Op Ed: Big Bacco Muscle
Still Manages to Manipulate
Oregon Legislative Session

Logical decisions for Oregonians denied as heavy-duty corporate dollars blatantly wields their power.

Art courtesy: skeptically.org

(SALEM) - No matter how you slice it, the Friday-furor at this session of our ostensibly “mucked-out and modernized” Legislature, the “inside-story” comes out the same: Heavy-duty dollars still outweigh the balance of informed, responsible and conscience-driven electoral choices.

Some are there who still do not, even yet, understand that “this house belongs to the people” -- not to the corporations contending to control their costs, no matter what the consequences to the commonwealth.

Given the chance to respond reasonably, in full rational-and-informed fashion, to what is absolutely, irrevocably and immediately demanded for the welfare of Oregon’s children, an undisciplined group of electees chose to continue the path of corporate control - and the heavily-damaging consequence.

The consequence, unfortunately, involves much more than the small --and probably temporary-- “win” for that bottom-line cost of any pack of cigs. That small-cost, so consequently now opposed in its imposition is mostly a mirror for the much larger image of control-where-it-counts.

It’s a simple system: You pay for what you want, and then you get it --or “all hell breaks loose” -- legislatively-speaking, you understand.

Immediate-action is never, ever, mentioned nor does it even matter: the inevitable and costly personal-political consequence is so clearly evident language is simply not required, either spoken-or-otherwise noted.

Does anyone honestly question this situation, seen by so many now in Oregon as the actual and very threatening status-in-place in our key state-governing mechanism?

The bill-at-hand, additional tax on cigarettes-sold with monies generated mostly going to solid prevention-action, is merely a mechanism for proving up the power of concentrated corporate control.

That’s when you get threatened and some actual walkaway(s) from the Legislative action-floor: Usually complete with locked-door “persuasion” perpetrated to prevent precisely that very revealing reflection of realities.

And that’s when you (always!) get those self-serving “action-attitude” statement(s) invariably immediately rushed to the public record by both parties: That’s a peculiar part to the still-permeating political-game/playing, even though it never really succeeds in fooling even the most-dense among voters.

It is widely and wisely declared that this is the fatal circumstance for the current key session of the Oregon Legislature: Precisely what all-concerned long ago promised “the people” would “never, no-how, NOT AGAIN!” happen in this key mechanism for any State progress:
“Your fully-functioning --and now fully-funded-- Legislature is now, finally, looking to cooperate closely and in clean operation for the ultimate commonweal” has such a potentially soothing impact, on so many, for so strong a set of reasons/rationally, that it will never be abandoned even when so cruelly revealed as-now.

But that cannot --and, eventually, will never-- prevent the extremely high prevalence of strong correction, remedial, and preventive action-by-voters.

Not even the most-removed, partially-focused, and potentially non-active groups within Oregon voting populations can overlook and ignore what is now, again, obviously disrupting and despoiling the long-recognized potential party-cooperation demanded for desperate remedial actions-now, on so many crucial-issue and circumstantial matters.

IF this is what we get for ongoing close-attention and continued full-communication with elected representatives, ostensibly chosen for their pledged-and legal responsibilities, then again establishing renewed credibilities by their open and oft-repeated promises of cooperation, the answer returns rapidly and with strong insistence:
“Clean house or commit to continued deprivation for what Oregon must now have, if the State is ever-again to Fly With Her Own Wings!”