The current crisis over domestic terrorists with no statute to address more murderous actions has become an enlarged swamp. President Trump blames the latest “swamp” on the media while a mirror into which he should look would see his own reflection and what he has exasperated, starting when he accused former[Read More…]

After a mass shooting there are the inevitable calls for stricter gun control laws or the banning of assault weapons. Some say that such demands are made for political gain. Still others say that the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting is no time to talk politics, but to mourn,[Read More…]

The ‘one percenters’ in America are those who possess most of the wealth and power. They have the financial means for their daughters and sons to attend a college or university of their choice. Of course other Americans with children who recognize the importance of continuing education after high school, can establish[Read More…]

When one side proposes solution after solution to contain gun violence—and offers compromise after compromise to get something done —while the other side blocks action every time, you know which side is right. When one side brushes aside the dangers of racist and white nationalist terrorism while the other side[Read More…]

I want to briefly share an update of some of the things my office was able to accomplish in the 2019 legislative session. HB 3213 – Establishes safety corridors around the state, which I hope will address the death road (as described by The Newberg Graphic) in North Marion County.[Read More…]

WASHINGTON — I was at the dentist getting a tooth drilled at the start of Robert Mueller’s comparable experience on Capitol Hill. I am the kind of person who cringes intensely while watching anyone fail in a public and humiliating fashion. So it was just as well that I missed[Read More…]

Should we worry? It would seem appropriate. Why? Referenced are the ever more frequent threats and delivery of violence by what appears a growing number of Americans who’ve become upset or disenchanted with their lives. Then there are those who harm others when not understood or do not respond to them on their terms[Read More…]

A old saw goes: the more things change the more they stay the same. That is so true when one considers politics in America, circa 2019. The issue of race is everywhere in politics, from the Oval Office to the Democratic presidential candidate debate to Keizer’s city council chambers. At[Read More…]

“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. “ That’s a quote attributed to long-ago U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen (which he probably never said). The quote—real or not—was about the federal budget in the 1960s. Back then a budget deficit of $5 billion would[Read More…]