![]() Chris Henry
ChrisHenry.org
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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.
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 other candidates are taking huge contributions from bankers and corporate executives. I am not. |