By Sean Cruz
Portland, Oregon--The Oregonian’s recent editorial, “A race run for pols, not for voters”, made several important points about elections in general and about what Oregonians want in particular, points that few would argue with:
1. “Challengers always want more debates; incumbents tend to want fewer.”
2. “Voters benefit from seeing and hearing as much as they can from the people who ask to represent them in (Salem)….”
3. “What Oregonians hunger for is the authentic voice of a person with a passion to serve them. They want their candidates to demonstrate an understanding of the issues and reasonable approaches to addressing them…What Oregonians hope for is some evidence of original thought and real humanity.”
Oregonians also want to have a choice between qualified candidates. They want to know their options so that they can choose among them.
Across the nation, voters are clamoring for CHANGE, in capital letters! Even the Republicans are trying to climb aboard the change wagon.
But across the City, Portland voters will soon mark their ballots in a process that is more an acknowledgement that the system itself trumps the body politic than it is an actual election.
Most of the races were decided back before May 20.
In Oregon, the legislature maintains an approval rating of only 30%, setting the stage for change, for new voices to emerge, but many Portland legislative races were settled as long as a year ago, long before the March filing deadline.
We approach the November election with a host of single-candidate races, just like in the former Soviet Union, like present-day North Korea, not much to be proud of in the democracy department.
Those incumbent candidates that had the power to restrict debate and candidate forum opportunities did so, a strategy built on running out the clock for the May 20 primary. There was little public discussion in legislative races.
The contests for Senate District 23 in NE and SE Portland (and its two House Districts, 45 and 46) offer a prime case in point, with two open seats at stake:
There were no challengers, no contest, no debates and no campaigning at all for the HD 46 spot, a race decided back at the March 15 filing deadline. No prospect of change, or for a new voice to break in there.
However, with well-qualified candidates competing for both its Senate and House open seats, HD 45 offered real opportunity for an exciting public process and a thorough discussion of the issues that matter.
The Oregonian editorial board found that both Senate candidates, Sean Cruz and Jackie Dingfelder, were qualified for the job, yet there were no debates. The first and only time that the two Senate District 23 candidates were on a platform together was on May 3rd, after the ballots were already in the mail, and that event occurred in HD 46, where there were no House candidates, instead of in HD 45, where there were.
The Oregonian editorial board endorsed the marvelously-gifted Cyreena Boston for HD 45, and found much to like about Michael Dembrow, her main challenger, but there were no debates held in the district.
The entire primary season passed without a single opportunity for the voters of House District 45 to see and hear together the candidates who would represent them in the Oregon Senate for the next four years, and in the Oregon House for the next two.
You would think that the voters would be upset about this….
There was no opportunity for the voters of Senate District 23 and House Districts 45 and 46 to hear where either the candidates or the incumbents stood on the issues, standing on a platform at the same time, with an opportunity for audience participation, because those events did not occur.
There was no actual public process in these key races. Instead, the candidates met privately and separately before representatives of a variety of special-interest organizations, focused entirely on their respective, private agendas.
The endorsements and special-interest cash flowed from those private meetings.
The political parties had no interest in providing candidate forums. The incumbents wouldn’t like that.
The normally-conscientious Oregon League of Women Voters overlooked the legislative races entirely, and the new, utterly inept Oregon League of Minority Voters could not locate these two races that actually featured minority candidates and the state’s largest concentrations of minorities (see Voter-Owned Democracy, Portland Style: “The Oregon League of Minority Voters and the Suppression of Opportunity,” coming soon).
A public platform would have forced the House District 46 incumbent, Ben Cannon, out of his house during the runup to the primaries.
Even though he was "running" unopposed, Representative Cannon would have had an important role in participating in the process of providing his constituents with an opportunity to hear all of the candidates for the seat that would represent them in the Senate.
But staging a debate in the district he represents would have worked to level the playing field among the candidates in both Senate District 23 and House District 45 races, where an all-out union-based effort to elect Jackie Dingfelder and Michael Dembrow was underway.
I intend to comment further on these and other issues, after having taken much of the summer off to give my readers a break, and to take some time for myself.
Over the summer, I learned how to install new floor and countertop tiles in my kitchen and bath, worked in my garden, walked my dog a whole bunch, and started playing Texas no-limit Hold-em poker online fairly regularly. I plan to sharpen my game up a bit and take a big bite out of one of those Las Vegas casinos some day.
More to come….
Future Voter-Owned Democracy, Portland-style topics:
1. AFSCME-gate, early insider endorsements, and how the unions locked up
2. The Oregon League of Minority Voters (OLMV) and the Suppression of Opportunity
3. Cruz vs Dingfelder—on Renaming Interstate Avenue and a related topic: The Revenge of the Avenistas
4. Cruz vs Dingfelder—for Barack or Hillary?
5. Cruz vs Dingfelder—on the Legislative pay and Capitol furnishings controversy
6. Cruz vs Dingfelder—on Veterans, the Oregon National Guard, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
7. Cruz vs Dingfelder—on Immigration, race, color and ethnicity in Oregon
8. Predatory Patrol Towing—Portland’s #1 Predatory Patrol Towing Horror Story continues
and more….
Showing posts with label write in Sean Cruz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label write in Sean Cruz. Show all posts
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sleight of hand and East Portland legislative races
Portland, Oregon—
A full week since the May 20 party primaries capped their exercises in promotion-from-within, the four East Portland legislative races have yet to enter the realm of public discourse.
Most of the legislative incumbents coasted through the primaries without a whisper of competition.
Those days are going to come to an end, perhaps in this election cycle.
Every incumbent, no matter how secure they might be within their party framework, can be outvoted in the 2008 November general election for two basic reasons:
1. Candidates in the general election can compete for all of the voters.
2. The World Wide Web has reached the point of maturity where write-in campaigns are economically and strategically feasible, enabling candidates and voters to interact without any gatekeeper or other intermediary.
I intend to prove these points in Oregon State Senate District 23, but any incumbent is vulnerable.
There are other supporting reasons:
1. The Oregon Legislature’s approval rating is only 30%, even after the highly successful 2007 session.
2. Oregonians want to see election reform and campaign finance reform actually happen, not just get kicked to the next campaign season again.
3. Oregonians value real choices among real candidates, and I believe they are ready to step up and decide who the candidates will be on their own. This factor alone will turn the party primary process inside out.
4. Most party stalwarts (and elected officials) are still in the Stone Age in the use of technology. Younger generations of voters do not share that handicap. They have the networking and resource-accessing skills to engineer their own campaigns and their own successes.
There will be an electoral tsunami in America, and it will be led by the tech-savvy who manage to acquire competence in the office they are seeking.
Career politicians will have to adjust their skill sets, like, right now!
The primary “race” for Senate District 23 was more about insider sleight of hand than it was about issues, ideas and the district’s needs.
I’m planning a series of posts describing the behind-the-scene shenanigans that took place along the way, including the AFSCME-gate story that every voter in the district will really want to know about.
The Web will allow voters free access to all the information they need to make an informed choice in November.
There are a lot of people who aren’t going to like hearing this; fortunately, most of them live outside of my district, Senate District 23.
--Sean Cruz, May 27, 2008
=============
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Senate District 23:
“(Sean) Cruz…knows the issues well…”
“Sean Cruz, who has served as (Senator) Gordly's legislative aide and chief of staff for the past five years…is qualified for the job. He knows the issues that are important in the district, and he certainly knows how things get done in the Legislature. Most notably, he persuaded Gordly to push legislation, called ‘Aaron's Law,’ that gives families tools to punish parents for the crime of child abduction. “
===========================
www.BlogoliticalSean.blogspot.com
A full week since the May 20 party primaries capped their exercises in promotion-from-within, the four East Portland legislative races have yet to enter the realm of public discourse.
Most of the legislative incumbents coasted through the primaries without a whisper of competition.
Those days are going to come to an end, perhaps in this election cycle.
