Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump’s tariffs blocked by multi-state lawsuit led by Oregon Attorney General

Way to go Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. Yesterday the lawsuit brought by Oregon and eleven other states challenging the legal authority for Trump's tariffs got a win from the U.S. Court of International Trade. Here's what Rayfield said in a media release. Today, the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down the tariffs imposed by President Trump’s executive orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The decision was made in a multi-state lawsuit led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. In reaction to the ruling, Attorney General Rayfield said: “The court’s ruling is a victory not just…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump has definitely become an authoritarian

There's good reason to argue that Donald Trump has always been an authoritarian. He admires strongmen such as the dictators and quasi-dictators who run Russia, North Korea, China, Turkey, and Hungary. He demands absolute loyalty with no backtalk from people who work for him. He despises central tenets of democracy like free and fair elections unless he manages to win. But after four months of his second term as president, now there's no doubt on which side of the authoritarian fence Trump is on. Just about every action he's taken has either pushed to the limit norms that have been…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Salem-Keizer school district

Salem area special election results looking good, especially to liberals

With Oregon allowing mailed ballots to be counted as long as they're postmarked on or before election day, more ballots will be received in the next few days. But the current results for key races in the Salem area likely will hold up, given the margin of victory (or defeat) in each of them. The biggest news is the 56-44 passage of Measure 24-514, also known as the Livability Levy. Given that there was no organized opposition to an increase in Salem property taxes to fund the library, parks, and Center 50+, it wasn't a surprise that the measure passed.…
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Posted inCity Council

Conservatives up to dirty tricks in Ward 6 City Council race

Thanks to a Salem Reporter story by Joe Siess, "Newly formed PAC jumps into Salem council race as election winds down," I learned about the latest dirty trick that conservatives desperate to regain control of the Salem City Council are playing on voters. In almost every local election cycle something like this occurs. The basic reason is that while liberals value playing fair (naturally with some exceptions), conservatives value doing whatever it takes to win. Here's how the Salem Reporter story starts out. Dru Draper says his days-old political action committee has jumped into Salem’s contested council race to make…
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Posted inCity of Salem Donald Trump Julie Hoy

One thing that Salem Mayor Julie Hoy and President Trump have in common

Understand: I'm not equating Julie Hoy, the Mayor of Salem, Oregon, with Donald Trump, the President of the United States. Though they're each conservative, fortunately Hoy isn't nearly as obnoxious and dangerous as Trump. But they do have this in common. Both Hoy and Trump benefit from the fact that doing something illegal or unethical can be done quickly, while holding someone to account for such an action can take months or years. This relates to the adage, "Justice delayed is justice denied." Wikipedia explains: "Justice delayed is justice denied" is a legal maxim. It means that if legal redress…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics Oregon politics

Oregon’s Attorney General leading 12-state lawsuit challenging Trump tariffs

It warmed my Oregon heart to see my state prominently featured in a Politico story today, "'There is No Rational Basis Behind What the President is Trying to Accomplish': Oregon's Attorney General is suing to block Trump's tariffs -- and he might win." Excerpt: Attorney General Dan Rayfield Dan Rayfield, Oregon’s rookie attorney general, says he didn’t want to spend his first months in office fighting presidential edicts in court. But along with the consumer protection and law-and-order duties that more typically define his role, the Democrat is now a key combatant in Donald Trump’s trade war, leading a 12-state…
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Posted inCity Club City Council City of Salem

Vanessa Nordyke makes closing argument for Salem’s livability levy

City Councilor Vanessa Nordyke is an attorney. Today she made a presentation to the Salem City Club that she called a closing argument for Measure 24-514 on the May ballot -- which is unofficially called the livability levy, being a property tax increase to fund the library, parks, and Center 50+. Nordyke said that she chose her black suit because it's what she likes to wear to a closing argument. "Closing," because ballots need to be postmarked on or before May 20, or put in a drop box before 8 pm on the 20th. That's just eleven days away. Here's…
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Posted inInternational issues

If criticizing Israel is antisemitic, then I’m an antisemite

Antisemitism used to mean what it actually is: hostility toward Jews, including hatred, discrimination, and prejudice. But lately in some circles the meaning of the word has expanded to something that it isn't: criticism of Israel. This is completely wrong. It conflates two separate things, the Jewish religion and the nation of Israel. There are lots of people in Israel who strongly oppose policies of the current right-wing Israeli government, which is headed up by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Many, if not most, of those people are observant Jews. So are they antisemitic, somehow being prejudiced against themselves? Of course not.…
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Posted inDonald Trump

Trump’s first 100 days are a litany of failures

After a long stretch of having no problems with our Starlink satellite internet, the only high speed broadband option available to us out here in rural south Salem, Oregon, our router has developed a serious connection problem.  Meaning, no wi-fi, despite my best efforts over the past four hours to figure out what the problem is. Of course, this being an Elon Musk company, it isn't possible to get any support via phone, so I'm waiting for a reply to the support request I sent via the Starlink iPhone app. That request went out via a dreadfully slow cellular connection…
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Posted inSalem-Keizer school district

Vote for the progressive candidates in the Salem-Keizer school board races

We live in polarized political times. School board elections are part of this dynamic. Sure, it'd be nice if candidates for the Salem-Keizer school board positions on the May 2025 ballot all could be judged individually. But that's not the world we live in. As has been the case recently, there are two slates of candidates, progressive and conservative. A Salem Reporter story about the Zone 7 candidates for the upcoming school board election says: As has become standard in Salem, two ideologically opposed slates of school board candidates are running in the nonpartisan races. Mel Fuller is endorsed by…
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Posted inCity of Salem

Vote Yes on Measure 24-514, the livability levy

It's got a nice alliterative ring to it... livability levy. The official name for what Salem voters will consider on the May 20, 2025 ballot is Measure 24-514.  The measure increases property taxes to pay for the library, parks, and Center 50+. If it doesn't pass, drastic cuts will have to be made to these important components of our city's livability. What kind of city would Salem be without them? Not one most people would be proud of. These are difficult times. Our national politics are a divisive mess. Prospects for the economy don't look great. Inflation is moderating a…
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