Think Again •
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By Tim Nesbitt
BARGAIN COUNTER
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DEADLINE: Friday prior to publication
The fight-fire-with-fire strategy
heats up another election
O
ne of my favorite cartoons,
which I used to have on the wall
behind my desk at work, shows two
cowboys huddled behind a circle of
covered wagons, as a band of Indians
attacks them with flaming arrows.
One cowboy, his eyes wide with
amazement, asks the other, “They
can’t do that, can they?”
The cartoon may be politically in-
correct in its use of the cowboys-and-
Indians stereotype. But it captured a
political truth about the incompre-
hension that gripped progressives in
Oregon as Bill Sizemore and com-
pany took over our state’s initiative
process more than a decade ago. We
were shocked and awed at what was
coming at us on the ballot every two
years. But all we did in response was
to hunker down and run “just-vote-
no” campaigns.
We have learned a lot since then.
Following the 1996 election, we
developed our “fight-fire-with-fire”
strategy, which we used to counter
and pre-empt Sizemore’s initiatives
with measures of our own. Then, we
took the offensive to advance our
working families agenda, including
raising the state’s minimum wage.
By 2002, we even proved that
“they can’t do that,” when we found
that Sizemore was shooting crooked
arrows. After the Voter Education
Project exposed massive fraud and
forgery in Sizemore’s signature gath-
ering operation, he failed to qualify a
single initiative for the ballot. To
complete the rout, the American Fed-
eration of Teachers-Oregon and the
Oregon Education Association nailed
Sizemore’s operation for racketeer-
ing and wholesale violations of our
election laws in a Multnomah
County courtroom.
2002 was also the year that we
passed Measure 26, the Initiative In-
tegrity Act, which banned the prac-
tice of paying bounties for signa-
tures. As a result, by 2004, initiative
sponsors ran cleaner signature-gath-
ering campaigns. There were fewer
measures on the ballot and none that
directly attacked the interests of our
unions.
Our fight-back strategies were
successful. But the initiative attacks
we confronted in Oregon were never
the manifestations of indigenous up-
risings. They were attacks orches-
trated at the national level, where
anti-government and anti-union oper-
atives had decided that Oregon was a
cheap and easy place to launch their
war parties.
For a while, it looked like these
operatives were shifting more of their
attention to other states. But they
showed up again in Oregon this year,
shooting arrows that look a lot like
the arrows of yesteryear. Don McIn-
tire is fronting for national anti-gov-
ernment groups with another formula
for capping state funding for schools
and health care, like the one he
brought to the ballot – and voters de-
feated – in 2000. Sizemore’s cronies
are advancing another income tax
scheme that would bust the state
budget — and looks a lot like the one
voters defeated in that same year.
Even the term limits advocates are
back, armed with a war chest fur-
nished by their national monomani-
acs.
There were some who argued 10
years ago that, if we started shooting
flaming arrows of our own, our ene-
mies would just redouble their at-
tacks. But, it turns out they were a lot
bolder when we didn’t fight back.
And, now that we’re engaging the
process and treating every election as
an opportunity to make our mark on
the ballot, we’re creating a very dif-
ferent political dynamic.
The Service Employees collected
signatures for an initiative to improve
staffing at nursing homes and ended
up using it to negotiate commitments
from the industry. OEA did the same
with an initiative to make corpora-
tions’ tax payments public, holding
off on submitting the final signatures
needed when business groups agreed
Call
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PAGE 10
to join the fight against McIntire’s
spending limit.
And AARP threw its weight be-
hind a proposal to expand the state’s
bulk purchasing pool for prescription
drugs, which sets up a head-on battle
with the pharmaceutical industry.
I’m disappointed that we didn’t
end up with a ballot measure to ex-
pand health care coverage and reduce
costs for those with employer-spon-
sored insurance. But the AARP pro-
posal sets up a nice dynamic in the
ongoing battle over the role of gov-
ernment in people’s lives.
What we’ll be fighting this year
looks like a stale agenda — more
straightjackets on public services and
budget-busting tax cuts of the kind
that voters in this state rejected when
they last got to vote on them. What
we’ll be promoting looks a lot more
appealing — a new way to make
government work for people who
need help with their medical costs.
This will be a year when we get to
repel the flickering arrows of the old
curmudgeons like Don McIntire and
shoot back with a hot, new idea that
can make medical care more afford-
able for working families.
I’d rather be on our side this year.
(Note: Recently, I agreed to join
the Kulongoski for Governor cam-
paign as the governor’s political ad-
viser. My only conditions were that I
remain an independent contractor,
with time on my own to devote to my
service on the state’s Higher Ed
board, as an adviser to the Working
Families Party and as the author of
this column. That’s my new arrange-
ment through Election Day, which
means I won’t be commenting on the
governor’s race to avoid any con-
flicts of interest.)
Published 1st and 3rd Fridays
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Automotive
‘76 AMC MATADOR, 4 dr, runs, 304, V8, AT, PS,
AC, new tires, tags – 07, $200 best offer. 503
730-7638
‘90 BUICK CENTURY, white, 4 dr, 4cyl, AT, PS,
P’W, tilt mags, 4 studs on Rally wheels, $1,600.
