It is kinda funny.. My sister and her husband live in Hood River. I am sure you know where it is. I go out to visit a few times per year mostly to ski at Mt Hood Meadows. I see the liberal way of Oregon and I find it pretty interesting. You have the elitists vacationing in their multi-million dollar summer homes that face Mt Hood while a few miles away the natives live in run down trailer parks barely scraping a living.They are just far enough away that unless one of the jet setters from Seattle or Portland take a wrong turn they probably won't be seen driving their rusted out pick ups.You guys talk a good game, but when the rubber meets the road I find your actions pretty lacking.

Interesting. I am currently in a state park 7 miles west of Hood River, Hood River is an interesting example. There is a community of very wealthy people with lots of old timber money living in the Heights. They tend to be quite conservative. The core of the town consists mostly of people trying to scrape out a living on tourist money. as you know, Hood River is a mecca for wind surfers (giving way to kite boarders) The industry is not doing very well, with the recession taking its toll on tourism. Hood River County is in such dire straights that the public library has had to be boarded up. Very sad. Many of Oregon's conservative rural counties are experiencing this same problem. It certainly isn't because there isn't big money in these counties. (Ny next park is just a few miles from Mt. Hood Meadows.)

One of the biggest reasons that Oregon is having such fiscal problems is its tax structure. Oregon has no sales taxes. It's all about income taxes and property taxes. These are very volatile revenue sources. Great during the good times. Lousy during the bad times. Add to that the "kicker" tax rebate. By law, tax collections that exceed projected needs must be returned to tax payers. Sounds like a good idea, but it makes it impossible to maintain any kind of rainy-day fund. Bush comes along and plunges the country into recession and Oregon is left with nothing to get it through.

When they first moved out there they lived in White Salmon. It's Washington state, but obviously just across the river. Those houses that sit at the edge of the hill are ridiculous. Those are the people that fly their own planes in from Portland and Seattle for a couple of weekends. I realize its a tough deal for those that live there year round and aren't scientists like my sister and her husband. We went to The Dalles and it has its share of wealth as well.

I know about the river activities. I have spent many an afternoon sitting on the deck of the Full Sail Brew Pub watching people..

Your relatives no doubt did their shopping for big ticket items in Portland when they lived in White Salmon . I like The Dalles. It's cowboy/indian country. It got a big shot-in -the-arm when Google opened it's big data center there.

it is easy... just look at some of your and other liberal posts in here... i used to hate the conservatives way of thinking, and some i still do, but they have a more open way of thinking then liberals do. the far left thinks that the public is stupid, and they can get away with anything, and the far right thinks that money is everything. i disagree with both, and like a more neutral ground. we have to have money to live, but only so much. most of the far right thinks you can never have enough money, which i completely disagree with. the far left thinks they can do what they want, and always have hidden agendas. Obama tries to hide his lies with more lies, never really speaking any truth to the people.

So, you design your vision of political reality based on whose company you like to keep. That explains a lot.

see, there is your liberalness coming out again... you make assumptions that have no fact basis at all...you should go back and reread some of your posts, just to get an idea of what i'm talking about... start with this one, and quit trying to bait me. it won't work, i know what you really are.