An%20Independent%20Spirit:%20Oregon,%20Her%20People,%20and%20Her%20Legacy

1
An Independent SpiritOregon, Her People, and
Her Legacy

• By Brianne Kennedy
• Politics 303
• Professor Basu
• Willamette University
• Spring 2004

2
Overview of Presentation

• Service-Learning Experience
• Why Oregon Matters
• A Maverick State from the Beginning
• Oregon Things Look Different Here
• Looking Back and Working Ahead

She flies with her own wings. State Motto
3
Service-Learning ExperienceJackie Winters for
Congresshttp//www.jackiewinters.com

• The Good

• The Bad

4
Why Oregon MattersHealth Care

• The Oregon Health Plan stands out as an
  innovative, trail-blazing formula for achieving
  universal health care.
• (Source Oregon Health Care Forum,
  December 2000)
• I do not know of any more thorough and
  better-intended effort to ration health care than
  Oregons.
• (Peter Ubel, MD in Pricing Life, page
  150)
• In Pricing Life, Ubel uses the Oregon Health Plan
  as a case study for his discussions of, among
  other things
• -Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA)
• -Defining health care rationing(11)
• -Ranking the importance of health care services
  (56-57)
• -The role of physicians in rationing (107), and
• -Methods for rationing (149)

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Why Oregon MattersAssisted Suicide

• Oregon is the only state which currently allows
  assisted suicide.
• One in 1,000 people in Oregon chose to end their
  lives in 2003. (Source http//www.oregonlive.com
  /special/assisted_suicide/)
• Opponents can no longer afford the luxury of
  assuming that it can never happen here.
• (Wesley Smith in Forced Exit, page 140)

• In Forced Exit, Smith spends roughly 40 pages
  discussing Oregon.
• Since assisted suicide has been legalized in
  Oregon, at least 14 other states have considered
  measures to legalize assisted suicide and/or
  euthanasia. (Source http//www.mfc.org/resources/
  backgrounders/assistedsuicide.htm)

6
Why Oregon MattersThe Death Penalty

• Oregon is going to play a special role in
  ending the death penalty nationally. Sister
  Helen Prejean, November 2001 (Source
  Seattle Post-Intelligencer 11/9/04)
• LIFE FOR A LIFE INITIATIVE (failed)
• -Would have replaced the death penalty with
  mandatory life imprisonment.
• -Chief backers were Sen. Hatfield, OR Coalition
  to Abolish the Death Penalty.
• -Appeared in 2001 to be the only drive in any
  of the 38 states with the death
• penalty to repeal it. (Source
  Seattle Post-Intelligencer 11/9/04)
• University of Oregon Conference
• Debacle
• See "Reasons Not to Oppose Death
  Penalty
• 
  
  Oregonian 3/3/02

7
A Maverick State from the BeginningOregons
Pioneer Roots

• Oregonians have a strong streak of
  individualism. Its been an element in Oregon
  character since pioneer days. E. Kimbark
  MacColl, Historian

• Key Dates in Oregons Founding
• -1542 Spain discovers Oregons coast
• -1805 Lewis and Clark explore Oregon
• -1843 The first pioneers arrive on Oregon Trail
• -1848 The Oregon Territory is created
• -1859 Oregon becomes the 33rd state
• (Source http//www.thingstodo.com/states/OR/histo
  ry.htm)

8
A Maverick State from the BeginningPioneering
Progressiveness

• We are votin, gloatin pioneers, controlling
  our destiny, protecting our space. Steve Duin,
  Journalist (Oregonian 11/9/97)

• Oregon was the first state to
• -Directly elect its U.S. Senators
• -Pass a strong minimum-wage law
• -Ban non-returnable bottles and cans
• -Mandate that all beaches remain public
• -Address GM food labeling on ballot

• A Citizen Legislature

• Manzanita Beach

• Oregonians once seriously considered creating a
  separate country.

• Oregon legalized abortions before Roe vs. Wade.

9
Oregon Things Look Different HereMajor
Demographic Divisions

• Rich vs. Poor
• Oregon ranks fifth among the 50 states in terms
  of income inequality between the rich and poor.
• 11.6 of Oregonians currently live under the
  poverty line, including 21.1 of children under 5.

• Urban vs. Rural
• Urban and rural areas of Oregon are so different
  that they are sometimes referred to as the Two
  Oregons.
• About 45 of Oregonians live in the 5 counties
  the federal government has termed the
  Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Statistical
  Area. The other 55 live in Oregons 31 other
  counties.
• "Myths and Realities of the Two Oregons"

(Sources http//www.skidmore.edu/j_gottli/socioe
conomic.html http//www.impresaconsulting.com/2Or
egons.htm Poor slip further while the rich get
richer, The Register Guard 1/18/00)
10
Oregon Things Look Different HereA Snapshot of
Oregon Politics

• Party Registration
• 21 percent of Oregons voters are registered as
  independents, more than any other state in the
  country.
• There are only 44,000 more registered Democrats
  than Republicans in Oregon.

• Election 2000
• Bush lost in Oregon by fewer than 6,800 votes.
• Oregon is going to be vital in the 2004
  presidential election.

• The State Legislature
• The Senate is evenly split with 15 Republicans
  and 15 Democrats.
• There is a Republican majority in the House,
  although only by 5 of 60 total seats.

(Sources Bush Campaign Targets Oregon,
Washington, Oregonian 6/14/03
http//www.leg.state.or.us/)
11
Looking Back and Working AheadA Few Final
Thoughts

• The Good

• The Bad