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Oregon voters Tuesday in Hood River County delivered a stunning defeat to Nestlé.

Submitted by DavidDelk on Mon, 05/23/2016 - 22:45

In the epic battle between Nestlé and people around the world to protect their access to water, little Hood River County in Oregon just achieved a major and unique victory. It's a win for the public water commons and the protection of water for nature. And Oregon Progressive Party was part of this victory having supported the initiative campaign.

On-Line Voter Registration Now Available

Submitted by info on Wed, 05/18/2016 - 01:35

If you have an Oregon driver's license or State ID card, you can now Register to Vote On-Line or change your existing registration (address, party membership, etc.).

If not, you can download and print a PDF voter registration form, fill it out, sign it, and mail it in.

Download Oregon's voter registration form

Descargar el registro de votantes de Oregon forma

Print out the form. Mark the circle next to Progressive Party. Sign it. Mail it to your county elections office (addresses are on the second page of the form). Don't forget the 49 cent stamp (or a "forever stamp")! You do not need to send in the second page of the form.

If you are already registered and are simply changing your registration to the Progressive Party, you do not need to send in any of the ID materials mentioned on the form (driver's license, etc.).

Also, if you go to the county elections office or the Post Office to get a registration form, it may not offer you the choice of the Progressive Party. At the county elections office, be sure to ask for the correct form--the one that includes the Progressive Party--and ask them to offer only that form to everyone.

Update: Voter registration forms listing the Progressive Party are now available from the Oregon Secretary of State, who is distributing them to county elections offices. But some of those offices are still trying to use the old forms.

Oregon Progressive Party Endorses More Candidates

Submitted by info on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 15:17

In addition to its earlier endorsements of Brad Avakian for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State, Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination for President, and David Schor for Mayor of Portland, the Oregon Progressive Party (OPP) has endorsed these candidates running in the May 17 primary election:

  • Julian Bell in the Democratic Party primary for Governor
  • Dave McTeague in Democratic Party primary for U.S. Rep District 5
  • Tawna Sanchez in the Democratic Party primary for House District 43
  • Walt Trandum in the Democratic Party primary for House District 52

"These candidates support policies that are consistent with the platform of the Oregon Progressive Party," said Liz Trojan, a member of the OPP State Council.

OPP Endorses David Schor for Mayor of Portland

Submitted by info on Fri, 05/06/2016 - 00:46
The Oregon Progressive Party (OPP) has endorsed David Schor, running for Mayor of Portland in the May 17 primary election.
 
"All the mayoral candidates have acknowledged that affordable housing is a strong need in Portland," said Liz Trojan, a member of the OPP State Council. "Only David has identified a source of funds to deal with the problem – a tax on those who do not currently pay social security tax on their incomes over the annual income cap of $118,500 per person."
 
"We still suffer from the too-big-to-fail bank-induced Great Recession.  David is the only candidate running who speaks continuously to the need for a municipal bank," said OPP Chair David Delk.
 

Jason Kafoury, Secretary of OPP, said, “With David, we get a true progressive who understands that taking on real campaign finance reform and the massive income inequality in our community are the top priorities for our next mayor."

Oregon takes major step for transgender equality

Submitted by DavidDelk on Thu, 05/05/2016 - 23:50

I never expected to post an Oregonian article but good news needs to be shared. Transgendered youth in Oregon today received important protections from the Oregon Dept. of Education: Oregon lays out sweeping protections for transgender students

OPP Endorses Bernie Sanders in Democratic Party's Primary

Submitted by info on Sun, 04/24/2016 - 21:53

The Oregon Progressive Party (OPP) has endorsed Bernie Sanders for the Oregon Democratic primary election to conclude on May 17.

"Bernie is clearly the most progressive candidate in the Democratic race," said Liz Trojan, a member of the OPP State Council.  "His stances on important issues are quite consistent with our platform."

Here is a summary of the Oregon Progressive Party's Platform

"Bernie is the only candidate in the Democratic Party's primary who is not dependent on big money from Wall Street, fossil fuel companies, drug companies, military contractors, and others who profit from human misery," said OPP Chair David Delk.

"Bernie has been a true progressive for decades and is actually still not a member of the Democratic Party," noted Jason Kafoury, Secretary of OPP.  "He has always been elected as non-affiliated with a political party, and Vermont has no party registration system at all."

