What do Public employee union leadership, industrial polluters, traded sector (the largest) corporations, and social conservative organizations all have in common?
They want to impose policies on Oregonians that most Oregonians don’t support.
How do they do that? They exert control over some part of the Democratic or Republican agendas ( or in some cases, such as traded sector corporations both Democratic and Republican policies on special tax breaks.) They all understand that the more expensive political races are, the more money politicians need, and the more beholden they are to their largest contributors. That means the contributors can ask for virtually anything regardless of whether it’s good public policy. They also seek to narrow the number of actual powerful decision makers by making entry into the decision making club as difficult as possible.
Their tactics:
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They all support the undemocratic way we elect people to office (closed primaries, first past the post voting, major/minor/non affiliated differentiation)
They all support gerrymandering
They all oppose campaign finance reform
These “special interests” all oppose any attempt by independent voters to organize into a political force for “general interests”.
They support the revolving door the regulators and the regulated by financing the political operatives who make their livings running the Democratic and Republican Parties, through lobbying and consulting agreements and offers of private employment.
They will not support any potential candidate for office that threatens their power.
Most of the media has been cowed into believing reform and change is impossible. Derision towards reformers by insiders and “experts” and concerns about continued advertising and access play a part.
The result: Oregon has some of the biggest gaps between policies the people want, and what policies we get.
