What is it about those like Doyle and Kropf who run for office and then do strange things ---and complain they can't take care of their families otherwise? Who forced them to run for office, or didn't they think that far?

And while we are at it, whose stupid idea was it that because the Repub. to Dem. ratio was "unfavorable", why would House Democrats want to bother to target that district? That decision was as "unprofessional" as the idiots who say "sorry, FEMA can't help with that until it goes thru the proper channels".

For all the complaining about FEMA et. al incompetence, length of time to get to the Gulf states, red tape, etc, how is this different in anything other than degree? Why couldn't House Democrats have bothered to actually visit District 19 and find out what the actual voters thought of Doyle? Too much work? If he'd been defeated in November, there would have been a 32 GOP majority and a Democratic incumbent in that seat right now.

I feel sad for Dan's kids-they are now innocent victims of his behavior and that is truly unfortunate. I will leave the judgment of appropriate punishment to those more legally trained than myself.

We can, however, turn this into a positive step forward if we address the unanswered questions of why and how Dan did what he did. It is quite reasonable for the people of my district and the people of Oregon to ask why so many in the Republican Party enabled and encouraged Dan even after scandals had broken. I am a fan of reasonable partisanship that leads to vigorous debate and solutions. When members of the legislature are blinded by that partisanship, however, they will ignore or even condone the most corrupt behavior.

Despite the recent “reform” passed by the House, there is still no requirement of proof of financial declarations. It is still true that a candidate can “amend” any mistakes that draw complaints since both periods are concurrent. That is why the complaints on Doyle had to be filed literally at the last minute. If you combine the zealous partisanship with loopholes such as the two mentioned here, you have the most fertile ground for corruption.

There are other changes that would improve the system and as much as I enjoy reading them here, I would like to see them tackled aggressively in the legislature. It is clear the Republican caucus is not interested in that discussion. Doyle's appointed replacement, Kevin Cameron, proved that when he commented on the campaign finance bill to KATU news saying, "I think we went too far." I agree, but I’m sure not in the same way.

LT is right. The legislature's low pay is no secret. The story seems to be this: Doyle knew what his pay would be and still, apparently, couldn't forsee his economic peril. When he ran out of money, he "converted" some of his campaign contributions to personal use. Then he lied about it on official reports. Then he got caught.

Why would the Republicans choose a man who can't do family financial planning of the simplest sort to lead the Ways and Means Committee? Maybe they liked his style. He cut his family's revenue in order to force it to be more efficient.

And why didn't Doyle look at other, non-felony, options? What about food stamps? What about housing assistance? What about the Oregon Health Plan? What about the private charities that Republicans trot out whenever someone claims there is an insufficient safety net?

And, most importantly, why couldn't Doyle live on his middle-class pay? It may surprise him to discover his salary of $1,283 plus $91 per diem (that's $4,013/month or $48,156/year), is higher than a lot of Oregon's working families. If he has to resort to fraud to get by, what does he expect the rest of us to do?

Man, he really riles me.

plus $91 per diem

Is if they are in session, hence the "per diem". So if session is out and if you are one of the unlucky ones to not get a special session assignment no per diem for you until the next special session reselection or a regular session.

The Speaker of the House and the Senate President gets more money per month because of the status in each chamber.

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"Doyle apologized." In the paper's account, his wife, sentenced for a complicity, is quoted: "In my life, this is tragic."

Oh, YEAH ??? Forget the importance of YOUR life; YOU did. What about the injury and tragedy that has corrupted and deformed the lives of 3 million Oregonians in the name of Republican wanna-be tyranny, sold out for every one along the way to get rich ... Doyle, Krupf, Minnis, Al "you can call me Wayne" Scott, Mannix, Snodgrass, ... Brady Adams, Gordon Smith, on and on and on a dozen years from Newt..

Look at the economic tragedy to Oregonians from your unthinking ditto-brain support for anything, even crime -- you don't care, Ms.Doyle, in the name of your Republican fascism. Trent Lott's cousin Jesse Lott, sent to Oregon to foment Newt's revolting Republicans, hired a dozen day-labor thugs and drove them to Salem to stage a racist effigy lynching on the Capitol steps in '95, is still so brazen he ran as a Republican for State Senate last year. PEOPLE: Wake up and smell the neo-nazis on our ballots.

Justice could have plea-bargained Doyle to get him to roll-over on his co-democracy haters. (The estimated $50,000 of unreported campaign radio advertising donated to Doyle by Liars Larson was not even mentioned in Court proceedings. Nor in Dave Hogan's cover-up story in the paper -- 'oh, must have missed that ...'.)

Their Dorchester Conf. could be held in Giusto's Jail in six months. Then close the door on them. Get the white criminal Repulican 'collars' out of circulation and away from sedition and subversion of Oregon politics in one quick SWAT, slam!, thank you by damn.

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Couldn't help thinking that the news stories might be the bookends at the end of the "anti-tax solves all your problems" era. Doyles guilty, Close having lost a statewide race, Kropf looking idiotic at KXL. What part of "We the people of the State of Oregon.." don't they understand? Or did they cross their fingers when they took the oath to uphold the Constitution and then just played games with "mystery money" and "bucket plan" and all that other stuff?

<h2>Couldn't afford public service and taking care of their families? Don't they understand how many people don't run for office for that reason, and how 28 and 30 just made the lives of those people worse?</h2>