Color me confused.

What's going on with 8 and 37 ? I guess 8 has been declared unconstitutional pending appeal, and 37 doesn't mean anything without 8? Personally I'd like to see something like them, but it seems they are designed to fail by partisanship, court challenges, and pissed off powerbrokers. At first I thought it was environmental groups and unions that were behind it, and now I find out that some of them are adamantly opposed to it. Also it involves strict limits on individual donations and according to your link is backed primarily by two large individual donors. Is there just a lot of misinformation out there?

Why can't we get Loren Parks out of the king maker and policy maker role without dropping a bowling ball on our foot?

My personal favorite BS line given to me by a signature gatherer was that TABOR would "Reduce the amount of money government could take from education." When I sort of stammered back, "What do you mean?" the reply was "Well the government would have to put money into a rainy day fund for education."

I'm happy it ends tomorrow. In a five minute walk downtown today I was accosted no less than four times by petitioners (all conservative ones except for Westlund (which I can't sign because I'm a D who voted in the primary)).

I really hope that the HOPE intiviate makes the ballot. I have gotten over 50 people to sign it and everyone I talk to likes it. I agree that most ballot measures are complete trash expect this one. Very simple and really solves a problem instead of a creating a problem to solve.

As the final hour for signature gathering approaches (that actually might be right nwo) things are getting crazy on the street. Check out this eyewitness account at the Portland Mercury. Reporter Scott Moore witnessed homeless people outside the Portland Rescue Mission getting paid cash for signatures on the "Judges by District" measure and either TABOR or Term Limits.

Here's the link: Democracy for sale

Also, embarassingly enough, we haven't updated the Our Oregon website to include one important fun fact that was reported by the MSM last month: IP 14, the so-called "Federal Substitution" measure, was drafted by Bill Sizemore. So now we're calling it "Bill's Sizemore's Tax Scam." Has a nicer ring to it.

The person who gave me the above-ridiculous comment was today (about 12 PM) in front of the Starbucks at 6th and Salmon and although I'm hardly one to judge, he looked like someone literally pulled off the street. He was reading the ballot title and spouting something that sounded hastily rehearsed. When I then went into Starbucks to get my coffee fix, a bunch of them gathered in front of the Starbucks and were from the looks of it counting signatures/sheets. Definately would have set off my red alarm if it hadn't gone off already.

These people really do have no shame.

Oregon Right to Life has turned in signatures for IP51 ("Parental Notice") today. Let's follow the math...

Oregon Right to Life claims to have 115,845 raw signatures for IP51 today. If they've got the same problems seen in the conservative initiatives turned in on May 26 by the Trickey/Sizemore folks (IPs 14, 23, 57), approximately 8% of those will be pulled by the Secretary of State's office because of circulator errors. If so, IP51 would need a signature verification rate at the county level of approximately 71%, which is pretty high.

And it's hard to tell who's been hired to carry IP51. We know from following the story on the street that IP51 has been spotted on the same clipboards as TABOR (IP6) and the campaign finance reform initiatives (IP8 & 37). Using mercenary signature-gatherers tends to drag down a signature verification significantly. (May 26's turn-ins from Tim Trickey's crews had verification rates of 64-68%.)

I would have appreciated this more if the descriptions attempted objectivity or education.

Dan, is their an organized anti-8/37 group yet? I'm curious what groups are against it and how much they're willing to fight. What about the newspapers?

For the campaign to Defend Oregon against TABOR and Bill Sizemore's tax scam, go to Defend Oregon.

Get the facts, get involved and help defeat these crazy measures.

Just vote no on everything in November, then we don't have to look at this initiative garbage for a while.

BREAKING NEWS:

On deadline day for initiative petitions, a breaking news story shows the TABOR, Term Limits and Judges by District campaigns are openly violating Measure 26.

Today The Portland Mercury posted evidence on their website, including a photograph, that a man was buying signatures on these three petitions. The price was $15.00 cash for two completed sheets of signatures.

Check it out: Mercury

TABOR (6). Imposes arbitrary spending cap on public services. Will require deep cuts in funding to education, public safety and human services.

Hard to believe that everything that can be cut, has been cut.

Federal Substitution (14). A Loren Parks-backed measure that would change the tax code. Retroactive to 2005, so lawmakers would have to figure out where to find immediately cut more than $150 million from education, public safety, and human services. The cut to the 2007-2009 state budget is $835 million.

Hard to believe that everything else that can be cut, has been cut.

Term Limits (39). A Grover Norquist special, this oldie-but- baddie amends the constitution to limit service to six years in the state House, eight years in the state Senate and no more than 14 years combined in a lifetime.

I've always liked the idea as a structural one, like the idea of having legislators in the first place. The view that staff and lobbyists will become the real powers is overstated. Legislatures all across the country, from top to bottom, bring this on themselves. A better way to deal with them would be to limit the amount of tax dollars they can play with.

HOPE (40). Requires access to health care as fundamental right; legislature must adopt plan expanding health care.

The opportunity to access health care is the right, and has for many decades been limited by government and state-protected organizations like the AMA.

Prescription Drug Pool (122). Allows any Oregon resident without prescription drug coverage to participate in Oregon Prescription Drug Program.

Hope this doesn't turn onto a prescription version of New Jersey's bad risk drivers' subsidized auto insurance. What a mess.

Open Primary (86). Phil Keisling's much-discussed measure to eliminate party primaries and have a run-off between top two vote getters.

Awful idea. Absolutely dreadful.

Parental Notification (51). Requires 48 hour notice to unemancipated minor’s parent before providing abortion.

I don't like taking slippery slope chances when it comes to pro-choice policies regarding abortion, but doesn't anybody even wonder whether or not a 13-year old girl getting an abortion should have a sit-down with her parents, even if they are informed afterwards (which would be better than this)? I mean, people want to hold parents accountable for their under-18 kids, and then make it difficult for them to be aware of details. I'll probably pass on this one.

Bob Tiernan

<h2>Thanks, Bob, for the evidence to show why we have to vote NO on everything in November. Any yes vote on any of these garbage ideas is a vote for the ongoing stupidity and the encouragement of that stupidity of the average American.</h2>