Unintended Consequences
An update on the Public Employees Retirement System
This is the week everyone anticipates in Salem every two years. The May 2017 state revenue forecast is the last tool available to the Legislature’s … Continue reading
Hot Air Society Archive
Farr Right? Farr Left? Farr Gone?
And you thought the Eugene City Council was goofy?
Cultural diversity stood at center stage when our Lane County commissioners bypassed conservative and liberal women and struck a blow for civil liberty. At this … Continue reading
Greg Walden Has Abandoned Me!
He never calls … he never writes! Brother: Where art thou?
Dear reader, I think I got off on the wrong foot with the congressman from eastern Oregon. May need your help. As you remember, I … Continue reading
Meet Congressman Walden
Why does Greg Walden hate us Oregonians?
First, a Salem legislative update: It ain’t lookin’ good. Look, I know from experience that our citizen-legislators barely earn minimum wage. But they’re currently overpaid, … Continue reading
Can you fix PERS?
The Bellotti Effect is not football lingo!
Just to be clear about my biases: I despise The Oregonian editorial board because it despises public employees and it misrepresents Oregon political reality because … Continue reading
We All Scream for Ice Cream!
Taking a look at Measure 97
As you know, dear readers, the Hot Air Society is not only a social drinking club; we are also a 527 Super-PAC. We secretly authorized the … Continue reading
Bloomin’ Lawnsigns in 2016?
Records Matter!
Two things happen in Oregon in even-numbered years. We hold a general election, and invasive alien biennial weed species (Lawnsignicus obnoxicus) appear in the Willamette … Continue reading
Oregonians: Is this Bud for You?
No voting record, no plan
I don’t know about you, dear reader, but the political season always makes me nervous behind the steering wheel. Every two years here in the 4th Congressional District, I used to have an involuntary fight-or-flight reaction to any vehicles sporting an “Art Robinson” bumper sticker. I’d slam on the brakes and elude, just in case the driver was preparing for the Rapture at any moment. Continue reading
Welcome to the Silly Season
The election is drawing near
“Truth is stranger than Fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” — Mark Twain This issue of EW comes out 10 days before Labor Day and 10 weeks before Election Day. Continue reading
Zombie Wolf
A bad bill and a credibility problem
When I was in the Oregon Legislature 20 years ago, I wrote an “insider baseball” perspective for EW on how ideas become bills, and how bills become laws. Out of office now for 12 years and retired for a year, some bills still piss me off. Continue reading