Every incumbent, no matter how secure they might be within their party framework, can be outvoted in the 2008 November general election for two basic reasons:
1. Candidates in the general election can compete for all of the voters.
2. The World Wide Web has reached the point of maturity where write-in campaigns are economically and strategically feasible, enabling candidates and voters to interact without any gatekeeper or other intermediary.
I intend to prove these points in Oregon State Senate District 23, but any incumbent is vulnerable.
There are other supporting reasons:
1. The Oregon Legislature’s approval rating is only 30%, even after the highly successful 2007 session.
2. Oregonians want to see election reform and campaign finance reform actually happen, not just get kicked to the next campaign season again.
3. Oregonians value real choices among real candidates, and I believe they are ready to step up and decide who the candidates will be on their own. This factor alone will turn the party primary process inside out.
4. Most party stalwarts (and elected officials) are still in the Stone Age in the use of technology. Younger generations of voters do not share that handicap. They have the networking and resource-accessing skills to engineer their own campaigns and their own successes.
There will be an electoral tsunami in America, and it will be led by the tech-savvy who manage to acquire competence in the office they are seeking.
Career politicians will have to adjust their skill sets, like, right now!
The primary “race” for Senate District 23 was more about insider sleight of hand than it was about issues, ideas and the district’s needs.
I’m planning a series of posts describing the behind-the-scene shenanigans that took place along the way, including the AFSCME-gate story that every voter in the district will really want to know about.
The Web will allow voters free access to all the information they need to make an informed choice in November.
There are a lot of people who aren’t going to like hearing this; fortunately, most of them live outside of my district, Senate District 23.
--Sean Cruz, May 27, 2008
=============
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Senate District 23:
“(Sean) Cruz…knows the issues well…”
“Sean Cruz, who has served as (Senator) Gordly's legislative aide and chief of staff for the past five years…is qualified for the job. He knows the issues that are important in the district, and he certainly knows how things get done in the Legislature. Most notably, he persuaded Gordly to push legislation, called ‘Aaron's Law,’ that gives families tools to punish parents for the crime of child abduction. “
===========================
www.BlogoliticalSean.blogspot.com
Friday, May 23, 2008
The race for Senate District 23 is still unsettled
Portland, Oregon—
I have received several email communications in the past few days suggesting that my write-in campaign is about being a sore loser, but that’s not the case at all.
I stated from the beginning that my campaign to win the Senate District 23 seat representing NE and SE Portland neighborhoods and the City of Maywood Park would be unconventional and web-based.
I didn’t get much more specific about my plans than that, even with my campaign steering committee, but I was thinking about ways in which technology was evolving, moving opportunity in ways the party structure and other traditional gatekeepers could not control.
I disclosed the post-primary write-in phase of the campaign to just a few people, and to them only a couple of weeks before May 20.
My premise is that, in the wired world, citizens can overcome the advantages career politicians have at every point in the process, and reach directly to the “Write in” blank that is printed in every race on every ballot.
One of the chief factors causing undervoting and voter lethargy (both of which help keep incumbents in power) is single-candidate “races.”
They have ballots like that in Cuba and North Korea, too, and in the old Soviet Union.
“Totalitarian systems depend on a monopoly of information and force (and political opportunity—sc).” –Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat
The gatekeepers want to limit the voters’ choices in Senate District 23 to a single name, and I say that is no choice at all.
The cost of getting a name out there has been the single most important barrier to effective write-in campaigns, but that obstacle is falling like the Berlin Wall.
Oregon is possibly the best place in the nation to test out my theory, with its mail-in ballots that are like an open book test, and an electorate largely unaffiliated with any political party, increasingly computer literate and comfortable with searching out information individually.
This is really scary to the party functionaries, the special interests and the lobbyists, bent on promoting from within.
As a resident of Senate District 23 and House District 45, which are both getting a new legislator in 2009, I am offended that there was no public debate or forum throughout the entire primary period that addressed the voters’ choices.
The fact is, incumbents don’t want debates or forums with challengers. The more they can ride out the election with name familiarity alone, the less likely an upset will ensue.
Here we are, four days after the election, and there has still been nothing in the media, no analysis at all, about any of the contested East side legislative races.
We had months of buffoonery in the Portland City races, much of it fueled by public dollars, but no thoughtful discourse on the election of two state senators and two state representatives on the East side.
I styled the Primary stage of my campaign after Muhammed Ali’s famous Rope-a-Dope strategy, which won him the Heavyweight championship over a heavily-favored George Foreman in his prime.
I took a fearful beating from the Dingfelder-Gainer machine, an opponent with the relentless determination of the Terminator's nemesis, but I knew it was coming, and I knew it would end. Eventually, we would get to the issues that matter to the voters in Senate District 23.
Technology makes this possible, its low cost and its infinite reach.
Phase II, post-Primary, is also styled after Muhammed Ali: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” all the way to the November General Election.
I have a great deal of information to share with the voters over the coming months, lots to talk about, lots of light to shed.
None of the several people who wrote in complaining about Phase II is a resident of Senate District 23, which brings us to an interesting point for further discussion: most of the Dingfelder supporters and endorsers in the primary weren’t residents of the district either.
What unfolded was a by-the-book machine-politics campaign led by a small group of insiders, some with motives that have nothing to do with the district, most of whom live elsewhere. Plenty to talk about here, too.
I intend to demonstrate that a write-in campaign is feasible in Oregon. I may or may not be successful in my race for Senate District 23. We won’t have the answer to that until November, but if my race inspires other citizens to step up and take on the machine, then it will have been worth the effort.
--Sean Cruz, May 23, 2008
========
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Senate District 23:
“Cruz…knows the issues well…”
“Sean Cruz, who has served as (Senator) Gordly's legislative aide and chief of staff for the past five years…is qualified for the job. He knows the issues that are important in the district, and he certainly knows how things get done in the Legislature. Most notably, he persuaded Gordly to push legislation, called ‘Aaron's Law,’ that gives families tools to punish parents for the crime of child abduction. “
I have received several email communications in the past few days suggesting that my write-in campaign is about being a sore loser, but that’s not the case at all.
I stated from the beginning that my campaign to win the Senate District 23 seat representing NE and SE Portland neighborhoods and the City of Maywood Park would be unconventional and web-based.
I didn’t get much more specific about my plans than that, even with my campaign steering committee, but I was thinking about ways in which technology was evolving, moving opportunity in ways the party structure and other traditional gatekeepers could not control.
I disclosed the post-primary write-in phase of the campaign to just a few people, and to them only a couple of weeks before May 20.
My premise is that, in the wired world, citizens can overcome the advantages career politicians have at every point in the process, and reach directly to the “Write in” blank that is printed in every race on every ballot.
One of the chief factors causing undervoting and voter lethargy (both of which help keep incumbents in power) is single-candidate “races.”
They have ballots like that in Cuba and North Korea, too, and in the old Soviet Union.
“Totalitarian systems depend on a monopoly of information and force (and political opportunity—sc).” –Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat
The gatekeepers want to limit the voters’ choices in Senate District 23 to a single name, and I say that is no choice at all.
The cost of getting a name out there has been the single most important barrier to effective write-in campaigns, but that obstacle is falling like the Berlin Wall.
Oregon is possibly the best place in the nation to test out my theory, with its mail-in ballots that are like an open book test, and an electorate largely unaffiliated with any political party, increasingly computer literate and comfortable with searching out information individually.
This is really scary to the party functionaries, the special interests and the lobbyists, bent on promoting from within.
As a resident of Senate District 23 and House District 45, which are both getting a new legislator in 2009, I am offended that there was no public debate or forum throughout the entire primary period that addressed the voters’ choices.
The fact is, incumbents don’t want debates or forums with challengers. The more they can ride out the election with name familiarity alone, the less likely an upset will ensue.
Here we are, four days after the election, and there has still been nothing in the media, no analysis at all, about any of the contested East side legislative races.
