Republican not happy with Oregon's GOP Legislators

OREGON CATALYST by In the news, Thursday, March 8. 2012 - Why is the GOP supporting an SEIU idea? by Anonymous
I am a management service employee in State Government. I am also as Republican as they come. Working in such a Democrat-dominated government is more than frustrating.  ✧ HB 2020 was bad enough. Then HB 4131.  So many Republicans agreeing with an idea that originated in the research offices of SEIU. I just want to know where this thinking comes from. I can’t believe that SEIU has anything in mind except the collection of more dues from the employees they have removed from the supervisory ranks.  ✧ Where do you think those dues are going to go?  To Republican candidates? Really? I get the bloated government problem. I see it everyday. But this method will only put money in the coffers of the SEIU, embolden them and their Democratic buddies, and worst of all it will make a hash of the management service. Nice job GOP. Read More......

Corvallis bag ban & tax survey

OREGON CATALYST, 3/17/2012 by In the news - Hilex Poly

The Corvallis City Council is considering installing a ban and tax on all shopping bags, both paper and plastic. In exploring options, the City Council has asked for comments from the public in this survey. ✧ Please take a few moments and let the Corvallis City Council know your thoughts on bag bans and taxes on shopping bags. ✧ Hilex believes that the answer lies within common sense legislation that preserves Oregon’s manufacturing and recycling jobs, rather than increasing costs for local residents.  Despite misconceptions, plastic bags are 100% recyclable and made in the U.S., using domestic natural gas and support American jobs.

Read More......

Imprimis: What Public Employee Unions are Doing to Our Country

Imprimis, March 2012
By William McGurn, News Corporation
Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.
The following is adapted from a speech delivered on February 15, 2012, at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar in Newport Beach, California.

MANY SCHOLARS ARE better versed on the history of public employee unions than I am, but there is one credential I can claim that they cannot: I am a taxpayer in the People’s Republic of New Jerseystan. That makes me an authority on how public sector unions—especially at the state and local level—are thwarting economic growth, strangling the middle class, and generally hijacking the democratic process to serve their own ends rather than the public.

Now in my experience, when one says the words “New Jersey,” people for some reason think it is a laugh line. Perhaps you know us from The Sopranos or Jersey Shore. You might think that such a state has nothing to teach you. If so, you would be very wrong. New Jersey offers something that can profit the entire nation: We are the perfect bad example.

As conservatives, of course, we believe in virtue. We like to point to policies and practices that work—low taxes and light regulation for the economy, a strong national defense to keep us safe from foreign attack, and social policies that favor community over government. These are all valuable. But the bad example has its honored place as well: It’s how we illustrate our warnings.

As parents, for example, selling virtue only takes us so far. To make our point when we see a character trait we don’t care for in our kids, we’re far more likely to say something like, “You don’t want to grow up to be like Uncle Bob, do you?”

This is the reason Governor Chris Christie’s reforms have had such resonance. Almost anywhere he points, he has before him an example of how New Jersey’s bloated public sector is hurting growth, limiting the efficiency of government services, and squeezing middle class families. How many state governors and legislators might be more inclined to do the right thing if before they acted they first said to themselves, “We don’t want to be like New Jersey, do we?”

These days, when conservatives get together to discuss the debilitating role played by government workers, we reassure ourselves with statements by FDR and labor leader Samuel Gompers about the fundamental incompatibilities between a union of private workers working for a private company and a union of government workers laboring for our city, state, or federal governments. We also trace the line of expansion to various events, including John F. Kennedy’s executive order that opened the path for collective bargaining for public employees at the federal level.

I don’t want to rehash that today. Today I want to talk about the situation as we find it, and suggest that the first step toward a cure is to diagnose the illness accurately. This means changing the way we think of public sector unions. And in what I have to say, I will concentrate on public sector unions at the state and local levels.

