By Taxpayers Association of Oregon,
OregonWatchdog.com

Oregon’s second largest airport in Hillsboro aims to expand hangar space to accommodate30 airplanes.  Yet, activists are posed to stop such growth.

Airport expansions help the environment, economic costs and reduces traffic by having people fly into the destination of their choice as opposed to landing nearby and driving an hour in rush-hour traffic to get to Hillsboro.

The Left-leaning activists say that the airport hangar will be used by billionaires and that is wrong.  This follows the Oregon trend to demonize people who create jobs, boost government revenue and lift people out of poverty.

The post Liberals new ban — airport hangars? first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Lars Larson

More than half the land in Oregon already belongs to federal, state, or local agencies.

But that’s not good enough for greedy government.

It demands more land even if it has to take those acres by force.

Consider the fight going on in the wealthy city of Lake Oswego.

School board member Brian Bills says, “This is not the school against a church”. Actually, Mr Bills that sums it up precisely.

Southlake Church bought a tiny property right across the street from LakeRidge High School this year.

The schools made a bid but lost to the faith group.

Now, the school board has voted unanimously to use its power of eminent domain to strip the property from the church group.

Schools have that bottomless pocket full of cash and lots of government lawyers.

The Church Pastors, husband and wife, tell me they’ve already offered use of their parking lot and some of their buildings to the schools.

Again, not good enough.

In the last few years, citizens have witnessed the government gone wild.

Businesses driven away by government taxes and rules.

Citizens find their civil liberties ripped away.

Rental housing owners find they no longer control their own property.

Badly managed public forests catch fire and choke all of us with their smoke.

And now, condemnation of church property to be surrendered by the great god of government, or else.

That’s the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for 4 hours of honestly provocative talk. I’m Lars Larson

The post Lars Larson: Church may find its land stripped away first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

Top 5 Hedlines

1 Oregon Dems vow: Keep mail-vote
2 Consumer advocates recover $4M
3 New Medicaid rules hits 600K Oregonians
4 Judge rules against SEIU
5 Possible 3-way gov. race

Bonus

New constitutional initiative over statewide representation
Oregon among least hard-working states
Daylight saving time changes

The post Top headlines for the week of 8/28 first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Oregon Campaign Watch,

CNN used various polling sources to do an analysis of Trump’s Senate Republican Primary success rate.  It has now hit 100%.

The post Chart: President’s primary endorsement success rate first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon,
OregonWatchdog.com

A draft report from the Legislatures showcases 36 ideas on how to get more tax money to make up for the funds they did not get from Kotek’s gas tax increase which was defeated by voters by 83%.  That gas tax was defeated thanks to a historic gas tax referendum (Chief petitioners were Senator Bruce Starr, Rep. Ed Diehl and Taxpayers Association Jason Williams).

The Oregonian released this new report.

Here are the 36 tax alternatives that could be raised to get more funds.

* note the recommendation to index gas tax to inflation means the gas tax would raise itself with no vote by the public or even lawmakers.

Aviation fuels tax
Base Light Title Fee (DMV fee)
Base Passenger Registration Fee (DMV fee)
Bike Excise Tax
Cigarette Tax (part goes to disabled)
Custom Plates
Enhanced Light Vehicle Title Fee
Enhanced Passenger Registration Fee
Gross Rail Receipts (railroad)
ID Cards
Light Vehicle Trip Permit
Motor Vehicle Fuels Tax
Non-Commercial Drivers License
Plate Manufacturing Fee
Privilege Tax (car sales tax)
Road Usage Charge (EV cars)
Student Driver Training
Transit Tax (STIF Payroll Tax)
Transportation Operating Fund
Vehicle Use Tax (out of state car tax)
Alcohol taxes
Cannabis taxes
Cap and Trade
Congestion/Cordon Pricing
Graduated fines for repeat traffic violations
Indexing fuels tax (gas tax to increase with inflation, no vote)
Marine fuels tax
Metro area Fuels Tax or Registration Fee
Passenger vehicle weight and size based registration
Public EV charging tax
Rail fuels tax
Rental Vehicle Tax
Retail delivery fee
Rideshare Fee
Studded Tire Tax
Tolling
Traffic violation in school zones
Vehicle Transfer Tax

—Was this helpful?  Contribute online at OregonWatchdog.com (learn about a Charitable Tax Deduction or Political Tax Credit options to promote liberty).

The post Gas Tax backfill plan: Tax on tires, Uber, cars, tolls, more … first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Lars Larson

The Northwest Nonsense

Should your postman deliver a ballot to the homes of people who can’t legally vote?

Common sense tells you “no”.

Oregon and Washington Democratic Party elected officials: “yes”.

That’s the problem President Trump tried to solve with his executive order to the U.S. Postal Service.

Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the lawsuits brought by Oregon, Washington, and the 21 other Democrat Party-run states.

They demand the right to send out fraudulent ballots.

Of course, Secretary of State Tobias Read calls Oregon’s election system “secure, accurate, and fair”.

The facts contradict Read, but as a loyal Party member, he has no choice.

Oregon found thousands of foreign citizens registered to vote. A lawsuit forced Read to wipe out 800-thousand faulty voter registrations. Despite that, Read insists, “nothing to see here, folks, just move along”.