We had months of buffoonery in the Portland City races, much of it fueled by public dollars, but no thoughtful discourse on the election of two state senators and two state representatives on the East side.
I styled the Primary stage of my campaign after Muhammed Ali’s famous Rope-a-Dope strategy, which won him the Heavyweight championship over a heavily-favored George Foreman in his prime.
I took a fearful beating from the Dingfelder-Gainer machine, an opponent with the relentless determination of the Terminator's nemesis, but I knew it was coming, and I knew it would end. Eventually, we would get to the issues that matter to the voters in Senate District 23.
Technology makes this possible, its low cost and its infinite reach.
Phase II, post-Primary, is also styled after Muhammed Ali: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” all the way to the November General Election.
I have a great deal of information to share with the voters over the coming months, lots to talk about, lots of light to shed.
None of the several people who wrote in complaining about Phase II is a resident of Senate District 23, which brings us to an interesting point for further discussion: most of the Dingfelder supporters and endorsers in the primary weren’t residents of the district either.
What unfolded was a by-the-book machine-politics campaign led by a small group of insiders, some with motives that have nothing to do with the district, most of whom live elsewhere. Plenty to talk about here, too.
I intend to demonstrate that a write-in campaign is feasible in Oregon. I may or may not be successful in my race for Senate District 23. We won’t have the answer to that until November, but if my race inspires other citizens to step up and take on the machine, then it will have been worth the effort.
--Sean Cruz, May 23, 2008
========
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Senate District 23:
“Cruz…knows the issues well…”
“Sean Cruz, who has served as (Senator) Gordly's legislative aide and chief of staff for the past five years…is qualified for the job. He knows the issues that are important in the district, and he certainly knows how things get done in the Legislature. Most notably, he persuaded Gordly to push legislation, called ‘Aaron's Law,’ that gives families tools to punish parents for the crime of child abduction. “
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
When candidates can't lose, we all do
Portland, Oregon--The Oregonian printed an article from the Washington Post on May 5, titled “When candidates can’t lose, we all do,” that explored the lack of competition in Congressional races.
The piece was written by Bruce Reed, President of the Democratic Leadership Council and Marc Dunkelman, the Council’s Vice President for Strategy and Communication.
The points the authors make apply directly to the Oregon legislature and the current campaign season, witness the following excerpts with substitutions:
“Competition and democracy go hand in hand…But real competition is still a rare commodity in the (Oregon legislature).”
“The relative comfort that most members of (the Oregon legislature) enjoy…diminishes the power voters can exert over the agenda in (Salem). When members can’t lose, voters do—because it takes the pressure off (the legislature) to get the job done.”
“Besides letting members off the hook for failing to do the people’s business, noncompetitive districts also suppress voter participation. Elections where the outcome is assumed from the start receive less media attention. Candidates do not feel as compelled to make their cases to the public. And voters aren’t stupid: When the outcome is essentially predetermined, there’s less reason to cast a ballot.”
“With (Oregonians) disillusioned by (Salem’s) seeming inability to move beyond the partisan divide that has poisoned the spirit of compromise, reducing the influence of special interests may be only part of the solution. If we want more (Oregonians) to participate in their democracy, we should make sure more of them have an opportunity to affect the outcome of the campaign for their local seat (in the Oregon Senate).”
The May 20 Democratic Primary drew record numbers of voters, but not as a result of any of the legislative races, of which most were uncontested.
Many insiders and the mainstream media regarded Senate District 23 as such a foregone conclusion that no real opportunities arose for the candidates to engage in public debates or forums, even though there were many clear differences in priorities between the candidates and important issues were on the table.
The public has no right to criticize a legislature that is selected under these conditions, and no reason to expect much to change.
“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”
Fortunately, for the voters of Senate District 23, there will still be an opportunity to make a choice between qualified candidates in November.
Technology is making hierarchies flatter and gatekeepers less effective at controlling the process.
They will not loosen their collective grip willingly.
When the general election ballots arrive, voters will have a choice in many races of either checking the box for the sole candidate (like in the former Soviet Union), or they may exercise their right to write in the name of the candidate of their choice.
Between now and then, I will continue to post my comments on the issues and look for opportunities to speak to voters, especially about the issues that never got an airing in the primary process.
Here’s one: both candidates for Senate District 23 are strong supporters of investments in education, but only Sean Cruz has announced his support for the multimillion dollar bond measure that Portland Community College will put before the voters in the fall.
This is a crucial matter for Senate District 23, its PCC SE campus and the neighborhoods it serves, but the subject never came up.
Many insiders had their minds made up on the race a year ago, when there was only one candidate. Many were already pledged to support her campaign.
They had no incentive to promote speaking opportunities that would offer a platform for an opponent.
Most weren’t residents of Senate District 23 either, and the special interest endorsement people were deaf to the issues specific to the district.
The World Wide Web can fix some of that, and over time it will fix much more.
Meanwhile, the campaign will move into Write-in mode.
More comments on the way.
--Sean Cruz
The piece was written by Bruce Reed, President of the Democratic Leadership Council and Marc Dunkelman, the Council’s Vice President for Strategy and Communication.
The points the authors make apply directly to the Oregon legislature and the current campaign season, witness the following excerpts with substitutions:
“Competition and democracy go hand in hand…But real competition is still a rare commodity in the (Oregon legislature).”
“The relative comfort that most members of (the Oregon legislature) enjoy…diminishes the power voters can exert over the agenda in (Salem). When members can’t lose, voters do—because it takes the pressure off (the legislature) to get the job done.”
“Besides letting members off the hook for failing to do the people’s business, noncompetitive districts also suppress voter participation. Elections where the outcome is assumed from the start receive less media attention. Candidates do not feel as compelled to make their cases to the public. And voters aren’t stupid: When the outcome is essentially predetermined, there’s less reason to cast a ballot.”
“With (Oregonians) disillusioned by (Salem’s) seeming inability to move beyond the partisan divide that has poisoned the spirit of compromise, reducing the influence of special interests may be only part of the solution. If we want more (Oregonians) to participate in their democracy, we should make sure more of them have an opportunity to affect the outcome of the campaign for their local seat (in the Oregon Senate).”
The May 20 Democratic Primary drew record numbers of voters, but not as a result of any of the legislative races, of which most were uncontested.
Many insiders and the mainstream media regarded Senate District 23 as such a foregone conclusion that no real opportunities arose for the candidates to engage in public debates or forums, even though there were many clear differences in priorities between the candidates and important issues were on the table.
The public has no right to criticize a legislature that is selected under these conditions, and no reason to expect much to change.
“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”
Fortunately, for the voters of Senate District 23, there will still be an opportunity to make a choice between qualified candidates in November.
Technology is making hierarchies flatter and gatekeepers less effective at controlling the process.
They will not loosen their collective grip willingly.
When the general election ballots arrive, voters will have a choice in many races of either checking the box for the sole candidate (like in the former Soviet Union), or they may exercise their right to write in the name of the candidate of their choice.
Between now and then, I will continue to post my comments on the issues and look for opportunities to speak to voters, especially about the issues that never got an airing in the primary process.
Here’s one: both candidates for Senate District 23 are strong supporters of investments in education, but only Sean Cruz has announced his support for the multimillion dollar bond measure that Portland Community College will put before the voters in the fall.
This is a crucial matter for Senate District 23, its PCC SE campus and the neighborhoods it serves, but the subject never came up.
Many insiders had their minds made up on the race a year ago, when there was only one candidate. Many were already pledged to support her campaign.
They had no incentive to promote speaking opportunities that would offer a platform for an opponent.
Most weren’t residents of Senate District 23 either, and the special interest endorsement people were deaf to the issues specific to the district.
The World Wide Web can fix some of that, and over time it will fix much more.
Meanwhile, the campaign will move into Write-in mode.
More comments on the way.
--Sean Cruz
Friday, May 09, 2008
Veterans and Military Families blog is on the march!
