From Blue Oregon

On Measure 67, Steve Duin shows the media how it's done

Kari Chisholm

When critics of Measures 67 say that it caused or is causing Oregon businesses to flee across state lines, I have - along with many others - been imploring the media to insist: Show us the math.

The critics almost never even point to an actual business that's actually moving. When they do, they never provide the hard numbers. They just wave their arms wildly and expect us to believe that any tax increase at all is enough to drive folks into the waiting arms of Idaho, Nevada, Washington, or California. (And here, I'll offer another plug for the Is the Grass Greener? report that actually answered the question - are taxes on business higher or lower in Oregon than in other states?)

At the O, Steve Duin provides a welcome example of how to handle the critics. Insist on specifics. Insist on the math. In his column a week ago about the "Is the Grass Greener?" report, he engaged with critics in his comment thread - insisting on specifics:

Jimbob: Which company? For all I know, it made sense: This stuff is impacting every company differently. But I'd appreciate a few more details.

And again:

I'll repeat the request. Name a company that's left Oregon because of 66/67. And tell me where that company landed in search of a better deal.

There were, of course, no specific responses. Later, one of his commenters noted that the Governor of Idaho, Butch Otter, has been saying that Oregon businesses have been fleeing there. So, Duin called Gov. Otter. Here's what he found...

From: Will Bunch's Attywood Blog

There's an interesting article from the New York Times tonight about the changing demographics of Orange County, long-known as the right-wing mecca that gave us Richard Nixon and John Wayne and was a hotbed of the John Birch Society. Here's the money paragraphs:

At the end of 2009, nearly 45 percent of the county’s residents spoke a language other than English at home, according to county officials. Whites now make up only 45 percent of the population; this county is teeming with Hispanics, as well as Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese families. Its percentage of foreign-born residents jumped to 30 percent in 2008 from 6 percent in 1970, and visits to some of its corners can feel like a trip to a foreign land.

The demographic changes that have swept the county reflect what is happening across the state and much of the nation. It has happened slowly but surely over the course of a generation, becoming increasingly apparent not only in a drive through the 34 cities that fill this sprawling 789-square-mile county south of Los Angeles, but also, most recently, in the results of a presidential election. In 2008, Barack Obama drew 48 percent of the vote here against Senator John McCain of Arizona. (By comparison, in 1980, Jimmy Carter received just 23 percent against Ronald Reagan, the conservative hero whose election as California governor in 1966 and 1970 was boosted in no small part by the affection for him here.)

Two things here really dovetail with the things we've been discussing. One is that this is a clear-cut indicator of one of the major sources of social anxiety for the white, middle-class, 50-and-over folks who are moving into the Tea Party movement. But the numbers also suggest that -- whatever hay the political right may be able to make in the 2010 elections -- in the long run that Tea Party movement may be doomed, unless the GOP shifts gears quickly and comes up with some kind of appeal to younger people and at least some non-whites.

Check out the Following websites:

Review of Measure 73: Healthy Democracy Website Measure 73

Review of Measure 74: Healthy Democracy Website Measure 74