Oregon officials have worked overtime to sell vote-by-mail. It does not increase voter participation and often takes weeks to produce a result.

But it does let the Democrats cheat, and you notice Oregon hasn’t elected a single Republican Governor in the last 4 decades

That’s the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for 4 hours of honestly provocative talk. I’m Lars Larson

The post Lars Larson: Sec-State’s faulty pronouncement first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

Healthcare was free for pioneers traveling on the Oregon Trail. Many would pack a copy of Gunn’s Domestic Medicine to provide and receive do-it-yourself care.

Reading Julie McDonald Zander’s novel The Reluctant Pioneer, this book is one of two that the main character, Matilda Koontz packs for her trek from Missouri to Oregon in 1847. I’ve previously written on the other one, The Book of Common Prayer.

I recently read this home care classic. It’s a window into both nineteenth-century science and culture. I was struck by its holistic approach, spending a tremendous number of pages on mental health.

For example, Gunn has a chapter on religion that essentially takes a Nobel Lie approach, concluding that religious belief is ultimately good for the soul, as a buffer to solipsistic nihilism. He writes:

Suppose a man were enabled by the unaided efforts of reason, to demonstrate conclusively to himself, that annihilation, or an absolute and entire negation of existence, was his future and irrevocable doom:-what would be the immediate consequences of this appalling and dreadful discovery! Would he not feel that every affection of his soul was dissolved – and that existence itself was valueless? Would it not loosen every strong tie he feels on life – and sicken him with that lapse of time which must so soon reduce him to nothing! Where, under his gloomy and horrid anticipation, would be his affections for his parents, his wife, his family, his country: – what would become of the performance of his duties as a parent, a husband, a citizen and a patriot: – where would be the endearing suggestions of his own self-love, and his insatiable desires of present and future happiness, under the certain conviction that the elevated and noble energies of his soul would explode and be lost forever, when his carcass would become a clod of the valley.

While much of the medical advice in this old book is outdated, this passage certainly stands the test of time.

Also, considering that such healthcare is free, this offers a perspective on healthcare policy today. While there are many drivers of healthcare costs, one of the biggest is innovation in medical science. Attempts to provide healthcare services to people as an entitlement program have a tendency to intentionally squash innovation as a means of controlling costs. Therefore, as Oregon ponders a single-payer healthcare system in the next legislative session, it’s helpful to remember that such services were once free, but we got what we paid for.

Eric Shierman lives in Salem and is the author of We were winning when I was there.

The post Remembering Healthcare when it was Free in Oregon first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Guest Submission Meme,

More memes below:

The post (7 memes) We got the Dolly Parton funnies first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon,
OregonWatchdog.com

A cougar was sighted near the Springwater Trail High School.

Here is the Gresham press release,

August 27, 2026 — At 10:30 pm on August 26, police responded to the 2000 block of SE Fleming Avenue after a citizen reported seeing a cougar in a tree near Springwater Trail High School. Officers arrived and spotted the animal that was still in the tree. The Oregon State Police were notified. At this time, we ask the public to remain vigilant and call 911 if the animal is seen walking in the area.

8/25/26: Gresham Police confirm cougar sighting in Wilkes Neighborhood

At 5:11 pm on August 24, the Gresham Police received information via Oregon State Police (OSP) about a cougar sighting in the Wilkes neighborhood. At the request of OSP, officers responded to the 2400 block of NE 164th Avenue to assist with a drone. OSP assumed jurisdiction over the situation. During the incident, the cougar ran southwest and is still at large. It was noted that one of the animal’s hind legs was injured. Should any member of the public spot the animal, you are encouraged to call 911. For additional information, please contact Oregon State Police at 503-731-3020 or the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at 971-673-6000.

The post Big cougar near Gresham high school first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon,
OregonWatchdog.com

Here is another examples of calls to violence by political sticker vandalism in Oregon.  This one was outside a restaurant in Portland.   Local businesses in Portland just tolerate such vandalism and graffiti, which only encourages even more examples.

The post Triple threat political vandalism first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

Rep. Yunker Calls Out Democratic Deflections Following Latest Oregon Economic Forecast
By Oregon State Representative Dwayne Yunker,

GRANTS PASS, ORE. – With Oregon’s Q3 Economic and Revenue Forecast released today, Representative Dwayne Yunker (R-Grants Pass) issued the following statement responding to the results and Democratic leadership’s attempts to shift the blame for Oregon’s struggling economy:

“Oregon Democrats are desperately trying to blame federal policies for our struggles,” said Representative Yunker. “But a recent WalletHub report ranking Oregon 49th in the nation for workforce participation proves that Governor Kotek’s anti-business agenda is what is actually driving employers and private investment out of our state.”

“The hypocrisy is staggering,” continued Representative Yunker. “While Democrats complain about federal impacts, Governor Kotek is actively refusing federal HR 1 K-12 education scholarships that would bring direct financial relief to Oregon students and parents at zero cost to the state budget.”

“This economic crisis and Oregon’s failing workforce metrics are not a federal problem,” said Representative Yunker. “They are the direct result of single-party progressive policies in Salem.”

The post Rep. Yunker: Democratic deflections on new forecast first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.