Political News & Commentary

From our friends over at Brave New Films:

Joe Lieberman is a war hawk, plain and simple. He staunchly supports George Bush's War in Iraq and John McCain's plan to stay in Iraq for 100 years. But Lieberman's new alliance with the Republican Party runs even deeper. He has endorsed and stumped for McCain, wants to be the star of the Republican National Convention, and has even served on a 527 group that smeared Barack Obama with a nasty attack ad.

And yet Lieberman still holds a top rank within the Senate Democratic Caucus as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Senate Democratic Steering Committee needs to know just how much of a conflict of interest this is. That's why we created Lieberman Must Go.

Watch the video: http://bravenewfilms.org/watch/4063829/43061?utm_source=rgemail

Oregonians should watch the video and then call Greg Walden to remind him he works for Oregon, not Big Oil.

Portland – Thirty three of Oregon’s 36 counties rely on timber payments to fund schools, libraries, law enforcement and other community sustaining resources.

Two weeks ago U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) told those 33 counties’ sheriffs, librarians, teachers and other leaders that he has a higher priority – Big Oil profits.

“Greg Walden stood on the house floor and voted to close schools, shutter libraries and eliminate sheriff’s patrols so that Big Oil could raise its profits,” DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith said. “When our rural communities needed him most, he voted to cut their funding. Watch the video to see how Oregon has reacted to Walden’s ‘betrayal.’ Then call him up and remind him he works for Oregon, not Big Oil.”
 
Watch the video here.

Portland, OR - Moses Ross has been elected to represent the First Congressional District of Oregon as a national delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Mr. Ross, a Portland businessman and Democratic Party activist, is the sole male delegate pledged for Hillary Clinton from the district. He will be joined by two elected female delegates, Sue Castner and Hallie Travis. The three will represent Senator Hillary Clinton as national delegates for Oregon at the 2008 National Convention in Denver from August 25-29.

"We represent tens of thousands of Senator Clinton's supporters throughout our district" , said Ross. "We are proud to advocate her platform which shares our common values of economic and social fairness.

It was announced yesterday that Shell's profits were up 25% for the first quarter this year, hitting a record $9 billion.

From the AP article:

Europe's largest oil company said Tuesday its average selling price of crude oil leaped by 66 percent to over $90 per barrel from the first quarter a year ago.

That sent net profit soaring to a record $9.08 billion. Sales were up 55 percent to $114 billion.

Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said in a statement the strong numbers were due to a "good operating performance, combined with increased oil and gas prices."

Earnings from oil production rose 52 percent to $5.14 billion.

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A new report released on Thursday showed that residents in the Northwest are using less gas per capita than the national average.

From The Oregonian:

At a time of record gas prices and rising sales of hybrid cars, it stands to reason that Americans would buy less gas. But the fact that Oregon and Washington residents are buying less gas than the national average stems from the region's investment in mass transit and development patterns that put homes closer to stores and employers, said Clark Williams-Derry, research director for Sightline.

...

Measured per person, Northwest motorists are buying less gas than at any time since the mid-1960s.

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Earlier today I returned home, exhausted, from a weekend in Eugene. I wasn't there doing a sport or anything - I was there for the Democratic Party of Oregon's Platform Convention.

I arrived Friday evening, just early enough to hear Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) speak on behalf of the Barack Obama campaign. Congressman Abercrombie had known both of Obama's parents as well as Barack as a child (or "little Barry" as he was known then).

He told us a lot of great stories about Obama, reasons why he was supporting him, and more. Even though the crowd was a little restless (they'd recently learned that there was not a dinner that night as part of the event and this part of the evening started a bit late), they were drawn in by Abercrombie's speech. On more than one occasion during the evening I heard him called Hawaii's Peter DeFazio because of the way he speaks to a crowd.

Hello to everyone in the Blog for Oregon community! As a new member, I wanted to lay out a few of the thoughts that led me to join your merry little band.

First off -- being raised in a political family, I've always had a strong interest in current events and political news. However, I never thought of having a career in activism or politics until I started working with student groups at the University of Oregon. Those experiences, along with the realities of Life After College, made me realize that my heart truly lies with working to make my community, my nation, a better place to live, work and love for everyone who calls it home.