With the defeat of M30 voters, journalists, commentators and elected officials should maintain focus on these points as Oregon moves forward in a genuine pursuit of real remedies.
 
Wasted months and millions 

The legislature has wasted months and many millions of Oregon taxpayer dollars by passing an unworkable budget which they should have known would be rejected by the voters. In the aftermath of the M30 defeat, some, including State Sen.Rick Metsger (D), have stated "No one really believed this would pass".  Followed by, "We should not have a another special session and let the cuts happen as planned". 
 
Name calling and threats 

The campaign to pass M30 was, despite efforts to cast it as "grass roots", was in fact a gang attack on the voters, by the Governor, unions, public employees, newspapers and Television newsrooms. Very similar to the California recall election. It involved electioneering, name calling, threats and other tactics which proved to be as ineffective as they were inappropriate. 
 
Can't do their job

Throughout the campaign to pass M30, the Governor and proponent legislators stated that they cannot balance the State budget without the M30 tax increase. Today after the vote, many of those same politicians are indicating that they intend to block any efforts to achieve a reasonable balanced budget based on prioritization, shifting expenditures and trimming of nonessential services. Refusal, by these politicians, to do their job should be met with calls for resignations to avoid lengthy and costly recalls. Attempts to remain entrenched, refusing to do what must be done and "teaching the
voters a lesson" is unacceptable.
 
Defeat bigger than vote 

Considering the all out media blitz by M30 proponents and virtually none by the No on M30 campaign, the 60-40 defeat of M30 was bigger than the vote talley suggests. The bigger, underlying and clear message is the nearly nonexistent credibility the M30 proponents have with the voting public, including a large segment of union membership.  
 
Leadership

With such a low credibility level and failure to perform their elected duties, our Governor, and others pondering the status quo's failure, must begin to question their brand of leadership. They have used up all the voter patience their political capital could buy. Their friends in the press could not deliver the goods and any similar political maneuvers will follow suit.  Governor Kulongoski must decide if punishing the voters is the best leadership he can
provide. Whether he defines leadership by continuing the fruitless campaign to raise revenue.  Whether his legacy will be tainted by a one term series of missteps as real remedies and progress are passed on to the next Governor.
 
M30 Campaign Over

It's over. Stop the wailing about dire straits as if you can somehow reverse the vote. Every plan to spend every dollar should be back on the table. New ideas, creating new ways to spend should be suspended. The entire spending structure is subject to reshaping. Including every education, municipal and county program. Health care coverage for every public employee must be
shifted to a less costly sustainable system in the free market.  PERS must be laid to rest and replaced with a fair private sector comparable system we can afford and sustain.

Every quasi public-private organization contributing to the grip on business-as-usual must be weakened and forced to accommodate the sweeping changes voters demand.  Pretending has not worked. Superficial work around the edges masquerading as major reform is a recipe for continued failure. Discussions of "Tax Reform" by those who pushed M30 should be halted and replaced with a Major Spending Reform process.
 
Get Over Yourself  

Those elected officials (championed by journalists and editorial boards), who view themselves as irreplaceable and in sole procession of reason, thoughtfulness and all workable plans, need to get over themselves.  As the M30 vote demonstrates, the public is not buying it.

Editor's Note:  Steve Schopp is the most energetic proponent of basic conservative values this side of Bill Buckley.  Oregon is fortunate to have this perpetual motion machine.

© 2004 Steve Schopp