503 252-3003
‘95 CADILLAC SEDAN DeVille, runs and looks
good, 114k, new tires, all options, $4,000. 503
266-5912 or 503 758-0037
‘91 FORD 250, $3,000 OBO. 503 646-0984
Housing
ROCKAWAY BEACH vacation home, 3 bdrm,
sleeps 8, beachfront, all amenities, $160 night.
503 842-9607
LINCOLN CITY nice 2-level beach house, sleeps
6, $400 wk/$200 wkend. 503 351-1408 (Chris)
or 503 661-8146 (Dan’s work)
SALEM HOUSE, 3 bdrm, nice, $185,000. 503
669-9659
PINE HOLLOW Reservoir, 2.5 acres w/older
double-wide moble home, furnished, $150,000
or make offer. 503 317-3705
Wanted
OLD WOODWORKING tools, planes, levels,
chisels, folding rules, handsaws, spoke shaves,
slicks, adzes, tool chests. 503 659-0009
AVID RESTORER wants log saws, saw handles,
double-bit axes, blacksmith hammers, anything
with logging. 503 819-3736
JUNK CARS, removal of unwanted cars and
trucks. 503 314-8600
FURNACE OIL wanted, will pump. 503 252-4151
32-20, 32 H&R Mag revolvers, also 25 Colt. 360
896-6077
OLD DUMP TRUCK that runs. 503 253-4397
(David)
T-111 SIDING 8” pattern, will remove, want old-
long 2x6 or whatever, some rot okay. 503 771-
8823
For the Home
FUTON, DBL BED size w/matching chair, wood
frame & mattress in good cond., $110. 360 892-
Tim Nesbitt is a former president
of the Oregon AFL-CIO.
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon
as a voice of the labor movement.
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5433
POWER CHAIR, looks new, two new batteries,
$1,875; dining table, oak, 4 chairs, 1 leaf, ex
cond, $595. 1-503-455-2248
ENTERTAINMENT CENTER, oak veneer, large
enough for 30” TV, $75 OBO. 503 648-5921
Sporting Goods
GOLF CLUBS, Mizuno TC-29 midsize irons, PW-
3 RH reg. flex, $85. 503 292-3881
‘04 PIONEER 19’ travel trailer, AC, stereo, micro,
self-contained, 1 bd, immaculate, $8,500. 503
286-7734
THOMPSON CENTER Patriot .45 cal muzzle-
loader target pistol, dbl set triggers, includes
ammo, $275. 503 658-6108
‘03 MERCURY OUTBOARD motor, 4-stroke,
9.9, electric start, low hours, ex cond, $2,000
OBO. 503 341-4121
‘87 BOUNDER MOTORHOME, 32’, 67k miles,
sleeps 6, good cond, basement model, $9.000
OBO. 503 252-4946
BOY’S 20” Magna Molten bike, barely used, $40.
503 256-4456
‘98 BOUNDER MOTORHOME, 30’, 454 Chev,
awnings, jacks, $2,900. 503 288-7688
85HP MERCURY outboard on 16’ Shasta fiber-
glass runabout w/trailer, $1,200. 503 246-4144
1999 Chaparral 2135SS Cuddy, Mercruise V8,
very low hours, to much to list $19,995 971 327-
7007
RIVER RAFT, 11’6” (2-man), frame, oars, ammo
boxes, spare paddles, pumps, wood floor with
foam backing, need patch, $100. 503-407-7166
Miscellaneous
6.5 ONAN GEN, $500; 454 MTR $1,000 U Pull,
51,200 miles, hear both run. 503 630-4177
3 WHEEL SCHWINN bicycle, 3 spd w/basket,
$150. 503 762-3280
MURRAY RIDING lawnmower, used very little,
$700 OBO. 503 232-3685
GALVANIZED LADDER rack fits Chev LWB, $75;
Homelite chainsaw 550, 28” bar, $150. 360 694-
7693
AIR ROOFING nailer, $60. 503 287-7622
A.C. 10,000 BTUS, $95. 503 656-5795
WHIRLPOOL WASHER/dryer, $150; 250 used 6
ft fence boards, 25 cents each. 360 694-7012
6 CASE POP machine, cans or bottles, $400.
503 693-0694
DODGE DANA 70 rearend, 3.54 gears, $600;
10x10 screen canopy, $30; 7.50x16 trailer tire,
$30. 361-779-0982
28’KS DESERT FOX toy hauler, fuel station,
generator, $18,750. 503 829-2567
YARD SALE, July 29-30, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 5620
SE Logus Rd., off Stanley and King Blvd. in Mil-
waukie. 503-654-5109
Korean War Veterans
organization is looking for new
members. The group meets the
4th Tuesday each month
(July 25), at noon at
Milwaukie Elks Lodge,
13121 SE McLoughlin Blvd.
For more information, call
Max Loucks at 503-286-1464
WESTERN LABOR
PRESS ASSOCIATION
JULY 21, 2006