Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
Senate candidate Jeff Merkley didn’t waste much time savoring his May 20 victory over Steve Novick in the Democratic primary before launching his general election campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Gordon Smith.
Merkley returned to his Douglas County roots Saturday to kick off a marathon 100-city tour of Oregon, hitting the towns of Myrtle Creek, where he was born; Roseburg, where he went to school as a child; and then Sutherlin, before heading north to Lane County.
“This is stop number two on our tour for change,” Merkley said to a handful of Democratic supporters at Chi’s Garden restaurant in Roseburg Saturday afternoon. “We are actually way off track, and democracy gives us a chance to change that.”
Merkley spent a large portion of his time in Roseburg trying to associate Smith with the policies of President Bush, whose popularity has been on the wane. He said though Smith casts himself as a centrist in a state that leans Democratic, his votes in Washington belie that image.
“Here is Gordon Smith coming back to Oregon, saying, ‘I’m independent,’ after voting to cancel out (Democratic Sen.) Ron Wyden 90 percent of the time,” Merkley said.
Merkley said Republican control of the White House — and, for much of that period, Congress — has resulted in policies that favor the rich, but do little to provide for the needs of the working and middle classes. He said the standard of living for 80 percent of Americans has been flat or declining during the Bush years.
“There’s one thing that hasn’t gone up, and that’s the salaries ... of ordinary working people.”
He criticized free trade policies such as the North and Central American free trade agreements for having cost Americans 70,000 good-paying jobs. He also said the deficit-spending policies of the Bush administration place are going to place a financial burden on the next generation.
The integrity of the nation’s image abroad has been hurt by Bush administration policies supported by Smith, Merkley said. He cited the administration’s prosecution of the so-called war on terror as one example.
“I was so relieved to see that the Supreme Court came down 5-4 on the side of habeas corpus,” Merkley said, referring to Thursday’s ruling by the court that detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have a constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court.
“Here’s the scary thing: The vote was only 5-4,” added Merkley. “We’re one Supreme Court vote away from losing a core principle of American democracy.”
Merkley said it is vital that the Senate confirms Supreme Court nominees who respect civil liberties. Smith voted to confirm both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both of whom dissented in Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling.
Kasha Claire, a Roseburg Democrat, asked Merkley where he stood on the issue of gay marriage.
Merkley responded that he’d worked in the Oregon Legislature to pass the bill mandating equal protection under the law for gay and lesbian domestic partners.
“I want the government out of our bedrooms,” Merkley said.
When Claire pushed him further, saying he was referring to domestic partnerships and not gay marriage, Merkley said the state had gone as far as it could under current statute. A Constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2004 outlawed gay marriage.
However, Merkley added, “Philosophically, since you’re asking me a philosophical question, I believe that there should be full equality in the United States of America.”
Merkley also expressed dismay that recent bids to renew the timber safety net had not succeeded. He chided Smith for not being able to muster more Republican votes in favor of a safety net amendment to the energy bill signed into law last December.
He also took Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, to task for his vote against a four-year renewal of the safety net that would have been funded by closing a loophole in some oil and gas leases.
“(Rep. Peter) DeFazio said, ‘Let’s fix that ... and we’ll get our safety net funded,’ and for some reason Rep. Walden decided that he was going to stand with the oil companies rather than stand with the timber-dependent counties.”
Asked after the meeting what he thought about the prospects for getting the safety net renewed, Merkley said, “I think the prospects are difficult with this Congress.”
Merkley said he has toured timber-dependent counties in Oregon, and joined Sen. Ron Wyden in meeting with New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Montana Sen. Max Baucus, powerful senators whose constituencies also get money from the safety net, to reiterate how important the safety net is to rural Oregon counties.
“As a U.S. senator I’m going to fight like hell to make sure the federal government honors its commitment.”
Asked how counties like Douglas could diversify their economies to create local jobs, Merkley said forest thinning shows promise, not only for the timber that could be harvested but for the biomass that could be used to create energy and help wean the state off of imported sources of energy.
“Douglas County has one of the best feed stocks for cellulosic energy in Oregon,” he said.
