Oregon
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3:42 a.m.
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Wow, it's been quite some time since I've posted anything new. Not that there isn't anything new to talk about, but life calls. It was great to see a mention by Ginny Burdick in the "In Portland" section of today's Oregonian. Yes, everyone thinks we are a conspiracy of two, if not the same person, however I was more excited that she cited Women in Politics as her favorite website because it is so...
Oregon Women in Politics - 2:00 a.m.
All around the state exciting things are happening in the Oregon House Races! • Hanten Day (Democrat – HD 19) has found a unique way to celebrating his district. From his news release: Democratic Party candidate in House District 19, Hanten Day (HD), has reserved the 19th day of every month as "House District 19 Day" (HD19 Day). He will meet constituents on those days in locations t...
House Democrats - Wed 11:35 p.m. - 4 clicks 
Republicans running for office in Oregon, in many cases, appear to be wed to one thing: tax cuts. No matter what the problem, tax cuts and spending cuts are their solution. If only we could drown the gubmint in the bathtub--completely disable it--then all of our problems would be magicially solved. For some reason, pondering these notions caused this song to scratch out of my head: Yeah, they've f...
BlueOregon - Wed 2:12 p.m. - 4 clicks
As we reported earlier, Jeff Merkley made his way down to Netroots Nation, where Oregon's next senator got to chat with some of the non-Oregon netroots. The reviews fairly glow with praise. I posted an interview Merkley did with Talking Points Memo, impressive enough to David Kurtz that he posted the clip on TPM's front page. Now it's the Huffington Post's Sam Stein who is impressed. Oregon's Demo...
BlueOregon - Wed 2:12 p.m. - 5 clicks
Portland has had only six women as city commissioners in its 157 years of being a city. If that sounds less than progressive than our status claims, you are right. I was given this fun fact from current commission candidate, Amanda Fritz. I sought out Amanda partly out of curiosity, partly out of wanting to support the woman in the race. My previous experience with Amanda is gossip-based only. Her...
BlueOregon - Wed 2:12 p.m. - 6 clicks
By Pam Cosmo of La Pine, Oregon. Pat describes herself as a "freedom-loving,agri-business hating, ex-newspaper woman." About five years ago, I moved to Deschutes County from South Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is a world class vacation destination, and I am all too familiar with the unintended consequences that resort development entails. I was the special sections editor of the Tahoe Daily Tribune when ...
BlueOregon - Wed 2:12 p.m. - 5 clicks
National Stonewall Democrats is holding their 2008 National Convention in Denver, August 21 through August 24th, immediately preceding the Democratic National Convention which itself will see a significant increase in the number of GLBT Delegates this year. Seven percent of the the Democratic Party of Oregon Delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention are [...]...
DPO GLBT Caucus - Wed 1:39 p.m. - 6 clicks
The Democratic Party of Oregon is filming a new video in Portland OR. The video is titled “WE THE PEOPLE” We need as many people as can possibly be there! Sunday, August 27, 2008 2:45pm 2223 NE Oregon Portland OR Contact: Alex (at) dpo.org or call (503) 224 - 8200 ...
DPO GLBT Caucus - Wed 1:39 p.m. - 6 clicks
Southern Oregon Pride: LIVE.LOVE.BE Saturday July 26, 2008 Noon to 7pm - Festival 7pm to 10:30Pm - Dance Jackson County Fairgrounds Central Point OR ...
DPO GLBT Caucus - Wed 1:39 p.m. - 6 clicks
The Atlantic's summer fiction issue is out, and it includes a new story by Missoula's Aryn Kyle, who launched her career in that magazine in 2004 with "Foaling Season," which won a National Magazine Award. She later extended that story into her first novel, The God of Animals. Kyle's new story, "Nine," also features a young protagonist, and Kyle's deft way with children as characters is one of t...
New West Bend - Wed 10:38 a.m. - 5 clicks
Yesterday I wrote about how Gordon Smith and the Oregon Republican party had released a web ad and website smearing Jeff Merkley's record. Today, the DSCC fired back with a brilliant ad nailing Gordon Smith on the war on Iraq. See more below the jump... First things, first, if you'll recall, Gordon Smith and the NRSC released the following web ad a few days back criticizing M...
Loaded Orygun - Wed 8:40 a.m. - 16 clicks
By Mary Botkin of Portland, Oregon. Mary is a political and union activist. Like many in the 60's politics for me was a contact sport, filled with confrontation, passion, opinions and activism. As the late 70's and 80's drifted in and the world seemed to be settled into an uneasy but livable peace with relative economic security, politics were more easily relegated to voting only. Then in the mid ...
BlueOregon - Wed 1:40 a.m. - 6 clicks
The Democratic Party of Oregon today sent out an action item on the topic that I've been covering lately - women's reproductive health. As I wrote a few days ago, the Bush Administration is working on instituting new rules that will make it more difficult for women to have access to reproductive health services like annual exams as well as pushing birth control into "abortion" territor...