Veterans and Military Families blog is on the march!
Oregon veterans and military families will want to know why electing Sean Cruz to the Oregon Senate is important to them.
Here’s the link. Look for much updating, much catching up to do here:
http://www.veteransandmilitaryfamilies.blogspot.com/
================
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Senate District 23:
“Cruz…knows the issues well…”
“Sean Cruz, who has served as (Senator) Gordly's legislative aide and chief of staff for the past five years…is qualified for the job.
“He knows the issues that are important in the district, and he certainly knows how things get done in the Legislature.
“Most notably, he persuaded Gordly to push legislation, called ‘Aaron's Law,’ that gives families tools to punish parents for the crime of child abduction. “
===========================
Ridenbaugh Press on Senate District 23:
As in many of these primary districts, issues here aren’t distinctly philosophical: The 23rd is a solidly liberal Democratic district, and both contenders fit well within that framework.
But they are insiders of two distinctly different stripes.
Dingfelder, a four-term state representative from this area, would have to be considered the establishment choice, getting the larger share of endorsements and contributions.
But Cruz is not an outsider, either; he is retiring Senator Gordly’s Chief of Staff, is well informed, has her support and the support of her backers.
His campaign has hit rough patches but may also be more interesting to some of the primary voters.
Cruz is edgier; Dingfelder more easy-going. You have to figure the edge is with Dingfelder, but bear in mind that central Portland doesn’t always go the conventional route.
http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/2008/05/03/or-the-legislative-primaries-seven-picks/#more-1691
Oregon veterans and military families will want to know why electing Sean Cruz to the Oregon Senate is important to them.
Here’s the link. Look for much updating, much catching up to do here:
http://www.veteransandmilitaryfamilies.blogspot.com/
================
The Oregonian Editorial Board on Senate District 23:
“Cruz…knows the issues well…”
“Sean Cruz, who has served as (Senator) Gordly's legislative aide and chief of staff for the past five years…is qualified for the job.
“He knows the issues that are important in the district, and he certainly knows how things get done in the Legislature.
“Most notably, he persuaded Gordly to push legislation, called ‘Aaron's Law,’ that gives families tools to punish parents for the crime of child abduction. “
===========================
Ridenbaugh Press on Senate District 23:
As in many of these primary districts, issues here aren’t distinctly philosophical: The 23rd is a solidly liberal Democratic district, and both contenders fit well within that framework.
But they are insiders of two distinctly different stripes.
Dingfelder, a four-term state representative from this area, would have to be considered the establishment choice, getting the larger share of endorsements and contributions.
But Cruz is not an outsider, either; he is retiring Senator Gordly’s Chief of Staff, is well informed, has her support and the support of her backers.
His campaign has hit rough patches but may also be more interesting to some of the primary voters.
Cruz is edgier; Dingfelder more easy-going. You have to figure the edge is with Dingfelder, but bear in mind that central Portland doesn’t always go the conventional route.
http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/2008/05/03/or-the-legislative-primaries-seven-picks/#more-1691
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Living with sacrifice in the wake of war
By Adele Kubein, Member of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO)
Printed in The Oregonian, Thursday, May 01, 2008:
As the mother of a permanently disabled Iraq veteran, I envy Katie Dyer her certainty that the future of our country rests on victory in Iraq ("End the war -- but make it matter that Paul is there," April 27).
If my child and I could be so certain that the lives she took in Iraq and the agony she now suffers are for a great cause, we'd be content to have sacrificed so much.
But I and more than 4,000 other military families don't share that certainty about the future and whether the war in Iraq is for our country's benefit. As members of Military Families Speak Out, we struggle every day to bring meaning to the sacrifices our loved ones are making.
I feel for Katie Dyer. I too have waited agonizing days to hear from my loved one. I too have felt fear and pain for my only child in harm's way.
My daughter and I struggle to make sense of what's happened to her. In addition to the fears all military families face, I've had to face the fact that Iraq and its people did nothing to us. I've had to face the realization that we were duped into the war, that my child was led to kill people who posed no threat to us.
I too weep in anger when I read news stories detailing the web of deceit spun by the Bush administration. I weep in anger when my daughter has to struggle to get medical treatment and needed equipment such as braces, canes and medication from a Veterans Administration so overburdened with wounded soldiers that bureaucrats spend their time dissuading some of them from seeking help.
I cry tears of compassion when I witness the horror that Iraq has become, and I think of mothers just like me who don't have any recourse for their children.
Iraq Veterans Against the War is growing daily, as is Military Families Speak Out. We number in the thousands. We want our soldiers to come home, but we also want families in Iraq to be able to once again live their lives in peace. It's hard to accept that we cannot fix what we have broken, but all of our bombs and bullets cannot glue Iraq back together again.
Once American troops have withdrawn, the Iraqi people will concentrate on their own internal problems, and they'll make short work of their traditional enemy, al-Qaida. Terrorists are tolerated in Iraq only because people there are under attack from all sides. The Iraqi people have as little desire to live in terror as we do.
The meaning we ascribe to the trials our loved ones face is the knowledge that, through our sacrifices, perhaps the people of the United States will never again be drawn into an unjust war based on lies.
Adele Kubein of Corvallis belongs to Military Families Speak Out (mfso-oregon.org).
Sean Cruz is also a member of Military Families Speak Out.
Here’s the link to the Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1209599705245540.xml&coll=7
Veterans have no voice on the Oregon Senate floor.
Printed in The Oregonian, Thursday, May 01, 2008:
As the mother of a permanently disabled Iraq veteran, I envy Katie Dyer her certainty that the future of our country rests on victory in Iraq ("End the war -- but make it matter that Paul is there," April 27).
If my child and I could be so certain that the lives she took in Iraq and the agony she now suffers are for a great cause, we'd be content to have sacrificed so much.
But I and more than 4,000 other military families don't share that certainty about the future and whether the war in Iraq is for our country's benefit. As members of Military Families Speak Out, we struggle every day to bring meaning to the sacrifices our loved ones are making.
I feel for Katie Dyer. I too have waited agonizing days to hear from my loved one. I too have felt fear and pain for my only child in harm's way.
My daughter and I struggle to make sense of what's happened to her. In addition to the fears all military families face, I've had to face the fact that Iraq and its people did nothing to us. I've had to face the realization that we were duped into the war, that my child was led to kill people who posed no threat to us.
I too weep in anger when I read news stories detailing the web of deceit spun by the Bush administration. I weep in anger when my daughter has to struggle to get medical treatment and needed equipment such as braces, canes and medication from a Veterans Administration so overburdened with wounded soldiers that bureaucrats spend their time dissuading some of them from seeking help.
I cry tears of compassion when I witness the horror that Iraq has become, and I think of mothers just like me who don't have any recourse for their children.
Iraq Veterans Against the War is growing daily, as is Military Families Speak Out. We number in the thousands. We want our soldiers to come home, but we also want families in Iraq to be able to once again live their lives in peace. It's hard to accept that we cannot fix what we have broken, but all of our bombs and bullets cannot glue Iraq back together again.
Once American troops have withdrawn, the Iraqi people will concentrate on their own internal problems, and they'll make short work of their traditional enemy, al-Qaida. Terrorists are tolerated in Iraq only because people there are under attack from all sides. The Iraqi people have as little desire to live in terror as we do.
The meaning we ascribe to the trials our loved ones face is the knowledge that, through our sacrifices, perhaps the people of the United States will never again be drawn into an unjust war based on lies.
Adele Kubein of Corvallis belongs to Military Families Speak Out (mfso-oregon.org).
Sean Cruz is also a member of Military Families Speak Out.
Here’s the link to the Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1209599705245540.xml&coll=7
Veterans have no voice on the Oregon Senate floor.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
A Mexican hero, an American hero comes home
Arturo Huerta-Cruz, a citizen of Mexico, enlisted in the United States Army, hoping to earn U.S. citizenship.
He is not a relative of mine and I do not know him or his family.
