Finally a decent attack ad. Hopefully, not too little too late. (fingers crossed)

Hi Paulie. Here is Ron's record.

He's a leader! Hired Ben Canada and his girlfriend Susan Dyer for a few months, paying them almost half a mill to blow town w/o taking the silverware.

He's knows budgets! Ron whined and begged and pleaded for mo money as PPS School Board chair. Now he says schools got plenty.

He knows school choice! Ron did an end-run around PPS school choice forms by renting an expensive condo in downtown Portland while still lying, I mean, living in SE Portland.

Why didn't Ron just send Junior to a private school for less money?

Ron knew he needed the "volunteer" school board member job if he was going to become a very rich Governor. And who said Junior Saxton was private school material?

So, there's Ron's record. In a nutshell.

Just heard the radio ad. Great ad.

It's disappointing when people who know better decide to jump on the immigrant-bashing bandwagon. Not only is this etchically wrong, it's politically stupid. Why would any Democrat raise and reinforce an issue that motivates the GOP base, not the Democratic base?

Well said! That should be the next ad on Ron Saxton's qualifications to be the "education governor."

On another note looks like repug turnout may not be good this Nov. This may help Ted.:

<cnn poll="" shows="" huge="" gains="" for="" democrats="">

RAW STORY Published: Monday October 9, 2006

Print This Email This

A new poll just revealed by CNN indicates that Republicans will have an uphill battle ahead of them in the 29 days before the midterm elections.

With 52% indicating they believe there was a deliberate cover-up of the Foley affair and an equal number reporting they believe Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) should resign, more Democrats are indicating that they are enthusiastic about voting than Republicans.

<most astonishing,="" however,="" is="" that="" while="" 58%="" of="" democrats="" consider="" themselves="" likely="" to="" vote,="" just="" 44%="" of="" republicans="" see="" themselves="" heading="" to="" the="" polls="" this="" november.="">

In all, the news agency is reporting that the Democratic lead among likely voters has nearly doubled--from 11 to 21 points in the last week."

When did scapegoating immigrants become progressive? It is a very sad day for the left when President Bush offers a more progressive stance on immigration than our Democratic Governor. Are we so quick to compromise our deeply held values - equality and justice for all - for political gain? Stop the policy attacks (and attack ads) aimed at our most vulnerable communities!

"It's disappointing when people who know better decide to jump on the immigrant-bashing bandwagon."

Even more disappointing are those who appear incapable of drawing a clear distinction between immigrant and illegal alien.

It's not about bashing those who take advantage of a broken system, nor does it have a damn thing to do with race or ethnicity. Kulongoski's handling of this issue on a state level is a disgrace and it will (as it should) cost him in this election.

be sure to vote in the oregonian poll

I'm sorry, so you all oppose what the Governor said in the commercial?

You oppose penalties for employers who fail to follow Oregon's labor laws?

That's an interesting position.....

Whether you like it or not, the imigration issue is one that is going to play a major factor in elections this year.

Ignoring the issue is stupid. Democrats must respond to this, and just calling the Republicans racists is not a response that's going to work.

The position that the Governor took in that commercial is probably supported by 80% of Oregonians. You don't think there should be stiffer penalties for employers who hire people who aren't here legally? Are you kidding? And we wonder why moderates are asking what crazy hippie planet we live on.....

There's a reason the Republicans are running the country people, and it has a lot to do with the attitudes that pervade the comments on this thread.......

• Anon

I have to say I like the ad. Its important to discuss illegal immrigation in Oregon. For exmaple I am of latino orgin and I've been told that 2/3rds of the people from my nation in Oregon are illegals. Its refreshing for once to hear a major political candidate come out and argue against the companies that hire the illegal immrigants in order to spend less on salaries and benifits.

http://www.votesaxton.com/assets/multimedia/RS-06-R-21_Saxton_Radio_City-smaller.mp3

It sounds to me that Ron Saxton will "enforce the law" concerning illegal immigration. If employers are breaking the law by hiring illegal aliens, I'm sure he will go after them. That's something Ted hasn't done.

