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Chris Henry

ChrisHenry.org
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chris@chrishenry.org
1941 Main Street
Suite 106
Oregon City, OR  97045-1170
STOP THE WALL STREET RIPOFF OF OREGON!
Oregon local governments borrow about $4 billion per year, mostly for infrastructure improvements (schools, water systems, roads, etc.).  They pay huge fees (around $200 million per year) to Wall Street firms to issue the bonds, and they pay about 5% interest on those newly-issued bonds.

At the same time, the State of Oregon has over $105 billion in the bank (mostly PERS funds).  The State uses Wall Street firms (and vulture capitalists and leveraged buyout firms) to invest that money, paying over $1 billion in fees to those firms (mostly undisclosed to the public).  In the first half of 2020, Oregon's earnings on those were were negative 4.5% -- that's right, Oregon lost money on its investments.

The State invests almost 100% in businesses outside of Oregon.
That includes $223 million in “an Israeli company whose smartphone spyware has been used against dissidents, human rights defenders and journalists by repressive regimes” and “two prison companies that run immigrant detention facilities." -- Associated Press (November 19, 2019)
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Wall Street gets paid to invest our public money
nd then gets paid again to loan it back to us.
Let's cut out the Wall Street middle men. Local governments should borrow the needed funds from the State.  The Bank of North Dakota funds local infrastructure improvements at a flat interest rate of 2%.  If a State Bank of Oregon were to charge local governments an interest rate of 3%, the State would earn much more than it does now, and local governments would save an additional $40 million per year in interest on every year's issuance of bonds.  After 10 years, the local governments would be saving $400 million per year in interest, plus avoiding the $200 million per year in fees to Wall Street.  That's $600 million per year saved by Oregon local governments.

This would also cut the fees paid to Wall Street by Oregon for investing PERS funds--because those funds would be invested in Oregon infrastructure, a much more secure investment than stocks, hedge funds, and other Wall Street instruments.  That could save another $500 million per year or more.

Why hasn't Oregon done this?  Because Oregon has no limits on campaign contributions, and Wall Street is a source of huge money flowing to Oregon politicians.

Invest in Oregonians, not Wall Street Operators!

I support the policies of the Oregon Progressive Party, which are stated later in this Voters Pamphlet with the statements of the other parties, particularly:
  • the demand for campaign finance reform in Oregon
  • opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other job-killing trade deals that put corporate attorneys in charge of international tribunals that have the authority to nullify our laws protecting workers and the environment.
Beyond the Oregon Progressive Party positions, I strongly support the formation of a Public Bank for the state of Oregon.  Such a Public Bank would be operated as a public utility for the benefit of, not Wall Street bankers, all the citizens of Oregon.  Such a bank would use the financial resources already present in the state for capitalization and then use those funds to support public benefit programs such as low interest student loans, or funding of much needed infrastructure renovations.  More information on pubic banks is available from the Public Banking Institute. 

The other candidates are taking huge contributions from bankers and corporate executives. I am not.