It’s not that I don’t consider the unionization of federal workers to be an issue. Plainly it is an issue when the teachers unions represent one of the largest blocs of delegates at Democratic conventions, when the largest single campaign contributor in the 2010 elections was the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, when union money at the federal level goes at an overwhelming rate to Democratic candidates, and when the Congressional Budget Office tells us that federal employees earn more than their counterparts in the private sector. Nonetheless, I believe that the greater challenge today—to state and city finances, to democratic representation, to the middle class—is at the state and local level. This is partly because state and city unions have the power to negotiate wages and benefits that their counterparts at the federal level largely do not. More fundamentally, it is because we cannot reform at the federal level without correcting a problem that is bringing our cities and states to bankruptcy.

When I say we need to change our understanding, what I mean is that we have to recognize that public sector unions have successfully redefined key relationships in our economic and civic life. In making this argument, I will suggest that the elected politicians who represent us at the negotiating table are not in fact management, that our taxing and spending decisions at the city and state level are in practice decided by our public sector contracts, and that when you put this all together, what emerges is a completely different picture of the modern civil servant. In short, we work for him, not the other way around.

Who is Managing Whom?
Let me start with the relationship between government employee unions and our elected officials. On paper, it is true, mayors and governors sit across the table from city and state workers collectively bargaining for wages and benefits. On paper, this makes them management—representing us, the taxpayers. But in practice, these people often serve more as the employees of unions than as their managers. New Jersey has been telling here. Look at our former governor, Jon Corzine.

You Hillsdale folks are a genteel sort. When you speak about the unions being in bed with the Democratic politicians, you mean it metaphorically. In New Jersey, we take it to Snooki levels: Mr. Corzine once shared a home with the New Jersey leader of the Communication Workers of America, Carla Katz. Back when he was running for governor, he was asked whether that relationship would compromise his ability to represent the taxpayers in negotiations with outfits such as CWA. “As the governor,” Mr. Corzine responded, “you represent eight-and-a-half million people. You don’t represent one union. You don’t represent one person. You represent the people who elected you.”

That’s the way it ought to be. In real life, it turned out that during heated negotiations over a contested CWA contract, Mr. Corzine and Ms. Katz had a long email chain—subsequently published by the Newark Star Ledger, despite the governor’s legal attempts to keep them private—in which she pressed him on the union issues.

But it wasn’t just the CWA. Scarcely six months after he was elected, Governor Corzine appeared before a rally of state workers in Trenton in support of a one percent sales tax designed to bring in revenues to a state hemorrhaging money. Not cutbacks, but a tax. Naturally, Mr. Corzine’s solution was the one the public sector unions wanted: Get the needed revenues by introducing a new tax.

The twist was that there was someone in the New Jersey government who understood the problem—who understood that a new sales tax wouldn’t do much to fix New Jersey’s problems, and that the only way to get a handle on them was to get state workers to start contributing more to their health care and pensions.

These were the pre-Chris Christie days, so the author of this bold proposal was the Senate president, Stephen Sweeney. Mr. Sweeney is not only interesting because he is a prominent and powerful Democrat. He is also interesting because in addition to his political office, he represents the state’s ironworkers. And what Mr. Sweeney proposed for the public sector unions was something private union members such as his ironworkers already paid for. It was also common sense: He knew that if New Jersey didn’t get a handle on its gold-plated pay and benefits for its government employees, it would squeeze out the private sector that hires people such as ironworkers.

If the leader of an ironworkers union could realize that, surely so could a governor who had earlier served as a high-powered executive for Goldman Sachs. But Mr. Corzine was having none of it. Instead, he told the crowd of state workers: “We’re gonna fight for a fair contract.”

The question is, whom was he planning on fighting? Wasn’t he management in these negotiations?

Six months later, Governor Corzine proved this was not simply a slip of the tongue. When workers at Rutgers University were planning to unionize, he turned up at their rally. This was too much even for the liberal Star Ledger, which—in an article entitled “Jon Corzine, Union Rep?”—noted that Mr. Corzine’s appearance at the rally raised the question whether he truly understood that “he represents the ‘management’ side in ongoing contract talks with state employees unions.”

Manifestly, the problem is not that Mr. Corzine and other elected leaders like him—mostly Democrats—do not understand. In fact, they understand all too well that they are the hired help. The public employees they are supposed to manage in effect manage them. The unions provide politicians with campaign funds and volunteers and votes, and the politicians pay for what the unions demand in return with public money.

