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Across the state, Republicans are fighting to win Democratic incumbents' seats; hoping to oust a Democratic supermajority in the legislature. With supermajority status since 2008, Democrats have possessed the votes needed to pass revenue-raising legislation. Democrats currently hold 36 seats in the House and 18 seats in the Senate, but several districts have been identified as close races to watch for a possible shift in power.
Meanwhile, ballot measures and local issues across the state require voters' attention too. One ballot measure that received some debate during the primaries is a proposal to change Oregon's biennial legislative sessions to annual. Oregon is one of five states where the legislature does not meet annually. In 1990, Oregon voters rejected a similar annual sessions proposal.
What state races are grabbing your attention? What do you want to know about how Oregon's legislature would function if there was a different party structure? Which way will you vote on going annual?
GUESTS:
- David Steves: Reporter, The Register Guard
- Nick Budnick: Reporter, The Bend Bulletin
- Bob Hunter: Editor, The Mail Tribune
- Ted Ferrioli: Senate Republican Leader
- Diane Rosenbaum: Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate
Tagged as: 2010 election · legislature · state
Photo credit: dkllmke / Creative Commons
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"The opposition party (Republicans) have lurched so far to the right in the last 30 years it’s not even funny..."
Yeppers!
We have had some very good moderate Republicans in office in and for Oregon in the past (think Tom McCall), but the extremists running now are just way out of line.
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I agree with you on most of the platform points you listed but not all and right there is the problem with the two party system and voting the party line. 9. Immigration, they are here illegally, kick them out! 10. Illegal alien babies, they are here illegally, kick them and their babies out! I just don’t understand why my liberal brothers are so bleeding hart liberal. We don’t need any more people in this country, we should be promoting a complete halt to all immigration and promoting zero domestic population growth, it’s the responsible, environmental, reduced carbon footprint thing to do.
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As an Oregonian I’ll not vote liberal or conservative simply because both positions and the reflective parties are pure poison to the health of the state and the welfare of the citizens. Thus I hope in vain for a legislature peopled with Oregonians rather then Politicians. However, that will likely not happen and so I hope that there is a perfectly equal split between the parties when the game is resolved.
Specifically on Measure 71 I will vote against annual sessions. The Politicians in Salem waste to much time now getting nothing productive done, why give them more time to spend politicking? -
Hmm, let's see now:
Two Conservative Republican newspapers, The Bend Bulletin and The Mail Tribune (a Rupert Murdoch-News Corp property, (think Fox News)), one Conservative paper, The Register Guard, and the Republican leader of the Senate, set up against the Assistant Majority Leader of The Senate. Four against one.
Now are we going to see equal time for both opposing sides or equal time for each participant?
Wow, no bias here, eh? -
The Measure 74 Campaign released a poll yesterday that bears directly on today's discussion.
Disaffected voters -- those who voted for Obama two years ago and are planning to NOT vote this year -- are more highly motivated to vote when they learn Measure 74 is on the ballot -- the measure would authorize medical marijuana dispensaries.
Although these unlikely voters were NOT motivated by learning that there was a gubenatorial race on the ballot, Kitzhaber benefited greatly in the poll, as well. Those voters who became much more likely to vote due to M74 also supported Kitzhaber by a large majority.
It's clear that Democrats who want to gain an edge in their tight races could motivate the disaffected Obama voters by talking about M74.
The poll results are posted at http://measure74.com/2010/10/19/survey-%ca%bbunlikely%ca%bc-voters-motivated-by-measure-74/
Robert Wolfe
M74 Media Liaison
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Regarding the recent tax measures, it's important to point out that the Legislature DID NOT refer the measures to voters. Legislators (all the Senate Democrats plus all House Democrats except one plus two House Republicans) passed the measures and they were signed by the Governor. A group opposed to the taxes gathered the signatures to put the measure before the voters.
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Mike Kozak is the slick New Yorker who moved to Bend and destroyed our historic Palace Tavern, turning it into a New York City type disco-duck hustle bar.
