But what was rarely acknowledged in the California media is that the Oregon law — while winning positive notices from that state’s media — has a solid core of skeptics who complained of skewed or inadequate data backing up assertions that the safeguards work.

Working with Oregon residents, the Ohio-based Patients Rights Council in 2008 published a review of Oregon’s law, surveying the measure after it had been in effect for 10 years.

The review includes a list of dubious cases in which suicides were botched or influenced by family members and noted how little documentation or evidence-gathering there was for claims that safeguards were working.

Most intriguingly, it included a link to a British House of Lords report on a possible British version of Oregon’s law, based on a fact-finding trip some lawmakers had taken to Oregon. It included more than 100 pages of testimony and related information involving different Oregon agency officials and others in state medical circles. Here’s a link to the PDF: Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [HL], Volume II: Evidence. The Oregon testimony begins on page 255.

British lawmakers rejected law after Oregon visit

As the Patients Rights Council notes, British lawmakers who went to Oregon were skeptical of the official narrative.

After hearing witnesses from Oregon claim that there had been no complications (other than “regurgitation”) associated with more than 200 assisted-suicide deaths, Lord McColl of Dulwich, a surgeon, questioned that assertion.

 

He said that, in his practice as a physician, “if any surgeon or physician had told me that he did 200 procedures without any complications, I knew he possibly needed counseling and had no insight. We come here and I am told there are no complications.  There is something strange going on.“

A Portland physician, Dr. William Toffler, told British lawmakers that Oregon authorities were not taking oversight responsibilities seriously.

We have to be candid about these problems with overdoses. The state of Oregon has been less ingenuous about the problems of overdoses. It took six years before the Oregon Health Division’s flawed tracking system even reported one case of vomiting. Can you imagine any pills that you give, even for overdoses, that never cause vomiting? That is what the Oregon Health would have us believe from their tracking system. …

The British House of Lords ended up rejecting an Oregon-style law in 2006 on a 148-100 vote, according to the Patients Rights Council.

Before adopting its version of Oregon’s law, California lawmakers heard out many critics and supporters. But the Oregon-specific criticisms voiced by the Patients Rights Council, and evidently shared by the House of Lords, never were spotlighted.

That’s how interstate competition used to be between California – which prominently features a bear on its state flag – and Oregon – which boasts a two-sided flag, the backside on which appears a beaver.

But the script has been flipped, according to United Van Lines’ annual migration study, which tracked nearly 130,000 interstate moves in 2013. While California continues to lose residents to other states, Oregon is now the nation’s top moving destination.

Oregon boasts much of the same appeal as California, UCLA economist Michael Stoll told CNNMoney, including mild winters, open spaces, and local arts and entertainment scenes. But the Beaver State does not have California’s sky-high cost of living.

For instance, the median price for a single-family home in greater Portland is $285,000, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. In greater San Diego, it’s $468,000; Los Angeles, $522,500; San Francisco, $617,500; and San Jose, $722,500.

Meanwhile, Oregon’s economy is stronger than California’s by several key measures:

• The Beaver State’s GDP grew by 3.9 percent in 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), which ranked third among the 50 states. The Golden State’s GDP increased 3.5 percent, ranking fifth.
• Oregon’s nonfarm employment grew in 2013 by 2.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, tied for fourth in the country. California’s nonfarm employment increased 1.6 percent, tied for 16th in the country.
• Oregon’s personal disposable income grew by 10.1 percent between 2006 and 2011, according to BEA. California’s grew by 6.3 percent over the same span.

Finally, the Beaver State’s tax regime is less onerous than here in the Golden State.

Kicker law

Indeed, Oregon is one of only five states that has no sales tax. It also is one of only six states that has a so-called “kicker law” on its books, stipulating that when tax collections exceed government forecasts by 2 percent or more, the excess must be returned to the taxpayers.

Since the law was enacted in 1979, Oregon residents have received refunds seven of 11 biennia.

It’s because Oregon promises those seeking economic opportunity a more abundant life than they can expect in California that Oregon has supplanted California as the destination state here on the Left Coast.

