Political Roundup
Jesse Cornett
Author’s Note: The Political Roundup is intended to be an almost-weekly update of political stories from Oregon that weren’t previously written about on Blue Oregon (so, it's kind of all the news that's fit to print but not important enough to stand on it's own).
The exciting news to start off the week is that Senator Ron Wyden got married last weekend. Over on Jack Bog’s Blog, he writes about the new Mrs. and then seemingly takes a swipe at Oregon’s senior senator for his joining the majority of his Senate colleagues as a millionaire. Well, maybe it's not that exciting, but my congratulations go to the Senator his new wife and their combined wealth.
As the week continued, the Statesman Journal covered how out of state interests and money are attacking Oregon’s values via the initiative system: anti-abortion activists are targeting the Oregon ballot. Get your abortions now folks, the thumpers are coming to save you!
Over in Bend, a fellow Washington transplant has the following to say:
"Term limits may be unpleasant, but the current system isn't working," he said. "You can't throw the rascals out."
That might be the stupidest quote of the year. You can’t throw the rascals out? Sure you can. It happens all the time. But wait, gubernatorial wanna-be (and current state senator) Rick Metger rode to the rescue by saying:
"Every 10 years since the 1930s and without term limits, the turnover exceeds 90 percent," he said.
"There have been some Oregonians who stay longer, and those are very few, and I'm glad they stay around to provide guidance. But, for the most part, most people can't afford to stay very long and term themselves out."
At least in Oregon, legislative term limits are a solution in search of a problem, he said.
I couldn’t have said it better myself (well, I maybe could have but they didn’t call me).
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Sep 30, '05
Why has it gone totally unnoticed on BlueOregon (as far as I can tell) that Congresswoman Hooley joined Senator Wyden in opposing repeal of the estate tax for the first time! This has been the number one beef of "the base" with Darlene for years! Let's give credit where credit is due. Go Darlene!
6:23 p.m.
Sep 30, '05
Yeah. Why is that Jesse? I can't believe my good fortune when a Democratic Oregon legislator other than DeFazio or Blumenauer votes pro progressive (even if it's painfully obvious).
I am tearfully grateful that Rep Hooley spent some time and political capital informing her constituents about the efforts of the Oligarchy to give themselves even more tax breaks while pretending that they care about Mom and Pop down on The Farm, just like Wyden did.
Oh wait, that didn't happen.
Of course she wasn't faced with the awful dilemma of whether to vote to confirm as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court a man who was complicit in the proven theft of the presidential election for Republicans in 2000.
Wyden must bear some crosses alone.
Oct 1, '05
Pat,
You're never going to agree with an elected official 100 percent of the time -- not even Blumenauer or DeFazio. But, all said, you probably agree with Hooley and Wyden 90 percent of the time.
Look, there's a continuum of ideology, and Darlene and Ron happen to fall slightly to the right of you -- which I would say is generally a good thing, because they're a better match for their constituencies than you would be. (And thank God we have Ron and Darlene in those seats, rather than Republicans!)
If the base isn't willing to give props to our Democratic officials when they do the right thing, then folks like Darlene and Ron have no incentive to move to the left; they will know they can never win among folks like you, so they'll always just move to the right, where there is a chance of pleasing some folks.
So I say, let's give credit where credit is due. I disagreed with Darlene's estate tax position and now she has changed that position. Good for her! Thanks for doing the right thing, Darlene.
11:22 a.m.
Oct 1, '05
When Republican numbers get down to around 40%, and they still don't stand up, I'm left wondering when the time will be right.
Oct 3, '05
Go Darlene! - You're plainly correct, and thanks for making the point. The Estate Tax issue is a complete farce. Tax simplification should be a Democratic issue because of payroll taxes. Wyden has a much better prospect of picking up centrists like me with good public policy decisions than lefties like Mr Ryan for whom there is no hope of appeasement.