Kulongoski's ad is a good ad. Saxton is going to lose because he forgot that "first impressions last." The first impression that a ton of voters have of Saxton is that he is negative and--thanks to that ad about drivers' licenses equating with fraudulent voting--a fear-mongering liar. Baaaad impression!

More like this please. Ted needs to take it to Saxton.

Ron Saxton reveals the details that will save Oregon!

Our beloved Republican candidate for Governor Ron Saxton has confounded the critics once again! Yes, the very critics who have been critical of his refusal to reveal the details of his plan to save Oregon. Yes! The critics are once again confounded. Ha!

First of all, I say to the critics: “Ron Saxton is a high-powered corporate attorney who doesn’t need to show you any stinking details.” There, I said it. You should all try to get a real job, maybe somewhere else if you hate America so much.

That being said, our beloved Republican candidate for Governor Ron Saxton has begun phase 2 of his campaign, which is ripe—even swollen, absolutely bursting—like a pomegranate—with details, the very details which will save Oregon and—by extension—all of America.

Oregon voters already understand his plan to secure funding for the Oregon State Police by creating efficiencies in the prison food system, while simultaneously reducing energy consumption in prison kitchens. These are known facts.

And Oregon voters also understand his proposal to end foreign word invasion of our beloved English language, by requiring all foreigners to speak English or get out. And to punish the America-hating librarians who put books written by foreigners in our beloved American public libraries, paid for by honest, hard-working property-owning English-speaking taxpayers.

The critics have been hounding our beloved Republican candidate for Governor Ron Saxton for not providing the details of his plan to save Oregon’s schools, but these critics are now confounded. Ha! Yes!

First of all, Ron Saxton has stated many times, over and over again, that he can find efficiencies that will save Oregon schools, just as he has solved the Oregon State Police funding problem by finding efficiencies in the prison system, and he has done this without even being Governor yet.

In addition to the aforementioned efficiencies, which were found by our beloved Republican candidate for Governor Ron Saxton, Ron Saxton has determined that the Oregon Republican Party platform contains many details that—taken together as a whole—will combine to save our state and our beloved America, which is under assault from foreigners and Democrats and other vile persons.

For your information, sections of the Oregon Republican Party platform are quoted below:

“A. All legislation should be based upon the premise that progress in education can only be achieved if each component of change is based upon proven principles. To rebuild a sound educational system, we recognize: All educational authority flows from our Creator to parents who may in turn delegate, at their discretion, that authority to professional educators;”

Ha! What can be more efficient than hiring the Creator and parents to teach our beloved Oregon children? What can be more efficient than using proven principles?

”C. History, especially the history of western civilization with its foundational Judeo-Christian values, provides essential experience from which to understand the nature of man as well as choose a future course of action.”

Ha! And they say that Ron Saxton is too busy to care about history, but here are the details of his education plan—and you see that history is mentioned twice—in the same paragraph! Ha!

“2.4.1 English shall be taught as the official language…. English education for non-English speaking students should be accomplished by immersion. We also encourage adult legal immigrants to learn English.”

Ha! Immersion in prison! Efficiencies! Foreigners are criminals! Let them learn English in jail where they belong! Ron Saxton will stomp the nose of the camel, the nose that is peeking under the tent of our beloved America.

”2.4.3 Science curricula shall accommodate diverse theories of origins.”

Ha! Ron Saxton will turn the tables on the kookoo balls who claim that Americans were descended from monkeys. Maybe foreigners were descended from monkeys, but that is not Oregon’s problem.

”2.10. We encourage the inclusion of voluntary firearms safety and hunting safety curricula as well as the support of rifle and other marksmanship clubs in government schools.

Ha! Guns in schools! With proper safety and training! Provided by parents and the Creator! Ha! Is that enough detail for you? The critics are confounded.

”2.12 We support the abolition of the United States Department of Education and the Oregon Department of Education.”

Yes! Abolish them! Abolish them all! Our beloved Republican Candidate for Governor will abolish them! And the US Postal Service! Abolish! Abolish them! Efficiency! Genius!

