With the unfortunate loss of State Treasurer Ben Westlund, candidates had to scramble during these last two days to file for office.  The Governor appointed Multnomah County Commission Chair Ted Wheeler to fill the State Treasurer spot, leaving his County Chair position, so Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen filed for County Chair leaving his County Commission seat open.  This makes for many new races to watch, and participate in.

Measures 66 & 67 on Oregon's ballot in January may seem complex, but there are some simiple formulas to break it down into understandable numbers.  Oregon state budget services that would be cut if the measures fail is a whole seperate discussion.  The purpose of this post is to make it easier for people to understand the tax impacts on various types of tax payers.

There are four changes made by the two measures:

I accomplished what I intended to do, which was to use this opportunity to advocate strongly for single payer health care.  As reported in Willamette Week -

Democracy is restored!  We have a President-Elect who actually KNOWS what's in the Constitution of the United States!

To paraphrase John McCain, "the people have spoken, and clearly".  America will regain respect around the world, and return to the path that made this a great country.