the mills were operating. we no longer have mills. what in the hell are we doign to this -- doing to this state? >> do you want to share any thoughts on the east side forest plan my colleague has been trying to put together to get out of this deadlock? >> it all works soemtimes. -- sometimes. but every time that something gets going, it goes to the courts. we are stymied. >> thank you very much. whenever i am hiding in that area, you often see -- hiking in that area, you often see completely overgrown, second- growth forests that are not serving their purpose and are often a source of disease, a potential fire hazard. it is a lose-lose-lose situation. there are a number of things that we need to push forward on. one is the thinning which produces a steady supply of logs, better timber stands, and improves the ecosystem. nothing moves past in this world, but another piece was -- senator wyden and i thought to get money to help for us to thinning. a second step is to be a true economy supporting forest jobs. we have always depended upon lumber. housing is completely down the tubes and will be for some time to come. we have the potential to create a second market in biomass products. that might sit very well with the thin in cycle of the operations. then can produce -- thinning can produce modest logs and biomass. i have visited the new pacific pellet mill. i went over and visited an operation that is producing short, compacted logs. there is another group that is building the first ethanol plant from tree fiber. they are using -- to digest the tree, they are using bacteria from termites. they set up chemistry that goes from paint thinners to vinegar to ethanol, which they can interrupt at any point to sell the product. often, it is just left or burned in the woods right now. another structure is biomass. there is another promising development. cogen -- co-generation, where we proceed to produce both heat and energy, working in partnership with the sawmill. another small step is the stewardship agreement which has kept us out of the courts. oregon has more stewardship agreements and any other state and none of them have ended up in court. the secret is that folks come together in advance to plan, rather than fighting each other in court after everything has been decided. that is not at scale. that brings me to senator wyden's effort. he has been trending bring people together in a much larger store should -- larger storage chip agreement approached so that we stay out of the courts and get jobs 0-stewardship -- stewardship agreement approach, so that we stay out of the courts and get jobs back. the thing is that biomass could be a real part of a clean-energy strategy, along with wind, geothermal, solar. it takes carbon out of the air. i had a meeting a couple of years ago. a woman spoke up and said, wouldn't it be great if we had a machine that would take carbon dioxide out of the air? i said, you will be glad to know we grow millions of those in our state. thank you for question period we have to push forward on all of those fronts for our jobs -- question. we have to push forward on all of those fronts for our jobs. >> the next question is 647. next, 619. there you go. >> hello. my husband and i have had a trucking business. it is not big. we have had it for about 15 years. last year, when we registered our trucks -- this is per truck. our registration went from a little over a hundred dollars to $1,600 -- $800 to $1,600 pair that was a bit of a surprise. when i called, i thought i had made a mistake. she said, yours is the first one to come in. i have it right here. it is no mistake. part of the -- what is it called -- oregon jobs and transportation act. i said, ok. we'll put that in the budget somehow and cut something else out. we have lost our insurance coverage. now in october, next month, our milage tax on one truck will go up over $200. it will average, per truck, about $2,500 per year. i got this letter with the rate increase as part of the oregon jobs and transportation act of 2009. i feel abused. if our registration goes up, we are probably going to be done. when i talked to people, they say you can pass that on. we do not set our rates. the load be used to get almost $600 per load for -- the load be used to get almost $600 per load for, we're getting $500. we cannot pass it on. if we do not take it, somebody else will. who else is paying for this act? i know it hits everybody who fuels up their car and that goes towards this. industry-wise, i really feel some abuse here. >> i would like to be able to introduce a state representative or state senator to explain what was passed here, but we do not have one here. i will shoot at it -- take a shot at it. indeed. do you want to take a shot at that? [applause] >> i was being so quiet on the back row. pastyou're talking about in the 2009 session -- passed in the 2009 session. i opposed that bill. they did not listen. it did pass. there are a lot of components to the bill. one of them engaged you as of october of last year with the title, registration, and plates -- nothing was exempt. it is for agriculture, business, private individuals, anybody who has gone in to get their registration updated since october of last year. the fiscal automobile went up to $87 for the fee. the increase in registration and title went up $16 and $23 respectively. the plates and doubled in fees. as of january, the fuel is going to go up 6 cents per gallon. the bad part of this story is not over. i did oppose the bill, but some of the positive points locally -- the county commissioners in the bases will be excited to know that the city and the counties split tax revenue off of fuel did increase which should help the county road departments. honestly, it was probably the only bill that we passed out of the 2009 session that will really create jobs in the private sector and the state through road contract and what not. it does not help, but does it answer your question as to where it came from? >> did a lot of those funds go to connect oregon iii? did it go into improving the transportation infrastructure? >> that is a good point. madras, as of last thursday, the airport got $1.7 million out of that, which came out of the house bill. this man has come to -- >> this man has come to more town halls that i have held than any other state representative. he is serious. he is a major part of the conversation in the sand. i just think we should say you are doing a good job. [applause] >> the next question will be for 964 after her. >> ok. >> my name is michelle. i have three things. i want to thank for health care