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Chris Henry
STOP THE WALL STREET RIPOFF OF OREGON!

Issues and Positions

I
Support Measure 97 without reservation
I am the only candidate for Treasurer who supports Measure 97 without equivocation.

Oppose Measure 95
Measure 95  would allow public university administrators to play the stock market with public funds. They would be allowed to buy "equities," which can include even hedge funds, leveraged buyouts of corporations, etc.

The Oregon Legislature put this on the ballot,  They circumvented the normal process for describing the measure on the ballot (the "ballot title").  Ordinarily, a draft ballot title is written by the Attorney General and is subject to public comment and challenge before the Oregon Supreme Court.  Instead, the Legislature wrote its own misleading ballot title:  "Allows investments in equities by public universities to reduce financial risk and increase investments to benefit students."

But investing in equities is inherently more risky than investing in debt instruments, such as bonds.  Public university administrators should not be allowed to function as stock pickers.  Of course, allowing them to invest in equities will bring to them lots of goodies from the Wall Street brokers, like free travel to luxury resorts for "investing seminars," and probably tickets to Blazer games and the like.

Universities shouldn't invest public money in Wall Street equities.  We rejected George W. Bush's plan to invest Social Security funds in the stock market.  We called that "privatization."  The same word applies to Measure 95.

Support Campaign Finance Reform, both, 26-184 in Multnomah County AND implementation of past Measure 47 (2006).

Support Creating a Post-Carbon Economy
  • De-construct the fossil fuel infrastructure of asphalt streets in neighborhoods to re-connect communities… turn streets into farms, community gardens, parks, food forests, arboretums, etc.
  • Farms Not Streets, Food Not Lawns
  • look into technologies to use carbon-based waste for fuel (retrieve plastics from Pacific Garbage Patch and landfills. Grow algae for fuel.
  • Shift all logging, mining and fossil fuel subsidies over to industrial hemp production on a massive scale as a carbon sink and fiber alternative
  • Call for a moratorium on clear cutting (Tax the Timber Industrial Complex)
  • Form an Arbor Corps patterned off of the Civil Conservation Corps
  • Form PUDs at the Neighborhoods Association level to form 100s of local microgovernments and return utilities back to the commonwealth. (change PUD definitiion to include; internet, petroleum, cell phones, cable tv, freight, grocery stores, factory farms, satellite) State banks would fund them.
  • Emissions Caps (no pollution trading)
  • Pollution Tax
  • Increase Gas Tax

Support creating a Worker First Economy
  • Freeze assets of company CEO's in bankruptcies and allow workers to reorganize and reopen company as a Worker Co-op.
  • Oppose Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), other "free trade" agreements and Fast Track Authority for President
  • Make Oregon a “Card Check” state [basically, A State Level Employee Free Choice Act]
  • Four Day Work Week/ three day weekend to reduce carbon and to encourage involvement in civics, community, family, quality of life
  • 10:1 Wage Ratio like Swiss 12:1 (to hearken in a true living wage above the minimum wage)
  • Maximum Wage (excess profits should go into worker pensions, before being taxed)
  • Minimum Wage to at least $15/hour

Support Building a True Democracy
  • Create Corporate Charter Citizen Review Committee (hear citizen testimony against re-chartering corps… fashion it like a parole board hearing for corporations)
  • Impose Sunset Dates, Term Limits and death penalty for Corporations
  • Create a separation between corporations and the state at the state level
  • Support Move to Amend, an organization advocating for a  28th Amendment: Corporations are not people/Money is not free speech
  • Abolish Corporate “Personhood” at the state level

Support Creating  A Peace Economy
  • Divest from the Military Industrial Complex (Ban military recruitment in Oregon)
  • Advocate for a state level Department of Peace
  • Turn the Military, Humanitary (with a “Prime Directive”)
  • Civilian-Based Defense (Gene Sharp, Einstein Institute)
  • Kellogg-Briand Pact (Outlawry of War)
  • Peace Tax Dividend (divert federal war taxes to human needs)
  • Expand Peace Corps
  • Build A Peaceagon (perhaps, on the 45th Parallel in Salem) w/ gardens in between inside sections (to rival the Pentagon)

Other
  • Advocate for a state-level Single-Payer Healthcare System(Fund it w/State Bank)
  • Open state bank to marijuana businesses and industrial hemp full banking needs
  • Advocate for a Bullet Ban Bill (doesn't conflict w/2nd Amendment – treat bullets as UXOs… ban sale, manufacture and possession… highly regulated and heavily taxed -- the way 1937 marijuana prohibition was; keep all ammo at state bank/ armory)