I’m almost amused when I see Republican Rob Cornilles try to bilk Oregon’s First Congressional District special election voters into voting for him instead of the talented Democrat, Suzanne Bonamici.

This silly man has taken so many sides of the same issue, he looks like a weather vane in a gale off the Columbia River bar.

In Cornilles’ first TV spot he says that he will protect Medicare. But he told the Daily Astorian in January of last year that he supported cutting entitlements (of which Medicare is one) before he’d cut the defense budget.

Cornilles’ pants caught on fire in last Sunday’s KATU-TV debate, when he stated then, and again on his website, that Obama’s health care reform “cuts Medicare by $500 million.” This chestnut is being hawked across the country by the right wing “60 Plus Association,” a group from which Cornilles gets his talking points. The truth, according to the non-partisan FactCheck.org, the Obama’s reform actually saves $500 million in administrative costs in Medicare rather than cutting benefits.

Cornilles says in his TV ad that he’ll be “independent.” But–aside from being one the 60 Plus Association’s pets–on October 12 he called himself, “The original Tea Party candidate,” as you’ll see right here. On 9/8/09, he was warmly received at a Tea Party rally, which you can watch right here.

Now Rob is posing as a moderate this year because he knows it’s the only can he can win against Suzanne Bonamici, a former Federal Trade Commission lawyer and state legislative star. So Rob talks about a flat tax (bad enough for the 99%) but in truth, he supported the Bush tax cuts that add $2.5 trillion to the deficit by helping the 1%.

Ah, but he has a solution to the deficit he is thus willing to bloat! He says he’ll fix it by–get ready for it!–supporting a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment. When you see Cornilles, ask him, if the amendment were in effect now, what he would cut to raise $3.4 trillion if he won’t raise taxes on the rich and won’t cut the Pentagon budget? Then ask him, in the years it’ll his “solution” to be ratified by 3/4ths of the states and passed by 2/3rds of the House and Senate, how we’ll not end up like Greece!

Cornilles peddles his Constitutional amendment snake oil with a reference to “a time when a Democratic President and Republican Congress worked together” to produce budget surpluses. Um … yes, those would be the Clinton budgets, which raised taxes and cut spending.

Obama and Bonamici are willing to do the same thing today. But the congressional Republicans who have put Cornilles up as their candidate–are blocking it!

It matters to me who wins Oregon’s First District special election for Congress–because I represented it for 18 years. I didn’t work to hold it just to see turned over to a silly joke. Or a chameleon. But, folks, jokes and chameleons can win, if you and I don’t stop them. Go to the Bonamici site now and contribute what you can afford.