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 ...   More

News [youtube -RYOSdEnHPM] The last time Mayor Sam Adams went to Washington D.C., he had to cut his trip short. Last week, the mayor returned to Washington on a lobbying trip and he took a video camera with him. Excerpts here include Adams talking with Reps. David Wu and Peter DeFazio (both D-Ore.) — unlike some Dems, two pols apparently OK with being in the same frame as the mayor — and ...   More

News U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio — the Lane County Democrat who's the senior member of Oregon's House delegation — doesn't know yet if he'll run for governor next year. But regardless of whether he runs for governor or a 13th term in Congress, the Republicans have somebody ready to go for the congressional seat, Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken — according to this report in Capitol Hill's ...   More

News Former Gov. John Kitzhaber got the political chattering classes wound up with a recent address to the City Club of Portland. Kitzhaber's speech ramped up speculation that he'll again seek the office he held from 19945 through 20023. (The Oregon Constitution limits a governor to serving no more than eight years in any 12-year period so Kitzhaber is eligible for a mulligan). Political insiders ...   More

News If U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) and ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber decide to run each other in the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial primary, DeFazio will carry one advantage: a war-chest of $370,000 in his congressional campaign fund. In case you missed our online Murmurs today, we reported that election law lets DeFazio —who's speaking June 19 at Portland City Club three weeks after Kitzhaber ...   More

News U.S. Rep Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) proved something in his speech at Portland City Club today: he ain't Gov. Ted Kulongoski. DeFazio, an 11-term veteran whom political insiders say is still mulling a 2010 run for the position Kulongoski will vacate after next year, eviscerated two of the Democratic governor's top environmental policy iniatives. The answer to global warming, as DeFazio ...   More

News For those of us who are so sickened watching the slow death of comprehensive health-care reform that we may have to see a doctor ourselves, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and other progressive House members have provided some welcome relief. Blumenauer and 56 other House lawmakers signed a letter last week saying they won't support any health-care legislation that doesn't include a strong ...   More

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News In the recent annals of Oregon political foul-ups, there have been few stories as amusing (although ultimately inconsequential) as the saga of Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken. Leiken, a Republican, has set out to challenge U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, (photographed above) a Lane County Democrat who is expected to seek re-election though he continues to muse about running for governor. Meantime, Leiken ...   More

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