The Wandering Eye

Conservatives in Oregon, and all over America, have found something new to be angry about – not that that’s ever any challenge for them.
The latest target of their wrath is Jason Levin, a middle school teacher in Beaverton who set up a website on which he vowed to “crash and destroy” the Tea Party movement.

John Kitzhaber, the once and maybe future governor of Oregon, got a chance to show his medical skills as well as his debating talent at a candidates’ forum on the University of Oregon campus Wednesday night.
According to the account of Kari Chisholm on the Blue Oregon blog, Kitzhaber was in the midst of a discussion with Bill Bradbury, his rival for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, when somebody in the audience called out: “Is there a doctor in the house?” (Honest, that’s what he said.

As you wrestle with your 1040s, 1099s, W2s, Schedule C’s and other income tax impedimenta, the Oregon Center for Public Policy offers a few facts that should comfort you – and probably will surprise you, especially if you get your information from Glenn Beck and Lars Larson.
Surprise No.

The Bulletin had a rather odd editorial (well, that’s not exactly news) on Friday morning. The subject was taxes, but what really interested me was the lead-in to that subject, which talked about medical care.

Want to run for the Oregon Legislature? You’d better be able to get your hands on at least a quarter of a million dollars.
A new report on 2008 campaign financing by the National Institute on Money in State Politics found that Oregon was one of the most expensive states in the country to run in.

We’re still waiting for the mass exodus of businesses that conservatives predicted in the wake of voter approval of Measures 66 and 67 to happen. Meanwhile, a couple of developments this week suggest that Oregon isn’t really such a horrible place to locate a business after all.

I got to see and use the new, improved, expanded Redmond Airport terminal for the first time last week, and it’s a gem.
One bitch, though: If the powers that be could find tens of millions of dollars to expand the terminal, why couldn’t they find a few thousand to put number and letter signs – G6, A5, etc.

The public option – government-supported health insurance offered as an alternative to private plans – was a non-starter in Congress, but Oregon could end up with its own version.
Anyway that’s the idea of state Sen.

Republican Allen Alley, running for governor of Oregon, is attacking the way things are done in .