Oregon politics

It wasn't pleasant, but I forced myself to read How Democracies Die by two professors of government at Harvard University, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.  This is a scary book that, when I read it, seemed like it contained warnings for the United States as a whole in our age of Trumpism, with Oregon being immune from the worst of the ways democracies die. But the current walkout of Senate Republicans from the state legislature is a clear and present danger to Oregon democracy. This was a message of the recent rally at the capitol by supporters of the climate…

Here's inspiring photos of the Climate Rally in support of HB 2020 that I took yesterday on the capitol steps, plus a video of Gov. Brown's remarks. Even though Democratic leaders have declared the bill to be dead, I and other supporters of reducing carbon pollution and creating renewal energy jobs still have hope. Senate Republicans need to end their walkout temper tantrum and vote on HB 2020, along with other legislation they're holding up.

It's time for me to face reality. Democrats here in Oregon aren't willing to fight for what they believe in. So why should I remain an active Democrat? That's a question I'm grappling with after Governor Kate Brown, Senate President Peter Courtney, and other Democratic leaders in the state legislature unilaterally surrendered to Republicans on a top priority for Dems, HB 2020, a cap and trade bill that would have put Oregon in the forefront of efforts to combat the carbon pollution that is wreaking havoc on our planet. Shortly before noon today I arrived at the steps of the…

I'm trying to find a bright spot in the irritating walkout of eleven Republican members of the state Senate. They're opposed to a bill that has a pretty damn good rationale behind it: preserving our one and only Earth for human habitation.  But since these ignoramuses in the GOP view carbon pollution and global warming as a good thing -- plants grow faster! summer all year long! -- they're determined to give the finger to democracy and prevent a Senate vote on the Oregon Clean Jobs bill for as long as possible. About the only good thing I can find…

What a complete non-surprise. Eleven Republican members of the Oregon Senate have walked out to deny Democrats a quorum needed to pass House Bill 2020, much-needed legislation to reduce carbon pollution in this state.  Many, if not most, have travelled out of state, which puts them outside the reach of state troopers Governor Kate Brown has ordered to bring them back.  Back in May I predicted bad things would happen after GOP members of the Oregon Senate pulled the same stunt, minus the going out of state part. I was so irritated at how the Democrats caved, agreeing to kill…

Disgusting. Horrible. Shameful. Those are the non-profane words I can use to describe how Governor Brown, Senate President Courtney, and House Speaker Kotek caved in to the walkout of Senate Republicans without putting up any fight at all. That walkout prevented the Senate from having a quorum, so no business could be accomplished. According to a Salem Reporter story, "Tough  choices, closed door deals result in Senate returning to business," Courtney didn't want to do what Wisconsin governor Scott Walker reportedly did in 2011 when Democratic legislators walked out: use the state police to bring them back. Courtney has been…

Let me start off by saying that I'm not out to demonize people who mistakenly believe that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent. Those people simply are misinformed.  I'm pretty sure that most of those involved with the anti-vaccine movement are quite different from global warming deniers. The fossil fuel industry uses false information to keep money flowing into their coffers. Sure, pharmaceutical companies do make money from from vaccines, but vaccines are safe and effective. (Some do have side effects, such as the new shingles vaccine that my wife and I had brief bad reactions to,…

I've already voted NO on Measure 105, which would overturn Oregon's successful sanctuary state law that prevents law enforcement agencies from using state resources to detect or apprehend people whose only violation is federal immigration law. Nothing I heard at today's Salem City Club debate on Measure 105 made me question in the slightest how I voted.  The debate was between Cynthia Kendoll (on the left) and Andrea Williams (on the right). Kendoll is president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform. Williams is executive director of CAUSA, Oregon's statewide immigration rights organization. Williams' expression as Kendoll was speaking mirrored how I…

I've heard political analyst Jim Moore speak after elections, but today was the first time I'd heard Moore offer up his take before an election.  Before Moore started his Salem City Club presentation, I told someone sitting at my table that I hoped Moore wasn't going to throw cold water on the chances of Oregon progressives in the upcoming mid-term election.  Thankfully, he didn't, as I'll explain below. But though I wish Moore's fingers in the photo I took of him were indicating how small Republican chances were, actually his gesture had some other meaning. (Or maybe no meaning.) Moore,…

Secretary of State Dennis Richardson is an Oregon anomaly: a Republican elected to statewide office. This probably helps explain why comparatively few Salem City Club members attended his talk about redistricting today, since most members lean leftward. Another reason might be that the recommendations of Richardson's pet project, a Redistricting Reform Task Force, have been politically dead ever since, well, six months before the Task Force issued its final report in October 2017. In April 2017 Oregon Democrats said Richardson's plan was dead on arrival. Which is sort of strange, given that the Task Force recommendations hadn't been released yet. …

Don't be fooled by the full page ad in today's Statesman Journal opposing HB 4005, a bill that would require pharmaceutical companies to disclose pricing information about drugs they sell.  The group behind the ad, Caregiver Voices United, is a front for the pharmaceutical industry. Sure, you won't save at the pharmacy counter as a result of HB 4005 because the bill doesn't directly regulate drug prices. Rather, it brings some much-needed transparency into the price-gouging that pharmaceutical companies are notorious for. Here's an excerpt from an Oregonian opinion piece, "Oregon should force Big Pharma to fork over pricing info."…