My tally on this year's ballot measures:

M-31 - No

Piss off the major parties. The statutory implementing language only makes this effective if a major party candidate dies 30 days before the election. Why should the R's and D's only get this additional advantage of postponing an election? Also, creates situation where an election is held twice even if the living major party candidate would have won anyway (e.g., a D running in a district with 65% D voter registration who wins handily against a dead R candidate must run again anyway).

M-32 - Yes

Piss off ODOT bureaucrats. Mobile homes should have been lumped in with motor vehicles by definition. While I'm not happy at the prospect of diverting funds from roads, bridges and highways to the General Fund, ODOT needs to be more accountable for how it uses its funds. Maybe if it has to compete with other state agencies for limited resources we'll get more efficiency out of them.

M-33 - Yes

Piss off Ashcroft. Why should we worry whether some sick people want to get stoned anyway? The increased amount of pot actually allows patients to use it in a healthier manner because they won't have to smoke it anymore. If the medical pot is cheap and plentiful it can be incorporated into food dishes (much safer for, say a lung cancer victim to use).

M-34 - No

Piss off a bunch of tree worshippers. The last thing we should be doing is further restricting our dwindling timber economy.

M-35 - Yes

Piss off the trial lawyers. This is actually a tough call for me because I generally trust juries to get the answer correct, however, the Oregon Constitution prevents judges from reducing an unfair jury verdict (federal law allows review for verdicts that violate substantive due process, but nobody is really sure what that means). Half a million bucks for pain and suffering on negligent medical malpractice (plus provable economic damages) is a generous limit and prevents the sort of lottery winning awards that drive up malpractice rates to the point where OB/GYN's can't practice in rural areas. It doesn't limit wrongful death damages.

M-36 - No

Piss off the religious right. No need to rehash the arguments.

M-37 - Yes

Piss off Metro and 1000 Friends of Oregon. This will finally require a principle a fairness to be employed in our land use regulatory system. Might need a few tweaks in the legislature, but this version is statutory (unlike the original) so it can be smoothed out if necessary.

M-38 - Yes

Piss off the public employee unions (they don't want to see any attempt at privatization succeed). SAIF produces low private sector worker's comp rates by fully leveraging its state granted monopoly of public sector worker's comp. The result is that they can cherry pick in the private sector to drive out all competition without absorbing the same risks. Plus they don't have to pay taxes like a private sector competitor and all their employees are on PERS! Add to this the power they wield in the legislature with their quasi-public status and the fact that getting rid of them will free up a lot of money to shore up the state budget (for one cycle at least). The public sector monopoly does subsidize SAIF's private sector opportunities, so it may be a little rocky until enough competition fills both markets. Eventually, a true market in WC insurance should produce lower rates across all sectors (without the corruption).

Hmmm Jack. Interestingly enough, according to a commercial on Tv just moments ago, Erin Brokovich agrees with you on Measure 35.