Bend businessman Wordhouse begins bid to unseat Walden

A Bend businessman who describes himself as a non-politician and a “Democrat with strong Independent leanings” announced Sunday evening he will seek the Democratic nomination to unseat Second District Republican Rep. Greg Walden.

Here’s the news release from Ross Wordhouse, in full:

House Representative candidate Ross Wordhouse has launched his campaign for the 2018 elections against incumbent Greg Walden.

“When it was reported that Walden put forth the American Health Care Act, which would remove 23 million people from health insurance and increase costs for the elderly by five times while giving tax breaks to the rich, I had to stand up and do something,” Wordhouse said.

Over the past 20 years, Wordhouse has been an owner of several local small businesses in Bend. He is now a creative director for a software company.

“Every day, my job is to look at a range of complex problems and try to find new and creative ways of solving them. I look forward to bringing my skill set to Washington and put it to work for the people of Oregon District 2,” said Wordhouse.

On his website, Wordhouse has put forth a plan that would balance the budget and pay down the national debt within 15 years while offering universal healthcare and free public college.

“The budget hinges on corporations paying their fair share. For a long time now, corporations have been working the system for their advantage. It’s time they carry the same load that tax paying workers do,” he said.

In 2015, the average taxes paid by workers was 12.77% while corporations had an average of 4.68% taxes paid. By equalizing the taxation load, the debt could be paid off while providing universal healthcare and public college.

“After World War II, our forefathers paid down the post-war debt by increasing the median tax to 26% with a maximum tax of 91% for the top earners. What I’m proposing is a flat 15% tax on gross income for both workers and businesses. Seeing we’re coming out of a 16-year-long war, it’s time to step up like our elders did and take care of our massive debt while providing an investment in our future.”

Wordhouse is also working on a variable tax rate plan that accomplishes the same goals.

Another hot topic that Wordhouse is working on is the fight against climate change.

“The canary in the coal mine is the bleaching of the coral reefs due to excess CO2, which uses the ocean as a giant heat sink. If we do nothing, then in 30 years’ time, the reefs will all be dead. Other nations are taking this very seriously, and it’s past time that we do too,” he said.

Wordhouse is proposing a reboot of efforts called Earth 2.0 which focuses on cleaning up air, land and water pollution.

You can learn more about Ross Wordhouse by visiting www.RossWordhouse.com.