Statesman Journal - Peralta Pledges to Avoid Special Interest Funds

Written by: Salvador Peralta on Mar 22, 2006 11:02 PM EST

I had a nice writeup in the Salem Statesman Journal today.

(Peralta) said he will not accept contributions from political action committees of businesses or trade associations that are not in Yamhill County, or from labor unions outside the county.

"I believe that too many of our elected officials in Salem and Washington, D.C., serve two masters," he said, identifying the first group as the voters.

"The second set of masters are the special-interest lobbyists and business associations that primarily fund political campaigns in Oregon and spend millions to lobby our representatives on public policy. The result of this dual ownership of our political process is a system in which we have public servants ... who all too often do a poor job of shaping and passing public-interest public policy."

One inaccurate point made in the article is this:He said his 78-year-old grandmother returned to work a few years ago because she could not afford both rent and prescription drugs on her Social Security.

"I believe we need government to do better for people like her and the tens of thousands of Oregonians who are walking in shoes like hers," he said.

My grandparents own a barbershop in Boulder, Colorado, but I was referring to the woman who cuts my hair here in Oregon, not my own grandmother. Here's what I told the reporter:

My barber is a 78-year old grandmother who had to go back to work a few years ago because she couldn't afford to pay for both her rent and her prescription drugs on social security alone. This is a woman who has worked for the last 60 years of her life, and I believe that we need government to do better for people like her, and the tens of thousands of Oregonians who are walking in shoes just like hers.

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Location: McMinnville, OR 97128