• You can reach City Editor Christian Bringhurst at 957-4201 or by e-mail at cbringhurst@nrtoday.com.
Merkley returned to his Douglas County roots Saturday to kick off a marathon 100-city tour of Oregon, hitting the towns of Myrtle Creek, where he was born; Roseburg, where he went to school as a child; and then Sutherlin, before heading north to Lane County.
“This is stop number two on our tour for change,” Merkley said to a handful of Democratic supporters at Chi’s Garden restaurant in Roseburg Saturday afternoon. “We are actually way off track, and democracy gives us a chance to change that.”
Merkley spent a large portion of his time in Roseburg trying to associate Smith with the policies of President Bush, whose popularity has been on the wane. He said though Smith casts himself as a centrist in a state that leans Democratic, his votes in Washington belie that image.
“Here is Gordon Smith coming back to Oregon, saying, ‘I’m independent,’ after voting to cancel out (Democratic Sen.) Ron Wyden 90 percent of the time,” Merkley said.
Merkley said Republican control of the White House — and, for much of that period, Congress — has resulted in policies that favor the rich, but do little to provide for the needs of the working and middle classes. He said the standard of living for 80 percent of Americans has been flat or declining during the Bush years.
“There’s one thing that hasn’t gone up, and that’s the salaries ... of ordinary working people.”
He criticized free trade policies such as the North and Central American free trade agreements for having cost Americans 70,000 good-paying jobs. He also said the deficit-spending policies of the Bush administration place are going to place a financial burden on the next generation.
The integrity of the nation’s image abroad has been hurt by Bush administration policies supported by Smith, Merkley said. He cited the administration’s prosecution of the so-called war on terror as one example.
“I was so relieved to see that the Supreme Court came down 5-4 on the side of habeas corpus,” Merkley said, referring to Thursday’s ruling by the court that detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have a constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court.
“Here’s the scary thing: The vote was only 5-4,” added Merkley. “We’re one Supreme Court vote away from losing a core principle of American democracy.”
Merkley said it is vital that the Senate confirms Supreme Court nominees who respect civil liberties. Smith voted to confirm both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both of whom dissented in Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling.
Kasha Claire, a Roseburg Democrat, asked Merkley where he stood on the issue of gay marriage.
Merkley responded that he’d worked in the Oregon Legislature to pass the bill mandating equal protection under the law for gay and lesbian domestic partners.
“I want the government out of our bedrooms,” Merkley said.
When Claire pushed him further, saying he was referring to domestic partnerships and not gay marriage, Merkley said the state had gone as far as it could under current statute. A Constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2004 outlawed gay marriage.
However, Merkley added, “Philosophically, since you’re asking me a philosophical question, I believe that there should be full equality in the United States of America.”
Merkley also expressed dismay that recent bids to renew the timber safety net had not succeeded. He chided Smith for not being able to muster more Republican votes in favor of a safety net amendment to the energy bill signed into law last December.
He also took Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, to task for his vote against a four-year renewal of the safety net that would have been funded by closing a loophole in some oil and gas leases.
“(Rep. Peter) DeFazio said, ‘Let’s fix that ... and we’ll get our safety net funded,’ and for some reason Rep. Walden decided that he was going to stand with the oil companies rather than stand with the timber-dependent counties.”
Asked after the meeting what he thought about the prospects for getting the safety net renewed, Merkley said, “I think the prospects are difficult with this Congress.”
Merkley said he has toured timber-dependent counties in Oregon, and joined Sen. Ron Wyden in meeting with New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Montana Sen. Max Baucus, powerful senators whose constituencies also get money from the safety net, to reiterate how important the safety net is to rural Oregon counties.
“As a U.S. senator I’m going to fight like hell to make sure the federal government honors its commitment.”
Asked how counties like Douglas could diversify their economies to create local jobs, Merkley said forest thinning shows promise, not only for the timber that could be harvested but for the biomass that could be used to create energy and help wean the state off of imported sources of energy.
“Douglas County has one of the best feed stocks for cellulosic energy in Oregon,” he said.
• You can reach City Editor Christian Bringhurst at 957-4201 or by e-mail at cbringhurst@nrtoday.com.
