Portland

It’s good to be a government worker in Portland, Oregon. And not just because of the subsidized sex changes. It seems that city workers’ salaries are also ample enough to support a family and . . . finance a little terrorism on the side.

According to the Oregonian, Portland’s paper of record, earlier this week, Portland sewer bureau worker Reaz Qadir Qhan was arrested “on the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.” According to U.S. officials, the Pakistan-born naturalized U.S. citizen provided financing and advice for a May 2009 suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan, that killed 30 people and injured hundreds more.  The 48-year-old, who is likely to post bail today, should go on trial later this year.

But don’t worry about the accused jihadist of making ends meet in the meantime – displaying its trademark largesse, the city of Portland announced yesterday that it plans to place Khan on paid administrative leave. 

As Ronald Reagan famously quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I'm here to help.’” Portland, Oregon, though, really is here to help. The problem is that the city hasn’t created laws to benefit Portlanders—it’s created them to benefit one specific industry, at the expense of every consumer in the area.