Our kinship lies through my Mexican father, born Juan Pablo Cruz a citizen of Mexico, who also enlisted in the U.S. Army during wartime, to serve his adopted country.
My dad enlisted in 1943, went ashore on Omaha Beach in the third wave of troops, earned a commendation for his service under General George S. Patton in the Battle of the Bulge. He became a U.S. citizen several years after the war.
Arturo deployed to Iraq in November 2007 and served in the Kirkuk area of northern Iraq.
He is not a relative of mine and I do not know him or his family.
Our kinship lies through my Mexican father, born Juan Pablo Cruz a citizen of Mexico, who also enlisted in the U.S. Army during wartime, to serve his adopted country.
My dad enlisted in 1943, went ashore on Omaha Beach in the third wave of troops, earned a commendation for his service under General George S. Patton in the Battle of the Bulge. He became a U.S. citizen several years after the war.
Arturo deployed to Iraq in November 2007 and served in the Kirkuk area of northern Iraq.
He was killed in Tuz, Iraq, on April 14, 2008 by a roadside bomb that also injured two of his fellow soldiers.
He was 23 years old and was much loved by his parents and extended family.
Follow the link below for his picture and guestbook.
His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Achievement Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.He is survived by his parents, who live in Clearwater, Florida.
The Army is considering granting him U.S. citizenship posthumously, certain to make his parents proud.
It goes to show that a Mexican citizen can become a U.S. citizen if he gets in the right line.
Three years ago today, we buried my son Aaron, who was also in a flag-draped casket at 23 years of age. Eight hours after we buried his brother, my other son Tyler was on his way back to the war for another year. He has yet to come home.
Here’s the link to the Guest book for Arturo Huerta-Cruz:
http://www.legacy.com/gb/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonID=107736262
The captions to the series of photographs follow:
1. The hearse bearing Arturo Huerta-Cruz, a 23-year-old soldier from Clearwater who was killed last April 14 in Iraq by an improvised explosive device, arrives at Calvary Catholic Cemetery Tuesday afternoon for his burial service
2. Florida Army National Guard Honor Guard members carry the casket past family members and friends.
3. Mourners gather around the casket at the graveside service.
4. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Harrison, Deputy Commander 10th Mountain Division, presents the flag that draped Arturo Huerta-Cruz's casket to his mother Maria Huerta-Cruz and his father Pascual Huerta
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/04/the-funeral-of.html
Guest book for Arturo Huerta-Cruz:
http://www.legacy.com/gb/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonID=107736262
He was 23 years old and was much loved by his parents and extended family.
Follow the link below for his picture and guestbook.
His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Achievement Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.He is survived by his parents, who live in Clearwater, Florida.
The Army is considering granting him U.S. citizenship posthumously, certain to make his parents proud.
It goes to show that a Mexican citizen can become a U.S. citizen if he gets in the right line.
Three years ago today, we buried my son Aaron, who was also in a flag-draped casket at 23 years of age. Eight hours after we buried his brother, my other son Tyler was on his way back to the war for another year. He has yet to come home.
Here’s the link to the Guest book for Arturo Huerta-Cruz:
http://www.legacy.com/gb/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonID=107736262
The captions to the series of photographs follow:
1. The hearse bearing Arturo Huerta-Cruz, a 23-year-old soldier from Clearwater who was killed last April 14 in Iraq by an improvised explosive device, arrives at Calvary Catholic Cemetery Tuesday afternoon for his burial service
2. Florida Army National Guard Honor Guard members carry the casket past family members and friends.
3. Mourners gather around the casket at the graveside service.
4. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Harrison, Deputy Commander 10th Mountain Division, presents the flag that draped Arturo Huerta-Cruz's casket to his mother Maria Huerta-Cruz and his father Pascual Huerta
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/04/the-funeral-of.html
Guest book for Arturo Huerta-Cruz:
http://www.legacy.com/gb/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonID=107736262
Breaking news!!! The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are happening to Other People, Elsewhere, on TV!!! No need to concern yourself!
Portland, Oregon--I am dedicating today’s posts to the memory of Army Specialist Arturo Huerta – Cruz, who was killed in action April 14, 2008.
Arturo Huerta-Cruz died April 14 in Tuz, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. Two of his fellow soldiers were also injured in the attack.
Arturo Huerta-Cruz was a 21-year-old citizen of Mexico who enlisted in the United States Army in May 2006, hoping to become a U.S. citizen.
He is survived by his parents, who live in Clearwater, Florida.
He completed basic and advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
He completed basic and advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
He was assigned to the 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, Fort Drum, New York in October, 2006.
He deployed to Iraq in November 2007 and served in the Kirkuk area of northern Iraq.
His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Achievement Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
He is survived by his parents, also of Clearwater.
The Army is considering granting him U.S. citizenship posthumously, certain to make his parents proud.
The Army is considering granting him U.S. citizenship posthumously, certain to make his parents proud.
It goes to show that a Mexican citizen can become a U.S. citizen if he gets in the right line.
He is not a relative of mine and I do not know him or his family.
Three years ago today, we buried my son Aaron, who was also in a flag-draped casket.
He is not a relative of mine and I do not know him or his family.
Three years ago today, we buried my son Aaron, who was also in a flag-draped casket.
Eight hours after we buried his brother, my other son Tyler was on his way back to the war for another year. He has yet to come home.
Here’s the link to the Guest book for Arturo Huerta-Cruz:
http://www.legacy.com/gb/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonID=107736262
Here’s the link to the Guest book for Arturo Huerta-Cruz:
http://www.legacy.com/gb/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonID=107736262
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
ATTENTION! Veterans, military personnel and families!
Portland, Oregon--No one knows better than you and I what service and sacrifice mean in a time of war.
I have seen both of my sons off to Iraq, and neither has come home in five long agonizing years.
More than five years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bills addressing your urgent needs, your issues, your priorities, are routinely left on the table in the Oregon state legislature due to the lack of a Senate committee to work on them, to give them the focus they need. Without a Senate committee, veterans bills get bottom priority.
I am the only Portland candidate for the Oregon State Senate with veterans issues as a priority!
I am the only candidate for Oregon Senate District 23 with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a priority!
I am calling for the creation of a state Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to work jointly with the House Veterans Affairs Committee and Governor Ted Kulongoski’s office to improve services to you and your family. I am running to serve on that committee.
Send me there to serve in the Oregon Senate on your behalf!
I have the nonpartisan support of Jim Willis, Director of the Veterans Administration, General Mike Caldwell of the Oregon Military Department, members of the Oregon House Veterans Affairs Committee, Oregon State Senators and many others.
The House Veterans Affairs Committee heard 55 bills in the 2007 session, but only 3 of those came over from the Senate. The House Committee is overburdened with the work and 22 of those veterans bills died when time ran out. Two of your bills passed the House but died in a Senate Committee without a hearing!
I need the support of every Oregon veteran!
The Oregonian on Senate District 23: “Sean Cruz…is qualified for the job….”
Elect Sean Cruz in the May 20 Democratic primary!
===========================
Veterans bills that died in the 2007 Oregon legislature:
HB 2013 Oregon Military Family Relief Program
HB 2400A Physician tax incentives.
HB 2522 Veterans' health benefits.
HB 2547 Disabled war veteran benefits.
HB 2577 Oregon Troops to Teachers program.
HB 2771 Licenses issued by the State Fish and Wildlife Commission.
HB 3196A Eligibility of disabled veterans for Oregon Health Plan benefits.
HB 3197A TRICARE program
HB 3199 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; declaring an emergency.
HB 3200 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
HB 3202A Modifications of federal taxable income.
HB 3205A Tax credits for veterans.
HB 3237 Veterans' preferences; declaring an emergency.
HB 3305 taxation.
HB 3308A Education benefits for members of Oregon National Guard.
HB 3294A Veterans' services.
HB 3198 Oregon military emergency financial assistance; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
HJR 52 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution” Protests at funerals.