Blog for Oregon - Wed 12:06 a.m. - 9 clicks
For late July, there sure does seem to be a lot of news happening: Covering the State Treasurer race, the Oregonian quotes Ben Westlund -- and he's dead right. Talking about 2001, when the state lost nearly a third of its revenues state revenues dropped precipitously: "What was most illuminating was that it was the very conservative element of the party that had been preaching against government, ...
BlueOregon - Tue 8:03 p.m. - 11 clicks
In a letter to Gordon Smith, Jeff Merkley today accepted debate invitations from five media outlets - and proposed three more debates. Dear Senator Smith: Oregonians are struggling with the price of gasoline and an economy that is running on empty. Our troops are returning from Iraq without proper health care, while skyrocketing health care costs trouble us all. Our nation is at a very critical po...
BlueOregon - Tue 6:08 p.m. - 8 clicks
Over at PolitickerOR, they've posted their own ranking of the top 50 most powerful hacks, lobbyists, staffers, consultants in Oregon. (They excluded elected officials.) Lists like this are designed to generate argument and debate. So, let's talk about it. I'll start: The person ranked #39 absolutely, positively shouldn't be anywhere on this list. I'm sure I can think of at least fifty more people ...
BlueOregon - Tue 6:08 p.m. - 12 clicks
Having returned to Oregon after four days of Netroots Nation-ing in Texas, I'm glad to be back to the temperate climate and proper coffee. I'm not a hothouse flower and I didn't care much for the morning brew they swill. Even without the comforts of home, I found the experience most worthwhile. The panel discussions were excellent and the networking opportunities were bountiful. I was able to reco...
BlueOregon - Tue 6:08 p.m. - 8 clicks
The Oregonian came out this morning for a repeal of "don’t ask don’t tell," calling for the full and open ability for gays and lesbians to serve in the military. Noting that acceptance of gays in the military is now at 75%, they are asking what is taking so long. I have only one question for the Oregonian: what took you so long? In 1995, I was elected to the Portland School Board. Two months later...
BlueOregon - Tue 6:08 p.m. - 9 clicks
Their pundit roundtable is not 100% in love with Merkley, but they see the tide moving in that direction and--just as interesting--see Oregon as a good indicator of whether the Republicans will lose a lot of ground in the Senate this fall or a whole lot of ground. The article is on Salon Premium, so non-subscribers will have to patiently sit through some ads. ...
Loaded Orygun - Tue 5:39 p.m. - 11 clicks
The fact that Democratic registrations have surged in Oregon over the last year or so--boosted in large measure by the army of volunteers for Barack Obama--has already been reported to a certain extent, but over the weekend Randy Stapilus at Ridenbaugh looked into the recent release of June registration totals by party and brings us up to date: Four years ago, Republicans had a narrow lead of...
Loaded Orygun - Tue 5:39 p.m. - 11 clicks
Proof that Jeff Merkley is gaining fast in his quest to be the next Senator from the great state of Oregon increases by the day. In the latest, the Oregon GOP goes after Merkley's supposed campaign finance violations and then puts up a pathetic website attempting to smear Merkley's tax record. More below the jump. The first item today is an ad put out by the NRSC opposing Je...
Loaded Orygun - Tue 5:39 p.m. - 26 clicks
Jeff's headed to Central Oregon! Starting on Friday, Jeff takes his 100 Towns for Change tour out to Lyons, Mill City, Gates, and Detroit before arriving in Sisters. On Saturday, he'll visit La Pine, Redmond, and Bend. He'll close out the trip by meeting voters in Prineville, Culver, Madras, Warm Springs, and Rhododendron. Jeff started his 100 Towns tour because Oregon families are re...
Merkley for Oregon Blog - Tue 2:04 p.m. - 9 clicks
Even as the Allen Alley campaign brags about his company, Pixelworks, the stock price continues its long, steep slide. The Portland Business Journal reports: Six weeks after a reverse split meant to avert a delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange,......
Allen Alley: Experience You Can't Trust - Tue 9:43 a.m.
Today I attended a Yamhill County public hearing on what is probably among the most interesting of Measure 37 claims. This is a claim by a responsible land steward that has invested years of time and money to improve and restore his land, including working cooperatively with many government agencies and private organizations. Their work to restore wetlands has even......
Progressive Viewpoints - Tue 3:35 a.m. - 11 clicks
During Jeff's recent visit to Netroots Nation, he had the opportunity to talk to Kate Sheppard from Grist. Grist is a leading environmental news site where people can read stories about sustainability, climate change and numerous other environmental issues. Jeff felt right at home talking about his environmental record in the Oregon House, how to best fight climate change and how he'll lead on en...
