Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Left Coast Wingnuttery

Commentary By Ron Beasley



Oregon is thought of as a "blue state" but that doesn't mean we don't have wingnuts.  I live in the Portland area. The Portland Metropolitan Statical Area consists of four counties:




  • Multnomah, Oregon

  • Clackamas, Oregon

  • Washington, Oregon

  • Clark, Washington


The city of Portland is located in Multnomah county and has always been very liberal.  I live in Washington county which until the early to mid 60's was an agricultural area and conservative.  In the mid 60's things started to change as the farmland became suburbs and hi tech industry.  The county took a turn to the left.  But the wingnuts are still here and Kari Chisholm at Blue Oregon gives us an example.  The fairly progressive Dick Schouten  is running against conservative Andy Duyk for Washington County Chairman.  Duyk has been endorsed by the head of the Washington County Republican Party, Kevin Hoar.  Now Hoar is a real wingnut.



Hoar claims that Schouten will run Washington County the way that Multnomah County is being run. Nevermind that under former chair Ted Wheeler, Multnomah County paid down $24 million in debt.



No, what Hoar is so upset about is his claim that Multnomah County has "40,000+ employees" as compared to Washington County's "less than 5000 employees". And worse? In Multnomah County, Hoar claims that "each commissioner has 20-25 full time staff".



What are the real facts? Well, if you visit the HOME PAGE of Multnomah County (not some deep dark budget page, just the home page), you'll learn that "More than 4,500 Multnomah County employees provide citizens a wide range of health and human services, public safety services and other government services." Off by nearly an order of magnitude.



And about those commissioners? Chair Jeff Cogen has eleven staff, Commissioner Deborah Kafoury has three staff, Commissioner Barbara Willer has one staff, Commissioner Judy Shiprack as three staff, and Commissioner Diane McKeel has three staff. Even assuming that Willer, who was just appointed, is likely to hire a couple more, that's a grand total of 23 total staff -- not 20-25 each, as Hoar claims.









OK, he just makes stuff up - typical wingnut tactics.  But then Hoar goes into high wingnut mode:



[Dick Schouten] is a strong advocate for the pro-radical environmentalist, anti-business and private sector job growth, pro-traffic gridlock and forced urbanization, pro-secular social progressive, reckless pro-tax and spend policies that Multnomah County is famous for. ...

As Republicans, we cannot afford to idlely sit on the sidelines and concede local government control to left-wing ideologues and radical activists like Dick Schouten. ...

The leftists and their machine of government unions, eco-radicals, and car hating are ready to gobble up our county and turn it into the socialist workers paradise that is Multnomah County.

Yes even here on the Left Coast we have out lying lunatics.

Note:

While I will vote for Dick Schouten this is no way meant to be a hit job on Andy Duyk.  I have lived in Washington County for 35 years and have known the Duyk family and they are good people.  That said Andy should distance himself from the Hoar endorsement.









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