HJR 38 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: State Lottery.
Sean Cruz will see that this does not happen again!
Spread the word! Tell your friends! I will speak to your group!
The cause is urgent! The time to engage is now!
The May 20 Democratic primary is only weeks away!
Elect Sean Cruz for Oregon State Senate District 23!
I have seen both of my sons off to Iraq, and neither has come home in five long agonizing years.
More than five years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bills addressing your urgent needs, your issues, your priorities, are routinely left on the table in the Oregon state legislature due to the lack of a Senate committee to work on them, to give them the focus they need. Without a Senate committee, veterans bills get bottom priority.
I am the only Portland candidate for the Oregon State Senate with veterans issues as a priority!
I am the only candidate for Oregon Senate District 23 with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a priority!
I am calling for the creation of a state Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to work jointly with the House Veterans Affairs Committee and Governor Ted Kulongoski’s office to improve services to you and your family. I am running to serve on that committee.
Send me there to serve in the Oregon Senate on your behalf!
I have the nonpartisan support of Jim Willis, Director of the Veterans Administration, General Mike Caldwell of the Oregon Military Department, members of the Oregon House Veterans Affairs Committee, Oregon State Senators and many others.
The House Veterans Affairs Committee heard 55 bills in the 2007 session, but only 3 of those came over from the Senate. The House Committee is overburdened with the work and 22 of those veterans bills died when time ran out. Two of your bills passed the House but died in a Senate Committee without a hearing!
I need the support of every Oregon veteran!
The Oregonian on Senate District 23: “Sean Cruz…is qualified for the job….”
Elect Sean Cruz in the May 20 Democratic primary!
===========================
Veterans bills that died in the 2007 Oregon legislature:
HB 2013 Oregon Military Family Relief Program
HB 2400A Physician tax incentives.
HB 2522 Veterans' health benefits.
HB 2547 Disabled war veteran benefits.
HB 2577 Oregon Troops to Teachers program.
HB 2771 Licenses issued by the State Fish and Wildlife Commission.
HB 3196A Eligibility of disabled veterans for Oregon Health Plan benefits.
HB 3197A TRICARE program
HB 3199 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; declaring an emergency.
HB 3200 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
HB 3202A Modifications of federal taxable income.
HB 3205A Tax credits for veterans.
HB 3237 Veterans' preferences; declaring an emergency.
HB 3305 taxation.
HB 3308A Education benefits for members of Oregon National Guard.
HB 3294A Veterans' services.
HB 3198 Oregon military emergency financial assistance; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
HJR 52 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution” Protests at funerals.
HJR 38 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: State Lottery.
Sean Cruz will see that this does not happen again!
Spread the word! Tell your friends! I will speak to your group!
The cause is urgent! The time to engage is now!
The May 20 Democratic primary is only weeks away!
Elect Sean Cruz for Oregon State Senate District 23!
Monday, April 07, 2008
Oregon veterans need our help--urgently!
Portland, Oregon-- The average age of combat soldiers and marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan is 22 years.
Coming home, they face an unemployment rate much higher than for civilians.
80% report that they are unprepared for job hunting.
75% report that they have difficulty translating their military experience into the civilian workplace. Many find work as prison guards.
50% of those employed after deployment work at jobs paying less than $ 25,000 a year, income that would put you at the edge of homelessness.
Charlie Company’s First Platoon, of the Ist Battalion 4th Marine Division, made a video/slide show of their experiences in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, from May to October, 2007, posted on Youtube.
This compelling video documents why those troubling statistics are so high, and points to our responsibility at home to invest in transitional services for veterans and their families.
Many thanks to Oregonian Steve Weiss, whose son served with the 1st platoon on this deployment, for sharing this.
1/4 charlie company 1st platoon part 1 of 2 redux
1/4 charlie company 1st platoon part 2 of 2 redux
Here’s the link to Charlie Company’s video/slide show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGS1MAIM3rM&feature=related
Be sure to see both parts!
============
Governor Kulongoski creates Task Force on Veterans Services
Governor Kulongoski has created by Executive Order the Task Force on Veterans Services, which will evaluate veterans issues and report its recommendations for improvements to be considered by the 2009-11 Legislature.
This is the necessary first step towards the creation of a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to work jointly with the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which is certainly to be among the Task Force’s recommendations.
In a previous post, I outlined how the lack of a Senate committee hampers progress on improving services to veterans, leaving many bills stranded.
Here’s the link: http://blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-i-am-running-for-oregon-senate.html
The urgent nature of veterans-related issues calls for a joint working committee, particularly during wartime, and that committee should remain open during the entire legislative session and continue to meet during the interim.
The Governor’s Task Force will include one Senator to be appointed by the Senate President, and one Representative to be appointed by the Speaker of the House.
The Senate appointment to the Task Force establishes a crucial link between the Senate, the House and the Governor’s Office for working on veterans issues.
The Governor’s Office released the following announcement and link:
(Salem) – Governor Ted Kulongoski signed Executive Order 08-08 last week creating the Governor’s Task Force on Veterans Services to compile, review and evaluate current veterans policies, procedures and programs, and to develop recommendations for improvements to ensure that Oregon veterans have access to the services they need.
“More than 360,000 Oregonians have unselfishly served in uniform,” Governor Kulongoski said. “The veterans’ issues emerging as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are significant, and are impacting our families and communities. But in addressing those, we must also remember the men and women who fought in Vietnam, World War II and the Korean War so that Oregon is providing adequate care and services for all generations of veterans – not just some.”
The Governor directed the task force identify service needs for the different generations of veterans and to conduct a comprehensive inventory of state and federal services. As part of this evaluation, the Governor asked the task force to focus on: 1) reintegration services; 2) post-separation access services; and 3) retirement/senior care, and to develop recommendations to enhance coordination of services among state and federal partners.
“Uncoordinated attempts to provide care for our veterans has created confusion and frustration for our veterans and their families,” the Governor continued. “The lack of a comprehensive approach to veterans care limits the impact of scarce resources and our capacity to help veterans who need and deserve our care. To ensure that our veterans do not fall through the cracks, we must begin collaborating to ensure we are providing quality services that meet the unique needs of all of our veterans.”
The task force will develop a comprehensive list of recommendations, including potential legislation for the 2009 legislative session, to be delivered to the Governor by December 31, 2008. The task force will hold its first meeting Friday, April 3 at the Oregon Department of Human Services in Salem.
Click here for the Executive Order creating the task force.
http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/docs/executive_orders/eo0808.pdf
============================
I need your help to send me to the Oregon Senate, to serve on a new Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. --Sean Cruz
campaign: www.seancruz.com
contribute online at: www.actblue.com
Mail contributions to: Friends of Sean Cruz
POB 30093
Portland, Oregon 97230
Volunteers, contact me at: info@seancruz.com
Blog: www.BlogoliticalSean.blogspot.com
Coming home, they face an unemployment rate much higher than for civilians.
80% report that they are unprepared for job hunting.
75% report that they have difficulty translating their military experience into the civilian workplace. Many find work as prison guards.
50% of those employed after deployment work at jobs paying less than $ 25,000 a year, income that would put you at the edge of homelessness.
Charlie Company’s First Platoon, of the Ist Battalion 4th Marine Division, made a video/slide show of their experiences in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, from May to October, 2007, posted on Youtube.
This compelling video documents why those troubling statistics are so high, and points to our responsibility at home to invest in transitional services for veterans and their families.
Many thanks to Oregonian Steve Weiss, whose son served with the 1st platoon on this deployment, for sharing this.
1/4 charlie company 1st platoon part 1 of 2 redux
1/4 charlie company 1st platoon part 2 of 2 redux
Here’s the link to Charlie Company’s video/slide show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGS1MAIM3rM&feature=related
Be sure to see both parts!
