Jeff Merkley Needs to Explain his Out Of State Campaign Expenditures

The new local online news organization Golocalpdx.com has published an analysis of campaign expenditures made by Jeff Merkley and found 78% of his money is spent outside Oregon, which blew my mind.  Furthermore, his campaign has stonewalled the news organization and:

"refused to answer any questions regarding his out-of-Oregon spending and refused to answer questions about his or his consultants' relationships/ownership with any of the companies receiving millions of dollars of campaign accounts."

 I await an explanation of this revelation, and I hope other local media picks the story up too.

Oregon Political Attack Ads and Dark Money

The outside Koch brothers have targeted Senator Jeff Merkley and are running attack ads in Oregon.  They launched an estimated $3.6 million television campaign of 30 second ads, courtesy of a Koch controlled group called freedompartners which is pouring money into the election.  The Oregonian Politifact page has of course rated the ad as false.

And what about the organization?  On its membership page, it has this to say, not very enlightening.

With more than 200 engaged members, Freedom Partners is a chamber of commerce that advances its members’ interest in promoting the principles of a free market and a free society.

The board of Directors of the organization is tied closely to Koch, as an example.  "Dr. Richard Fink is an executive vice president and member of the board of directors of Koch Industries, Inc.  Additionally, Rich is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC, which provides legal, government, philanthropy, and community relations services to Koch companies.  Rich also serves as the president of the Charles G. Koch Foundation, and a director of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation.  Rich earned his PhD from New York University and M.A. from UCLA.  He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in economics from Rutgers University."

More to come I'm sure

Climate Change Senate Marathon

The US Senate Democrats (28 of 55) are holding an overnight talkathon on the reality of climate change and urging legislation to deal with it, which sadly won't happen any time soon given the poisonous divisions in congress and the massive money behind the fossil fuel industry.  Both Oregon Senators Wyden and Merkley are in attendance. 

The full list of Senators attending are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md.; Bernard Sanders, I-Vt.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Mark Udall, D-Colo.; Tom Udall, D-N.M.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Al Franken, D-Minn.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Angus King, I-Maine; Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Edward Markey, D-Mass.

Here are some interesting stats on the GOP point of view on Climate Change.

Republicans going to bed

Predictably, Republicans in Congress will not be joining in tonight’s events on the Senate floor. A majority of Republicans in Congress deny the existence of climate change or oppose action on climate change. The Center for American Progress has done a good job tracking congressional Republicans’ views on climate change.
By their count, 56% of Republicans in the house deny the existence of climate change or oppose action on climate change, and 65% of the Republican caucus in the Senate.
The numbers are even higher in the Republican leadership:

• 90 percent of the Republican leadership in both House and Senate deny climate change
• 17 out of 22 Republican members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, or 77 percent, are climate deniers
• 22 out of 30 Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, or 73 percent deny the reality of climate change
• 100 percent of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Republicans have said climate change is not happening or that humans do not cause it

Blueberry Extortion Ruled Illegal

The US Department of Labor investigates minimum wage violations, and rightly so, but they have a tool called the "Hot Goods Order" which they used in 2012 against three Oregon Blueberry farm operations.  The tool was employed in the 1930's to shut down garment sweat shops, but it is a deadly weapon when used on perishable crops, and a federal judge agreed it was overreach in those circumstances in a suit brought by Pan-American Berry Growers and B&G Ditchen.

Attorney Tim Bernaseck represents both companies. He says his clients were faced with a choice: admit guilt, waive their right to an appeal and pay more than $200,000 in fines and back wages or let millions of dollars worth of berries rot.
Bernaseck said, “I mean it’s really unbelievable that they did this and thought that it was ok to do that. It’s just not the way that our government works, or should work. And we’re just thankful that the judge called them on it.”
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas Coffin wrote the orders unfairly stacked the deck against the farms. The department did not respond to a request for comment. The government has 14 days to appeal.

Oregons' congressmen and State officials also blasted the DOL choice of enforcement.

A retired federal Wage and Hour Division investigator who reviewed two of the cases for an attorney representing the farmers said the agency's action was hasty and alarmingly incomplete.

"They put a noose around the neck of these farmers right off. That is not what Wage and Hour is about," said Manuel Lopez of Eugene, who was a labor investigator for 27 years.