In New Jersey as elsewhere, most leaders of public sector unions are not sleeping with the politicians who set their salary and benefits. They are, however, doing all they can to install and keep in office those they wish—while fighting hard against the ones they oppose. And until we recognize the real master in this relationship, we will never reform the system.

The Tail Wagging the Dog
My second point relates to my first. Not only have the public unions too often become the dominant partner in the relationship with elected officials, but the contracts and the spending that goes with them are setting the other policy agenda. In other words, even when we recognize that the packages favored by public employees are too generous, we think of them simply as spending items. We need to wake up and recognize that in fact these spending items are the tail wagging the dog—that they set tax and borrowing decisions rather than follow from them.

Take the case of Northvale, a small, affluent town of about 4,600 people at the northeast tip of New Jersey. Its median income is about $99,000, comfortably above both the New Jersey and national levels, and its budget is $21.8 million. Of this, $13.2 million—or nearly two-thirds—goes to the schools. The lion’s share of that, of course, goes to salaries and benefits.

Northvale’s school budget is voted on in the spring. That’s part of the scam, because turnout for these elections is much lower than it is in November for the regular elections. With lower turnout, it’s easier for teachers and other interested parties to dominate the elections. Thus the great bulk of Northvale’s budget is not determined in the regular elections, or by the mayor and city council. Effectively, it is determined by the education lobby and school officials—who in turn are chosen in elections involving only 20 percent of the electorate.

From the other one-third of the budget, Northvale has to run its police force and fire department, remove snow, arrange for garbage pickup, and so on. That means there is not much discretionary spending left. Even when voters rebel—last spring Northvale voters overwhelmingly repudiated the budget—they are frequently ignored, and the back door system ensures there is little in the way of accountability.

But there are consequences: This dynamic helps explain why, in the decade before Chris Christie was elected governor, the property taxes of New Jersey residents went up 70 percent.

Mr. Christie is not in charge of local spending. But he understands that this is part of an exceptionally unvirtuous circle. So he’s made some changes. Last year, for instance, with the help of allies such as Mr. Sweeney, he pushed a reform through the legislature that required public workers to start contributing to their health care and up their contributions to their pensions. It’s not nearly the same percentage as their counterparts in the private sector, but it’s a start.

Mr. Christie also put through a property tax cap that forces cities to go to the people for a vote if they increase property taxes by more than two percent. And just last month, he signed a bill that will allow towns to move their school budget votes to the November ballot—not only saving money, but also ensuring that more citizens vote, not simply those who have a vested interest.

At the same time, Mr. Christie has begun to campaign against abuses using language that people can understand. His most recent target is the practice of awarding six-figure checks to public employees who are allowed to accumulate—and cash out—unused sick pay. In New Jersey these payments are called “boat money,” largely because retired government workers often use the money to buy pleasure boats when they retire. Across the state, cities have liabilities of $825 million because of these boat checks.

And what’s been the opposition’s response? Instead of agreeing to reasonable cuts, the Democrats keep thumping for a millionaire’s tax. New Jersey being New Jersey, the millionaire’s tax aims at people making far less than a million dollars. But even if it didn’t, it’s hard to see how driving millionaires out of the state will help it meet its huge and growing unfunded pension liabilities.

To summarize my second point: You and I make spending decisions the way all households do. We take our income, and we live within our means. In sharp contrast, public employee unions have introduced a whole new dynamic: They negotiate pay and benefits in contracts we can’t rewrite. When the revenues to meet these obligations fall short, they push to raise taxes to make up the difference.

The Corruption of Public Service
That leads me to my third and final point: If I am right that the public employee unions are in fact the managers in the relationship with politicians, and that public sector spending is driving tax and borrowing policy, the inescapable conclusion is that you and I are working for them.

That’s not how we usually understand and speak of public service. Traditionally, the idea of a public servant is someone who is working for the public, with the implication that he or she is sacrificing a better material life to do so. But can anyone really define today’s relationship this way? Especially when health care and pensions are included, government workers increasingly seem to live better than the people who pay their salaries. How many of you walk into some local, state or federal office these days and leave thinking, “The men and women here are working for me”?

