[Comment falsely impersonating Lars Larson deleted. -editor.]

Unions tend to vote in their own best interests, whether that be Democrat or Republican, Lars and Joe. This is NOT the time to be cutting School funding even further, like my Cousin Ron would like to do. Re-Negotiating PERS is one thing, but eliminating it altogether and effectively firing every Public Employee, and re-hiring them as new hires with no benefits does NOT fix our funding problems. Society as a WHOLE suffers when any part of it takes hits like these. Don't get me wrong- I like my Cousin(Ron Saxton), but I have some real problems with the way he intends to "Fix" the problems in this State. I also would like to set the record straight before anyone else buys into the "I'm just a farm Boy from Albany" quote I often hear my Cousin use. He Never grew up on a Farm- He was a small town boy growing up, but that hardly makes him a simple "Man of the Earth", that he would like to portray to voters. Once he was old enough to leave Albany to College back East, He avoided Albany and the values He likes to convey. He's a Big City Lawyer, having spent ALL his time Living in Portland since his graduation. I find this being a bit disingenious to his potential constituency. I Do take comfort in having him as the GOP's choice in November however- He does seem to be the least Right Wing Nut Job than his two Primary opponents were!!

I'm really pleased that the OEA endorsed Kulongoski. He's got a viable plan for stable funding for education in Oregon. And he's the only candidate (ever, I think) who sees education as a continuum, from K through college (including community college). I don't know why the OEA didn't endorse him in the primary but I'm glad that they're on board now.

It would have been news if the OEA hadn't endorsed Governor K after the primaries.

I can't believe OEA fell for this crap. Myranda, if you ever talk to your Boss, tell him he got off easy. Had his opponent been Mannix I doubt he would have gotten the endorsement.

The smarter thing would have been to make Teddy sweat it a little. Maybe then he, and every other OEA endorsed candidate would see that endorsements mean you gotta toe the line.

and as an aside, I believe the decision was made by 27 or so people on Friday night. I don't know what the vote was, but I'd love to find out how close it was between no-endorsement and Ted.

I don't think OEA is all together behind this one if comments from my teacher friends are any indication. An endorsement might get him dollars, but I doubt it wil garner the same energy and pavement pounding as the last time, when he won by less than 2%......

Lars K. is right, Teddy is toast. The alternative is Westlund.

Too disgusted to sign my name,

Bob

I watched the OEA during the primary endorsement process...They choice to "no endorsement"....but the vote was "Peter" or "no endorsement"...they voted for the no endorsement. Peter got more delegate votes than Ted... Now the OEA is for Ted.. Give me a break!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Never agree with Lars...but I have to tell you....I agree with him this time. The OEA is a joke this year....

Disgusted Bob--Kulongoski is not my boss. He's the D candiate for governor and I support him. Westlund is not an alternative; he's not even a candidate at this point. If he gets that far, he is anti-choice and anti-environment, and won't get my vote. The OEA's endorsement means $$ for Kulongoski's campaign, and that's important because Saxton gets tons of timber-interest $$ and will get tons of RNC $$.

Ron never had a shot. But Ben is MUCH MORE in tune w. the OEA agenda than Ted.

However, it was the OEA representatives, not the rank-and-file, making the endorsement. So much for democracy, small d.

Ted calling out Ben as a Republican was a hoot - as if he's been doing a Rip Van Winkle while in office (OK, we already knew that.) His concept of running against 2 Republicans is FOR DREAMERS.

Go Ben Go.

The OEA endorsement is faux news. If the other candidate(s) hadn't tried for it, they'd have been assailed for not caring about teachers and education. But they never had a chance of wresting if from whomever the Democrat was that won the primary.

Don This is NOT the time to be cutting School funding even further

Please cite when school funding has been CUT in the last couple decades. I am pretty sure it has gone up every budget cycle. Oh, also please let us know how much you would like to see them spend...

$13,000 per student, per year...maybe $15,000? And is this just from the state, or including federal dollars?

Myranda I'm really pleased that the OEA endorsed Kulongoski. He's got a viable plan for stable funding for education in Oregon

And after this long in office, he's finally bringing it up? Where's he been?

The interesting thing is that a number of former Portland Public Schools union leaders are still supporting Saxton for the general. Former PAT President Richard Garrett continues to give unqualified support to Saxton, and encourages others to do so. This may be the beginning of a union shakeup. FINALLY.

Ramon, Bob and Interesting keep up the good work! Without you on the blogs we would have to spend time talking about issues, instead we can rail against labor unions. Keep blaming the "leaders" and direct them away from their issues. Otherwise, they would talk about my boss, Grover norquist and freedomworks and their crazy ideas.

Karl

Last time I checked, Colorado's version of Stop OverSpending brought its citizens to the top in terms of job and wage growth. Oh, I almost forgot. That doesn't count as "progress" to some bluOregonians.

And when the Colorado voters wanted to suspend the law it for a while, they could and they did. Sounds like it's working pretty well to date, far from a "grand failure".

One other thing. It is simply untrue that aliens arrive with the mail-in ballots and instruct voters' choices. You actually get to choose freely either for or against any initiative or to not vote at all, similar to a candidate choice. But one difference is that initiative campaigns, unlike CoP candidate elections, are not financed by "free money", so they are definitely "cleaner" in that no taxpayer is forced to pay for the propagation of opinions with which s/he disagrees.

For some people, existence is a living hell because they don't get to play petty tyrant on a big enough stage. Their self-love is so big, and humility so infinitesimal, that they cannot stand not being able to boss people around.

This dialog is an illustration of the conflict of visions sown by government union power run amok. Private sector unionists know that the size of the pie is important. Jobs and growth matter to the present and the future. To public unionism adherents, however, all that is irrelevant. All they care about in their greed to amass power is getting a bigger slice of the pie. "Basic services" are ALWAYS unfunded. There is ALWAYS a shortfall. When the public efforts fail spectacularly, there are ALWAYS calls for more taxes, more spending. Private charity and the profit motive are NEVER are a means to solve civic problems, only POLITICS can do that. There is zero appreciation for keeping the golden goose alive.

Jon- I never made ANY statement that School Funding had been cut on a per Student basis. What I was saying is during Ron's "Leadership" of the Portland Public School Board, The Funds got spent in other ancillary ways instead of being spent for Teacher's Wages, Building Upkeep, New textbooks, etc. Public Schools ended up being run like "For Profit" Companies. The School District sits on enough land parcels to fund a large part of the school's budget woes, but from a business point of view, it's better to let kids suffer from substandard education, so we can make a killing on Real Estate Futures later on. Public Education Benefits ALL of Society, and should NOT be weighed as a Profit maker, like it's been reduced to now.

Thanks to Leftyblogs along the side of Blue Oregon, I was able to read the Jeff Mapes Oregonian blog on Loaded Orygun about Joe Keating and the press conference in front of the document shreading truck outside PGE.

<h2>Call it a publicity stunt or whatever, but how refreshing to hear a minor party candidate talk about something else than "vote for me because I'm better than the other guy" as the major party nominees too often do.</h2>