============
Governor Kulongoski creates Task Force on Veterans Services
Governor Kulongoski has created by Executive Order the Task Force on Veterans Services, which will evaluate veterans issues and report its recommendations for improvements to be considered by the 2009-11 Legislature.
This is the necessary first step towards the creation of a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to work jointly with the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which is certainly to be among the Task Force’s recommendations.
In a previous post, I outlined how the lack of a Senate committee hampers progress on improving services to veterans, leaving many bills stranded.
Here’s the link: http://blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-i-am-running-for-oregon-senate.html
The urgent nature of veterans-related issues calls for a joint working committee, particularly during wartime, and that committee should remain open during the entire legislative session and continue to meet during the interim.
The Governor’s Task Force will include one Senator to be appointed by the Senate President, and one Representative to be appointed by the Speaker of the House.
The Senate appointment to the Task Force establishes a crucial link between the Senate, the House and the Governor’s Office for working on veterans issues.
The Governor’s Office released the following announcement and link:
(Salem) – Governor Ted Kulongoski signed Executive Order 08-08 last week creating the Governor’s Task Force on Veterans Services to compile, review and evaluate current veterans policies, procedures and programs, and to develop recommendations for improvements to ensure that Oregon veterans have access to the services they need.
“More than 360,000 Oregonians have unselfishly served in uniform,” Governor Kulongoski said. “The veterans’ issues emerging as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are significant, and are impacting our families and communities. But in addressing those, we must also remember the men and women who fought in Vietnam, World War II and the Korean War so that Oregon is providing adequate care and services for all generations of veterans – not just some.”
The Governor directed the task force identify service needs for the different generations of veterans and to conduct a comprehensive inventory of state and federal services. As part of this evaluation, the Governor asked the task force to focus on: 1) reintegration services; 2) post-separation access services; and 3) retirement/senior care, and to develop recommendations to enhance coordination of services among state and federal partners.
“Uncoordinated attempts to provide care for our veterans has created confusion and frustration for our veterans and their families,” the Governor continued. “The lack of a comprehensive approach to veterans care limits the impact of scarce resources and our capacity to help veterans who need and deserve our care. To ensure that our veterans do not fall through the cracks, we must begin collaborating to ensure we are providing quality services that meet the unique needs of all of our veterans.”
The task force will develop a comprehensive list of recommendations, including potential legislation for the 2009 legislative session, to be delivered to the Governor by December 31, 2008. The task force will hold its first meeting Friday, April 3 at the Oregon Department of Human Services in Salem.
Click here for the Executive Order creating the task force.
http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/docs/executive_orders/eo0808.pdf
============================
I need your help to send me to the Oregon Senate, to serve on a new Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. --Sean Cruz
campaign: www.seancruz.com
contribute online at: www.actblue.com
Mail contributions to: Friends of Sean Cruz
POB 30093
Portland, Oregon 97230
Volunteers, contact me at: info@seancruz.com
Blog: www.BlogoliticalSean.blogspot.com
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Voters must remember the wars
In its recent editorial titled “Voters must remember the wars”, The Oregonian reminded its readers of the ongoing loss of life, the human suffering and the multi--trillion–dollar expense of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and called for Senators McClain, Obama and Clinton to discuss Iraq at every campaign stop.
In what previous American war did the people and politicians need reminding?
In previous wars, even the noncombatants pulled at the oars, saving every reusable scrap of metal, paper, cardboard and glass for the war effort. People planted victory gardens, and they bought war bonds to help pay for the cost of the war.
At home, Americans lived behind blackout curtains and rationed fuel. They saved bits of wire and string, and volunteered their service in countless ways.
But that was a different America.
In today’s America, less than 1% of the nation carries the entire load of the war, and much of the debt will be paid by future generations. People cannot be bothered to save anything, nor to reduce their consumption of fuel, not even on Memorial Day, an opportunity to at least symbolize shared sacrifice.
In today’s America, consumerism reigns, and we call it freedom.
In Oregon, we unashamedly underfund our schools, relying on the sale of lottery tickets instead of enacting revenue reform, and we use a lottery to offer health care to the poor.
The nation is stressed over the economy and the coming recession, and yet none describe it as a war economy.
The sad fact is that the nation mostly accepts the current rate of loss in Iraq and Afghanistan, so long as it’s the same people that make the sacrifices, over and over, to the nth deployment. The nation will not consider expanding the pool, even if it would lead to an end to the war.
We Oregonians are about to send another 3,200 soldiers off to the war, some to die, some to survive with ruined lives, many to suffer the manifold consequences of sacrifice, even to the mental health of their own children, and yet we need reminding that there is a war.
The Oregonian editorial does not go far enough. Every political candidate for every political office must speak to the issue of the war in Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq, and at every campaign stop.
It’s not simply the economy, stupid. It’s the war economy.
--Sean Cruz
In what previous American war did the people and politicians need reminding?
In previous wars, even the noncombatants pulled at the oars, saving every reusable scrap of metal, paper, cardboard and glass for the war effort. People planted victory gardens, and they bought war bonds to help pay for the cost of the war.
At home, Americans lived behind blackout curtains and rationed fuel. They saved bits of wire and string, and volunteered their service in countless ways.
But that was a different America.
In today’s America, less than 1% of the nation carries the entire load of the war, and much of the debt will be paid by future generations. People cannot be bothered to save anything, nor to reduce their consumption of fuel, not even on Memorial Day, an opportunity to at least symbolize shared sacrifice.
In today’s America, consumerism reigns, and we call it freedom.
In Oregon, we unashamedly underfund our schools, relying on the sale of lottery tickets instead of enacting revenue reform, and we use a lottery to offer health care to the poor.
The nation is stressed over the economy and the coming recession, and yet none describe it as a war economy.
The sad fact is that the nation mostly accepts the current rate of loss in Iraq and Afghanistan, so long as it’s the same people that make the sacrifices, over and over, to the nth deployment. The nation will not consider expanding the pool, even if it would lead to an end to the war.
We Oregonians are about to send another 3,200 soldiers off to the war, some to die, some to survive with ruined lives, many to suffer the manifold consequences of sacrifice, even to the mental health of their own children, and yet we need reminding that there is a war.
The Oregonian editorial does not go far enough. Every political candidate for every political office must speak to the issue of the war in Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq, and at every campaign stop.
It’s not simply the economy, stupid. It’s the war economy.
--Sean Cruz
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Why I am running for Oregon Senate District 23, pt 4 (for the veterans)
I have previously described my qualifications to succeed Senator Avel Gordly in the Oregon Senate in terms of my life experience in Parts 1 and 2, and in terms of my five years-plus of Senate legislative experience, as Senator Gordly’s Chief of Staff, in Part 3.
In Part 4, the focus is on our veterans and their families:
I am running to correct the under-representation of Oregon veterans and military families in the structure of the legislature itself, and to serve on a new Senate or Joint Veterans Affairs Committee in support of our veterans, our Guard members and their families.
My plan cuts straight to the heart of the problem, to the lack of a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee:
Unlike the other policy committees, where the Senate and House each have equivalent committees, the Oregon Senate has no counterpart to the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
In the Oregon House, all veterans-related legislation is heard and worked on in its Veterans Affairs Committee.
However, on the Senate side of the legislative process, veterans-related bills may be assigned to one or more of several committees, fracturing the discussion.
This means that no single senator hears all of the veterans bills, and that no panel of senators is responsible for the veterans agenda.
This fact results in far fewer veterans-related bills introduced and sponsored on the Senate side.
The absence of a Senate standing committee also overloads the work of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, resulting in the stranding of important legislation due to the lack of time and a Senate focal point.
This institutional problem is easily demonstrated by the results of the 2007 session:
During the 2007 session, 55 bills were heard in the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Only three of these bills originated in the Senate, where there is no equivalent to the House committee.
Of the twenty-three veterans-related bills, resolutions and memorials that were passed during the 2007 session, twenty originated in the House.
The Senate produced only one veterans-related bill and two veterans-related resolutions in the 2007 session.