In some ways the change has been driven by larger changes in union life. From one out of three workers at its high point in the 1950s, today fewer than one out of 14 private sector workers belongs to a union, and the percentage continues to drop. Conversely, the unionization of government employees continues to grow, to the point where public sector union members now outnumber their private sector counterparts for the first time in American history.

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Fred Siegel notes that public sector unions have become a vanguard movement within liberalism. And the reason for that is it’s the public sector that comes closest to the statist ideals of McGovern and post-McGovern liberals. And that is, there’s no connection between effort and reward. You’re guaranteed your job. You’re guaranteed your salary increase. There’s a kind of bureaucratic equality.

“This vanguard,” Siegel continues, “becomes in the eyes of many liberals the model for the middle class. Public-sector unions are what all workers should be like. Their benefits are the kind of benefits everyone should get.” So instead of the private sector defining the public, the public sector is thought to define the private.

As public employees unionize, their dues—often collected for the unions by the government—fund a permanent interest constantly lobbying for bigger government. To pay for this bigger and more expensive government, they advocate for higher taxes on those in the private sector. Only when they are threatened with layoffs are they inclined to compromise, and sometimes not even then. That is what I mean when I say that we work for them.

Where to Go From Here
One of the few silver linings of our tough economy today is that it is forcing tough decisions. Big city mayors and governors are having issues with their public employees, because we’ve reached a point where we simply cannot afford business as usual. With a sluggish economy—and fewer taxpayers—the problems that have piled up are becoming too difficult to ignore.

Across the nation we have governors and mayors trying to solve their public employee problems with varying degrees of seriousness, from Chris Christie in New Jersey to Jerry Brown in California to the great experiments going on in the Rust Belt—in Indiana, which has done the best, and Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan. Only Illinois, led by Democratic Governor Pat Quinn, has opted for business as usual with a mammoth tax increase that is now being followed up, in today’s typical way of Democratic governance, with tax breaks for large companies threatening to leave Chicago because of the tax burden.

In most of these places, there’s probably little we can do about the contracts that exist. What we can do is bring in new hires under more reasonable contracts and pro-rate contributions for existing employees. Even marginal changes can have a big impact, as Wisconsin found out when Governor Scott Walker’s collective bargaining reforms for public workers helped restore many of the state’s school districts back to fiscal health.

My father was a federal employee, as an FBI agent. I spent some time as a government worker in the White House. I also know many fine and devoted people on the public payroll who work hard, are good at what they do, and earn everything they get. But there are also those who work without results. I believe Americans are a generous people who can recognize the difference. We need to restore our public sector to a place where those in charge can make those distinctions and allocate rewards and resources accordingly.

In the meantime, I think the best thing we can do is speak honestly. That is what Mr. Christie is doing in New Jersey. His style isn’t for everyone. Yet his popularity suggests that Americans appreciate a politician willing to talk about the reality of public employee unions today—and the unreasonable costs they are imposing on our society.

We’ll never return to the ideal of public service until the rest of us start speaking honestly as well.

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About the Author

 WILLIAM MCGURN is a vice president for News Corporation and writes the weekly “Main Street” column for the Wall Street Journal. From 2005 to 2008, he served as chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Prior to that he was the chief editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal and spent more than ten years in Europe and Asia for Dow Jones. He has written for a wide variety of publications, including Esquire, the Washington Post, the Spectator of London and the National Catholic Register. He holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in communications from Boston University, and currently serves on the board of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture. The following is adapted from a speech delivered on February 15, 2012, at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar in Newport Beach, California.

Copyright © 2012 Hillsdale College. The opinions expressed in Imprimis are not necessarily the views of Hillsdale College. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the following credit line is used: “Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.” SUBSCRIPTION FREE UPON REQUEST. ISSN 0277-8432. Imprimis trademark registered in U.S. Patent and Trade Office #1563325. Read More......

