Annoying? Dead heat. Scary? Ameri by a country mile.

Jeff--do you care to expand on that?

I think we can guess - she's a (gasp!) Republican.

Oh Brett, quit rabble rousing--I don't hate all Republicans. But there's moderate, right, and way the hell out there. Goli's pushin the latter.

She wants to continue massive tax cuts--mostly for the wealthy. She pretty much admits the environment is an impeditment to business and therefore not worth bothering with. Check out this little nugget: "As a matter of principle, I believe government regulation costs jobs and hurts business."

When candidates (and if she wins, legislators) believe that government regulation is a wrong, then you're dealing with extremism. That's one of government's principle functions.

But don't take my word for it. See for yourself: http://www.ameriforcongress.com/Issues/

Weep for me. This is the choice I get. I'm writing in Jack Bogdanski for this seat.

It must be the Jerk District.

Well Rob, maybe next time you should throw your own hat in, eh, 'stead of hating those who do. ;)

I'm a talker, not a doer!

Well, she's right that regulations hurt business. That doesn't mean regulations are bad - they're necessary. You're right, though, she's pretty far out there. She even invokes the dreaded Reaganite economic albatross - "supply side". No chance against Wu, who is not exactly a flaming progressive, thank God.

p.s. What are comments for, if not rabble-rousing?

Jeff,

Did Goli really imply that all regulations are evil?

Oh no, how could an anarchist make it through the Republican primary?

Maybe you could leave the strawman alone long enough to ask her to explain herself?

It isn't extreme to posit that nearly every government regulation impedes some business in some manner. The question is whether the impediment is acceptable.

For example, government regulation of controlled substances really impedes the "businesses" of non-FDA approved drug dealers (although it really increases the profits of those daring enough to flout the law). Most legislators believe that cost of regulating drugs through the FDA outweighs the social problems engendered by having little or no barriers between consumers and drug manufacturers.

Whenever the government introduces force to change business behavior through regulations, the burden on the business is greater and/or its options are fewer.

Many of these burdens are justified as making the marketplace more safe, products more reliable, the air cleaner, etc. Each legislator should recognize there is a tradeoff for every law passed and expect to justify the burden introduced.

As a business owner, I am "burdened" with regulations that prevent me from burning down my competition's building, shooting its employees and telling lies about its products and services. However, this burden is very justifiable in my mind and certainly helps my business because I gain the same protection from others.

The question to ask Goli is how she will determine whether a specific regulation is worth the tradeoff.

The fact that she appears willing to recognize the cost of regulation is refreshing. It is up to the voters to determine whether they favor her cost-benefit analyses or David Wu's (should he prove honest enough to offer one).

Goli Ameri is no right-winger. She's a pro-choice fiscal conservative. During a Republican primary, there is always a lot of red meat rhetoric on the right (just as the Democrats have it on the left), but I think anyone following this election through the fall will find Goli is a moderate, reasonable candidate.

And I say that as someone who supported Tim Phillips in the primary.

I agree with Jack. Republican primary candidates have to pander to the further right of the party in order to win... then they can moderate. Sad but true, in my opinion. I think either Ameri or Phillips would have been good... I was leaning a little more toward Phillips because he impressed me as being a real hard worker. Ameri might have more appeal in the general, though. What's rather humorous is that these candidates make big claims about what they will do when they get to congress. As a freshman representative from Oregon, I doubt if in their first term they can do much more than find the washroom, and, if they're lucky, keep their offices out of the cloakroom.