Oregon officials are furious. The state's labor commissioner, agriculture director and most of the state's congressional delegation asked the labor department to explain its action.

Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian was the most direct. In an Aug. 15 letter to the federal agency, he said seizing perishable crops probably violates the constitutional search and seizure and due process rights of farmers "who have yet to be found guilty of anything."  In an Aug. 17 letter, the congressional delegation said the federal Department of Labor "may have abandoned normal due process mechanisms." Use of a "hot goods" order is reserved for cases in which farm labor violations are "willful, egregious and/or repeated," the letter said.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley signed the letter, as did representatives Kurt Schrader, Peter DeFazio, Greg Walden and Suzanne Bonamici.

Merkley Vrs Monsanto

Jeff Merkley is continuing his effort to have the Monsanto Protection Act die a proper death, but the GOP House members have other plans.  There is a renewal of the act buried in the Continuing Resolution to fund the government that was passed by the house, and Merkley wants it killed in the Senate.  In related news, a Washington State farmer growing alfalfa for export had his crop rejected for containing GM alfalfa, an apparent contamination of his fields seed stock.  Alfalfa GM seeds are not distributed by Monsanto.

Alfalfa is America's fourth largest crop, behind corn, wheat and soybeans, and the main feedstock for the dairy industry. A confirmed case of contamination could hurt the organic dairy industry, which is now worth $26bn a year, forcing farmers to find new sources of GM-free feed. It could also hurt a growing export industry. Alfalfa is increasingly sold for export but buyers, such as Japan, do not want GM products.
Campaigners said the suspected case of contamination provided further evidence of the difficulties of containing GM crops.
"It's telling that these things keep happening repeatedly," said George Kimbrell, senior attorney at the Center for Food and Safety in Portland, Oregon. "It's a systemic problem. We have a failed regulatory system for these crops."

Oregon supports Repealing Citizens United Ruling

Oregon has become the 16th State to approve repeal of the disastrous Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court.  In addition Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio are already co-sponsors of a bill in Congress to do the same thing.  Hopefully sometime down the road our land will be freed of this curse.

Spying on America

The Obama Administration went into spin-control mode with the outlandish claim that

President Obama told reporters Friday that members of Congress are repeatedly briefed on how these programs are conducted and that they were approved by bipartisan majorities. “What you’ve got is two programs that were originally authorized by Congress, have been repeatedly authorized by Congress,” he  said.

That is an outright lie according to Jeff Merkley (okay he didn't use the lie word), but here is what he had to say about who knew what in congress.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley says he had no idea the National Security Agency was tapping into the servers of top Internet companies, and was only aware that the NSA was monitoring phone records after he specifically sought that information out.
“It was not something that was briefed outside the Intelligence Committee,” he said of the government’s access to phone company data. “I had special permission to find out about the program. It raised concerns for me.”
On Now with Alex Wagner Friday, Merkley said he was prohibited from saying anything about the program because it was classified. “The part I was aware of was that there was a broad vacuum sweeping up data across America. The details were another step removed from what I found out when I asked what was going on.”

 The administration is lying.  Furthermore they are opening a criminal investigation to find out which of the millions of people who knew, leaked it.  I hope they don't find out, the leaker should get a medal, and take possession of the Nobel prize given to Obama.

ABC News says spying in the US is legal

I'm taking Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) off my Christmas Card List, along with ABC News as they all are saying the massive spying going on every day is "Legal", and "nothing new".  The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution is road-kill if this is legal.  Let's hustle this right up to the Supreme Court, if they rule it legal then they've publicly nullified the Constitution and declared civil liberties irrelevant.

I've already shared my thoughts with my members in Congress, and Senator Jeff Merkley is supporting a petition demanding a Congressional investigation.  Last time I looked they had over 15,000 signatures.  Feel free to add yours.

GM Food Labeling by Bernie Sanders Shot Down

What do Sherrod Brown, Al Franken, Carl Levin, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten GIllibrand and Elizabeth Warren all have in common?  They voted against an amendment sponsored by Bernie Sanders to allow states to require foods containing GMO ingredients to be labeled as such.  That is a stunning betrayal by these progressives and Bernie was pissed, decrying the corporate-controlled Senate.

