Oregon: Jeff Merkley

By Senator Jeff Merkley. Editor's Note: The Senator will be joining us live at 3 p.m. to answer your questions here at BlueOregon. America's economy is caught in a vicious vortex. This vortex is created by three interlocking factors; a jobs crisis, a lending crisis, and a mortgage crisis. If we don't address all three crises, the vortex will continue and pull America from a severe recession into a depression, with enormous damage to the financial standing of American families. Since taking office, I've been concerned that not enough attention has been paid to the third component – the mortgage...

By Russ Kelley of Portland, Oregon. Russ is a first year student at Willamette University College of Law. Before law school, Russ spent several years as a press aide to the Democratic leaders of the U.S. House and Senate, including Senator Tom Daschle. Most recently he served as spokesman for then-Speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley. He speaks only for himself. Let's get one thing straight: Tom Daschle is not a tax cheat. Willie Nelson is a tax cheat. Pete Rose is a tax cheat. Al Capone was a tax cheat. Tom Daschle is not. What he is, is...

Today, Senator Jeff Merkley called on his colleagues to support the proposed stimulus plan. He was joined by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). From the Oregonian: "I tell you, Oregon certainly understands this problem. In the last three months, every single month we've had a one percent increase in unemployment. It's gone from 6 percent to 9 percent in just 90 days,'' he said. "People are wondering, where's the bottom?'' The bill under consideration in the Senate, he said, is the answer and it strikes the right balance. And if it fails, he said schools in...

PORTLAND-- U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) received a shout-out from ESCO Corporation CEO and Oregon Business Chair Steve Pratt in his opening remarks at the Oregon leadership summit Thursday morning.

“Senator Smith has been a great friend of the Oregon business plan,” Pratt said. “He has worked in a bipartisan way to set the tone with his colleagues and get work done.”