American Flag with Obama's picture flies over Democrat HQ in Florida

Veterans complained to Democrat Party officials in Tavers, Florida for flying the American flag with a picture of Pres. Obama in place of the flags' stars in the blue canton. Nancy Hulbert, Chairwoman of the Lake County Democrat Party removed the flag on Tuesday but gave no assurance that it wouldn't fly again. Apparently, the Obama flag had been flown for several months below a correct American flag without complaint. Photo and more of the story at Fox News... Read More......

Pandering? ‘Pet Lovers for Obama’ Gaining Traction

(THE BLAZE via Conservative Byte) - The Obama Administration is famous for its ability to “speak” to voters, making them feel like they personally are a part of something much larger.  One of the ways they have accomplished this is by launching various “groups” for Obama, like  “Women for Obama“ or ”African Americans for Obama.” But has the latest group crossed the bridge into ridiculousness? Introducing “Pet Lovers for Obama.”

PJ has something to say about this:

In the spirit of things... as long as it doesn't vote! Read More......

Federal Debt Has Already Grown $700B in FY12; $40 Per Day Per Full-Time Worker

(CNSNews.com) - So far in fiscal 2012--which began on Oct. 1--the federal government has borrowed more than $700 billion, according to the official debt numbers posted by the U.S. Treasury.  ✧ That means that since Oct. 1, the debt has been increasing at a pace of approximately $40 per day per each full-time worker in the United States. Read more at CNSNews...

Democrats and Republicans are responsible!  --bc Read More......

Newsletter: Big Government runs Amok!

March 10, 2012 Newsletter - Benton County Republicans

IN THIS ISSUE: 

1. Whistleblower within Dept. of Interior Fired for Questioning Biased Science (Klamath Basin Dam Removal)
2. Two Robinsons run against DeFazio!
3. Obama's Press Conference Leaves Many Questions Unanswered
4. Final Gavel Falls - 2012 Legislative Session Adjourned
5. Benton County hosts opportunity to meet COO

 
Whistleblower within Dept. of Interior Fired for Questioning Biased Science (Klamath Basin Dam Removal)

TODAY, 11a.m.-noon (Pacific time). Listen live on KYKN (1430-AM) or, if you’re outside of the Salem (Oregon) listening area, go to www.kykn.com and hit the listen live button. Guest: Dr. Paul Houser 

This week: If you’re a regular listener to the I Spy Radio show, or the I Spy Minute, you know we’ve been following the situation down in Klamath. The Secretary of the Interior back in 2009 pledged that the effort to remove the dams, quote, “Will not fail.” Even worse, an eyewitness heard the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation called the Klamath effort “precedent setting.” Meaning that if they can ram through the Klamath decision, the dams on the Snake and Columbia could also be on the chopping block.

This is an extremely important story. It’s big government run amok. This week we’re talking with a whistleblower, who alleges he was fired when he questioned how the science behind removing the dams—which is very uncertain—was being spun to the public. Tune in to hear his story and some of the chilling details of what’s going on behind the veil of secrecy of big government.

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Two Robinsons run against DeFazio! 

EUGENE, Ore. - Voters caught a glimpse of Matthew Robinson in TV ads 2 years ago when his father Art ran as the Republican nominee for Congress against Rep. Peter DeFazio, a 13-term Democrat from Springfield.

Now voters in Oregon's 4th District will see more of Robinson - both Art and Matthew.

In the run up to the May primary, Art Robinson intends to again seek the GOP nomination for Congress.

Matthew Robinson wants to run, too - as a Democrat. He changed his voter registration from Republican to Democrat last August and filed to run against DeFazio in the May primary.

The 24-year-old nuclear engineering graduate student at Oregon State University's birthday is in June, so he'll be old enough to meet the Constitutional age requirement.

"I decided that DeFazio needed some competition in the primary, so I decided to run against him," Robinson told KVAL News.

“We’re out to replace him,” he said, “and this is a fine chance to replace him in the primary.”  Read more at KVAL News.

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Press Conference Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

Heritage Foundation - This week, President Barack Obama ended his months-long press conference drought and faced the White House press corps. Unfortunately for the American people, questions on some of the biggest issues facing the country remain unanswered.  WHY DIDN’T the PRESS and the PRESIDENT DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING TOPICS?

