SEIU

John McCain reaches new national highs and lows while Barack Obama stays solid in Oregon.  DNC Chair Howard Dean swings through the state while Gordon Smith has a tough week.  Read all about it in this week's Winners & Losers.

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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Seeing hundreds of people in purple Service Employees International Union T-Shirts on Monday morning passing out signs supporting Democratic presidential nomiee Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was a Democratic Convention déjà vu. It certainly seemed out of place at the La Quinta Inn, which was home to Oregon and Iowa's delegations for the Republican National Convention.

The Service Employees International Union is getting into the Oregon Senate campaign with a television ad released Wednesday attacking Gordon Smith on his voting record in the U.S Senate, where they say he voted for tax breaks for big oil companies and drug companies.

A prominent national labor union is sponsoring a thirty-second ad against U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley).

The ad, titled "Higher Cost," is being paid by the SEIU and argues that Sununu voted against lower drug prices after he accepted money from drug companies.

Initiatives are the essence of democracy because they let regular people make laws on issues that a legislature wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole (or poll).

New Hampshire for Health Care chapter announcedCONCORD- A coalition of groups promoting "quality, affordable health care for all" has begun operating in the Granite State.

Health Care for America Now, a national effort led by groups such as the SEIU, AFSCME, MoveOn.org and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, announced at a press conference that they are forming a New Hampshire chapter, New Hampshire for Health Care, aimed at reaching voters throughout the state.

"Our people came together and took out the man who stole all of our pensions, and your pensions too!" she said referring to Democratic state Rep. Greg Macpherson who overhauled the state's PERS system in 2003.

Two of the three initiatives that seem to be headed for this November's ballot could bring, in addition to the will of the people, nearly $300 million in deficit spending. Chris Mulick at the Tri-City Herald reports Sunday that preliminary estimates from the state department of revenue show that Tim Eyman and company's I-985 and the SEIU-backed I-1029 would combine for $313 million in extra spending between now and the end of the next two-year budget cycle. This comes in addition to a projected deficit of $2.7 billion.

I-985 would do the brunt of the damage. The proposed legislation to change Department of Transportation priorities to include faster accident clearing and broader access to HOV lanes in order to reduce congestion would take $290 million out of the state's general fund.

The deadline for turning in signatures to place an initiative on the November ballot is July 3, and three big campaigns are gearing up to take their “oughta be a law” ideas directly to the people.

The weekend is over and, despite the summery Monday weather, it is time to get back to work.

The same goes for Gov. Chris Gregoire who is participating in the Service Employees International Union's (SEIU) "walk a day in my shoes" program today, where candidates and elected officials follow a union worker for a day on their job.