Merkley for Oregon Blog - Tue 2:31 a.m. - 16 clicks
If you haven't seen it yet, at last week's public comment meeting the school board distributed copies of the draft agreement with the City of Lake Oswego, for easement to the lake for a sewer interceptor project. Along with the deed, the agreement is obviously one of the most salient documents as a starting point for what the terms are, what it allows and restricts, etc. I published the l...
Loaded Orygun - Mon 4:05 p.m. - 15 clicks
The following is the latest in my line of Oregon politics blogs and comes at the suggestion of one of my readers. Simply put, I will analyze the current cash situation for major non-federal candidates in Oregon (since I believe that the federal races have been well covered here). For reference, my latest thoughts on the elections are posted at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/1...
Loaded Orygun - Mon 3:36 p.m. - 16 clicks
Letter to Editor in Friday, March 3, 2006 Portland Tribune Let’s get on with voter-owned elections Thank goodness voter-owned elections are safe for now. Portland residents weren’t fooled when PGE, Qwest, the Oregon Restaurant Association and developers dumped $350,000 into the effort to overturn a reform that increases accountability in government, creates fairer el...
Vote No Power Grab - Mon 1:04 a.m. - 16 clicks
The big-business special interest effort to repeal Voter-Owned Elections is still not on the May ballot indicating they couldn't convince enough Portlanders to give up fair elections for all. "Special interests paid an incredible $8 per signature for this power grab, but the Oregon Restaurant Association, big utilities, developers, and big business interests still couldn't buy enough valid ...
Vote No Power Grab - Mon 1:04 a.m. - 17 clicks
The initiative to repeal Portland's Voter-Owned Elections reform may still end up on May ballot. A signature verification review is underway due to technological problems in the initial assessment. So we can't let up our efforts to spread the word about how Voter-Owned Elections levels the playing field and keeps Portland politics fair for all. ...
Vote No Power Grab - Mon 1:04 a.m. - 16 clicks
Lately I've done a lot of questioning of BlueOregon and its message, and people have been quite upset with my take on the site. It isn't BlueOregon per se, but what it embodies. A recent poster to my last blog was right to talk about the pervasive sexism in liberal politics. Kari Chisholm wanted to know what all of the last discussion had to do with women in politics. Well, clearly he didn't see t...
Oregon Women in Politics - Sun 11:41 p.m. - 20 clicks
When he took office in 2003, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski made it clear that he wasn't interested in raising taxes or addressing the issue of tax reform until he had taken every step to assure notoriously tax-averse Oregonians that the......
Terry Olson - Sun 11:36 p.m. - 20 clicks
Huffington Post carried a story today about Hillary Being Vetted which is a topic I care just enough about to read the article, just. The piece I'm interested in is the Comments section, not because I expect to see anything particularly new or especially intelligent written there, the prevailing sentiment is what interests me. (if the topic were not Hillary, I might expect to find something in...
Chuck Butcher - Sun 11:36 p.m. - 23 clicks
Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley flew out to Austin Texas to meet with bloggers from all across the country. He was very excited about the event as was I. Follow me below the fold to find out about Jeff Merkley's visit to Netroots Nation.... Let's make the NW Bluer! On Friday night, Wes Clark and Howard Dean gave rousing speeches to kick off the weekend celebration. Jeff mingled about...
Merkley for Oregon Blog - Sun 6:37 p.m. - 16 clicks
Ben Westlund is a smart, charming, politician. If you check his website you'll also find that he's a terrific candidate for State Treasurer. Ben Westlund's dedication to the people of Oregon is beyond question. His management skills have been demonstrated in private enterprise and in the Oregon Senate. The last gubernatorial race demonstrated a fine political judgement and an ability to subor...
Chuck Butcher - Sun 2:01 a.m. - 15 clicks
The trip itself was great, but the flight back to Eugene was a series of airline nightmares. Nothing much worth writing about, but just managed to make the connecting flight to Portland after Delta assured us that the flight from Philadelphia to Cincinnati (one of Delta’s three US hubs, the other two being Atlanta and [...]...
His Vorpal Sword - Sun 12:31 a.m. - 16 clicks
Saturday morning Senator Ben Westlund Democratic candidate for State Treasurer will ride in the Baker City Miner's Jubilee Parade in my 2004 SSR. Two years ago Carol Voisin did the same in her run against Rep Greg Walden (R-OR2). I used it in the OR2 Primary as campaign transportation, it runs in the Haines OR 4th of July Parade bearing Baker County Democrats banners and it sports an Obama ...
Chuck Butcher - Sat 2:03 a.m. - 17 clicks
Tuesday evening was a busy one for Lake Oswego Public Affairs Director Jane Heisler and Lake Oswego Interceptor System (LOIS) Project Director Joel Komarek. The pair attended the scheduled City Council meeting, and then the first public hearing of the school board regarding the potential lease of Lake Grove Swim Park to the City, as a staging area for the LOIS sewer pipe installation scheduled to...
Loaded Orygun - Fri 4:05 p.m. - 16 clicks
