Is Ted Kulongoski turning Oregon into a banana republic? If you believe a new Republican radio ad, he is.
The ad rips into the governor because he has not yet signed two bills that would increase corporate income taxes and personal income taxes on high-income Oregonians. The Republicans claim Kulongoksi’s intentionally stalling so that opponents of what they call the “job-killing” bills won’t have time to collect enough signatures by Sept. 25 to get repeal measures on the fall ballot.
“Sign the bills, governor, and give the people their rights,” says the ad. “This is Oregon, not Honduras” – referring to the Central American republic where the government recently was toppled in a military coup.
“The governor is intentionally delaying the signature collection process by not signing the bills, making it very difficult to collect the necessary signatures in the required 90-day period,” continues the ad, which you can read on the Oregon Catalyst site or listen to on Jeff Mapes’s blog.
The ad concludes by urging Oregonians to write to Kulongoksi and tell him: “Governor, stop trying to take away our right to vote.”
Of course Kulongoski isn’t taking away anybody’s right to vote. He legally has until Aug. 10 to sign the bills, and if he wants to engage in a little gamesmanship with the process – well, that’s fair game in politics. Just as it’s fair game for Oregon Republicans to attack him – but we think the Honduras comparison is a bit over the top.
That is, unless the Republicans have inside information that Kulongoski is going to call out the National Guard to prevent them from collecting signatures.
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2009.
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I’m sure no liberal add has exagerated to make a point, why not give both sides of the story to allow people to make their own decision.
Sounds like he is trying to prevent a vote for his own parties gain? why would you justify him for acting non democratic if your a democrat. If he gives people a fair chance to vote there would be no need for complaints. Anything that interfers with the voting process should not be tolerated from anyone. Peventing people from voting is more of a Zimbabwe thing than a Honduran thing the rebels still CLAIM there holding elections as normal. There president was trying to prevent voting. Sounds kinda like what is going on here but at a more extreme level.
More of the same. Politicians will do what they want, why would Ted allow time for his agenda to be over turned? This state is so far left I donâ ™t think the Republicans would get enough signatures if they had all the time in the world.
If this unfair tax is signed and enforced I will simply take my multimuillion dollar buisness to another state. It is sad my 35 employees will pay the price, but I guess Obama will save them. PS – I know of at least 10 other large buisness that will do the same. It you tax to death the people who support the economy, how do you expect any recovery at all!!! Wake up Oregon before its too late – look at California…
“If this unfair tax is signed and enforced I will simply take my multimuillion [sic] dollar buisness [sic] to another state.”
And if this tax is NOT signed and enforced I will take MY multibillion-dollar business and move it to another state (probably Mississippi or Arkansas), throwing my 3,700 employees out of work!
PS: All of my multibillionaire buddies will do the same!
(Isn’t it funny that so many rich people who run big companies have nothing to do but hang out on this site and bitch about how the rotten libruls are screwing them? “On the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog.” — New Yorker cartoon)
“why would you justify him for acting non democratic if your a democrat.”
Oh, please. Kulongoski is only engaging in the usual political gamesmanship. Comparing this to what goes on in Honduras or Zimbabwe or Putin’s Russia is just plain silly.
Republicans would have more credibility with the average citizen if they tried being a little less shrill. When you blow a gasket over something like this, what do you do when a REAL scandal happens?
This reminds me of all the hysterical shrieking that went on over ACORN and Obama’s birth certificate and Obama allegedly comparing Palin to a pig. If you keep screaming all the time, pretty soon people just tune you out. Remember the boy who cried wolf?