reform. i think we still need a public option. we need to repair our infrastructure. i want to talk about afghanistan -- us out of afghanistan right now. >> let's talk a little bit about afghanistan. i went there on a trip earlier this year. i went to go to iraq and afghanistan last november. the schedule change. i came back and then i went back over to afghanistan, pakistan, and india. they are all involved in the dynamic over their care quite frankly, i believe that our mission has creeped into afghanistan. we went into takeout al qaeda training camps. we now have morphed into nation- building. this is a nation that has no tradition of the central government. it is a tribal society with a literacy rate of around 25%. the absolutely hate central government. they hate for an folks being in their country. -- foreign folks being in their country. there is tradition in the wake transactions happen. i arranged to meet with 6 pashtun tribal leaders. they came from far away, wearing their traditional dress. each one of them spoke and had some version of the statement -- the government is an affliction. i ask them, what do you mean by that? they said, the competent and respected people in our community are never appointed to the government posts. it is always folks who are out to make money for themselves. the post are sold from the top on down. i talked to the american team and they said, yes, everything from governors down to schoolteachers are sold. you make money back at the next level. it has become an affliction. i went up to a training camp for the police force. we are engaged in trying to build a larger army and a larger police force. i heard a lot of problems about the police force. the payrolls are stacked, another form of corruption. they were hired and then put to work in a part of the country where they did not speak the language and could not do an effective job and were not respected. i asked about these problems. the chairman man -- the man kind of froze, because he did not want to respond to these concerns. the american trainer came up to me afterwards and he said, senator, it is like this. the police in afghanistan are thugs. we equip them and train them. now they are equipped and trained of spirit that is the problem. you might have noticed that there was an offensive in t -- into marjah. there were a lot of people who said they like the americans helping, but please do not send in the police force. the collective nato operations cent in the elite, best-trained police in afghanistan and it has been a disaster. even the best-trained are still in a state where they are not ready or able to operate in a professional capacity. the goal of taking out al qaeda was exactly right. there are less than 100 al qaeda in afghanistan, by all estimates. any training camps -- we need to go back in and destroy them. the state building mission we're on -- i do not think it is proportional in terms of national security to the cost in the lives of our sons and daughters. i have been up to walter reed and that with folks who have come back missing various body parts from ied's. it is not worth the treasure we're pouring in at $1 million per year per soldier. you mentioned a jobs program. $1 million would create 40 $25,000 per year jobs thinning our forests, building our infrastructure, improving education systems, and that is the type of thing we need to keep in mind as we look at the overall budget. i have real concerns about the bat -- path that we are on. thanks. [applause] >> next? after this one will be -- next question after this one will be 969. >> i want to thank you for a lot of things you have been doing for our state and for the country, especially in education. we have been fortunate to get a lot of funding through the stimulus and other programs. i do see lots of wonderful things. i thank you very much. we're going to be visiting the d.c. area in a couple of weeks. we would like to get some passes to your office, perhaps, and the senate chamber. we are going to be visiting our daughter who is in homeland security. we always like to visit the area. >> for you and for anyone who comes to d.c., our team would very much like to help you get those passes. it is a good time for me to make sure i introduce susannah, my field representative. she is an easy path -- can you share your phone number? >> i am in bend. 541-318-1298. i am happy to take your calls and get you in touch however we can to help you. >> a little tip -- we can get lots of senate passes and tour passes, but if you want to go to the white house, six months in advance is necessary. those are really hard. i hope you will all find some chance to come to the nation's capital, because it is quite incredible. >> after this gentleman, it will be 646. there you go. >> hi. my name is robert sinclair. i got one of your invitations and i thought what the heck. >> how many folks got an invitation? great. >> i thought if i had any ideas related to jobs i should say something. i worked at safeway at night. i used to work building homes during the day with a construction company. we built several homes all over this area and in madras. he is now out of the out-- now out of work. i believe one of the key reasons for this is that the monthly mortgage payments are just too high for most individuals were working-class people, people who worked and a $14 per hour, taking home between 3 and $50 and $400 per week -- $350 and $400 per week. i had some thoughts. the government could potentially loan money to lower and moderate-income people over a longer periods of time at 0% interest. at that rate, every payment would create 100% equity. the bank will not be cut out. they could issue credit cards for profit. as people get equity, every payment they make, they could go out and purchase, which would put other people to work. i put a lot of this information to gather about mortgage tables and what not. it is in this paper i have here. for example, a person at minimum wage making $6.25 per hour working 40 hours per week takes home about to win the $50 per week. a 30-year loan at 0% interest, it would cover all 140 bad -- $149,000 home. people working in mcdonald's, subway, top nobel -- taco bell. they could buy into a home and earn equity. when we rent, we never earn equity and we can never buy anything extra. if we can acquire equity, then the bank will not be cut out. they will be processing the loans. they would be able to issue credit cards and may be charged an annual fee or whatever. that equity builds. people can purchase more and more things. it is just a thought an idea. i was wondering