If you have sticker shock at the $50,000 bill, then you aren’t in the same tax bracket as the fella who got it. They were making nearly $2,000,000 a year. Their average monthly income would be around $160,000. Or are they just inept at managing their income? I’d say they are selfish and greedy.

With friends like these, who needs Republicans?

Any moderately serious candidate running for Governor in the Democratic primary with a tax the rich & big corporations message would have a wide open lane

She might as well just switch the (D) to an (R) right now. Because she’s straight up running a GOP platform at this point. She’s acting like she can easily win without a progressive base in Portland.

TikTok is allowing swastika necklace ads on their app, so this is my official statement that if I ever catch someone wearing one, they’re gonna catch these hands.

The 1999-2000 Portland Trail Blazers squad was an excellent basketball team. On December 22, members of the team finally got their roses at the Moda Center. Corbin Smith was BTS and courtside to capture the celebrations. Story >> www.portlandmercury.com/the-trail-bl...

If Democrats would like to win another major election, they could always try to skewer their Republican competition instead of playing nice with them. The people thirst for consequences.

there is no justification for anyone to use Twitter imho. No city agencies. No elected officials. No justification at all as long as Musk owns it.

“It turns out that banishing the slur from public discourse was, in fact, important. Because now it’s back and it turns out that it does matter when subtext becomes actual text, when terrible people enable open hatred and bigotry, encouraging others to emulate them, degrading us all.”

Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

Noble enough attempt by the poor PR flack tasked with mopping up after Bubba, but there’s still time for them to quit that job and become a goat farmer, which is a much better task for their beleaguered soul.

The rest of you need to accept that American Christianity is a force right now that is trying to drive Queer people from the public space And in turn that opinion, that belief, that action, needs to be driven from public space. Zero tolerance for intolerance - welcome to the dirt bag left.

I’m sick to my stomach over these efforts to eradicate trans kids. Make no mistake, the goal is to stamp a group of people out of existence. It’s horrifying and violent and a bunch of Democrats support it.

Just occurred to me that the most recent public meetings law complaint was that progressive councilors are alleged to have talked about the future of Prosper Portland at a retreat… and that just ties all of this together so perfectly. Allege scandal to try to protect open corruption.

Centrist Dems have enabled austerity by ceding ground to reactionaries in the state legislature, and we're worse off for it. If you have a plan to win and a vision for a budget that invests in our communities by actually taxing those with the ability to pay, then let's talk about your campaign.

The invisibilized power that has run this city for generations is suddenly visible.

No one is an acceptable sacrifice. Disabled ppl, trans ppl, Palestinians--if you are willing to throw any of these people under the bus, you are just another right winger to me.

From a focus group of Gen Z Republicans. (www.city-journal.org/article/manh...) Tell me again about how Zohran Mamdani is the big threat to Jewish thriving in the US today.

SNAP benefits should be universal, with zero means testing, and generous. Even from a purely capitalist perspective this would benefit the economy massively. The only reason to be against this is because you're pro-suffering.

"I'm such a good trans ally that I block people who call me out for saying I'll support a transphobe" -Goddamn "Blue No Matter Who" people.

What I hear when people signal that a little transphobia isn't a deal breaker for a politician: A little racism isn't a deal breaker A little antisemitism isn't a deal breaker A little misogyny A little classism Any bigotry and harm can be excused "for the greater good"

The reason they're so focused on trans teens is that people who transition younger typically blend into society better. To the extent that they're willing to tolerate our existence in society at all, they'd rather we be easily identified by our appearance/voices/etc.

A Realtor in Portland posted an antisemitic comment on a Jewish woman’s TikTok & we’re going to make sure he never sells another house in this city Harlan Mayer, #ThisJew is putting you on notice 🤬

congrats to every "moderate" who cheered on this cruel, unfounded panic. hope you got what you wanted www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Shockingly, this bill would have failed were it not for the 3 Democrat defections.

