STEVESCARE@aol.com wrote: 

  Val Hess at the Hillsboro Argus doled out one of the first of many Statewide editorial advisements for voters on the initiative measures.  Hess cautions that too many measures means voters face an "near impossible task" of   adequately studying each measure before casting "informed and wise votes.  This is "especially dangerous" Hess warns. When voters "base their decisions on the   arguments they see in one-sided, sometimes misleading  advertisements"   

  Now that's a hoot. 

  How can any of the campaigns be one sided when virtually every newspaper along with Hess   and the Argus will be taking the other side?  Not to worry though. Hess says "It's not too early to begin studying the proposals so,,, we all are capable of casting a ballot that will be in the best interest of the state and all its citizens."

  What Hess didn't include in his voter insulting, condescending, pompous lecture is that voters   need not study anything at all.  I'm sure Hess would recommend that voters can simply read the newspapers and follow Hess' (et al) instructions on voting  "in the best interest of the state and all its citizens."

  Right?

  So no big deal on the quantity or substance of initiative measures.   Hess is here to help.  After all, he and his peer editors across the State understand these things much better than voters can ever hope to.

  --- Steve Schopp 

Ross A. Smith (who often uses the moniker "SOB") wrote: 

  Steve -- what Hess really means is there are so many good initiatives on the ballot that the hit job the media will be doing on the most dreaded of all initiatives for the liberal intellectuals in Oregon -- the one that puts an effective limit on state overspending by the politicians bought and paid for by the state employees' (including teachers') unions -- may not be effective and M48 just might slip through despite their best efforts to scuttle it -- and actually put Oregon on the course of fiscal sanity -- heaven forbid. 

     Hess and all enlightened progressive elitists like him are actually very much against the popular will of the people having a direct say in how we govern ourselves -- especially with respect to giving less money to our elected officials to be spent on our??? behalf -- e.g. very early retirements for state employees and teachers at more money than they got while working -- courtesy of their unions. 

      Notice how a big majority of the people lined up against all the big gun powers supporting the last two taxation increase measures and denouncing M37 -- as these same powers are now likewise aligned against M48, and it scares the pants off the big spenders and their union allies that after twenty years of big spending by politicians the people of Oregon have finally wised up to what has been going on and what this big spending spree has done to cripple our state's economy. The big spenders want Oregon to follow California over the insolvency precipice so the government can step in and fix everything -- you bet!

      When all the smoke clears it makes very good fiscal sense when elected politicians cannot stop overspending for the people to limit them to increases in population and inflation -- except in unusual circumstances -- why not -- they certainly won't limit themselves and make the tough trade off decisions -- but the forces who live off perennial overspending naturally do not see it this way.  But the "good fiscal sense" part of the argument could be very persuasive to Oregon voters who are sick and tired of the fiscal mess that comes around every biennium.

Here's hoping.

       --- SOB

OMED: Neither one of the two men featured above is a professional journalist.  Neither one has a whit of political power, though Schopp, who lives in the Wilsonville area, ran for public office in a recent election, and was not successful in the attempt.  RAS was a corporate financial officer before he retired.  The last we heard, he was living on the Oregon Coast.

If you read this magazine on a regular basis, you've seen their opinions in here before.  RAS, because of his business background knows numbers.  Schopp knows about the Oregon educational system's faults -- in particular the program known as CIM/CAM.  He doesn't like it, much.

These men are part of the miracle wrought by the founding fathers when they came up with the idea that government ought to protect a citizens's God-given rights.  At the time, no govenment on Earth did that.  Quite a few still don't.

If people like you don't pay attention to the things Schopp and RAS are talking about, the day will come when your government doesn't, either.

(LL)

© 2006 Oregon Magazine