Quick Hits: Kardon departs Wyden team, Kroger calls foul, Oregon's Skutnick, and more

Kari Chisholm

• It's official: Josh Kardon will no longer be Senator Ron Wyden's chief of staff. After some 18 years with Congressman, then Senator Wyden, Kardon has opened a politics and policy consulting shop. He won't, however, be a lobbyist. Kardon is replaced by Jeff Michels, Wyden's deputy chief for the last decade (and interim chief of staff while Kardon was on leave during the campaign season.)

• Conservatives often moan about the influence of labor unions in our politics. They complain that unions force their members to contribute to political campaigns they disagree with. That couldn't be further from the truth (since political funds are voluntary contributions and spent through a democratic process.) But now comes the news that the Oregon Association of Realtors is requiring its members to pay a $75 fee to fund a ballot measure campaign. Attorney General John Kroger is rightfully calling foul. After all, the right to free speech includes the right not to speak against your will. My question - will conservatives join Kroger in calling foul on the realtors? I won't hold my breath. More from Jeff Mapes at the O and Dave Steves at the R-G.

• Willamette Week reports that Portland's Jim Houser, of Hawthorne Auto Clinic, will be sitting in the first lady's box during the State of the Union address. It seems that he's going to be a "Skutnick", a human in-person illustration of a point the president will make. You see, Houser provides health insurance to his employees and the new health reform law makes it possible for him to continue doing so. (The term "Skutnick" refers to Lenny Skutnick, a government employee who jumped into the icy Potomac River to rescue a flight attendant from a crashed airplane. He was honored by President Reagan two weeks later during the State of the Union.)

• Speaking of the State of the Union - if you're in Portland, join the Progressive Happy Hour crew at The Guild Pub to watch it at 5:30 p.m. The Guild is the new place by BlueOregon and PHH co-founder Jesse Cornett. 11th & East Burnside.

• The first time around, Governor John Kitzhaber largely ignored national politics. This time, it seems that he's taken on the challenge of educating and organizing his fellow governors on health care. Last week, Kitzhaber was named as the vice-chair of the health care committee of the National Governors Association. (Newly elected Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will be the chair.)

• Allen Alley is the new chair of the Oregon Republican Party. Surprisingly, he was largely unopposed. I guess no one wants to be the captain of a sinking ship.

• Speaking of Allen Alley, I was surprised to see an op-ed in the Oregonian from Dave Lister endorsing Alley. In the print edition, no less! The O buries so much good stuff in the "online-only" section, and yet allowed a party leadership endorsement puff piece to appear in print. Back in 2007, when the DPO had a tight four-way election, I'm pretty sure that BlueOregon was about the only media outlet to give any advance coverage at all. The next DPO election is coming up in March. Will the Oregonian allow an op-ed endorsement in the DPO race?

• Last week, Senator Jeff Merkley unveiled his plan to restart the housing market and reduce foreclosures. FireDogLake's David Dayen reported on Merkley's proposal:

Merkley hopes his proposal would spark a conversation in Washington about how to fix the housing market. HAMP has completely failed; as Merkley noted today, less than $1 billion has been spent to mitigate foreclosures, out of a promised $50-75 billion. “We are not through the foreclosure crisis, so we must have a second national conversation,” Merkley said. He invited other proposals from members of Congress.

I asked Merkley if he was putting this together because he thought Congress would be forced to step in to clear up a chaotic situation if more legal rulings call into question the standing of servicers to foreclose. “Possibly,” he answered. “The role is to ensure fairness (in the housing market). The complexities in the system right now can create a challenge to the health of the market. So we have to deal with this.”

• BikePortland.org notes that Governor Kitzhaber hasn't yet named a new ODOT director. One possibility, according to editor Jonathan Maus? Clackamas County Chair Lynn Peterson. Of course, the Governor could keep the current director, Matt Garrett, in place.

By Kari Chisholm Jan. 25, 2011