RINO Traitors contine to work to raise taxes in Oregon.

One evening, the breakaway group of House Republicans crammed into a car speeding to a meeting in Portland, on the next, members crowded around a table at a brewpub a few blocks from the state Capitol.

On Tuesday, they couldn't be found. That's because they had wangled a key to the hidden staircase that leads to the golden pioneer above the Capitol dome. With the city spread beneath them, they plotted how to bring the latest legislative gripefest to an end.

They have a nickname, the RBC, which stands for Rat (bad word) Caucus. There are 11 or 12 of them on any given day. And they came up with a compromise of tax increases, borrowing and budget cuts they hope will break the acrimonious deadlock that has defined the Legislature's fifth special session.

"This is our last chance," said Rep. Lane Shetterly of Dallas, one of the RBC's most outspoken members. "I don't see another opportunity for a successful package."

Funny names aside, the group of mostly moderate lawmakers represents a critical part of the lawmaking process in Oregon: the coalition that defies party leadership and serves as a bridge to the opposition. They usually come into play only after a serious bout of stalemate.

In 2001, they were the ones who came up with the 11th-hour plan to push through a statewide prescription drug formulary and help bring the session to a close.

"We share a lot of common interests," said Rep. Max Williams, R-Tigard, another main spokesman for the group. "We know that people want a solution. We consider ourselves process-oriented, not party-oriented. We know how to work a compromise."

The group -- which includes Rep. Bill Witt of Cedar Mill, Rep. Rob Patridge of Medford, Rep. Bob Jenson of Pendleton, among others -- stays in touch by cell phone, over beers at Salem's Ram Pub and in Capitol meeting rooms.

They are becoming increasingly frustrated by the brinkmanship behavior of their colleagues. They think the solution to the current $482 million budget shortfall has become obvious, blocked only by a time-wasting combination of egos, ideology and election-year posturing.

"Each time we thought we were getting close to an agreement, one side would do something that would cause the other side to throw a hand grenade," Williams said. "So we told our leadership we deserve an opportunity to run a compromise."

Some of them met with Gov. John Kitzhaber until late Tuesday night, going over details of their plan, getting his blessing. Democrats were there, too. They brought House Speaker Mark Simmons into an RBC meeting and told him what they were up to.

Coalitions, whether within a party or between parties, have been a staple of the Oregon Legislature for years. They become instrumental when the margin separating the majority from minority party thins. Currently, Republicans outnumber Democrats in the House by just four votes. The difference is even smaller in the Senate.

Because various factions have dug in so deeply, the more typical process of negotiation and debate has broken down, said Gary Conkling, a lobbyist who has witnessed decades of legislative wrangling. Coalitions such as the RBC may hold out the only hope of progress, he said.

But first, the regular party factions must fail. That's what has occurred so far. At the beginning of this special session -- 11 days ago -- Simmons force-marched his plan for borrowing against future cigarette tax revenue through the process until it was clear the votes weren't there.

Then, after more than a week of wheel-spinning and nose-to-nose negotiations among caucus leaders, House Democrats were given a chance to run out their plan to have the Legislature adopt a temporary increase in personal and corporate income taxes. It didn't come close to getting the needed 36 votes.

That's when the RBC went public with its compromise. Whether it survives the House -- much less the Senate -- remains an open question. By late Wednesday, the hallway chatter had it going nowhere, with no clear alternative at hand.

That left lawmakers wondering if an end is in sight. And reporters asking why it takes so long.

At some point hopefully they will give up and go home and let the spending cuts happen.

They need to pass a package that consists of targeted spending cuts and then let Kitzhaber veto it. Then when he starts releasing those 4,000 criminals back onto the street, we can be sure he gets full credit for it.

I agree with you brother, it has become quite clear that there is a large group of liberals in conservative clothing employed in Salem. True conservatives with some spine would have the Governor looking like the scumbag he really is. Instead we have these RINO's trying to destroy the Republican party from within.

Because it's hard. To reduce the budget increase (not cut - there has been no cut proposed this year, they have used the word but the word is a lie - the "cuts" would actualyy be just reductions in the increases over the previous budget, not that I wouldn't heartily approve of actually cutting a lot of stuff, such a proposal is not and has never been on the table).

But enough with the word games. The Rat B*stards or whatever they call themselves have given their little group an entirely fitting name, a good reminder to us (as if we need one) of the political party with whom they seemingly should be identified. Go get drunk and then hold clandestine meetings behind locked doors dreaming up ways to screw us.

Tax increase or no tax increase, there is a train wreck coming in this state, because our legislature has obliged us to pay an above market and overly generous pension payout to virtually all public retirees in this state, and this is a long term obligation from which we have no appearent legal escape. Between that and the Democratic legislation that implemented Measure 5, that kept education rolling on the gravy train despite the voters' intentions, we are about to get a real good hosing.

Our legislature needs to be cutting right now, for real, serious cuts in wasteful and excessive government, and perhaps some of it that most wouldn't think of as wasteful or excessive. We need to go back to maybe 1990 levels, and that might not be enough.

These guys are cowards. < /rant >

Dave in Eugene

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