On November 5, 2024, we saw a red wave for Donald Trump move across the United States of America. Still, unlike the rest of the country, Oregon voted to go bluer, and give the Democrats a supermajority in the Oregon legislature.
In April/May of 2025, Oregon saw a lethal bloom of red ink; as Margaret Thatcher said, “The problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people’s money.”
In Oregon, we see the embodiment of a red algae bloom moving through all levels of Oregon’s government, stifling and killing every feel-good utopian program that the Democrats wanted or desired. This was even before DOGE, and Trump shut down federal funds.
Let’s start with Portland, which has a $93 million shortfall in the 2025 city budget. Next, we have this, from the boondoggle that is the TriMet: “Imagine a government agency that burns its way to 6 billion dollars in losses in the last ten years.”
If we move up a level to a county government, we will have the same red ink problems:
Washington County has crafted a proposed $2 billion budget that would erase a $20.5 million shortfall in the county’s general fund.
On Monday evening, April 28, the county unveiled a spending plan that plugs the gap between projected revenues and expenditures, with cuts to general fund allotments to the transportation improvement program, library services, public safety and the Department of Health and Human Services.
This is the fifth year in a row that the county has faced a general fund gap before final budget adoption. The general fund is supported primarily by property taxes.
In the Oregon 2025 legislative session, around 33 or 35 tax bills were submitted, including a gas tax, a tire tax, an alcohol tax, a well water usage tax, and a 1% sales tax on new cars, even though the state doesn’t want to call it a sales tax.
I could go on adding links for a few more examples, but you get the picture.
Oregon is broken. The financial system is collapsing under unpaid debt and a supermajority Democrat philosophy that considers people are nothing but appendages to their wallets. The red algae bloom is slowly seeping through Oregon’s infrastructure, and all those NGOs and agencies are dying because of a lack of funding. I think Margaret Thatcher’s observation hits the nail right on the head, but Oregon believes it is the exception to that statement. Pain has a unique way of reorienting your thinking.
In his blustering bragging, one of our state senators said, “Oregon’s election system is the model for others in the country.” I hope anybody reading this post understands that any one-party system of government without checks and balances leads to corruption in elections and a deadly red ink wave at every level of government. Do not use Oregon as a model for anything you think is good, or it will cost you dearly.
John Woods: Father, Husband, Conservative, Activist, Patriot, Veteran, Certified Action Range Shooter, Voting Delegate to the Oregon Republican Party.
Image generated by AI.