Primaries are coming soon to Oregon May 18, 2010 and former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has thrown his hat into the ring for the Governors race. This candidate is like many from Oregon, chock full of progressive ideology and ideas yet has to primary against a former Governor on the Democratic ticket. That being the case, this candidate is not being bankrolled by as many in the loop groups as the former Governor is. As a matter of fact this candidate despite wholehearted grassroots support is falling woefully behind in his fundraising compared to the other candidate receiving Party, PAC, and corporate donations into thousands and tens of thousands of dollars a pop.
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Now the Bill Bradbury for Governor 2010 campaign may not have a lot of donation money but financial support isn't everything when it comes to politics. Ideology and endorsements go a long way towards bringing a worthy politician to the attention of voters. And Bill Bradbury has both of those in abundance. The headliner for Bill Bradbury's endorsements is the number one green politician in this country Al Gore a very appropriate endorsement for the greenest state in the Union. If you follow the link to the announcement of this endorsement in Blue Oregon you will find this quote:
Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore announced his endorsement of Bradbury at this morning's sold out fundraiser at the Left Bank. While it was no secret Gore was supportive of Bradbury's campaign, this morning's unequivocal endorsement was icing on the cake and thrilling to those of us in the energized audience. From Gore:
I’m proud to endorse Bill Bradbury as the next Governor of this state. Let me just say you won’t hear a negative word of any kind about John Kitzhaber, a distinguished former Governor who served honorably in the past in this state.
I am here to speak for Bill Bradbury and tell you what I know about this man. And to tell you what I know about this man has meant to me personally as a friend of extremely strong character, commitment and leadership.
But that's not all, Howard Dean has good things to say about Bradbury as well and has endorsed him. Here is a You Tube link as I have not ascertained how to correctly embed the video.
Those are two very heavy hitters putting their names on the candidacy they would most like to see succeed, for good reason. There are three main themes Bill Bradbury wants to have his Governorship remembered for. The three E's; economy, education, and environment.
The economy is in terrible shape because of unsafe policies at the Federal level have made our ability to save and invest for not only our individual futures but the futures of state and local governments less reliable than a gaming table in Los Vegas. There was a prolonged lobbying effort on many levels of governance and accountability by the very same actors that now are asking the Federal government to bail them out of risky investment practices. Bill Bradbury has a solution to this problem of unstable large banking institutions, The Bank of Oregon.
The Bank of Oregon
Small- and medium-sized businesses are the engine that drives our economy and in recent years we have stopped providing fuel for that engine. Due to fiscal irresponsibility by banks and the global economic crisis, banks have stopped investing in small- and medium-sized businesses in Oregon and across the country. This lack of investment is slowing job growth and stalling our economic recovery. We need financial institutions that will act in the public interest, and help our economy recover. Too many financial institutions are frozen in their lending and we need a program that will help create jobs and get our economy moving again. The Bank of Oregon will use public dollars for public benefit. In short, it is time to make Oregon money work for Oregonians.
Obviously if Federal rules and regulations are unable to maintain sustainable banking practices then the States themselves would be better served to do the job themselves.
For education Bill Bradbury is proposing a novel idea closing tax loopholes for the wealthy to pay for educating Oregons future workforce:
My Proposal for Funding Public Schools at the QEM
A leadership commitment is needed to reach this goal and I am ready to deliver. I will bring all stakeholders to the table – including teachers, education support professionals, parents and students – to hammer out a proposal that we will bring to the voters in 2011.
I believe it is time to close tax loopholes that are old, outdated and ineffective and to put that money to work for education. Currently, the state forgoes about $30 billion in tax revenue per biennium, more than the spending for education, health care and public safety combined. As Governor, I will work to reduce this lost revenue by 5 percent, either through the Legislature or through the voters by ballot measure.
This relatively small deduction would generate almost $2 billion per biennium to dedicate exclusively to public education; fully funding the QEM, community colleges and higher education. As Governor, I am committed to this goal.
The common sense attitude of this candidate is astounding. If you want to make the schools function optimally and the economic prospects of the State to increase educate those that live here so they will be able to compete in a global economy.
As to the third aspect of Bill Bradbury's priorities it is something close to the heart of many Oregonians the environment. Bill Bradbury has created a game plan on how he will address the needs of protecting Oregons precious natural resources, in summary with a minor edit:
Clean Energy Policy
- Continue to advocate for a federal Cap on Carbon
- Work to remove carbon-based sources of energy in Oregon
- Develop Mandates
- Increase carefully designed incentives and funding from the state to support Oregon’s renewable energy sector.
- Promote energy efficiency as the fastest, cleanest, and cheapest way to meet Oregon’s energy needs.
- Promote progressive regulation that spurs private economic development
- Promote jobs and job training for the new sustainability-oriented work force.
- Facilitate development of the smart grid through research, development, and demonstration of the technologies
Bill Bradbury is a candidate that The State of Oregon should be seeking as the next Governor. Please take the time to Donate to this worthy campaign.