”2.13. We support privatization of non-educational support services now being performed by government school districts to foster cost effectiveness in such areas as transportation, school meals, etc.”

Yes! As he has found efficiencies in the prison system, Ron Saxton has found similar efficiencies in schools. We spend too much money on buses and food in schools. Schools are for learning, and rifle practice.

”2.14. We stand opposed to state and federal funding of pre-schools including Head Start.”

Yes! Ron Saxton will eliminate all funding for Head Start and other feel-good inefficient programs. Ron Saxton will fund only efficient programs, taught by parents and/or the Creator.

Lastly, to those critics who have lambasted our beloved Republican Candidate for Governor Ron Saxton and the Republican Party platform for having no solution to the large size of classes in Oregon schools, I say “Ha!”

Ron Saxton has also solved this problem, the one of large classes, with a very simple solution: drywall. Drywall, installed by prisoners. Not foreign-word-speaking prisoners, but efficient American English-speaking prisoners. Ha! You want smaller class sizes, Ron Saxton will build them as small as you want.

The only thing I learned from this ad is that Teddy is so scared he had to go negative.

Maybe this race is just as close as recent polling suggests?

I find it difficult that anybody would be persuaded to vote to reelect a sitting Governor based on such a negative portrayal of his opponent. We can assume the incumbent had four years to accomplish something, right? Why is he wasting his precious TV spend on telling us how bad Ron Saxton would be, rather than shining the bright lights of television on his proud record of achievement.

I don't see how anyone can claim to be pro-Union, pro-Worker, and pro-Illegal Immigration at the same time.

Turning a blind eye to those who hire illegal immigrants while talking tough about arresting the immigrants themselves has been the Republican strategy at least since Reagan. It is so because centering enforcement only on the immigrants creates a large, permanent underclass of people with no rights and no recourse to law or collective bargaining. Large numbers of illegals break the ability of unions to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and a seat at the table. And that's the Republican plan.

Sure, we need legal immigrants, and we can argue over how many, but the system we have now of letting people in and letting employers hire them without legal protections is a form of slavery. Or is there another reason so many immigrants get less than minimum wage? This is why the Republicans want to bust the workers and let the employers off the hook--oligarchs like slaves.

It is unfortunate that the racial/ethnic issues surrounding immigration distract progressives from having a discussion on how to craft policies that best benefit the majority of Americans without fear of appearing racist.

Personally, I'd like to see the executives at Walmart put in prison so their labor practices. Talk about your conspiracies! And if there's a shortage of native-born prison guards, I'll bet some of Walmart's former janitors would be happy to turn the keys.

Zak, it is so nice to see serious discussion here. Georgie Anne Geyer had a column in the Sunday Oregonian which was equally serious.

But there are people who don't want serious discussion. They want there to be people riled up about illegals getting drivers licenses so that no one will talk about employer sanctions. They don't want employers to have to pay min. wage, workers comp., and give them the right to protection of our labor laws. It is much better to have people who can't complain about working conditions because they are not here legally.

So thanks for the intelligent comments, Zak.

LT: Do you really believe that exploitation of illegal immigrants is the norm, rather than the exception?

I know several nurserymen/farmers, and they much prefer to hire legal workers in order to comply with the law. That said, they generally hire hispanics (especially if they understand some English), because they have a strong work ethic and they are (generally) eager to take on responsibility.

Ag employment is NOT easy work. In addition to the physical labor, you are frequently exposed to inclement weather, and demanding schedules. That said, many of these jobs pay well above minimum wage, and their employers are happy to pay for good productivity. It has to be a symbiotic relationship for both parties to thrive: an employer that values/compensates the employee's labor, and an employee who recognizes their obligation to do a good job, with the knowledge that their productivity will be recognized.

This whole b.s. about "jobs Americans won't do" is just that. Americans won't do jobs that they can't support themselves or a family on. Illegal immigration serves to create more of these jobs.

