Enough Interest for a Jeff Merkley group?

[zehnkatzen]

I'm wondering if anyone isn't in the mood to start a Jeff Merkley group here.

I'd like to see one because I'm getting most of my progressive news at/through DU, and it would be nice to see and hear discussion about Jeff in the place I'm most likely to hit.

Any takers?

[sandnsea]

1. I haven't chosen yet

But after reading a little about Merkley, I like how much he went into the session with fairness and respect on his mind and made it work. We actually have gotten a lot done for Oregon when you think about it - civil unions, womens pharmaceutical rights, renewable energy programs, wave energy in the works, good minimum wage, subsidized health insurance which has given me health coverage for the first time in 20 years, lots of good stuff going on. If Merkley could help get that kind of thing done in DC, well then he deserves our support. At the same time, I like Novick's spunk and idealism, but that just doesn't seem to cross over to wins with the GE.

I think you should just keep posting Merkley stuff and the regulars will keep up. Or maybe you just want to post news and campaign info in this thread, to keep us all updated.

It's going to be a great year for Democrats in Oregon!!

[zehnkatzen]

2. I hear you...

...that's the thing that Jeff has that he can ride on...the way he did what he did in the Leg this year. He was amazing. I'm really pumped about him running.

I think you should just keep posting Merkley stuff and the regulars will keep up. Or maybe you just want to post news and campaign info in this thread, to keep us all updated.

That's a fine idea. I'll see what I can do along those lines. I was wondering how I could volunteer...maybe this is it.

FWIW, I have nothing against Novick–he's fierce. We need that. I'm just a Merkley fan, and we have to make a choice. I've made mine; it's Jeff.

Thanks for your input. It was inspiring!

[funflower]

3. Who else is running? Anyone? I like Merkley, but I'm wondering

what my choices (if any) are.

[sandnsea]

4. Steve Novick

http://www.novickforsenate.com/

He takes the grassroots approach to politics, says what's on his mind, which is the popular route these days. But then he says stuff like he doesn't support single payer because, "for one thing, it would throw an awful lot of insurance company employees out of work"; and I just scratch my head. That's just one thing, and Merkley might worry about insurance employees too - but it just doesn't seem like much of a Wellstone maverick to be worrying about insurance employees.

[FreedRadical]

5. I think I like Novick

I have been following his grass-root movement and learning more about him. I like what I am seeing. He has a good background in fighting for the people, including his work on the Love Canal as AG. Blue Oregon seems to have jump ship on him, but I like him.

[warren pease]

6. you might reply to that argument by...

... telling him that GM recently located a plant employing 30,000 workers in Canada specifically because they didn't have to worry about the cost of providing health benefits to their employees, as would have been the case had they located the plant in the US -- which was the original plan. So that's 30,000 US jobs lost because of this ridiculous, arcane and profit-driven con game that passes for health care in America.

GM also said that US health insurance costs add approximately $1700 to the price of every American car sold. Hard to compete with car companies who aren't operating under that burden.

So, while single-payer may cost insurance industry jobs -- although a greatly expanded Medicare system would surely be able to use thousands of experienced administrators and paper-pushers formerly employed in gouging American health care consumers -- it would also bring in untold numbers of jobs by getting employers off the hook for their employees' medical premiums. Or maybe somebody's even done a study on that very subject, which would help actually quantify the net jobs gained or lost under the current system and under a shift to single-payer.

And the relationship between employment and insurance is a false construct anyway. What the hell does one have to do with the other, except in the fevered brains of those running the US for-profit health care scam?

All that aside, I know absolutely nothing about Steve Novick. I'll check out his web site, and Merkley's as well. I also read that our very own Howard Jarvis clone, anti-tax loon and perpetual pest Bill Sizemore, is contemplating entering the race against Smith because he (Smith) isn't conservative or tax-averse enough for Bill's greedy little world view.

Hell, the streets and highways are approaching third-world class; any further cuts in taxes for infrastructure repairs will manifest as another type of tax on consumers -- the costs of increasingly frequent replacement of tires, struts, springs and other suspension components -- not to mention the possibility of plunging into the Willamette as the Sellwood or Ross Island bridges collapse at rush hour.

But Bill, who can't see beyond his nose or reason beyond a third grade level, is unconcerned over these issues. He just wants more money to blow (as it were) on the usual GOP offenses against sanity and decency. No... to my knowledge he and Vitter have never met, but his political views certainly warrant dressing him in diapers, giving him a rattle, putting him in a playpen, shutting the door and letting him scream, bitch and whine somewhere out of public earshot.

Fortunately, he's become his own best caricature and, instead of worrying about him too much, most people around here recognize he's just another in a long line of greedy GOP assholes and automatically vote against anything he's promoting.


wp