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Oregon 2006 Election: Results and Aftermath

by Tryan Hartill

Now that the 2006 Election is over there is a few things worth discussing.

One glaring issue is that Oregon Democrats now have control of the House, the Senate and Ted Kulongoski as Governor.
I am generally supportive of the Democratic Party, but I also fear to much power in the hands of one type of political thought. The Republicans having control of the Government at the Federal level proves my point quite well.

Will this time be different?
I have a feeling it will because the majority they have now can be very short lived if they move too far to the left and piss off the Independent voters like myself.

Along those same lines Ted K. has laid out a few of the things that he wants to push through now that the Dems are in the majority across the board.

From the O
:

Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Wednesday he plans to take full advantage of Oregon’s new political order and his resounding reelection to push an agenda that includes spending a record $6 billion on public schools over the next two years and raising taxes on corporations and smokers.

At times grinning, at other times sparring with reporters, Kulongoski said he will begin his second term in January by proposing a budget that sets aside 61 percent of the general fund for education, vastly expands health coverage for children with revenue from a cigarette tax increase and diverts $200 million in corporate tax “kicker” refunds into a state savings account.

He said his 2007-09 budget proposal would include higher corporate taxes to pay for more Head Start programs and a possible surcharge on auto insurance to pay for more state troopers. The governor said the combination of a growing economy, a Democratic Legislature and voter approval for his platform should make for smoother sailing in his second term.

While I generally don’t agree with sin taxes or raising taxes period for that matter except in extreme cases; we all saw this coming. Voters knew these would be the first steps if they put Oregon Democrats in power and they did just that. But I do hope the Repubs and some of the more centrist Dems bring a little moderation to Ted K’s wish list.

Here is where you will find the latest results for

::::

Kids These days!

From the LaGrand O :

Kyle Corbin is too young to drink alcohol but not too young to be the toast of Union. Corbin, 18, became Union’s boy wonder Wednesday after it was announced he had been elected Union’s next mayor pending final official results of Tuesday’s election. And he did it as a write-in candidate.

The election means Corbin, born Sept. 29, 1988, will soon be one of the youngest mayors in the history of the United States….

Write-in votes are being tabulated today by the county clerk’s office. Tuesday’s unofficial election results showed 415 write-in votes. Corbin couldn’t get his name on the ballot because he was just 17 at the time of the filing deadline. Corbin emphasized that he would not have won without help from many campaign volunteers.

Kyle’s thoughts on Government

“If government is open-minded and proactive and seeks information from the community, in turn citizens will be open-minded when working with the community as well,’’ Corbin said. “The government has to initiate (contact with the community). Otherwise it will be a bad situation.’’

Head Scratcher at NW Republican

I read NW republican about 5 times a day and usually agree with most of what they say, but this is strange.

The poster and many of the people commenting are giving Ted guff for his comments about the flood situation…

Here is the O Article:

At a post election news conference, Kulongoski was asked about the state’s response to the deadly flooding across Northwestern Oregon and the Coast, after emergencies were declared Tuesday.

Kulongoski replied “It has been raining in Oregon for millennias of time, and because of the way the television treats weather, the crisis team, you’ve actually elevated the weather—rainy in Oregon—to a national crisis. And the truth of it is, it has been raining in the state for years and years and years. The Wilson River goes up and down for many reasons. This is nothing new…..”

“There’s always a price to be paid (for a view).”
And added that “There’s always a risk when you build right on the edge.”

Some comments even compared this to Katrina and Ray Nagin.

But I think one post sums this situation up perfectly:

The real issue in this case is personal responsibility. You should not expect the government to always bail you out for your wrong decisions. In the old days, republicans used to share this belief.

Measure 46 and 47…what do we do?

I’ve been reading quite a bit about this and it’s hard to pin down any one answer. But from what I gather it looks like most of Measure 47 will have to be settled in the courts. A few lines were added to Measure 47 if 46 didn’t pass and these may get through.

From OPB

Measure 47 becomes law, officially, on December 7th. State attorneys intend to advise the Secretary of State’s office on how to implement the law before then, but for now, officials are mostly mum. But officials did suggest it’s possible that just the parts of the measure that are not in conflict with the 1997 Supreme Court decision could go into effect.

The parts of the Measure that may not be in conflict with that ruling mostly involve disclosing expenses and donations. The top 5 contributors to a candidate must must be public information, along with the business they are engaged in. Other parts that might pass through are the rules on self-financed candidates, tagging big donors and mandating that the Secretary of State’s office create a new searchable database for contributions.

Even these might not make it through the ACLU has hinted that they may bring a lawsuit to all parts of 47 on the grounds of free speech.

Latest Results

There still are no “official results” for any elections in the State of Oregon.

Here is where you will find the latest results for State Elections

Here is where you will find the latest results for Clatsop County Elections

As soon as the “Official Results” are posted I will have the full list.

Nov 9, 08:59 pm | Tryan Hartill
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10 comments on this article (post your own)

1 On Nov 10, 07:25 am, Walter Richards wrote:

Did Teddy also mention his plan to give illegal aliens “alternate” Oregon DLs?

Oregonians can kiss goodbye to flying without a passport (even within the US), thanks to their governor’s insistance on not complying with the Real ID Act. Not to mention Oregon DLs will soon no longer be accepted as ID for the I-9 form – or any other federal purpose.