Twenty veterans-related bills were left stranded in House committees at the end of the 2007 session, all of them having originated in the House.
Had any of these bills passed their House committee and the House floor, they still would have had to find a Senate committee assignment and undergo the Senate process before reaching the Governor’s desk.
Two veterans-related bills passed the House but died in Senate committees.
More than five years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is well past time for the legislature to get on a war footing and work to meet the needs of those we send into battle.
I ask for your support, to send me to the Oregon Senate, for the veterans and their families, to serve on a new Senate or Joint Veterans Affairs Committee.
--Sean Cruz
These are the veterans-related bills that were stranded in the 2007 session:
Veterans bills stranded in committee at the end of the 2007 session
18 House bills
4 House resolutions
0 Senate bills
0 Senate resolutions
22 bills stranded at end of session
HB 2013 Oregon Military Family Relief Program; appropriating money;
5-1 (H) Recommendation: Do pass, be referred to Revenue, and then referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2400A Physician tax incentives.
4-13 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2522 Veterans' health benefits.
1-31 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2547 Disabled war veteran benefits.
2-12 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Revenue.2-27 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2577 Oregon Troops to Teachers program.
2-21 (H) Recommendation: Do pass and be referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.2-21 (H) Referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2631 State Parks and Recreation Commission.
2-14 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2771 Licenses issued by the State Fish and Wildlife Commission.
2-26 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Ways and Means.3-22 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3196A Eligibility of disabled veterans for Oregon Health Plan benefits.
5-4 (H) Recommendation: Do pass with amendments, and be referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.5-4 (H) Referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3197A TRICARE program
5-4 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment
HB 3198 Oregon military emergency financial assistance; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
6-28 (H) Third reading. Carried by Richardson. Passed.6-28 (S) First reading. Referred to Rules Committee.6-28 (S) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3199 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; declaring an emergency.
3-29 (H) Without recommendation as to passage, be referred to Education, and then to Revenue by prior reference.3-29 (H) Referred to Education by order of Speaker.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3200 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
3-29 (H) Without recommendation as to passage, be referred to Education, and then to Ways and Means by prior reference.3-29 (H) Referred to Education by order of Speaker.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3202A Modifications of federal taxable income.
5-7 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3205A Tax credits for veterans.
5-4 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3294A Veterans' services.
6-18 (S) Referred to Rules.6-28 (S) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3237 Veterans' preferences; declaring an emergency.
3-19 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3305 taxation.
3-14 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Revenue.3-27 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3308A Education benefits for members of Oregon National Guard.
5-11 (H) Recommendation: Do pass with amendments, be printed A-Engrossed, and be referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.5-11 (H) Referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
Resolutions stranded in Committee
HJR 52 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution” Protests at funerals.
3-9 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.4-12 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HJR 38 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: State Lottery.
5-11 (H) Recommendation: Be adopted and be referred to Elections, Ethics and Rules by prior reference.5-11 (H) Referred to Elections, Ethics and Rules by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HJR 39 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: Eligibility for farm and home loans from Oregon War Veterans' Fund.
3-9 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HJR 23 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: State Lottery.
3-5 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Elections, Ethics and Rules.4-10 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
In Part 4, the focus is on our veterans and their families:
I am running to correct the under-representation of Oregon veterans and military families in the structure of the legislature itself, and to serve on a new Senate or Joint Veterans Affairs Committee in support of our veterans, our Guard members and their families.
My plan cuts straight to the heart of the problem, to the lack of a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee:
Unlike the other policy committees, where the Senate and House each have equivalent committees, the Oregon Senate has no counterpart to the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
In the Oregon House, all veterans-related legislation is heard and worked on in its Veterans Affairs Committee.
However, on the Senate side of the legislative process, veterans-related bills may be assigned to one or more of several committees, fracturing the discussion.
This means that no single senator hears all of the veterans bills, and that no panel of senators is responsible for the veterans agenda.
This fact results in far fewer veterans-related bills introduced and sponsored on the Senate side.
The absence of a Senate standing committee also overloads the work of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, resulting in the stranding of important legislation due to the lack of time and a Senate focal point.
This institutional problem is easily demonstrated by the results of the 2007 session:
During the 2007 session, 55 bills were heard in the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Only three of these bills originated in the Senate, where there is no equivalent to the House committee.
Of the twenty-three veterans-related bills, resolutions and memorials that were passed during the 2007 session, twenty originated in the House.
The Senate produced only one veterans-related bill and two veterans-related resolutions in the 2007 session.
Twenty veterans-related bills were left stranded in House committees at the end of the 2007 session, all of them having originated in the House.
Had any of these bills passed their House committee and the House floor, they still would have had to find a Senate committee assignment and undergo the Senate process before reaching the Governor’s desk.
Two veterans-related bills passed the House but died in Senate committees.
More than five years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is well past time for the legislature to get on a war footing and work to meet the needs of those we send into battle.
I ask for your support, to send me to the Oregon Senate, for the veterans and their families, to serve on a new Senate or Joint Veterans Affairs Committee.
--Sean Cruz
These are the veterans-related bills that were stranded in the 2007 session:
Veterans bills stranded in committee at the end of the 2007 session
18 House bills
4 House resolutions
0 Senate bills
0 Senate resolutions
22 bills stranded at end of session
HB 2013 Oregon Military Family Relief Program; appropriating money;
5-1 (H) Recommendation: Do pass, be referred to Revenue, and then referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2400A Physician tax incentives.
4-13 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2522 Veterans' health benefits.
1-31 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2547 Disabled war veteran benefits.
2-12 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Revenue.2-27 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2577 Oregon Troops to Teachers program.
2-21 (H) Recommendation: Do pass and be referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.2-21 (H) Referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2631 State Parks and Recreation Commission.
2-14 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 2771 Licenses issued by the State Fish and Wildlife Commission.
2-26 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Ways and Means.3-22 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3196A Eligibility of disabled veterans for Oregon Health Plan benefits.
5-4 (H) Recommendation: Do pass with amendments, and be referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.5-4 (H) Referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3197A TRICARE program
5-4 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment
HB 3198 Oregon military emergency financial assistance; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
6-28 (H) Third reading. Carried by Richardson. Passed.6-28 (S) First reading. Referred to Rules Committee.6-28 (S) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3199 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; declaring an emergency.
3-29 (H) Without recommendation as to passage, be referred to Education, and then to Revenue by prior reference.3-29 (H) Referred to Education by order of Speaker.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3200 Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program; appropriating money; declaring an emergency.
3-29 (H) Without recommendation as to passage, be referred to Education, and then to Ways and Means by prior reference.3-29 (H) Referred to Education by order of Speaker.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3202A Modifications of federal taxable income.
5-7 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3205A Tax credits for veterans.
5-4 (H) Referred to Revenue by prior reference.5-17 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3294A Veterans' services.
6-18 (S) Referred to Rules.6-28 (S) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3237 Veterans' preferences; declaring an emergency.
3-19 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3305 taxation.
3-14 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Revenue.3-27 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HB 3308A Education benefits for members of Oregon National Guard.
5-11 (H) Recommendation: Do pass with amendments, be printed A-Engrossed, and be referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.5-11 (H) Referred to Ways and Means by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
Resolutions stranded in Committee
HJR 52 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution” Protests at funerals.
3-9 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.4-12 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HJR 38 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: State Lottery.
5-11 (H) Recommendation: Be adopted and be referred to Elections, Ethics and Rules by prior reference.5-11 (H) Referred to Elections, Ethics and Rules by prior reference.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HJR 39 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: Eligibility for farm and home loans from Oregon War Veterans' Fund.
3-9 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
HJR 23 Proposing amendment to Oregon Constitution: State Lottery.
3-5 (H) Referred to Veterans Affairs with subsequent referral to Elections, Ethics and Rules.4-10 (H) Public Hearing held.6-28 (H) In committee upon adjournment.
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