Hello, Oregon Progressive Party members and supporters. Welcome to the latest of our monthly newsletters on what we are up to and other items of interest to the Oregon Progressive community.

Democracy Lovers' Reception for Jeff Golden (July 19 in Portland)

WHAT: A fundraiser for Senator Jeff Golden (D-Ashland), Oregon’s champion of democracy in state government.

WHERE: 2201 NE 21st Ave, Portland 97212 (formerly known as the "Stop Trump" house). This will be a garden event hosted outside with COVID precautions.

WHY: Democracy itself is on the ballot in 2022. This is specifically true in Jeff Golden’s race for re-election to the Oregon Senate. Three reasons:

WHY: Democracy itself is on the ballot in 2022. This is specifically true in Jeff Golden’s race for re-election to the Oregon Senate.

This story was ignored by the corporate media:

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have each voted to increase the Biden record breaking war budget request for next year. The House version calls for $37 billion on top of the Biden request of $773 billion for war while the Senate proposal would increase the budget by $45 billion over the Biden request. In spite of these request increases, Republicans committee members have called for even larger increases. If the full House and the full Senate approve their different versions, the two chambers will form a joint committee to come up with a compromise for a final bill vote of both chambers. Read more here:  US congress Approves Record Military Budget

Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Mark Pocan have introduced legislation to move $100 billion from the Pentagon to various programs which benefit real people. The People Over the Pentagon Act of 2022 has been introduced (HR8040) with 15 co-sponsors; Rep. Earl Blumenauer is a co-sponsor but no other OR Rep. is listed yet. The bill has not been introduced into the Senate. 

The United States has about 750 military bases around the world in 80 foreign countries. The US in a major increase of its aggressive stance toward Russia wants to build 4 permanent military bases in Norway, very close to the Norway-Russia border. And now the Norwegian government has agreed.

This article from the Stop the War Coalition details some of the other steps NATA took at their recent summit in Spain that have stoked the flames of war in the proxy war being waged in Ukraine.

Did you know that the OR Progressive Party has a blog. It is available at https://www.progparty.org/blog.html

The latest postings include information on how the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are marking up the President's war budget by adding between $37 and $45 billion to the President already bloated budget request but notes that Republicans on those committees want larger increases than those supported by the Democrats. Also there is news of Andrew Yang and his Forward Party endorsement of Betty Johnson in her run as a non-affiliated candidate for governor.

And while on our website, check our new feature - the Feeds. Available at https://www.progparty.org/feeds.html You will find here the latest writings of various progressive voices, like Ralph Nader, Chris Hedges, Ted Rall, Reader Supported News, Socialist Alternative and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. Check it out.

At the OR Progressive Party monthly meeting on June 27, we interviewed three possible candidates to receive the Party nomination to be on the November 2022 OR ballot:

The above three people join those that we have already nominated for the November 2022 election:

David Delk for US Representative, 3rd District, running against Rep. Blumenauer. His website is from his earlier run against Rep. Blumenauer and will be updated in a few days.

Chris Henry for US Senate running against Sen. Ron Wyden. His website will be active in a few days.

Mark Gamba for OR State Representative District 41.

Note that the two endorsed candidates running for US Representative will be running on strong peace/no war/cut the funding of the American war complex platforms.

Oregon voters clearly want effective limits on political campaign contributions and spending in Oregon elections.

Oregon Honest Elections and the OR Progressive Party WILL NEED YOUR HELP getting a initiative petition of limits on the Nov 2024 ballot. Sign up here to help the OR Progressive Party help with the campaign gathering signatures when the time comes.

So we will file four new petition(s) soon and work to get them qualified for the November 2024 ballot. The four initiatives will have different language.

One will have contribution limits and disclosure requirements.

A second will be a protective constitutional amendment designed to prevent the OR legislature or other legislative bodies from making changes in limits enacted via the initiative process by requiring that any changes they make to be approved by the voters or be adopted by a 3/4 vote among the legislators and then subject to referendum.

A third will have the limits and disclosures plus a public funding small donor matching program, such as is used in Portland city elections.

And the forth will have the limits and disclosures coupled with a public funding campaign voucher program similar to what Seattle uses to provides candidates to run their campaigns.

Whatever we file will still be based on our principles: No loopholes. No special interest money in the election process. Transparency as to who is giving what to whom.

We need to now build a base of signature gatherers for this new effort. We also need to know who might help contribute funds for this new effort. So if you can do either, please sign up as a supporter of the initiatives we will file in July. You will be added to our growing list of supporters, funders and collectors of signatures.

Get ready for speakers, music, tabling, and organizing. Our hope for this day is to inspire and help you form connections as you learn and take action in the name of healthcare justice and Medicare for All. ASL interpreting provided. Masking is encouraged.

This is an important political moment. Reproductive rights and gender-affirming care are under attack, and the COVID-19 crisis has further exposed the broken state of healthcare in our country. Medicare for All is the first and necessary step toward solidifying care for all of those currently lacking access. People all over the country experience health inequities on the basis of race, language, income, immigration status, disability, and gender identity. The time has come for universal, comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare that is free at the point of service. No premiums, no co-pays, no deductibles. Everybody in, nobody out.

As an Oregon registered voter, you can give a tax refundable donation of up to $50 once a year and then get it all back as a credit on your Oregon income taxes. There is no reason to wait to the end of the year. Do it now.

Don't be fooled by the phony "Oregon Progressive Party" site on Facebook. That is not us.