I am frankly stunned at the votes, especially Warren.  In my view she has some explaining to do, as do all the Democrats who voted against it.  Jeff Merkley was a co-sponsor and both he and Ron Wyden voted for the amendment.

Monsanto Protection Act

A single GOP Senator apparently blocked consideration of an amendment to the Farm Act in the Senate.  Jeff Merkley wanted debate on repealing the "Monsanto Protection Act", but it was blocked.  Merkley said:

And what did this legislation do? This legislation, the Monsanto Protection Act, this legislation does something that I think most would find astounding. It allows the unrestricted sale and planning of new variants of genetically modified seeds that a court has ruled have not been properly examined for their effect on other farmers, the environment, and human health. Now obviously this raises a lot of concerns about the impact on farmers and the impact on human health.
But there’s even more. the fact that the act instructs seed producers to ignore a ruling of the court is equally troubling. It raises profound questions about the constitutional separation of powers and the ability of our courts to hold agencies accountable to the law and their responsibilities. I can tell you that this process and this policy has provoked outrage across the country.

 We should be outraged, hopefully the GOP is listening.

Wyden Tiptoes Past the Landmines Into Logging Issue

I'm not sure if this press release from Ron Wyden has any substance or is just fluff, he has announced his plan for a "framework" to design future legislation, but no legislation at this time.  It is full of good platitudes and congratulations from lots of people, but where's the beef?

The goal of this announcement is to get the greatest amount of local input while fleshing out the legislation.

Sounds great, but tickets on the Titanic were a hot item once upon a time too.  Lots of people from Kitzhaber to Merkley to Joe Gonyea III, Partner, Timber Products Company bubbled about how great this was, but the heavy lifting is still on the horizon.

The Oregon and California Railroad Reinvestment Lands, known as O&C Lands, are 2.4 million acres of federal land spread across 18 Oregon counties and largely managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
“Oregon’s O&C lands are truly unique among federal land holdings and deserve separate treatment within the confines of the O&C Act,” Wyden said. “At the same time, forest managers have learned a great deal about conservation, clean air and water and habitat preservation since the Act was adopted and it must be updated to reflect that progress.  This update must also give new life to the original guarantee of jobs and timber production in the Act.”
Wyden is asking for specific input on which O&C lands will be designated for sustainable harvest and which will be set aside for permanent conservation. He plans to refine that map over the summer with input from representatives of local communities, federal, state and local forestry experts, tribal and conservation leaders. Senator Wyden is also seeking input on the rules for carrying out both sustainable harvest and preservation over the long term.

 We got a long way to go before this one is in the bag, this issue has been gridlocked for years.

FBI Secret spying on US citizens ruled Unconstitutional

A Federal Judge in San Francisco has sided with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a California Telecommunications company, Credo, in declaring the secretive FBI spying authorized by the Patriot Act unconstitutional.  Michael Kieschnick, chief executive of Credo Mobile, hailed the judge's order as "the most significant court victory for our constitutional rights since the dark day when George W Bush signed the Patriot Act".

District Judge Susan Illston held that the law unconstitutionally barred the service providers who receive the letters from discussing them publicly until the government gave them permission. That "gag rule" effectively prevented the public from debating a controversial exercise in governmental power even after any justification for the secrecy had passed, Illston ruled. She also took issue with the power the law gives the FBI to stop a court from ordering disclosure, saying it violated the Constitution's separation of powers.
Illston ordered the FBI to stop issuing national security letters and not to enforce the gag rule on any previously issued letter. But she prevented her decision from going into effect for 90 days to give the Obama administration a chance to appeal.

 The FBI had gone wild since given their Secret Police powers.  Google received between zero and 999 NSLs in 2009, as well as 2010, 2011, and 2012. That's not a lot of useful data, but it's more than we knew even one day ago.  We are pretty sure the number is a lot bigger than zero, probably in the hundreds. 
The FBI made 16,511 national-security-letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011, the latest data available. The FBI uses the letters to collect unlimited kinds of sensitive, private information, such as financial and phone records.  In case you were looking the other way, The FBI made 16,511 national-security-letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011

In Oregon, Ron Wyden voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act, but tried to modify its more odious provisions, while Jeff Merkley and Earl Blumenauer voted against it on Civil Liberties grounds.. 

