I got a chuckle this morning as I was getting out of the car. OPB was doing a report on the business community's oppostion to 41 and 48. At the end, they had a quote from the measure's chief sponsor in which he said "the business community often opposes measures I consider pro-business." That says all you need to know.

Makes me proud to be a member of LWV.

I'm starting to think the kids chanting "44 and Nothing More!" might be on to something.

From AdAge, apropos of nothing:
How much buzz does it take to sell Milwaukee's Best? Apparently a lot more than 3 million hits on YouTube and 197 blog mentions.
Proving that viral sensations don't always immediately translate into sensational sales, the bargain beer's video of its "Beer Cannon" that fires cans of Milwaukee's Best Light to destroy such unmanly targets such as china dishes, house plants and fruit has inspired discussion but not much consumption.
Sales of Milwaukee's Best fell 11% in supermarkets for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 9, according to Information Resources Inc., and sales of Best Light dropped 7.5%

As long as 48 passes, I'm happy.

Big surprise.

Not really. heach they would prefer voters don't even get to vote on these measures they oppose.

Isn't that a fine howdy doody.

The league of Women Voters opposed to voting???&%$#@!

Mighty blue of them.

They should have a regular column over Kari's way.

Oh yeah Steve, our ballot measures are the result of some reeaaaaaal grassroots initiatives by Oregonians alright. Oh, except they're really not.

The roster of ballot measures each and every election cycle don't reflect the list of priorities for Oregonians, just groups who want to use us as the guinnea pig. Most of these 'issues' aren't issues to Oregonians until they magically appear on a ballot. Yeah baby! Democracy at WORK!

Get real.

Oregonians have to sign their names to get measures on the ballot - doesn't matter if the idea comes from inside or outside the state, we still have to sign the petitions.

The problem is, signatures don't reflect any sort of participation in the democratic process... A person is ambushed by some guy on the street, and after a few seconds of half-hearted contemplation of a proposition that he/she hasn't likely read, a person signs. Then he/she walks away and forgets about it. A measure appears on the ballot, people hear about it for the first time, and then becomes a battle of deceptive TV ads vying for your trust. What about all the bogus sigs and measures? The ones struck down for illegality? Who wins? Rarely us.

Please don't oversell the current state of our ballot measure process as something other than a sham.

"""A person is ambushed by some guy on the street, and after a few seconds of half-hearted contemplation of a proposition that he/she hasn't likely read, a person signs."""

That's because it's not voting. It's to allow a vote, after the usual campaing and barrage of public discussion and debate.

It is a tremendous task to reach enough people to sign and get something on the ballot.

Your mishcaracterizing it as some abushing coercion to sign is pure poppy cock and the stuff of sour grapes and.

Blues have plenty of backing and people. Go put some measures on the ballot.

Oh, it's hard to get people to support a measure for a tax increase?

What we should have in the metro region is a measure to create a 20 year moratoreum on the use of Urban Renewal TIF and allow the debts to clear and basic services to stablize.

TKrueg sez: The problem is, signatures don't reflect any sort of participation in the democratic process...

Excuse me?

I was under the impression that we had a specific right to "petition for redress of grievances." Isn't that part of the First Amendment?

I personally don't sign initiative petitions any more. Ever since 1991, I've been telling people who solicit my signature for initiative efforts that I no longer trust the ability of the electorate to make an informed and intelligent decision.