Jason Atkinson: understanding real people

One of the criticisms of Jason Atkinson is his youth. But thanks to Nick at the Cheezer, we have audio of Jason that shows his youth is an asset, because he understands the future of Oregon; he understands the attributes and challenges of today and tomorrow.

The file is 5 mb, so I wouldn't download it without a high-speed connection, but it's well worth the time. Here's my favorite part, transcribed by yours truly:

If you graduate high school, you know what you can't do when you get done? Get a job.

Let's say you want to go to college. Do you know it's cheaper to pay out-of-state tuition than it is to go to Oregon State University? Do you know that if you go to Oregon State University -- if you're lucky enough to go to school here -- and then you're going to make a huge, critical error, because you know what happens, what your average debtload is when you get out? It's thirty thousand bucks.
...
You're 22 years old, and you've played by the rules, and you've done what most people didn't do, you stayed here. Do you know what you can't do in Oregon, is get a job.

And you know what? If you do get a job, you're going to make $36,000 a year. That's a good starting first job. Right?

And then you know what you can't do in Oregon with $36,000 and one car payment? You can't buy a home. So you have two Oregons -- you have the renters and the owners.
...
My job as governor is to wake up each morning and worry about that one kid that wants to have a job, about that one kid that wants to go to school, and about that kid who wants to become a homeowner. Until I solve that crisis, the rest of this stuff doesn't matter. Because you know what? You know how you actually build a community? You build it through home ownership and work.

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