The Palace Tavern had a bar length mirror and bar cabinetry and top that had been shipped around the tip of South America, in the early 1900s. During the prohibition years it had been the local entertainment place with a historic small stage for plays and such.
The Palace Tavern had wood floors and you could toss the shells of your free peanuts on the floor. And you could play pool and snooker on real tables that you bought time for by the hour. And a wonderful old timer bartender named Johnny with rolled up sleeves and arm garters to hold up those sleeves. Johhny was the friendliest beer bartender in town.
And Mike Kozak destroyed all of that, he just has no respect for history and traditions, he is all about money just like the Wall Street New Yorkers where he came from.
So. No to Mike Kozak!
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I hear the GOP speaker saying cut, cut, cut, but every time you cut state spending, more Oregonians join the ranks of the unemployed. How does this help Oregon's economy recover???
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The GOP rep on your show keeps using the talking points of JOB KILLING and telling us tax cuts will solve all our problems.
When the state needs revenue, how does cutting taxes help?
Where are all the jobs that should have been created from the Bush tax cuts if that is what they were supposed to produce?
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I just love the support being thrown to businesses and corporations while state employees are made to be the "bad guys". Remember that state employees are your middle class and that if we don't work, we don't buy anything from businesses and we don't pay taxes, so what are the plan to save government jobs? We never hear a peep about this issue while government lay offs are what kept the unemployment up last month in Oregon.
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You are absolutely right, it is folly to cut our State government employees when they are the last bastion of keeping our economy going, even as weak as it is.
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I also think that government lay offs should be avoided. However, the pension system should be readjusted to better match how the private sector 401k works. I am in healthcare career and I have to contribute a significant amount to my plan every pay period. It is not responsible to nor realistic to believe that as a public paid employee it justifies having a better retirement. After all didn't you choose to work with the community versus against the community? This is my main concern when it comes to public employees. But let me just say that I don't think it is right for a person to live in constant fear of losing their job due to poor government spending practices.
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Same old dogma from the right. When Ted Ferrioli says things like create shovel ready sites, cut red tape, streamline the permit process, cut environmental regulations what he means is privatize the profits and socialize the costs. For example a major barrier to shovel ready sites is transportation infrastructure. What Ted Ferrioli and other right wingers like him want is to pass the costs of building transportation infrastructure on to the taxpayers. Business should pay it’s own way. Taxpayers are tired of paying for their impacts including subsidizing their infrastructure needs and cleaning up their pollution.
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Many of the jobs lost over the last decade occurred under the Bush administration with its tax cuts. I don't understand the Republican argument that taxes kill job creation in Oregon. Many businesses opted to move their operations overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes and to take advantage of less expensive foreign labor.
Two problems come to mind: the destructive and vague plans of Republicans which fuel their ability to drag down forward progress of government; and the inability of Democrats to be thoughtful social and fiscal leaders.
Is it possible to reform our political system so we have competent and honest candidates to choose from? Can we ban negative campaigns built on deception?
Negative campaigns don't work. Why would I vote for negative campaigners who propose no viable solutions for improvement?
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Liberals/Democrats view raising taxes as a fix to every problem As long as Oregon taxpayers keep voting for these tax and spend Liberals Oregon will remain one of the highest taxed places to live in America. It’s time for Oregon to turn RED…VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN OR TEA PARTY CANDIDATE…
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Can you site the source of your claim that Oregon is one of the highest taxed places to live in America? Because all the sources that I have seen disprove this frequently repeated incorrect factoid.
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You've said nothing here but you've faithfully repeated the words favored by the GOP. It's the same thing Ferrioli (and virtually every other wingnut candidate does) did this morning. Not one substantive idea, just boilerplate.
Cut taxes, stop spending, cut taxes, trash state workers, cut taxes. As others have commented, it's worked so well in the past let's do the same thing over again and see how well it won't work this time.
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What we would get with annual legislative sessions is more grandstanding, more electioneering, more extreme bills presented for the express purpose of forcing their opposition to vote against and using those votes for electioneering purposes. We wouldn’t get any more productive work out of them.
