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Rep.
Richardson's Post Election Update
November, 2007 United We Can Solve Any Challenge
The passing of Measure 49 was expected. If a card shark names the game and stacks the deck in his favor, no one should be surprised when he wins the game. So it was with Measure 49. The Governor and the Democrats in the Oregon Legislature carefully crafted and funded a measure to repeal Measure 37 and perpetuate Oregon’s locked-up land-use system. They were successful. Congratulations to crafty politicians are in order, and so are condolences for lovers of liberty and fair government practices. For most Oregonians Measure 49 will have little affect, but the precedent for deceptiveness it sets for future legislative Referrals is ominous.
Abuse of power is a non-partisan malady. I understand that in the 1990’s, when the Republicans controlled Oregon’s House and Senate there was an attempt to stack the deck on a Referral, like the Democrats did with Measure 49. In that instance Governor Kitzhaber blocked the attempt and the integrity of Oregon’s Legislative Ballot-Measure-Referral system was maintained. The failure of Measure 50 was also expected. Although the tobacco companies that funded the campaign to defeat Measure 50 had their own motives for doing so, the millions spent in advertisements effectively educated most Oregon voters about the facts underlying the measure. Measure 50 had three key flaws: 1. It attempted to place in the Constitution a tax unrelated to the goal of insuring children; 2. It would have expanded socialized medicine for children from middle class families; and 3. It proposed a tax that was inadequate to pay for escalating costs of children’s health insurance over time. Once Oregon voters understood the truth about Measure 50, its defeat was assured. In short, there was no integrity with Measure 49, and, unlike Measure 50, there was no special interest group prepared to spend millions of dollars to educate the voters on the truth about Measure 49. I sought to expose its deceptiveness in my last newsletter, but my humble newsletter is no substitute for millions of dollars spent on weeks of prime-time television and radio adds, such as we saw and heard opposing Measure 50. Measure 49 reinforces what I have seen at both the State and Federal levels. Average citizens are served best when the two-party system is working, and our republic suffers when a single party dominates the House, Senate and the Executive Office. Measure 50 demonstrates the reality that Oregon voters make wise decisions when they have all the facts, and educating voters about the facts requires time, effort and millions of dollars. As I ponder the circumstances surrounding Measures 49 and 50, I am reminded that, regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s ballot measures, we can all commit to working together to solve Oregon’s land-use and children’s health care problems. United we can solve any challenge. Sincerely,
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