if it was a good idea. how long would it take to meet with larry summers or anybody in the economic advisers? would that be possible? >> yes. let me tell you, i so much appreciate you coming in with this particular idea. it is different than anything else i have heard. i used to work for habitat for humanity. we did 0% interest loans and put families back on their feet who would never have been able to be homeowners. it is interesting how you paired it with the credit card peace. a couple of weeks ago i had lunch with a group of freshmen and sophomore senators. we each had a chance to raise an issue. i raised the crisis in foreclosures and families who are underwater. we need to be as bold and aggressive to help out families in this situation as we have been to put financial institutions back on their feet. the result was a follow-up meeting, not with larry summers, but with treasury secretary geithner, in which i laid out a couple of ideas which are cousins to what you proposed. one idea stems from when farmers were able to buy back their forms when they lost them in the midwest in the 1980's. there was a foreclosure rescue loan that enabled people to buy the house back at the price was being auctioned off to the public with a loan that was not based on fico scores, but on a fair analysis of the ability to pay. that way the family would be out from under water, no longer owing more than the family was worth, with a fair interest rate, a much lower payment, and back on their feet. that was one idea to the second idea was to do 6% refinancing, not as low as 0%. at that rate, there could be a standard mortgage -- the way it is right now is 5% or less. there could be insurance for those who fail so that the treasury is not out any money. this would allow people who have subprime loans that have gone up to higher percentages to come down by probably 1/3 in their payments. if, in the process, you could take the amount that they were underwater, they could take that amount and have it beat a 0% interest mortgage that would be paid off at the end after they have paid off the regular mortgage. that way, families would not feel under water anymore and would feel more comfortable. yes, i am going to make it. these ideas, the strategy is -- we have got to do more to help our families or we're not going to put ourselves back on track. >> i have this information that i put together. i will give that to you. when you have the time to look at -- i put that together to help other people. i have a home already and it is paid off. a lot of individuals that i talk to add work and -- at work say they could never get into a home. i thought it would put something together and say what i think and how this is one idea. maybe you could meet with their summers and other people and go over this. it would turn things upside down, the banking industry -- instead of loading them money at almost 0%, you would be lending to court individuals. [applause] >> ok. thank you. how many folks think that we should have a much more aggressive effort to assist families in homeownership trouble? [applause] thank you. >> after this gentleman, we will have number 611. thank you for being here. i think there is a feeling that the stimulus package has been spent for the banks and this and that. i would appreciate it if you guys would spend it on -- i have heard 100% --the route in united states. if we could spend the money on roads and fiber throughout the united states, that would put guys to work. it will last forever. we will not be stuck with slow speeds. the electorate infrastructure needs to be redone -- electric infrastructure needs to be redone. this is job money we could spend in america. it is not just gone in blown up. net neutrality is extremely important. if you continue supporting that, i will appreciate it. >> let me just note that net neutrality is the concept that every user of the internet gets accessed at the same speed. there are special deals cut so that some people get put into the slow lane for the very slow lane. is that a fair description? >> if you have internet through time warner, they will not slow down your connection to fox or somebody else who is not part of them. >> i will repeat that. if you have your internet connection through time warner, they will not proceed, every time you connect to a competitor, they will not deliberately slow you down. it is a fair, even speak for everyone. i do support that. >> after jim, the next one will be six to seven. -- 627. no? next one then will be 608. there you go. >> ok. i have a question. in lieu of our 13.3 trillion dollars -- $13.30 trillion deficit and are unfunded unfundedies -- our liabilities -- the only way we can do this is cutting the size of government, even to the point of been draconian. can you give me an idea of how you would get spending under control? this is not sustainable. >> one thing that really was very exciting to me was when, nine years ago, we were running a substantial surplus. it looked like, within five years, we could pay off our national debt and have a debt- free america for our children pri is not just that we're going deeper into debt. it is that that debt is no longer owned by americans. when i was in grade school -- i suspect some of you have the same experience -- every friday, we would have a chance to buy savings bonds. anybody have that? . we do have a challenge. the budget bill laid out a three-year path to get back to the point where we would not be digging the hole in the deeper. why did not lay out an instant path? if we shut them various pass right now, we would not a looking at the level of unemployment. we would be looking at the double that. there are decisions that i support, sending support to the state of oregon for medicaid and education. oregon discussed $170 million to support school districts throughout the state. there would be some cost to an effort to help people in home ownership. we have to be extremely cautious or we will end up in a position like grease with an unsustainable debt -- greece with an unsustainable debt. >> if i do not pay my electricity bill, it is shut off. same with the sewer. if i do not have money for gasoline, i do not drive anywhere. this gentleman was talking about the internet. we use our blackberry for a modem. you want to talk about slow. what i am wondering is why, if we have to live by the set of rules, that if you do not have the money you do not spend it, why doesn't the federal government have to live by the same rules? [applause] >> may be is a gambling habit are something of that nature. they go belly up. in the short t