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We have inconsistent expectations of our government--we expect our new administration to fix the damage from the past 8 years in only two years that they have been in the majority. There are rabid anti-government voters who rail at regulation but scream for government help when they are in need. I feel like I live in Bizarro World when people will tolerate a costly and unnecessary war in which lives and our treasury are expended, but are utterly opposed to having our nation's health care system reformed for their better interests. I hope Americans prove the polls wrong and vote in more Democrats so that we can actually get the ball rolling on some middle class benefiting policies.
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Republicans act like there are no liberal small business owners. They need to start paying attention to how Oregon is changing rather than just talking about the same old trickle down economics from Reagan's era.
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We hear both sides talk about the need to create jobs, but they both seem to work against it. The R's talk about there not being any shovel ready jobs, that we don't give businesses the tax breaks they need, and we discourage businesses from coming to the state. The D's talk about wanting to encourage renewable and sustainable industries as a new growth area for the economy to create jobs, and also think of new ways to incentivize private industry. Both sides give lip service to providing new ways for rural counties to boost their economies. Yet with all of this, both sides have been disassemblying one of the most successful vehicles for achieving all of these things - the Business Energy Tax Credit. This, and our renewable energy standard, have been major factors in numerous projects being built, jobs created, increasing revenue streams to rural counties, and attracting businesses to the state EVEN IN A DOWN ECONOMY. It seems like this is a win-win for both sides and yet both are trying to kill it. Why?
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Ted Ferrioli
That last comment about Emily was such an obvious blatant lie, and it is part of what I dislike so much about Conservative Republicans, they are always so sleazy and underhanded.I think that Democrats and other moderates, even moderate Republicans, make a mistake when we assume that Conservative Republicans are of good intentions like we are. They are not! We have to treat them like they show themselves to be in reality, as the facts on the ground show them to be.
Attacking your host who gives you time, and respectful treatment, is just unreal and ungrateful. He owes her an on air apology, and on Loren Parks bill.
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I woke up in the middle of the night last night realizing that what Ted Ferrioli did is an example of bullying. Political bullying. Ted has great political power and he abused that power against Emily. He waited and ambushed her at the end of the program, knowing that he would get away with it.
So it is interesting that he did that right after a program about bullying and provided an example of bullying other than against gays and other minorities.
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First, Ted Ferrioli needs to learn to listen. He spent most of the show interrupting people and spouting words without any consideration of whether they were factual or logical. He even made up statements and tried to attribute them to the host, Emily! If he were my Rep, I would vote him out ASAP. Clearly, he's not concerned with what anyone else thinks.
Second, I'm so tired of this false argument that tax breaks for businesses and a lax regulatory environment are what are foster job growth. I am a small business owner, and while I would absolutely love for my business tax burden to be minimized, the only thing that will lead to us hiring more employees is an increase in demand. Pure and simple.
Would less regulation and fewer taxes be good for my business overall? You bet. But that would only affect my bottom line and my profits, not my need for additional employees.
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PETER COURTNEY IS THE HARRY REID OF OREGON >.BEEN THERE TOO LONG .. ITS TIME FOR HIM TO GET VOTED OUT AND GET APPOINTED TO SOME FAT CAT GOVERNMENT JOB
JOHN IN GERVAIS
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Your keyboard caps lock is stuck in "ON". That makes you look like the typical yelling Conservative Republican Fox news sycophant.
Stop yelling and maybe sombody will listen to what you have to say. You do have something to say, don't you?
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A "fake news" supplement called "Economic Times of Oregon" ran in the Salem Statesman Journal either 10/21/2010 or 10/22/2010. It self-identifed connected with "Third Century Solutions" giving a contact email of info@thirdcenturysolutions.com. This points it to U.S. Senate candidate Jim Huffman, see http://www.huffmanforsenate.com/index.php?option=com_biosystem&view=default&Itemid=6 where his contact is jim@thirdcenturysolutions.com.
It was rather interesting that the supplement did not seem to contain any direct appeals to vote for Jim Huffman or even any mention of him. Instead it gave statistics and stories that seemed to follow a unifying narrative that Oregon is very unfriendly toward business. I heard recently that Forbes ranked Oregon the 10th best state for business, so not only are these "stories" dangerous because they disguise their source as the Statesman Journal with no gurantee that they follow the same journalistic standard, but also they are misleading.