THE ECONOMY wasn’t discussed, although 8%  (13 million) Americans are unemployed and only 63.7% of adult Americans are active in the labor force, the lowest since 1983.  We’re in the slowest economic recovery in the post-war-era.

OBAMA WANTS $$$TWO TRILLION IN NEW TAXES.  How will massive tax hikes on job creators spur job growth?

NO BUDGET??  It’s been over 1,000 days since the Senate passed a budget.  No plan to reform unsustainable entitlement programs.  The subject wasn’t raised in the Press conference by the Press or by the President.

THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE.  The President didn’t deny that rising gas and oil prices support his long term agenda.  He didn’t address Keystone, regulatory hurdles to drilling and refining in the US, or his Energy Secretary’s policies to see gasoline cost at least $5 a gallon.

IRAN and U.S. RELATIONSHIP  with ISRAEL.  The Press didn’t push the President on a number of vital issues regarding his policies with these two nations.

OBAMACARE’S ASSAULT on RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.  All we got was political rhetoric.  The question that brought this debate to the fore was ignored:  Where in the Constitution does the President find the authority to issue a mandate that violates the conscience of religious organizations and people?

OBAMA REFUSES to DENOUCE INSULTS against REPUBLICAN WOMEN.  Rae Lynne Chornenky, President of the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW), issued the following statement following President Obama's Tuesday news conference in which he ignored questions regarding insults made against Republican women.

“The hypocrisy displayed by President Barack Obama and liberal Democrats when Republican women are the targets of vicious attacks is shameful,” Chornenky said. “Yesterday, President Obama dodged questions from USA Today and the Daily Caller, flatly refusing to denounce or even criticize his liberal supporters for making vile remarks about Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and other prominent Republican women. What hypocrisy! And, what about the mainstream media? Where are the media when liberals utter demeaning, derogatory remarks about Republican women? Nowhere to be found. This liberal hypocrisy and media double standard must end.”

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Final Gavel Falls-2012 Legislative Session Adjourned

This week the final gavel fell ending Oregon’s five-week, 2012 legislative session. For a complete list of what was accomplished during the 2012 Legislative Session. (Click here www.dennisrichardson.org/2012_keyvotes.pdf).

The key goals for this short, even-year session:

1)        Rebalance the State Budget,
2 and 3) Pass transformative legislation for education and health care, and 
Clear the path for Oregon’s economic recovery and jobs for Oregon workers.

Bipartisan cooperation and compromise enabled legislative success in meeting the first three of Oregon’s key goals.

Unfortunately, Democrats would not cooperate when the legislature turned its attention to bills introduced by Republican legislators that had the key goal of creating a clear path for Oregon’s economic recovery and creating jobs for Oregon’s unemployed and underemployed workers. 

For the whole story, click on www.DennisRichardson.org/lu030712.htm

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Benton County hosts opportunity to meet COO

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Benton County Board of Commissioners will be hosting a Community Forum to discuss current happenings in Benton County as well as introduce Chief Operating Officer Dennis Aloia.

The event is scheduled from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14, at the Corvallis Depot Passenger Room, 700 Washington Ave., in Corvallis and will feature presentations by Benton County Board of Commissioners Chair Jay Dixon and Aloia. Dixon will discuss where Benton County has been in the last year and where it is going, followed by an introductory presentation by Aloia.

Following the presentations the Benton County Board of Commissioners and other county leaders will be on hand to discuss issues pertaining to Benton County Government and county services. The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided.

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This e-mail is sent to you by Benton County Republicans and Benton County Republican Women, P.O. Box 808, Corvallis OR 97339. Our office is located in the Millrace Center at 1760 S.W. Third Street, Corvallis.  Our telephone number is 541-754-9155. Please visit our website at: www.bentongop.org. If you would like to subscribe to our e-mails, please contact us with your request. Thank you. Read More......

Barton: America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President

(Via David Crowe of Restore America/Hat tip: Stella Guenther)
David Crowe writes, "David Barton, President of Wallbuilders, historian and respected leader in the movement to restore the nation to our biblical foundations has written the most detailed, footnoted, and telling expose of the Obama Administration acts against Christianity, and preferentialism for Islam that exists." Read David Barton's study at Wall Builders... Read More......

