Ever wonder how much you would benefit from the Obama tax cut extending middle-class tax cuts as compared to the proposal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy? While The Rich Do Very Well When the Middle Cl

Political prognosticator Charlie Cook has moved the Oregon Governor's race from "leans Democratic" to "tossup". I'm not a subscriber to Cook's report, so I haven't yet read Cook's analysis because it's behind the subscription wall. Very not awesome for Team K

Remember the fable of the Emperor's New Clothes? A couple of guys told the king that they had magical cloth, which only the wise could see. Anyone who couldn't see the incredible suit of clothes the king was wearing was declared a fool. In this years race for governor, candidate Chris Dudley has his own wise men,

I'm a little late to this story, but given how this has the potential to essentially end Kevin Mannix in Oregon politics, it's a pretty big deal. Mannix's sugar daddy, Loren Parks (who has a, shall we say, colorful...background

Chris Dudley would have you believe that he's pro-choice. He even deliberately picked a fight with Right to Life to make the point. But the fact is, as Carla Axtman noted a few weeks ago,

Mitt Romney wants to be President of the United States. Since his failed attempt in 2008, Romney has been squirreling away cash and chits in an effort to build an infrastructure as he prepares to try again in 2012.

By Alex Lawson of Washington, DC. Alex is the communications director for the Strengthen Social Security Coalition. Debate rages in Washington about how to reduce our nation’s growing federal deficit, and pundits and politicia

By Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons of Portland, Oregon. Rev. Lyons is co-director of OPAL Environmental Justice and a Unitarian Universalist Community Minister affiliated with First Unitarian Church of Portland. Today at 4pm, bus riders organized by OP

When critics of Measures 67 say that it caused or is causing Oregon businesses to flee across state lines, I have - along with many others - been imploring the media to insist: Show us the math.

From the always interesting Oregon Economics blog, Professor Patrick Emerson provides this graph, courtesy of the New York Times Econom

Over at this Oregonian blog, Jeff Mapes makes a hilarious suggestion: Here's the next thing I think the Blazers ought to do: host a half-time free throw shooting contest between Dudley and Kitzhaber for

There are some serious drawbacks to electing people who warn of government takeover, socialism, who fan immigration flames and warn of death panels. I'm tired of hypothetical hysteria. If you jumped out of an airplane over Washington D.C. and you had 24 hours to report everything you learned at the Glenn Beck rall

Yesterday in our nation's capital, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin soiled the national mall with their cynical perversion of Dr. Martin Luther King. Apparently the conservative policies of bankrupting the country with tax cuts and massive defense/pork spending while obstructing any and all attempts at reform of the health ca

It’s now official: with state regulators declining to let the Boardman Coal Plant run through 2020 with minimal pollution controls, PGE intends to hold Oregon’s clean air—and the Columbia River Gorge—hostage. The Portland area’s main utility is throwing a giant-size temper tantrum, employing scary threats and

I wrote back on June 14, 2006 that the Recession Cometh. Sure enough the recession came and went. Now, the economic news is making mention of a double-dip recession. Yeah, I've been predicting that one

By Tyrone Reitman of Portland, Oregon. Tyrone is the Co-Founder, and Co-Director of the non-profit, Healthy Democracy Oregon. www.healthydemocracyoregon.org What would it be like to discuss the pros and cons of a ballot measure over five full days with a group of fellow voters from across Oregon? Wou

It’s not the Watergate hearings, but it’s still interesting stuff for those of us who care about Oregon’s economic and fiscal situation. It’s the quarterly meeting of the Oregon House and Senate revenue committees, where the state economists present the quarterly economic and revenue forecast. Yesterday’

By J. Graber of Portland, Oregon. He is a former journalist and a graduate student in strategic communications at the University of Oregon, Portland campus. When I was a little tike my sister had a doll with a string in her back. Pull the string and the toy would utter some reassuring little message

By Ann Kramer of Hood River, Oregon. Ann is a counselor and board chair for the Gorge Grown Food network, an organization working to building a regional food system in the Columbia Gorge. Recent head

90 years ago today, our nation finally got off its collective ass and enfranchised hundreds of thousands of women, by ratifying the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. It's as good a day as any to remember how awesome our Constitution is

By Brian Fuller of Portland, Oregon. Brian is a local film and video producer. If I were King of Oregon, (or running for the job), I would lean back in my throne and proclaim that henceforth my court would replace the word “Recession” with “Depression” in every official communication, so all

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical care in the Portland/Salem area rose 81% since mid-2000. That represents a 6.1% rate of growth per year. That's the exact same rate of inflation as what has occurred with gasoline. The BLS does not report education specifically. They combine it with communica

In today's Oregonian, Steve Duin takes on the claims that have been thrown around regarding Oregon's business climate: When 41 percent of Republicans, according to CNN, continue to i

If approved, Measure 75 would authorize Oregon's first privately-owned and tax-paying casino - on the site of the old Multnomah Greyhound Park in east Multnomah County. In addition to property, income, and hotel taxes, the casino would pay a tax of 25%

I attended an economic seminar almost two years ago where state economist Tom Potiowsky was forecasting a rapid return to stable economic levels. I sat in the audience and rolled my eyes the entire time at his assertions. His graphs showed the economy bouncing like a basketball right back up to normal in no time.

Jeff Merkley, Sunday Oregonian: But, many mosque opponents argue, just because it can be built does not mean it should be. They say it would be disrespectful to the memories of those who died on 9/11 t

The Oregon Business Association’s (OBA) Tenth Annual Statesman Dinner will honor Columbia Sportswear's Gert Boyle as OBA's "Statesman of the Year." The "special guest and keynote speaker" at the event will be U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI).

I've been traveling for the last few days so this week's Spanning the State will be an abridged version. I've spent most of this week in Montana meeting amazing people and taking in truly incredible scenery. So from my remote location in Big Sky country, let's Span the State! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently published a short paper High-Income People Would Benefit Significantly From Extension of “Middle-Class” Tax Cuts (or 8-page PDF

Here's an end-of-the-week recap on the Governor's race: The Democratic Governors Association launched a new website to make sure that Oregonians get the straight truth about who Chris Dudley is - and who he isn't. It's called YouDontKnowDudley.com. It's