By mailing your ballot in sooner, rather than later, you'll be able to avoid all those annoying phone calls urging you to vote.
Below are my recommendations for the Nov. 6 election:
President: Barack Obama. The Mitt-wit promises to return this country to the halcyon days of the George W. Bush administration. No thanks.
Secretary of State: Kate Brown. Knute Buehler, her challenger, is a RINO and hypes the phony issue of "voter fraud." The only voter-fraud that has occurred recently is by Republicans.
House District 54: Nathan Hovekamp. His opponent, Jason Conger, is another GOP extremist who is anti-public education. He favors slashing government revenue, which would force more shortened school years.
Senate District 27: Geri Hauser. She would be far better than Tim Knopp, an extremist who supports gutting public education at all levels by supporting repeal of the state inheritance tax that rewards the few at the expense of almost all Oregonians.
Deschutes County Commissioner: Alan Unger. He's one of the best public servants we've had here. His opponent, Tom Greene, is a real-estate agent who gambled big on the local housing market and lost big. He now desperately needs a high-paying government job, which is a terrible reason to run for office.
State treasurer: Ted Wheeler. No competition.
Attorney General: Ellen Rosenblum. No contest.
Representative 2nd District: Anyone but Greg Walden. He'll win easily, but he's just an errand boy for the GOP.
Commissioner of Bureau of Labor and Industries: Brad Avakian. Again, no credible competition.
Supreme Court, Position 5: Nena Cook. We need more eminently qualified women on the state high court like Cook.
Court of Appeals: Tim Volpert. He's got a great list of endorsements. Check out his website.
Circuit Court Judge, 11th District: Beth Bagley. She easily beat all competitors in the primary, but must now win the runoff.
Bend City Council, Position 1: Barb Campbell. A weak lineup here, but she's better than her opponents.
Bend City Council, Position 2: Doug Knight. Not a strong slate here but Knight knows our local city government better than the rest.
Bend City Council, Position 3: Sally Russell. The incumbent, Kathie Eckman, has long overstayed her time on the council.
Bend City Council, Position 4: Jim Clinton. He's the only one on the council with brains and integrity.
Measures 77 and 78: House-keeping measures long overdue. Yes on both.
Measure 79: NO! Stop Realtors from increasing property taxes.
Measure 80: Yes and No. Sooner or later marijuana will become legal, as it should. But this Oregon measure is too open-ended to survive. A more limited measure in Washington will likely pass and Oregon should follow that lead. Not in favor of promoting vices, but if we tax marijuana to the hilt maybe the state can profit from it someday.
Measure 81: Yes. End use of gill-nets on the Columbia River.
Measures 82 and 83: NO on both. We don't need anymore casinos in Oregon.
Measure 84: NO! Keep the inheritance tax. We don't need to further slash funding for education including the fledgling OSU-Cascades.
Measure 85: YES! Corporations don't even care about getting a "kicker" refund. Let's fund education instead. It's our best way out of our current troubles.
Measure 9-86: NO! It's the wrong time for the Bend parks district to ask voters to spend $29 million on non-essential upgrades. Wait until the economy turns around and most in Bend will support it.
I disagree on Measures 82 and 83. Let people who don't understand basic probabilities pay more taxes.
ReplyDeleteAlso on 9-86. Vote yes because it will improve the entire area. This will help property values. And interest rates are as low as they ever have been. Do it now when borrowing costs are cheap.