I had the opportunity to meet with Oregon's Speaker of the House, Jeff Merkley, who is running to be the Democratic candidate to replace Gordon Smith as Oregon's junior Senator in the United States Senate this November, on back to back nights last week. While both events on Wednesday and Thursday evenings were to audiences who were either were already supporters or predisposed to being receptive to his message, seeing him twice in a row threw into sharp relief just how lucky we are in Oregon to have him in elected office in the State Legislature, and just what a great Senator he would make in United States Senate.
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It wasn't any one policy point he stumps on which is the key to why Merkley should be Oregon's Senator in Congress, nor is it the fact that even in the face of only having a razor thin majority, he was skilled enough to hold a traditional fractious caucus together in the state legislature this past session to pass some very progressive and much needed legislation. That is not to say that where he stands on policy and his proven leadership in the legislature are not huge reasons in and of themselves on why he would make a great Senator, but rather it is his breadth of knowledge about policy, understanding the issues real Oregonians face, and how those issues interrelate with one another, it becomes apparent after seeing him engage with Oregonians one-on-one why he deserves serious consideration by voters and why he is the best choice to represent Oregon in the U.S. Senate.
The first event was a blogger event with numerous local bloggers. While it may seem counterintuitive that since many were already supporting or leaning Merkley's direction the questions would be soft-balls. The opposite was true and a good number of the questions were direct and meaty which allowed us to metaphorically kick the tires on some of the more thorny issues.
Delving Into the Issues
Equal Rights
Several years back, a well intentioned but grossly irresponsible effort by a several county commissioners here in Oregon pushed forward a policy which would allow same-gender marriage licenses to be issued in Multnomah County. While allowing same-gender marriage would have finally extended myriad rights, protections, and benefits to gay, lesbian and bisexual couples, denied them due to discriminatory family law, it produced a swift legal challenge and a massive political backlash which gave rise to, and passage of Measure 36 which is a state-level "mini-DOMA". This modified Oregon's Constitution to define legal marriage in Oregon as between one man and one woman, thereby preventing same-gender marriage from having legal recognition in Oregon.
With the door closed for the legislature to allow civil-marriage for same-gender couples, Speaker Merkley did not turn his back on fighting to secure the same rights, benefits and protections for same-gender couples. Quite the contrary, Jeff Merkley worked tirelessly to shepherd a domestic partnership bill through the legislature which extend the same benefits, rights and protections under Oregon law that civil marriage affords opposite-gender couples, which was passed into law last fall.
So out of the gate, I was able to ask the first question and it was about equal rights for non-heterosexuals and asked him to clarify his commitment to and his stance his stance on repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and what his position was on the policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DA/DT)
Speaker Merkley was direct and clear, he was for repealing DOMA which prevents Federal level recognition of Oregon's domestic partnerships as well as blocking states like Vermont which have civil unions and Massachusetts which has same-gender marriage from Federal level recognition. He also made clear he is committed to securing equal rights under the law for GLBT people, and all people.
On the policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, he was equally direct in calling for scrapping the policy and describing DADT as "an unreasonable, counter-productive policy." This is not only a strong stand for someone who has worked as a Presidential Fellow under the Secretary of Defense in 1980s, but when taken in context to the critical need of skilled people in our military service such as those trained in arabic and middle eastern languages who are being forced out all the more pressing. That people with these critical skills which will be needed in order to repairing the damage done by the mess in Iraq that Gordon Smith and George W. Bush have created, that we expel these perfectly qualified language experts from the military because they are gay with more than 58 Arabic linguists have been kicked out since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was instituted is ludicrous. These are people we need to actually work to prevent and to go after the real threats we face from terrorism.
Iraq
Of course one of the most pressing of issues facing the country and is near the top of most peoples minds is Iraq. While Jeff Merkley opposed the invasion of Iraq as it was being launched, having not been persuaded that Iraq was a significant threat to the United States or that such a war is the best strategy to combat terrorism, he made that view clear when it was politically not the most popular view to hold. Unfortunately America's standing in the world has since that time been significantly eroded by the Bush administration's foreign policy.
When asked about the occupation of Iraq at the Wednesday event, Speaker Merkley made clear the first priority is we "start bringing [the troops] home today" and supported the type of plan in the Reid-Feingold Amendment to responsibly redeploy our troops from Iraq. Merkley went on to say that as we shift our posture and begin to remove our troops, we need to also make clear to Iraqis and the rest of the region that we will not have permanent military bases in Iraq. He went on to note that permanent American military bases in the heart of the region would be continue to be a thorn in the islamic world and is viewed by the region as America as armed overseers of the oil fields. So as we begin to remove our military presence in the country, we also need to begin handing over to Iraqi firms and people do the rebuilding of their country, and not leave as spoils of war the work no-bid US contractors. This not only removes the American face on the occupation, reduces the strain on our out-of-control deficit spending, but also begins to restore the dignity of the Iraqi people and allows them to re-invest in their own future and not under the yoke of foreign occupation. While it is not something Speaker Merkley stated himself, this would also be the responsible ting to do since some have argued that the presence of so many contractors also require the presence of our "residual" military forces, in a sort of circular logic with all too real and tragic consequences that stem from this foreign policy Gordian Knot.
Focus in the Senate
When I had a chance to ask another question at the Wednesday event, I asked what issues and areas he would tend to focus on as the next Senator for Oregon what committees he would try to get on? Speaker Merkley began by pointing out that there is no more critical domestic issue facing us than health care and that enacting universal health care (UHC), and that would be a top priority for him. He also talked about climate change and our dependence on foreign oil and said that he would like to be a part of the environmental and energy committees. The Appropriations Committee is another one that Merkley would like to be on.
Merkley's focus on UHC and his wanting to change our energy policies to one of shifting from foreign oil dependency to renewable clean energy underscored not just his commitment for things like building wealth for low income families how bear the brunt of lack of affordable health care, but how such issues are interrelated to and affect each other. How and what kind of energy we consume affects where our money goes (overseas vs. building jobs and the local economy), how lack of UHC negatively impacts small and large business, which in turn not only hurts those who don't have access to affordable health care, but makes American businesses less competitive and which negatively impacts jobs and job growth. Merkley understands how our spending priorities are grossly out of balance, pointing out how insane it is that America spends billions on thing like the B2 stealth bomber weapons program which has no purpose in our post-cold war world where that same amount money could give 20 million low income families a $5,000 down payment for a new home for just one weapons program. The scope of such changes to our spending priorities could be massive. 20 million families is 60 million americans, so we are talking about a over 1 in 5 Americans being afforded access to homeownership. The economic boost of that alone would be staggering, which as we face a stalling economy makes electing someone like Jeff Merkley who 'get's it' all the more crucial.
The Second Look... a.k.a. Part Two (coming soon)
Cross-posted from wiseass.org