Stunning video the country was never supposed to see

Three minute video. Secretary of State, John Kerry, introduces Admiral Ace Lyons to speak at a private meeting. He probably regrets doing so. (Hat tip: John D.)

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BETC abuses, excuses merit a full-scale accounting of what went wrong: Editorial

The Oregon Secretary of State's office was quick to assert to The Oregonian/OregonLive's Ted Sickinger that its inquiry into the state energy department's chronically troubled tax-credit program is "not an audit." --Which raises the obvious question: Why not? --It's hard to find a better example of serial mismanagement in government than the Business Energy Tax Credit program. While the failed Cover Oregon health exchange certainly gives BETC a run for its money, it can't match the energy department's impressive record of botching due diligence and selling out taxpayers.

Read more at the Oregonian
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

Oregon driver card bill headed to the November 2014 ballot

Note: Jeff Kropf was extremely unhappy with the highlighted sentence below. The numbers of verifiable signatures were higher than shown in this report. He asks supporters of the initiative to read the article and comment if they believe the reporting was biased.

Voters will weigh in next year on a bill granting “driver’s cards” to Oregonians unable to prove they are in the U.S. legally. ✧ The Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 833 earlier this year, but opponents, led by Oregonians for Immigration Reform [OFIR] and Protect Oregon Driver Licenses [PODL], vowed to refer it to the ballot, hoping voters would overturn the law. ✧ Earlier this month the groups submitted nearly 71,000 signatures to refer the measure to voters and Friday morning Secretary of State Kate Brown announced on Twitter that the referral qualified for the ballot. ✧ The measure barely qualified for the ballot. Of the 70,973 unverified signatures submitted to the Secretary of State’s office, 58,291 were validated. Supporters of the referral needed 58,142 valid signatures to qualify. Read more at OregonLive... Read More......

John Kerry sails in Senate voting

1/29/2012, WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed President Obama’s nomination of Senator John F. Kerry to be secretary of state on Tuesday, handing the Massachusetts Democrat a redemptive career victory that ensconces him in an elite echelon of national leadership nine years after his failed bid for the presidency. The 94-to-3 vote was the final hurdle for Kerry, whose nomination roared through the Senate after Obama’s first choice of UN Ambassador Susan Rice ­encountered stiff GOP opposition and never got off the ground. Read more at Boston Globe... Read More......

Voters’ guide controversy: "Yes" invades "no" on tax measures

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(This is CHEATING with the blessings of the Secretary of State! --bc)

KATU: The "Vote Yes for Oregon" campaign in support of two tax increase measures on January's ballot intentionally printed two arguments in the section of the voters’ pamphlet reserved for the other point of view.

The Benton County Republicans recommend a "NO" vote on Measures 66 & 67! Read More......

Robert Strange McNamara dead at 93

FOX NEWS reports that [the former Secretary of Defense] “died at home in his sleep Monday morning, his wife Diana … said he had been in failing health for some time. Known as a policymaker with a fixation for statistical analysis, McNamara was president of the Ford Motor Co. when President John F. Kennedy asked him to head the Pentagon in 1961." Read More......

Bill Bradbury fails to follow his own election rules

Oregon Catalyst, Wednesday, April 16, 2008, by Dave Hunnicutt

HEY BILL, IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW YOUR OWN RULES, THEN WHY SHOULD WE?

As the state's top election official, you'd think Secretary of State Bill Bradbury would understand and obey all election laws and rules, wouldn't you?

After all, Bradbury never seems to have a problem "interpreting" the rules when it comes to imposing fines on unsuspecting chief petitioners or political action committees, and he sure can come up with clever "interpretations" when it comes time to knock out a few hundred signatures to keep a conservative measure off the ballot. Continued...

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