Jeff Merkley: We Need to Change Nation's Direction

Editorial: We Need to Change Nation's Direction
By Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, from the Oregonian
10/11/08

During the Bush administration we've seen what happens when energy policy is written by oil companies, health care policy is written by insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and Wall Street is allowed to set its own rules with no oversight.

If you want to change the direction of the country, then you have to change the Senate. If you want to change the Senate, then you have to change senators.

I grew up in a timber family, became the first in my family to go to college and have spent much of my career standing up to special interests and delivering for children, working families and consumers.

As speaker of the Oregon Legislature with just a one-vote majority, I fought the pharmaceutical companies to make medicine more affordable, took on the oil companies to invest in renewable energy, protected taxpayers by restoring fiscal responsibility to government, and so much more.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1. First, we brought business leaders and members of both parties together to balance the budget and create a rainy day fund. We stood up for taxpayers by cutting taxes for working families and ending the estate tax for family-owned forests and farms. And we protected consumers, kicking the payday loan sharks out of Oregon.

2. We protected our children and families from crime. We added 139 more Oregon troopers to our roads and passed tough new laws to crack down on Internet sex predators. And we gave law enforcement more tools to shut down meth labs.

3. We did right by our seniors. We made prescription drugs more affordable, protected seniors from identity theft and increased funding for quality, long-term care by more than $300 million.

4. I worked across party lines to put Oregon at the forefront of the green economy. We created a renewable energy tax credit that is already creating new jobs at companies like Sequential Pacific Biodiesel and Sanyo.

5. Finally, I brought Democrats and Republicans together to invest in education. We increased funding by 18 percent, doubled scholarships for college and technical schools, and expanded Head Start for thousands of Oregon children.

I'm proud of the work we've done in Oregon, but we have tremendous work to do to repair the damage of the last eight years and build a brighter future for this country.

FUTURE PRIORITIES

1. We need to create living-wage jobs. We must invest in infrastructure and end tax laws that subsidize the construction and operation of foreign factories. We must reform trade policies, demanding enforceable labor and environmental standards. We must restore fair taxes, ending the giveaways to big oil and drug companies and the most powerful special interests. And we must cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans and make it more affordable for families to care for their children and seniors, buy a home and send their children to college.

Like Sen. Ron Wyden, I opposed the $700 billion blank check for Wall Street because, while we need to act, this plan failed to address the real causes of the financial crisis. I will work with our next president and the new Congress to restore accountability on Wall Street and provide real protections to taxpayers and homeowners. And I will protect consumers by ending "gotcha" credit card practices and predatory lending.

2. We must end the war in Iraq. Washington has been quick to send our troops into harm's way and slow to honor our veterans when they return home. That's wrong. I have a responsible plan to end the war, bring our troops home and fulfill the commitment to our veterans and men and women in uniform.

3. We need to scrap the energy policy written by the oil companies and end America's dependence on foreign oil. We need to invest in renewable energy production, promote energy efficiency and support research and development. This is critical for our national security, to combat global warming and to create green-collar jobs.

I believe and hope Sen. Barack Obama will be the next president, and he will need a strong majority in the U.S. Senate to overcome Republican filibusters. I will work with Sen. Wyden and our new Democratic president to achieve the change America needs.

Posted October 11, 2008
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