Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲

Personal profile for Clackamas Co. Commissioner Ben West; Lieutenant, U.S. Navy Reserve Officer; Cardiology RN. I cherish classic liberalism and Western values.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

Portland residents are getting what they voted for, good and hard. You will find NO sympathy from me. https://t.co/d7Qh80Ur37

[Jeff Eager @Jeff_Eager]

Ouch

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

Solid summary on why Oregon is in decline.

[Patrick - The Respublica Backtrail ™ @Better4Pat]

https://t.co/t7xlinsr9D

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@ArneAlvarado Please report

[Jeff Eager @Jeff_Eager]

NEW:

Last month, OR Gov Tina Kotek’s (D) re-election campaign got $50k contribution from Centene, the 4th largest health insurer.

In Feb, state approved $56M expansion of Medicaid footprint.

In ‘22, AG said co. “took advantage of OR” w/ $17M overcharge. Full story in reply 👇

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@MSea_OceanTree @OregonDOT Oh, so you are only concerned with gas prices now, but not over the last 10 years, while working families have been hit regressively with higher and higher transportation costs. BTW, the Iran conflict is temporary.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

The gas tax is $0.40/gallon, which has steadily increased since 2017. The defeated gas tax was an additional $0.06/gallon.

Additionally, there is a $0.26/gallon hidden Clean Fuels Program tax.

The public, rightfully so, doesn't trust @OregonDOT due to chronic incompetence.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@realconrad93611 @OregonDOT Yes!

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@WebgirlHere @JoforOregon Just a bump in the road, there are many ways to serve and make a difference. I am not leaving the arena. Hang in there with me. Thank you for being so supportive.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

They gave everything so we could live freely.

Their courage is a reminder that the freedoms we enjoy in Oregon and across this nation were paid for with lives, not promises.

Today, we are grateful in remembering those who sacrificed for our freedoms.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@KevinIsRight99 The gas tax is $0.40/gallon, which has steadily increased since 2017. The defeated gas tax was an additional $0.06/gallon.

Additionally, there is a $0.26/gallon hidden Clean Fuels Program tax.

The public, rightfully so, doesn't trust @OregonDOT due to chronic incompetence.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

Except we can remember 90 days ago, before the Iran conflict, when OR still had the 4th highest gas in the US.

Why, because your buddies and Gov. Kotek in Salem consistently increase fuel taxes and hidden fuel costs.

Voters just said, "NO!" to another Dem gas tax increase!

[Jeff Merkley @JeffMerkley]

Folks in Oregon and across the country are shouldering the cost of skyrocketing gas prices thanks to Trump's illegal war with Iran.

A new Brown University report shows consumers have already spent over $40 BILLION extra on gas since the start of the war. Just wrong.

[Christine Drazan @ChristineDrazan]

My plan to end homelessness—accountability, sobriety, code enforcement and help for people who can’t help themselves.

We're not going to solve the homelessness and addiction crisis by focusing on housing first. We've got to cut off access to fentanyl and support programs that help people get clean and stay clean.

Tune in to @KOINNews tonight at 6 p.m. to learn more about my focus on recovery and accountability.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@SuzLopez @GeorgesonBrent @alice_kinzer I was respectful, disagreed, and took a hard vote. The hotel didn't happen, but I did build a recovery system of care, an entire care continuum, and now we are breaking ground on a multi-acre recovery campus. You seem to be stuck in the past and ignore the vast improvements.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

I have called and conceded my race. I called Sonya and wished her the best of luck.

Our county is a bellwether of what moderate politics looks like. The pendulum swings every four years, and we've seen Commissioners wash in and out and serve non-concurerent terms. So I'm not surprised by the pendulum swinging again. It doesn't negate the work I've done and will continue to do on homeless issues and tolls, and on keeping our community affordable. It's unfortunate that the campaign wasn't as much about ideas as it could have been. Voters deserved better than my opponent's negative campaign based on issues not rooted in truth. But I accept the outcome, will work hard in other ways to serve because the work isn't done, and I know from great Oregon leaders who lost elections and came back to do more, like Dennis Richardson, that one election cycle doesn't change the trajectory of our lives; it changes the vehicle in which we deliver outcomes for our neighbors. I know I will have left Clackamas far better than I found it, and that is the goal of public service. Thank you so much to all my supporters, volunteers, my fellow commissioners, staff, and residents of Clackamas County.

[Christine Drazan @ChristineDrazan]

IP 28 is an all out assault on Oregonians’ way of life pushed by Tina Kotek’s allies. It criminalizes ranchers, farmers, meat producers and threatens to kill thousands of jobs. It would mean the end of hunting and fishing in Oregon, killing not only traditions and ending access to an essential source of food, but butchering natural resource-based industries that support hunting and fishing.

This is Tina Kotek's Oregon, where agenda-driven political ideologues crush families who are already struggling. IP 28 would force them to face rising food costs and job losses at a time when they can least afford more challenges.

We will fight this attack on our traditions, economy and livelihoods - it’s time for Oregonians to come together to defeat the extremists who want to destroy our state.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

Hey, Republicans, NAVs, and every pragmatic Oregon voter, get off the couch and vote! Vote down ballot. Turnout matters, and we have a state to save, and I refuse to cede it to extremists with a host of bad ideas! Fight! Show up for Oregon!

[Taren Feist @tarenfeist]

BREAKING NEWS: IP28 organizers have now submitted signatures ABOVE the minimum threshold required to qualify for Oregon’s November ballot — though signatures still must be officially verified by the Secretary of State.

IP28 would remove major exemptions from Oregon’s animal cruelty laws that currently protect hunting, fishing, farming, ranching, pest control, breeding, and standard livestock practices. If passed, it could effectively criminalize everything from raising backyard chickens for eggs to exterminating rodents in your own home.

Even supporters openly acknowledge the goal is to eliminate many practices involving the killing of animals for food, sport, farming, and pest management.

This is no longer just a signature fight. Now it becomes an education fight — because most Oregonians have NO idea how sweeping this proposal really is.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@tarenfeist @PamelaSpeaksNow Maybe this will finally rally sane pragmatic voters to get off their ass and vote, and vote down ballot!

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@GeorgesonBrent @alice_kinzer Well I had large bipartisan support, built the entire system Clackamas now uses to address the homeless crisis, and spearheaded the recovery campus. I am proud of my record. However, sometimes falsely trashing your opponent with negative ads because you dont have a record works.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

@GeorgesonBrent @alice_kinzer As for you thinking I am diminished or will be less engaged because of a county commissioner loss, you dont understand me or who I am.

[Ben West 🇺🇸 🦅 🇺🇲🦫🌲 @BenforOregon]

You have a lot of opinions. If you want to grab coffee, I am down. DM me. I don't agree, but I am always open to constructive conversations. If you were balanced in your opinion, you may have a different narrative about my public service. You're rarely critical of those who have caused the state's decline.