I used to lay sod. The job requires nothing more than the ability to crawl for 12+ hours a day. But it's also a bottom rung entry job into landscaping. My employer paid minimum wage; all of his local competitors paid the minimum "agricultural" wage, despite the jobs being in a major metropolitan area with a high cost of living.

My employer hired LEGAL aliens and paid them the same as everyone else on the crews. But he wouldn't hire illegal aliens. As a result his was the only sod company in town with ANY Americans working the crews. All the other companies hired illegals. You can imagine how hard this made it for my employer to bid competitively on contracts when his labor costs were so much higher. I saw first-hand how the illegals working for the other companies lived--12 to a trailor, no benefits, fired for any pretext. Word was one of the companies called INS at the end of the summer & turned in their own crew (anonymously) to avoid paying them. To my knowledge, the only impact on the employers was lowered labor costs & the chance to win more contracts at the expense of my employer.

That's the face of our current system--it penalizes law-abiding business owners, undermines the wages of Americans and legal aliens alike, and creates a permanent, disenfranchised (they actually CAN'T vote) local population.

Take a look at the economies and culture of the Persian Gulf states--Kuwait, Abu Dubai, Qatar--if you want to see what happens when a policy like our current one becomes enshrined in law. It's pretty ugly.

Now you get it--ding the employers who hire illegals, like Kulongoski says. Saxton, on the other hand, wants to ding only the illegals themselves.

Thank you Zak.

A new Saxton mailer just arrived "Authorized and paid for by the Oregon Republican Party". Addressed to someone in our household who was ONCE a Republican but re-registered NAV years ago after becoming disgusted that the GOP wasn't the same party anymore.

Mailer calls for "only legal workers in state government". But not in agriculture or hospitality or other such areas?

And Mr. Tee, what fortunate planet are you on where, It has to be a symbiotic relationship for both parties to thrive: an employer that values/compensates the employee's labor, and an employee who recognizes their obligation to do a good job, with the knowledge that their productivity will be recognized.

Great theory. Not the reality every Oregonian or American encounters.

That implies no hard working American citizen ever got the "don't go to work tomorrow" phone call, or went to work one day and everyone in a particular department or section of the company was told to go to the conference room where they were then given their severance packages. If they are lucky enough not to have been downsized without explanation or anything other than the last paycheck for work already performed.

Now if Saxton had sent out a mailer saying "only legal workers in this state" that would have been a big deal. But apparently Ron doesn't want any kind of sanctions on private employers hiring illegals. I have heard a story much like what Zak told--from a neighbor who works in landscaping.

Regardless of the plaid shirt in the mailer, when has Saxton ever gone out and talked to people at work whose work makes them less clean and tidy than the picture in Saxton's mailer (the folks Ed Schultz once described as "they go to work, come home, then take a shower")?

And my guess is that if a newly elected Saxton set for himself the task of making Jan. 2007 all about "securing our border, no voting for illegal aliens, only legal workers in state government, no drivers licenses for illegal aliens" (the bullet points on the mailer) he would discover some things are true no matter who is Governor.

1) A new governor has lots of tasks incl. hiring people, and the legislative agenda doesn't always get going that first month. 2) Just as with the Bottle Bill or any other proposed reform, it takes a legislator to introduce the bill to move a reform forward if it can't be done by executive order. 3) No matter how big or small a margin elects the governor, bills he favors still need 31 votes in the House and 16 in the Senate.

A Saxton landslide would not change 1-3, whatever he might think. And this may be a close enough election with those 3 independent candidates that the newly elected Gov. may be lucky to get above 45%. Not much of a mandate for "I was elected, so now everyone is supposed to agree with all my proposals".

LT:

Ever wonder how some people never get downsized, and others seem to get downsized over and over again. Ever wonder why the UAW is shrinking, yet Toyota and Honda are making money hand over fist with non-union labor?

Any business that depends on the labor of employees will eventually learn that their customers/products are only treated/manufactured as well as the majority of the employees.

<h2>If your employer hasn't figured that out yet, then you are better off finding one that does. Or, you could pass a law against downsizing, and then wonder why new job creation falls to zero, just like France.</h2>