The supplement does say "paid advertisement", but the style (include typeset used and other look-and-feel aspects) is exactly that of the Statesman Journal. While this is probably legal for the advertisor, I am surprised that the Statesman would allow an add that is disguised to this extent - even with the "paid advertisement" wording. I read several of the articles before figuring out that it was not from the Statesman.
One of them gives the appearance of being written by former Governor Vic Atiyeh, although I suspect it was not. This article blames Governor's Roberts, Kitzhaber, and Kulongoski for creating policies that destroyed the economy.
Jeremy Hickerson
Salem, Oregon
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They just did it in Eugene, in the Register-Guard. Sleazy. To make matters worse, if you go to thirdcenturysolutions.com it says it is "under construction." Yeah, wouldn't want anyone to figure out the connection there, before the election. I wrote a letter to the R-G chastising them for accepting this "paid advertisement" without demanding it disclose the Huffman connection.
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See also this FEC website showing Huffman payments to Third Century for "campaign management services."
http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/HSRefreshContributorList.do?election_yr=2010&cand_id=S0OR00220&detailType=cand&contComeFrom=candDetail&contCategory=OPEXP&category=stateS_all&stateName=OR -
The Economic Times insert was in the Oregonian today.
Can't really see how anyone would mistake this for Oregonian content --- clearly marked: "Paid Advertisement" both print style, and rather prominent masthead make it clear its not: The Oregonian.
Is unfortunate that it is a stealth publication---no one, organization taking credit for it. However, it does provide factual content highly unlikely that the the liberal Oregonian would publish, particularly in this election cycle, and since they did it on their own dime, should not be objectionable to supporters of the first amendment.
---would like the sponsors to come forward.
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With due respect, knloregon, the point is that it is not just a "Paid Advertisement" -- it is a "Paid Political Advertisement" and yet does not reveal itself as such. My research is not yet complete but it smells like an campaign law violation from this distance....
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Comments are now closed.
As a liberal I hope the Democrats maintain (and expand) their supermajority in both state houses. Why? Because I agree with more of their policies than the policies of the Republicans. The opposition party (Republicans) have lurched so far to the right in the last 30 years it’s not even funny. I find it very telling that the Republicans never talk in specifics because if people knew what they really wanted to do, they wouldn’t vote for them.
Just look at some of the policies from the Oregon Republican Party’s 2010 platform (http://www.oregonrepublicanparty.org/platform or http://www.oregonrepublicanparty.org/sites/default/files/2010_ORP_Platform_0.pdf ):
1. Pro death penalty - pg. 2/7
2. Pro mandatory minimum sentences that are bankrupting our state - pg. 2/7
3. Pro climate change denial and anti emission reductions with continued use of coal power - pg. 3/7
4. Anti abortion and government funding of the procedure – pg. 3/7
5. Anti gay-marriage (even against civil unions!) and gay adoption - pg. 3/7
6. Anti pornography – pg. 4/7
7. Pro excessive military spending – pg. 4/7
8. Anti health care reform (want to repeal the federal reform enacted in 2010 and Oregon’s state reform enacted in 2009). Deregulation solves everything! – pg. 5/7
9. Anti immigration reform for the 12+ million illegal immigrants in the country – pg. 5/7
10. Anti baby citizens by repealing/amending the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th amendment so that children born to parents in which neither is a US citizen should not be US citizens – pg. 5/7
11. Anti patient’s rights by opposing physician-assisted suicide (Oregon Death with Dignity Act) – pg. 7/7
Nuff said. It’s very hypocritical: they “oppose government getting involved into people’s personal lives” except when it comes to the many things they don’t like (abortion, gay marriage, pornography, euthanasia, drugs, etc).
On the topic of annual sessions, I will be voting yes on the annual sessions measure (Measure 71) and I don’t see a problem with an annual, full-time professional legislature either. You get what you pay for.