As Charles Tiebout, the economist and geographer famously declared all the way back in 1956 – when California was widely regarded as a promised land, flowing with milk and honey – people “vote with their feet.”

The continued loss of tens of thousands of residents in 2013 to Oregon and other states amounts to a vote of no confidence in the caretakers of the California economy.

By John Seiler

This is heroic. The sheriffs in Clackamas County in Oregon have been eating too many donuts while waiting for their pensions. So crime has been rising. Now, the residents of Jennings Lodge neighborhood are taking their defense into their own hands: They declared it a “Glock Block,” protected by residents with conceal-carry permits packing heat. According to KOIN.com:

“‘We’re starting a new group,’ said Coy Tolonen, who lives in unincorporated Clackamas County. ‘We don’t feel neighborhood watch is sufficient, and we don’t feel the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is sufficient.’

“Tolomon and a group of Jennings Lodge neighbors say they’re responding to escalating crime on their block by also making fliers that read ‘This is a Glock block. We don’t call 911.’

“It’s mostly petty crime that neighbors are sick and tired of:  stolen lawn ornaments, vandalism.  But for neighbors like Tolonen, a breast-cancer survivor, that’s enough: ‘I will defend myself — and my home,”’she told KOIN 6 News.

“Tolonen recently had a beloved statue she calls ‘Lilly Rose’ stolen off her front porch. She said she even saw the man who stole it and tried to chase him down — but he got away.

“This was the last straw for Tolonen, who decided to take a class to get her concealed carry permit.

“’I think more people should be trained, [with] permits to carry,’ she said.”

This would be impossible in most areas of California, because our laws allow local sheriffs to decide who gets a conceal-carry permit. And almost all sheriffs in populous areas keep the permits to a minimum. Even in “conservative” Orange County, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has allowed very few permits. In fact, as gun scholar John Lott has proved, the drop in crime nationally the past 20 years largely is due to the spread of conceal-carry laws that have armed honest citizens against brutal criminals.

In California, the politicians want us to continue to be at the mercy of the brutal criminals.

Oregon, although a liberal “Left Coast” Blue State, is much better on gun rights than California — and on taxes as well. It has no state sales tax. And its income tax rates are lower than California’s.

Oregon — here I come!

By John Seiler

Governments tell us we need to pay high taxes to them so they can protect us from criminals. And one of the most liberal Democratic areas in the country is Oregon. It’s a heavily Blue state, last voting GOP back in 1984 when Ronald Reagan won every state except Minnesota. It’s the left-most member of the Left Coast.

In the Beaver State, all major political positions are liberal Democratic: governor, both houses of the state legislatures, both U.S. senators, and the majority of U.S. House members.

In  the new “Rich States, Poor States” ranking by the American Legislative Exchange Council of how big government is, Oregon ranked 7th biggest government of the 50 states. So they’re no slouches in providing a lot of government to protect and serve us.

But this just happened:

JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. (CBS Seattle) — An Oregon woman was told by a 911 dispatcher that authorities wouldn’t be able be able to help her as her ex-boyfriend broke into her place because of budget cuts.

Oregon Public Radio reports that an unidentified woman called 911 during a weekend in August 2012 while Michael Bellah was breaking into her place. Her call was forwarded to Oregon State Police because of lay-offs at the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office only allows the department to be open Monday through Friday.

“Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told the woman. “You know, obviously, if he comes inside the residence and assaults you, can you ask him to go away? Do you know if he’s intoxicated or anything?”

Incredible. Remember, this is high-tax, liberal Oregon. And if women can’t get government protection from rapists, can the women at least get a refund of the tax money they paid for promised protection that never materialized?

So, are Oregon’s budget problems because liberal Democrats, who run the state, are too stingy with taxation? No. You probably already guessed why the state has budget problems and can’t protect defenseless women against rapists. Walter Russell Mead explains:

Oregon Catches Pension Bug

It’s the same old story. Government taxes us for “services” it can’t provide because our tax dollars actually are going to retirees living it up at our expense. 

We’d be better off just getting rid of government entirely and paying for services, including private police protection, ourselves.