News We've written a bit about efforts by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to reform the filibuster so the Senate doesn't get bogged down so easily. The Oregon Democrat today launched an online petition effort at BlueOregon to drum up support for a reform he and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) are proposing for the filibuster. Merkley notes that one of their proposals is a requirement that senators who are ...   More

News Below is one of the TV interviews Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has given after leading this week's House Democratic revolt against President Obama's tax deal with Republicans. In this interview with The Big Picture, DeFazio tells an empathetic Thom Hartmann (starting at about the 2:40 mark) that the backlash against Obama's deal is "unprecedented" during his 24 years in the House, and that he ...   More

News Yesterday, Attorney General John Kroger released his list of the 20 "worst" non-profits operating in Oregon. The absence of any Oregon-based non-profits from the list could generate concerns Kroger is going easy on local outfits. But here's a story from the (Eugene) Register Guard about a fascinating lawsuit Kroger filed against the natural foods company making Yogi Tea that suggests Kroger's ...   More

News The latest numbers from the state Employment Department this morning show Oregon's unemployment rate remains stuck in the same dispiriting range where it's been for more than a year. The seasonally adjusted rate for November is 10.6 percent, above the national rate of 9.8 percent for last month. The state rate of 10.6 percent falls within the range of the past 13 months of between 10.5 percent ...   More

News All four House Democrats from Oregon have already voiced opposition to President Obama's tax deal with Republicans. Now U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) has joined their chorus with his own concerns. Merkley said the tax package, which the Senate is expected to approve this week, would add to the national debt and do little for middle-class families. In a statement, Merkley supported components ...   More

News The skeptics and conspiracy theorists who raised questions about the validity of November's election results are zero for three now. A recount yesterday of about 8,200 Multnomah County ballots in response to a request from the Republican Party of Oregon found the machine count was within one vote of the hand re-count. And today, results in a closely contested Jackson County state Senate race ...   More

News Our news partners at KATU are reporting on a new phenomenon among Pacific Northwest teens that's a dangerous step up from "tag" or "cops and robbers."It's called Fugitive. With as many as 150 players per game, the concept is that one person—"the fugitive"—sets out on foot and tries to reach a destination. The fugitive tries to reach that destination before being "caught," or tagged, ...   More

News A quick follow on WW's Wikileaks piece today in which Oregon congressmen and others weighed in on the question of publishing classified State Department cables. The City Council in Berkeley, Calif. tabled a resolution Tuesday night calling the Army private charged with leaking the information to Wikileaks a hero, but may reconsider it at a later date. And KPOJ's Carl Wolfson called my attention ...   More

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