Fuck Ronald Reagan, he’s in the same category as Margaret Thatcher. If the Governor of California is looking up to him for inspiration he shouldn’t ever be elected for any office again. I’d put a stake in their hearts and garlic round their necks to make sure they never come back.

LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 Americans know that Reagan let a generation of gay men disappear The idea that a supposed front runner for 2028 is praising his words? Disgusting. Disqualifying.

Just now, a national trans healthcare felony ban for youth has passed the US House, with 10 year prison terms. 3 Dems crossed party lines to vote to jail providers. 4 GOP crossed party lines to vote against. It is not expected to pass the Senate, where Dems hold filibuster power. Story to come.

Oregon lawmakers failed to adequately implement Measure 110, and are now hot dog suit man trying to figure out how this could have possibly happened.

Got a credible tip that Kotek’s office is applying pressure on the city to prevent a liquid fuel storage drawdown (cue records requests). If this is true, it means Kotek is declaring war on Preschool for All & the Portland climate movement in a re-election year where she will need to win PDX big.

Gluesenkamp Perez is a menace

Every time they talk about something being unconstitutional all I can think about is this scene

It's narcissist logic, my mom tried it on me. "You having boundaries is violating my boundaries!" They literally feel wronged, as if their children have taken their toy away by being autonomous adults not under their control. They see their kids as something they own, not as people.

Every time I encounter a transphobe I get more trans out of spite.

I will NEVER vote for a politician who votes for anti-trans legislation. Never. I don't care who it is, it's a dead issue. Move on. If my vote is so important to the future of democracy they should have thought of that before they voted to exterminate my child.

The West doesn't have an immigrant problem. It has a white supremacy and capitalism problem.

can't win them all

There’s a specific mechanism in authoritarian movements that we’re seeing play out in real-time across American media and tech. It’s a simple rule: "If we cannot co-opt it, we must destroy it." It is the logic of "scorched earth." It's the logic of the Nero Decree and it's happening right now. 🧵

I was one of the last ppl in my friend group to leave Twitter. I had an actual local community on it and was scared to leave it behind. I never looked back personally, it’s so so so bad and not using it is probably the most material way to stick it to this administration w/o like donating money

I think one thing our city council does that upsets people is remind them that they aren't actually "progressives" because they hate actual progressive policy. They just like seeing themselves in opposition to conservatives, even if they aren't.

If Oregon’s governor plans to continue trying to undermine progressive initiatives straight through November, then advocates need to aggressively attack her record of cuddling up with billionaires intent on keeping working families from getting ahead

Tina Kotek is out here telling unions that she’s trying to kill Multnomah County Preschool for All because businesses are demanding statewide preschool for all. Either: (1) She actually believes this & is unfit for office; or (2) she’s lying bc she overplayed & anyone who believes her is credulous.

As a serious football fan, I can’t actually understand why anyone would travel to the US for the World Cup right now. You’re gonna spend that much $ to get harassed at the airport (possibly detained by ICE), sit in car traffic on the way to matches, and watch matches on poorly maintained fields?

Attending any events in Saudi Arabia is questionable; the comedians who performed in Riyadh were rightly criticized. But for the director of PBOT to attend an event in the country that smuggled out one of its citizens after his reckless driving killed a local teenager is particularly galling.

Hogwash Legacy is free? Still won’t play it.

Has anyone who’s against “Preschool for All” looked at the price tag for paying out of pocket for childcare in Multnomah County? It’s the equivalent to a whole month’s rent. Universal childcare is a massive relief to families. Parents who still have to go work to pay bills. P4A is a lifeline.

When you hear folks talk about tax burden in the context of affordability, they don’t mention the massive cost reduction to families that the program is designed to deliver.

I’ll add my voice to the chorus, it would be amazing to expand this to universal childcare. It would be beyond beneficial to fill that gap of infant to toddler.