While digesting the results of the election in which Oregon voters believed the deceptively simple messaging of the union-led “Yes” campaign (not to mention the ineffective “No” messages), I realized that Oregon’s economy is going to have to get much worse before the voters wake up.

Deschutes County’s election results make that point clearly.

Here’s why: Deschutes County’s economy is really hurting with an official unemployment rate of 14 percent and Bend’s economy (the big dog in the county) may not have hit bottom yet as the Oregonian article today describes. Voters there defeated the tax increase measures by 17 percent and 19 percent. This means a lot of Democrats voted against them, as R’s only have an 8 percent voter registration advantage (2,700) in the county. Democrats have been steadily gaining ground and the County has been voting more liberal as more Californians have moved into the area.

Why would so many Democrats vote no on these measures? Because they have had enough of a bad local economy and knew that raising taxes primarily on businesses will only make the situation worse. Michigan’s economy has been the nation’s worst and now it appears voters there have had enough also as Republicans are gaining ground.

Oregon’s economy is already worsening as the ill effects of the tax increase take effect, with companies laying off workers to pay for the retroactive back taxes they must pay for 2009. More companies are evaluating the costs of moving to another low or no tax state versus staying here and paying much higher rates. All of this will hurt our economy over the next two years at least, meaning it is going to get worse and not better.

Since the Democrats and their union bosses own this state politically, they can't blame Republicans or businesses and the rich for not paying enough for legislative Democrat’s bloated government spending in the future. Their choices will be limited as to how to deal with the consequences and likely more fee increases and a middle class tax increase will be necessary as the Democrat’s union slavemasters will not let them cut the number of government employees and their salary and benefit payments are scheduled to increase every year forever.

Only when the average Oregon voter realizes they have been lied to by the unions and the Democrats after Oregon’s economy mirrors Michigan’s, will they vote for ideas that will truly rescue our economy from the socialist bent of Democrat leaders.

That is the sad lesson we're are about to see play out in our beautiful state.