There was an interesting ad in The O yesterday, touting all the wonderful advantages of the proposed takeover of Portland General Electric by the Texas Pacific Group. It seems Eric Parsons, the main bigwig over at Standard Insurance, thinks it's a peachy idea, and he's lending his name and photo to the effort, now before the Oregon Public Utility Commission.

The fine print down at the bottom of the ad is what's really interesting, though. Although the Standard exec is an unpaid volunteer endorser, apparently the Texas Pacific campaign has the financial backing of a little storefront outfit called the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

O.k., maybe I missed the meeting. What the heck is the Gates Foundation doing in this picture? I assume they're getting a piece of the deal? And this is what the foundation is spending its tax-exempt money on -- grassroots lobbying for a regulatory outcome? Ain't that America.