” how many seconds would pass before she handed you a pink slip?

-Lars Larson