Oregon Progressive Party members cannot vote in the Democratic primary, unless they change their registrations to Democratic.  Doing that, however, can jeopardize the continued existence of the Oregon Progressive Party, which needs to maintain a certain level of membership in order to be recognized as a political party under Oregon law.  "If you switch your registration to Democratic in order to vote for Bernie Sanders, please switch it back to "Progressive Party" after the May 17 primary," added Jason Kafoury.

OPP Endorses Brad Avakian in Sec. of State Primary

Submitted by DavidDelk on Sat, 04/23/2016 - 22:10

Avakian Endorses IP-77 Statewide Measure for Oregon Campaign Finance Constitutional Amendment

Brad Avakian, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for Secretary of State of Oregon, has sought and received the endorsement of the Oregon Progressive Party (OPP) in the primary election.

Avakian has endorsed IP-77, a proposed statewide ballot measure that would amend the Oregon Constitution to allow limits on campaign contributions and expenditures and mandatory “taglines” on political advertisements, identifying their major funders.

While Oregon has the same "free speech" clause as 36 other states, the Oregon Supreme Court is the only state court anywhere in America that has concluded that it somehow prevents governments from adopting limits on political contributions. Further, the Oregon Legislature's attorney ("Legislative Counsel) last year called into question whether requiring political ads to identify their funders is somehow also negated by the same "free speech" clause -- again a unique interpretation. Eight states already require political ads to list their major funders, including California and Washington.

"Among the Democratic candidates, Brad Avakian is most attuned to the value of minor parties and the competition they provide for the Democrats and Republicans," said Jason Kafoury, Secretary of the Oregon Progressive Party. "He is also the only one who has endorsed IP-77, and that is very important to us."

Oregon Progressive Party members cannot vote in the Democratic primary, unless they change their registrations to Democratic by April 26. Doing that, however, can jeopardize the continued existence of the Oregon Progressive Party, which needs to maintain a certain level of membership in order to be recognized as a political party under Oregon law. "If you switch your registration to Democratic in order to vote for Bernie Sanders, please switch it back to Progressive Party after the May 17 primary," added David Delk, Chair of OPP.

OPP Supports Democracy Spring!

Submitted by info on Wed, 04/13/2016 - 18:46

OPP Spokesmodel Published Article on How Trump Will Not be President

Submitted by info on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 19:31

Counterpunch on March 1 published an article by Dan Meek on why Donald Trump will not be President. The Republican Convention can deny him the nomination, even if he enters the convention with what he thinks is a majority of the delegates. Recall that the 1968 Democratic Convention nominated a candidate who had received exactly zero votes in the primaries (Hubert Humphrey), as the police rioted outside the convention hall in Chicago.  And by the time of the convention, it will be too late for Trump to get on state ballots as a non-affiliated candidate.  If he were smart, he would start gathering the necessary signatures now.

Rubio Also Feeds Off of Phony Colleges

Submitted by info on Fri, 02/26/2016 - 18:23

In the debate yesterday, Marco Rubio noted the 3 lawsuits for fraud against Trump University. "TU" was a "private college" that existed for 5 years (2005-10) and enrolled about 10,000 students over that period.

What Trump did not know, however, is that Rubio has been the spokesmodel for the phony private college industry, receiving large campaign contributions (over $27,000) from executives of Corinthian College and others, and intervening with the U.S. Department of Education to stop the Department from sanctioning those private colleges. As Bloomberg News reported (April 29, 2015):

Last summer, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida asked the U.S. Department of Education to "demonstrate leniency" toward Corinthian Colleges by permitting the wealthy for-profit company to continue accessing millions of dollars in federal financial aid while it was cooperating with a federal investigation.

Ten months later, the company shuttered its remaining 28 campuses, instantly displacing some 16,000 students just days after it was fined $30 million by the Department of Education for a scheme involving "confirmed cases of misrepresentation of job placement rates" for as many as 947 students. The decision to close shop came after years of federal and state investigations into the company.

So, while Trump no doubt obtained money by selling his name to "Trump University," Rubio has been the henchman for phony private colleges.  The pot and the kettle come to mind here.