Thank you Rep. Blumenauer. This gives me HOPE.

YES. Well said.

Thanks, Rep. Blumenauer. The GOP has to do something other than throw rocks now. And the public is right about not expecting them to be constructive. The leader of the GOP is now John Boehner. And they couldn't have chosen a more uninspired and incompetent leader. So I expect you and your colleagues to hold their feet to the fire and not give an inch on progressive priorities.

Gracias Congressman.

1. Republicans winning at anytime in the above-mentioned states is a stretch. I'm not convinced one can imply the "strength" of Oregon progressives is the reason, especially when one corner of the state (nearly 70% Democrat) decides the outcome of most elections and measures. And considering the fact that most of the elections were much closer than anticipated.

2.If the Democrats had worked harder on compromise and collaboration the past four-years, maybe they wouldn't have lost so badly; and same goes for Republicans when they lost in 2006. But you're right, if Republicans yield their power for themselves, the pendulum will once again swing the other direction.

1. Maybe it's just me, but isn't the number one priority of many Americans jobs and the economy? Even Kitzhaber focused on jobs during his acceptance speech this morning, and yesterday Obama acknowledged that Americans didn't believe the economy was one of his top priorities.

I guess I'm a little confused why defense spending would be your top priority when unemployment continues to be so high.

Text turned out strange. Obviously the the third section should be point 3. Not sure what happenened.

Washington DC Republicans have perfected the art of being jerks. I doubt that will change, and hope that the electorate will wake up to what it's elected in this red tide of greed.

Earl, Congratulations to you on reelection as my rep and for these thoughtful comments.

Jason: why cut military spending: let's say a big corporation churns out cluster-bombs, a favorite Pentagon weapon that has been outlawed by most other countries. This product is of no use except dismemberment and death of civilians, and yet all the costs and the profits are paid for by taxpayers. Instead, let's spend that revenue on something of use, like a bridge or a high-speed train.

Congrats on you re election. Florida can sure use someone like you. I know if I move it will be to a Oregon a place where people can actually have a discussion and disagree and also see each other's point of view.

Thanks for the observation, Patrick.

Two thoughts on defense spending:

1. I'm certainly not against changes or modifications.

2. I think there's a misnomer about the level of defense spending. As it relates to GDP, we have basically spent the same amount since the 1800's. It was at it's height during the Cold War.

All I'm suggesting is that I'm much more supportive of Kitzhaber's rhetoric than I would be of Blumenauer's if I lived in his district. I thought Kitzhaber had a very good speech this morning, which was positive, and encouraged both sides to work together. The Congressman's words seemed divisive and political to me, and I think that's what people are sick of.

Nationally speaking Republicans in the previous election lost seats because they did respect liberty and were radical statists who would not listen to the objections of the people. The Democrats lost the house this election by a massive margin because they do not respect personal liberty, are radical statist and did not listen to the objections of the people. People are unhappy with government intervention in their lives period. Until we do something about that, the Republic will be a miserable place to live.

See also Mark Schmitt's commentary "The 'F-you' Election" at The American Prospect.

Earl,

I await the day that you understand politics. The GOP has no desire to work with you. They want to win at all cost. The GOP will only work to beat down the Democrats and define the message.

When will you understand this and mount an appropriate OFFENSE.

Stop playing defense!!!

I'd love to see reductions in military spending. Say, trim $200 billion per year from what we're spending to maintain a global military empire (overseas bases and our massive carrier fleet) and cold-war weapons systems with no mission. We'd still have the biggest, best-funded, most over-powered military in the world, but we could use half of the savings to reduce the deficit, and put another $100 billion per year into job-creating public works and infrastructure.

But the Republicans will never go for it. Neither, sadly, will a lot of Democrats.

I am very, very proud to have Earl as my representative in Congress.

I wish we had more congreesmen like Earl, that are sticking with their principles and not taking this recent election to mean that they need to go to the right.

Thank you Rep. Blumenauer.

I respected you as a Councilmember and you have done a fabulous job as a Member of Congress...I am happy to see you on the news shows because you are rational and direct.

The 'Tan Man' says that the President is in denial and needs to know that America spoke in the Tuesday elections. Please remind Rep Boehner that people on the West Coast spoke too...and we prefer our policies progressive!

Go forth and know we support you because you support us!

I agree with many of the previous posts. I would like to add to please remind Boehner (aka The Tan Man) that he does not speak for all voters. (I find him to be arrogant and his posturing & saber rattling just confirms that conclusion.) And I would like to remind you and your colleagues that the residents of the District of Columbia have NO vote at all. Please work to correct that grevious situation.

I know it's politic to talk about bipartisanship, but the GOP is simply malicious and evil. They want to keep a health insurance system going that kills 45 thousand people a year, and enriches their corporate contributors. There is nothing constructive or civil about them. As Jeff Merkley said it so truthfully, they set fire and burned the house down, then prevented with their filibusters the help to put out the fire. The GOP treats a good share of the American people as expendable. The sick who are without insurance should simply go off and die quietly, and the unemployed should go to a homeless shelter and stop collecting the unemployment benefits they paid for. So I understand,Earl, if you want to promote the idea that there is anything decent or good or moral in the other side, but there isn't. Because the health care bill passed my sister in law who has been recovering from cancer and has been dropped from insurance will now be able to live. The GOP wants to take down the health care bill and they are just fine if she and people like her simply die, but not be noisy about it. You won't find any common ground with people like that.

