I was in my local DMV office doing some business this weekend, and of course minding my own business. My attention was drawn away by the line of people in front of me, many of whom were renewing their drivers licenses or getting their first one. Many were being turned away for not having brought [...]
If Oregon Ballot Measure 64 looks like something that Oregonians have voted on many times before, that’s probably because it is. Measure 64 prohibits money collected with the use of public resources from being used for political purposes, except elections, official voter pamphlets and most lobbying. “Political purpose” is defined as: candidates, political committee or [...]
Oregon Ballot Measure 56 is probably the most important of the ballot measures to be voted on in the November 2008 elections. This constitutional amendment fixes a problem that was brought on by the passing of a previous constitutional amendment a number of years ago. Oregon Ballot Measure 56 is a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment which, [...]
There are two Measures on the Oregon Ballot in November which are basically housekeeping measures. Both are amendments to the Oregon Constitution. I am very leery about anything that claims to be “merely a housekeeping measure” as they have sometimes changed things differently than we intend. I am also very cautious about anything that amends [...]
Oregon, like all the states, has had it’s share of growth from immigrants from around the world. Most of us in the United States are the descendants of immigrants. Many came from Europe, others came from Asia, Africa, or elsewhere in the Americas. In most cases, our ancestors were met with suspicion or contempt by [...]
As many of you know, I am a tax accountant, and I have spent many years giving tax advice and preparing tax returns for a wide variety of people and businesses. Among them have been the very rich and the very poor. I am always looking for a way to make the tax bill lower [...]
There are a number of ballot initiatives and ballot measures in both Washington and Oregon every year that are clearly the work of a few folks who are in the business of making up and presenting controversial measures for fun and profit. Initiative 985 is another of those disgusting works, this one presented by serial [...]
OK, so I wasn’t intending to comment on any ballot measures outside of Cascadia when I decided to highlight them over the next few weeks. Sometimes I just react to the news as I see fit. According to recent articles, a number of religious groups in California are mobilizing to get out the vote to [...]
Just a heads up for my regular readers: Over the next 11 weeks or so until Election Day, I will be presenting a series of posts on the Washington Ballot Initiatives, the Oregon Ballot Measures, and on the candidates running for major offices around Cascadia. Of course, you will be graced by my usual flavor [...]
The State of Oregon has three ballot measures in the current election which are constitutional amendments and are billed as “housekeeping” measures. I am usually hesitant to amend our constitution without a very good reason, and I am usually suspicious of anything that is supposed to be a “correction” of a previous problem. This is [...]
