NEWS STORY The Bull and the Baloney Behind last week's misleading GOP ad campaign BY PATTY WENTZ pwentz@wweek.com

According to Sen. Brady Adams, the first set of ads cost $15,000. The second round will be less costly--approximately $7,000--because Adams says The Oregonian is too expensive to use again.   Even if no one else chips in, Adams and House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass have more than $50,000 left in their combined campaign coffers.

Dissecting the Baloney: WW examines the ad's claims slice by slice. John Kitzhaber had better stock up on Tums. The Democratic governor is still suffering from heartburn brought on by last week's ad campaign against his school funding ideas, but there's more baloney coming his way--and it probably will be spiced with a more partisan flavor. Senate President Brady Adams, who teamed up with House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass to fund the anti-Kitzhaber, says he plans to continue the attacks until the governor shelves his plan to keep the kicker and raise business taxes to bail out schools. It's the best way to get attention in the shadow of the popular governor, he says. "How many headlines have I had on this issue?" Adams says, claiming that the governor gets all the media attention. "Not very darn many." Although the first ads, which appeared in newspapers and on radio stations statewide, didn't mention the partisan rift behind the squabble, that may soon change. Next week, in a City Club address, Kitzhaber is expected to outline a tax-reform package to raise an addition $294 million for schools, which he intends to take directly to the voters as a ballot initiative. Adams says as soon as he knows the details of the plan, which Kitzhaber hopes to put before the voters in 2000, the Republicans will start running ads claiming they can balance the budget without any tax increases (though with lower spending for schools). To pay for last week's now infamous "baloney" print and radio ads, Adams and Snodgrass formed a political action committee called the Committee to Protect Your Pocketbook. Although such a move is unusual during a session, it is legal and, in fact, necessary if lawmakers want to pool resources. Direct joint expenditures are illegal during the legislative session, so Adams' and Snodgrass' individual campaign committees could not have written checks for the ads directly. For a PAC to be sanctioned for raising or spending money, however, it must be aimed at one of three things: a specific candidate, a ballot measure or a partisan issue. Since there is no candidate or ballot measure involved, election officials say the committee will have to work on behalf of the GOP. Adams says he isn't sure how long the PAC will be active. At this point, he says, only he and the Speaker have contributed. But he says he's perfectly happy to take donations and keep the committee alive long enough to campaign against the governor's ballot initiative. If the PAC does get other contributions, the donors' identities won't be known for a long time--if ever. Unless there is a special election in November, the Committee to Protect Your Pocketbook does not have to file a contribution report until April 2000. If it folds up before the May 2000 primary election, it does not have to disclose at all.

Dissecting the Baloney The first clue about who's behind the mystery meat comes from the big bold type. It's the trademark of Chuck Adams, a longtime Republican strategist known for dramatic direct-mail appeals. Adams says he used real baloney-- five packs of it--for the ad. He wouldn't disclose the brand but did say he got the meat on sale (two packs for $5) and built the sandwich himself with mayonnaise and mustard. "Overcollected taxes" suggests an insidious gubernatorial attempt to steal money from taxpayers. The ad is actually referring to the kicker, which is a refund that kicks in when state revenue forecasters underestimate how much money will be collected in personal and corporate income taxes. "He still wants to raise taxes another 15%." This is true, if a bit misleading. The governor's proposal is to temporarily increase corporate income taxes from 6.6 to 7.6 percent. "Call the governor." So far Kitzhaber's office has received more than 500 calls with a 3-1 ratio agreeing that the governor's tax proposal has all the appeal of mystery meat. "Paid for and authorized by the Committee to Protect Your Pocketbook" A jazzily named political action committee created by merging money from the campaign committees of House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass and Senate President Brady Adams. This isn't as misleading as it seems. Adams told the press the day before the ads ran that he and Snodgrass were bankrolling the campaign. "Kitzhaber already has over $1 billion...more to balance...." Technically true but with a big disclaimer. With the inflation, growth and costs that the 1999 Legislature has already tagged on to this year's budget, there is really only about $300 million more to work with. "He can just raise your taxes!" No, he can't! He can propose things like keeping the kicker, but only the Legislature or voters can raise taxes. That's why the governor is planning to take his tax package directly to the voters in 2000. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published April 7, 1999