Ron Wyden

A feature article in The Oregonian Monday analyzes how federal transportation budgets have become an earmark haven and how two Oregon congressmen are trying to steer it back toward functional.

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield), chairman of the House Subcommittee for surface transportation, will be in charge of finding solutions to the problem. He says possibilities include a solution called "least-cost transportation planning" which focuses less on how the money is spent, and more on overall improvements made to the system.

"It becomes more mode-neutral, instead of saying this money has to be spent on buses, or that money has to be spent on concrete," he told The Oregonian.

More Oregonians disapprove of Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith’s job performance than approve of it, a new poll finds.

The SurveyUSA poll asked 600 adults: “Do you approve or disapprove of the job Gordon Smith is doing as United States Senator?” Forty-five percent approved, 47 percent disapproved and eight percent were not sure.

Don’t look for Ron Wyden to wind up in Barack Obama’s cabinet.  The senior U.S. Senator from Oregon stayed out of the Democratic presidential nomination fight until it was essentially over – he endorsed Obama on Wednesday morning – two weeks after Obama won the Oregon primary by a substantial plurality.  Wyden’s powerful Chief of Staff, Josh Kardon, ran Hillary Clinton’s Oregon campaign. 

No surprise here. Oregon’s last two superdelegates have finally weighed in and are standing behind nominee Sen. Barack Obama. 

What comes as a bit more of a surprise is what was contained in the endorsement statement issued by Sen. Ron Wyden, who took the opportunity to slam the concept of the superdelegate. 

“When voters in Oregon and around the country hear the word 'superdelegate,' people start hissing. I never asked to be a superdelegate, and always thought it preposterous that my vote would be accorded greater weight than the vote of the very people who make my public service possible,” Wyden said in a statement.

How hard will Ron Wyden work to elect Jeff Merkley to the U.S. Senate this fall? Publicly, Wyden says he’s 100% for Merkley, but privately, it’s no secret that the senior Senator has a great relationship with Gordon Smith and ultimately doesn’t really care whether Merkley wins or not.  The funny thing about Wyden is that he’s so well-liked among Oregon Democrats that he’s able to play both sides in the ’08 Senate race without any risk of repercussion.    

U.S. Sen. Ron WydenSen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Gordon Smith have enjoyed a relatively congenial relationship across the party line that divides them. They have worked together in Washington on a number of Oregon issues, including the extension of the Mt. Hood Wilderness Area. But that past cooperation didn't stop Wyden from endorsing Smith’s Democratic rival in the upcoming election.

Wyden said his decision was one of necessity; the importance of a Democratic majority outweighs his bipartisan friendship.

Don't expect Oregon's U.S. senators to be a presidential runningmate. In a survey of the U.S. Senate's membership not already running for president on whether they'd accept an offer to be vice president, The Hill newspaper found a variety of responses to the veepstakes question. Some were accompanied by laughs, others took the question seriously.

So, how did Republican Gordon Smith and Democrat Ron Wyden respond?

As the Oregon primary looms near, the race to secure more superdelegates continues to heat up. Barack Obama's campaign announced today the endorsement of Congressman Peter Defazio, adding to current endorsers Congressmen Earl Blumenauer and David Wu.

It’s the season of political ads, and some are better than others.

Likely to be counted among the best is Sen. Ron Wyden’s video designed to attract support for his health care plan, which would divorce health care from one’s job.

The Senator, who does not face re-election until 2010, had his campaign team put together the video with David Smith.

$75,943,902: That’s the total value of the 124 pork barrel projects secured from the federal government by Oregon’s Congressional delegation during the most recent fiscal year, according to the 2008 Pig Book.

Nationwide, Citizens Against Government Waste found $17.2 billion in pork barrel projects in the 12 appropriation bills passed by Congress during FY 2008. Oregon ranks 45th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in such spending, $20.27 per capita.