HRC / Jeff Merkley Petition

In more than half of the states in this country, you can be called into your boss's office and handed your walking papers – just for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

It's easy, it's legal, and it's wrong.

But with the simple stroke of a pen, President Obama could continue his strong leadership on equality and expand protections against workplace discrimination to more than 16 million Americans – 20% of our nation's workforce.

All it would take is an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Tell President Obama to protect all LGBT employees of government contractors by joining the HRC petition.

 

Gay Rights

We have a number of National Treasures in Oregon, and  Senator Jeff Merkley is one of them.  He is urging the Boy Scouts to admit gays to their ranks.  Good for him.

Filibuster still intact

In a parody of governance that more resembled the wreck of the Titanic, the Senate leaders reached a deal that insures business as usual and will still enable government to be as dysfunctional as before.  They rearranged a couple of rules about when a filibuster can occur, but all in all nothing has changed.  All the Senate Democrats gushed over the deal, probably because Reid and McConnell finally agreed on something, which almost guarantees it will be ineffective.  Ron Wyden signaled he was sorry for Jeff, but sounded like he would vote for the change.  Sad day for reform hopes, with sadder days in the senate in coming months.

Justice Denied, Too Big to Jail

I am appalled that this program is not on the front page of every newspaper and news program in the land and a major source of scandal for the Obama Administration.  I have detailed before how Jeff Merkley has demanded an explanation from Eric Holder about the "Too big to jail" policy at the DOJ, and so far has had no response.  This is a total breakdown in the rule of law in our country.

PBS Frontline "The Untouchables" program did an hour show detailing how the Obama Administration has disabled the rule of law for Wall Street.  As this article in Salon shows, it is now an official policy that no large bankers will go to jail.

"Rooted in historical comparison, it contrasts how the Reagan administration prosecuted thousands of bankers after the now-quaint-looking S&L scandal with how the Obama administration betrayed the president’s explicit promise to “hold Wall Street accountable” and refused to prosecute a single banker connected to 2008′s apocalyptic financial meltdown.
The piece by PBS reporter Martin Smith looks at how Obama has driven federal prosecutions of financial crimes down to a two-decade low. It also documents the rampant and calculated mortgage securities fraud perpetrated by the major Wall Street banks, who, not coincidentally, were using some of the profits they made to become among President Obama’s biggest campaign donors."

The awesomeness of Ron Wyden

I am sometimes vexed with Ron Wyden, especially when he fails to agree 100% with my thoughts, but I have to hand it to him in his unwavering efforts to preserve our civil liberties in Congress, especially when the government has granted itself the right of warrantless wiretapping and secretive rules on drone killings.  He along with our other Senator Jeff Merkley has kept up the pressure on the administration to provide better oversight and transparency of the rules governing spying on US citizens, and the rules of due process when a US citizen is targeted in a drone strike.  Some recent articles on his efforts are here and here.

Obama Quietly Signs Abusive Spy Bill He Once Vowed to Eliminate

This move extends the life of the warrant-less spying for 5 years, meaning nobody knows who will be in charge after the Obama presidency ends in 4 years.  The ACLU sued to challenge the law’s constitutionality.  Ron Wyden commented “This is the last opportunity for the next five years for the Congress to exercise a modest measure of real oversight over this intelligence surveillance law.”, but his proposed amendment was shot down, along with one by Jeff Merkley.  Here is a record of how the Senate voted on the bill.  Be sure to let your Senator know what you think of their vote.

FISA Secret Government

You Are Being Watched, FISA was about to expire, but in a bizarre bipartisan display of unity in the US Senate and House, it will continue.  I don't know what motivates the sickness that is FISA, but despite amendments offered by Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to get a modicum of protection for civil rights, the House, Senate, and President Obama all want it to continue operating in total secrecy.  This act is opposed by the ACLU as being unconstitutional and a violation of the 4th Amendment (Illegal Search on innocent citizens).

Shame on Dianne Feinstein, Harry Reid, and President Obama, this is a dark day for US Citizens.  Thanks to Wyden and Merkley for standing up for us.

Most Valuable Senator Merkley

Senator Jeff Merkley has surprised everyone by being both progressive and practical and as WW reports, that earned him an award for "Most Valuable Progressive Senator in 2012" by The Nation magazine, joining such notables as Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown.  I congratulate him for his hard work and wisdom.