I am sorry Earl but your statements just don't mesh with the facts (again) The polling I just read from the nations top polling company ...THE AMERICAN PEOPLE...just told you and everyother congressman and woman on the left that THEY DONOT LIKE OR TRUST YOU MORE THAN THE REPUBLICANS! How could those election results, along with the grass roots efforts all across the country been any clearer? What color is the sky in your world? I have never heard such crappola in my life! In case you missed the outcome of the election the Republicans beat the Democrats like a DRUM up one side and down the other. It serves Oregonians right to have their representatives in congress relegated to obsurity and irrelevance for not being smart enough to know to vote out the people who put us in this ditch...namely you and the rest of Oregon's left wing congressional delegation. The multnomah county et.al. electorate is hardly informed or politically saavy ...how could they be when they also voted to keep david who? in office for 2 more years? Thank God those lines get to be redrawn very soon. In case you would prefer more traditional polling than a direct election by the people Here is what another top polling firm had to say:

This survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted October 24-25, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Republican candidates currently hold a nine-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on eight out of 10 important issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports including the economy and health care. Most voters think their representative in Congress does not deserve reelection if he or she voted for the national health care law, the auto bailouts or the $787-billion economic stimulus plan. Voters overwhelmingly believe – by an 81% to 10% margin – that most members of Congress are more interested in helping their own careers than in helping people. That, too, is a sentiment that has changed little in recent months. Forty-four percent (44%) also say most members of Congress are corrupt, However, 70% now think most members of Congress are willing to sell their vote for cash or a campaign contribution, up 14 points from the summer of 2007. Fifty-six percent (56%) say it’s likely that their own representative in Congress has sold his or her vote.

That poll was from last week and also contradicts everything you said. wow!

There was absolutely zero compromise and zero trasparency on the 'healthcare reform" Bill ...None!

The huge losses at the federal and state level are clear indicators that progressives misinterpreted the 2008 results. The Multnomah County vote further reinforces the huge divide existing between our citizens within Oregon and the other states.

Perhaps it truly is time for creating the state of Jefferson. Should we recognize our differences are not going to be reconciled and go separate ways?

As I recall Americans didn't like the "health care bill" but liked the individual parts.

Even many republicans have said they want to keep the popular parts (no pre-existing conditions & get rid of the req to have coverage (a GOP idea by the way-they were for a mandate before they were against it).

Obama DID compromise w/the GOP & conservative dems; otherwise there would have been a public option, the stimulus would have been larger, the financial reform would have had a tax on the banks.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has tracked that views on the actual bill have been evenly split.

When views about the provisions of the bill are surveyed, overhwhelming numbers of Americans suppport: -An end to exclusions of coverage based on prior conditions. -An end to denials of coverage for technical reasons. -providing in state insurance exchanges providing group insurance for every American. -providing tax credits to small businesses to provide insurance coverage. -An end to the denial of insurance coverage to children. - Subsidies to low income to purchase insurance - in-state risk pools for hard to cover Americans. -mandating that insurance companies spend a certain percentage of fees on actual care instead of profits or administrative costs.

Let's see the GOP try to take down these and other popular provisions controlling one chamber of Congress.

Dr. Summer, you need to get back to work with your patients. I hope you learned more medicine than you have learned politics else your med mal insurance is going to be sky high and people may get sicker rather than better. Using Rasmussen for polling information in light of their ending up giving Republicans nearly 4% more than they actually received starts you out in a bad place.

I am getting tired of hearing how 70% of the state voted differently than Multnomah/Lane county. That's where the people are man. Cows, sheep, sagebrush and fir trees don't get to vote.

I will say this, any Democrat that reaches across the aisle had better count their fingers. I"d like to note that House (R)s have no political reason to do spit with (D)s.

Sometimes I wonder if we live in the same country. The country I live in had a President tell Republican Senators: "Elections have consequences; I won, we're doing it my way." The country I live in had every single one of the Republican amendments and proposals to the health care bill rejected without even a vote in the full body of the Senate and the House.

And in the world you live in, this is Democrats "reaching out to Republicans?"

There was no attempt at anything approaching bi-partisanship by the Dems in Congress the last four years.

Of course, now that Vox Populi has returned the House to the Republicans, the Dems are suddenly clamoring for "bi-partisanship."

I am thoroughly enjoying these posts on this thread. Keep the hubris coming and the disdain for the intelligence and alacrity of the American people oozing from your statements. It will make my job easier in 2012. I think the Republicans learned their lesson from the whuppin' they took in 2006 and 2008. I also think the Democrats will take their cue from the President and refuse to learn their lesson.

Hee, hee. Good times.

First, a link to the Rasmussen poll that Congressman Blumenauer referenced in his post.

Secondly, I would caution democrats and progressives alike from relaxing too much in the "Left Coast is safe" meme. The results of this election cycle reinforces a previously suggested strategy of acting on a tough, bold campaign regarding environmental, energy and health care legislation as smart-but-time consuming.

Finally, the GOP's claim on a "mandate" is not one that's based entirely on policy rejection. Instead it would be better attributed to the citizens' perception of intangible results and/or benefits derived from the historic legislation that has passed into law during these past two years.

Voters know it takes time to see results from legislation, but - and perhaps more mindfully than ever before - this is a nation that expects its pizzas to be delivered in 30 minutes or less. After Tuesday it would appear that Congress has a new pie baking in the pizza oven, and the question is will there be a driver to deliver it to the correct address, and within the company's advertised time-frame?

Now that the House progressive caucus has three times as many members as do the blue dogs, isn't it (finally) time that we have a minority leader like Raul Grijalva or Peter DeFazio?

It's time (way past time) to really fight the fascists!

Earl,

If you and other progressive leaders intend to drastically cut government spending at all levels, audit the Federal Reserve bank, unleash the taxation and regulation burden on enterprise AND STOP picking winners and losers and thus defeating the point of the free market, I'd venture to say that you will attract many Republican supporters in Congress and the wave that DESTROYED the progressive super-majority at the Federal and Oregon state level will subside and our government will begin to function as intended.