2 On Nov 10, 07:32 am, Walter Richards wrote:

When Teddy said “this is nothing new” ... perhaps he didn’t realize that the flooding was due to RECORD-BREAKING rainfall. I bet he’d sing a different tune if Salem or Portland areas were the ones flooded.

As to personal responsibility … If you live near a river, whether it’s officially in a “flood plain” or not, you should have flood insurance.

And I could understand the gov’t assisting people with low-interest loans, the first time it happened if it wasn’t an “official” flood plain. But when there’s a known risk of it happening, or it’s known to happen, the property owner needs to take responsibility for being prepared.

3 On Nov 10, 09:07 am, Glenn wrote:

One thing that worries me.

Gov K said “growing economy”.
Oregon’s “economy” has been largely due to the housing market which is sliding a bit or stabilizing.

If Gov K smacks the corporations, this could have a serious unintended consequence. As in corpo’s not being able to expand.

As a small business in Oregon, I will admit it is tough to survive here. Taxes are high.

As for a cigarette tax, sock it to ‘em. I fully believe that cigarette smokers not only cost themselves (both in terms of physical/monetary), but cost employers through lost time, health insurance, etc.

As for spending 61% on schools. Great soundbite but unfortunately unrealistic. Regardless, it still wouldn’t be enough. The OEA owns the legislature right now. That’s pretty scary. The scary part is the amount that will be sent straight to new administration and the esd admin. Watch it happen. If you think the students are going to see this money in terms of teachers, I have a bridge to sell you. Mark my words folks. We will still be hearing about schools not having enough money in two years.

Steve Forrester said it best…”The emporer wears no clothes.”

But look on the brightside. We will assuradely have more abortions in the state, more assisted suicide, or rather, easier to kill oneself. More useless social programs, higher taxes, the list goes on and on. You haven’t seen spending yet.

Gov K does offer something I do like. Healthcare for the kids. The republicans should have taken this issue on for themselves. This totally makes sense. In the long run, it costs less. Gov K has also done alot for our area in terms of local project support. We do have some hardworking politicians helping. Rep Wu, Betsy!, Gov K, Rep Witt. Haven’t heard much from Rep Boone but maybes she is working behind the scenes. Haven’t heard much from Sen Wyden, Smith for awhile.

Ok, I’ve rambled enough for now.

4 On Nov 10, 09:55 am, Walter Richards wrote:

If the gov’t was really worried about kids’ health … they’d mandate that schools remove all junk food. It’s moronic to think the gov’t really cares about kids’ health, when the gov’t enables kids’ junk food “addiction”.

Of course, under the theory of “protecting kids’ health” ... the gov’t should require you be 18 to purchase junk food. And anyone caught providing junk food to minors would be fined. Considering the gov’t does it for tobacco/alcohol products (presumably for the same reason), the precedent is already set.

5 On Nov 12, 08:20 am, THartill wrote:

As a small business in Oregon, I will admit it is tough to survive here. Taxes are high.

But are they?

There is so much data on this out there that I don’t know what to believe. I’ve read that Oregon has the lowest corporate taxes in the U.S. and 41st in taxes collected. Then I hear that tax rates “are high”.

As for the schools I wish the OR Republicans would get a clue and come up with some solutions to the teacher pay issue rather than “fire all the teachers and hire them back”.

It seems there would be a way to tie teacher pay to the private sector. If wages go up in the private sector, then teachers should also get a raise. Since wages have not gone up in 6 years, with inflation factored in, teacher pay should have only grown at the same rate as inflation.

6 On Nov 13, 10:52 am, Patrick McGee wrote:

Teachers Pay?

1. Scrap the “Teachers Unions”
2. Unify School Districts into one County District.
3. Pay increases over basic hiring package based on Performance.
4. More teacher authority in the classroom.
5. Get “The Money” to “The Teachers” and “The Students”
6. Downsize/minimize “The Administrators”(Since when does a school secretray in a town the size of, say, Grants Pass, Oregon get to hire his/her own full-time secretary?)

7 On Nov 13, 12:19 pm, Walter Richards wrote:

When I was in school, I thought it “telling” that 3 schools shared a single nurse – but each had its own principal (as well as vice principal). The schools were an elementary, middle school, and high school – all within a few blocks of each other.

From first hand experience, you better not have needed the nurse on a day she was working at one of the other schools – unless you were ambulatory enough to hobble there yourself (or with help from friends, who got in trouble for being late to their next class).

8 On Nov 13, 05:59 pm, Patrick McGee wrote:

Well, I might be at odds with Willis Van Dusen on many things but, the plight of our schools here in Clatsop County is something I agree wholeheartedly with him on and the primary question he has is; Does every town, berg, hamlet county need its own school district, its own board, superintendent, etc. with accompanying administrators?

How would a unified couny school district impact the key element of our schools, the studen and the teacher?

9 On Nov 14, 12:16 am, Mom of Three wrote:

Sadly, I get the feeling that the new money thrown toward the bottomless, broken educational system will, once again, go to the top-heavy administration. Check back in a year, not much will have changed. I hope I’m wrong, but I have seen billions go after billions and things only get worse.

10 On Nov 18, 05:36 pm, a wrote:

http://thisuser.vox.com/library/post/college-measures-fails.html

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