Huffman: Wind, timber and hypocrisy in the Pacific Northwest

DC CALLER, 3/9/2012 by Jim Huffman, Law Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School

[Excerpts] [...] In 2009 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated the national death toll from wind turbines at 440,000 birds that year alone.  ✧ That seems like a lot of birds, particularly for those of us in the Pacific Northwest, where a once-vibrant timber economy has been devastated in a failing effort to save the spotted owl. Read more at DC Caller...

Read More......

Rep. Richardson: Final Gavel Falls-2012 Legislative Session Adjourned

Rep. Richardson's Newsletter, March 7, 2012

This week the final gavel fell ending Oregon’s five-week, 2012 legislative session. For a complete list of what was accomplished during the 2012 Legislative Session, See 2012 Key Votes PDF. ✧ There were four key goals for this short, even-year session: Rebalance the State Budget, pass transformative legislation for education and health care, and create a clear path for Oregon’s economic recovery and jobs for Oregon workers. ✧ Bipartisan cooperation and compromise enabled legislative success in meeting the first three of Oregon’s key goals. Read Rep. Richardson's full newsletter...

Read More......

Incumbent Protection Foiled by Citizens United Decision

COMMENTARY MAGAZINE, 3/9/2012 by Jonathan S. Tobin - "Citizens United Decision’s Real Victim: Incumbent Protection Plans"

The primary defeat of an incumbent Republican member of Congress on Tuesday in Ohio has provoked some cries of dismay from the media and other sectors of the chattering classes. No one really cares about Rep. Jean Schmidt, who lost her race in her Cincinnati-area district to a relatively unknown podiatrist [Brad Wenstrup, a doctor and Iraq war veteran who has never held political office]. But the reason for concern we are told is the fact that Schmidt was, in part, taken down by a GOP insurgency in which a super PAC played a significant role. That’s the conceit of a New York Times feature this morning about the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that limited the federal government’s ability to restrict political speech in the form of election advertisements. A Houston-based political action committee called the Campaign for Primary Accountability spent about $200,000 to help defeat Schmidt and is taking an active role in other races where incumbents are being challenged. Read more at Commentary...

Note: This is a short article that gives a reasoned pro Citizens United decision explanation. The full article is well worth reading. In addition, you might want to visit the website for Campaign for Primary Accountability for background on this super PAC. --bc Read More......

Fox: Utah on verge of passing bill demanding Feds relinquish public land

3/6/2012 (AP) SALT LAKE CITY – Lawmakers who want to seize control of federal lands are pushing a legal battle they insist is winnable despite multiple warnings their effort is highly unconstitutional and almost sure to fail in court. ✧ Utah is poised to become the first state to pass a package of bills that demand the federal government relinquish claims to huge sections of public land. A proposal that advanced Wednesday demands that by 2014 the federal government cede control of nearly 30 million acres -- nearly 50 percent of the entire state. ✧ A bill setting an identical deadline is also moving in the Arizona Legislature. Read more at Fox News... Read More......

Obama Administration's war on coal, jobs at risk

March 6, 2012

Press Release: More than 270,000 Jobs Potentially at Risk from Mining Rule Says ENVIRON

ENVIRON International Corporation (ENVIRON) today completed an analysis on behalf of the National Mining Association (NMA) of the anticipated economic impacts associated with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s (OSM) proposed rewrite of the Stream Buffer Zone Rule (the Stream Protection Rule) and other provisions of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The key findings of the analysis are as follows: Read more at NMA...

(Hat tip: Linda Weimer) Read More......

The Obama vetting begins

Before his surprising death on March 1, Andrew Breitbart promised that 'this time' Barack Obama would be vetted.  In recent speeches, interviews and gatherings, Breitbart indicated that he had video tapes to show just how radical Obama really is.  The first tape was released today on Breitbart TV.  See The Vetting: Obama Embraces Racialist Harvard Prof...

Related video ca 1990: Thomas Sowell Hammers 'Despicable' Derrick Bell; Compares To Hitler Read More......

Kucinich first casualty in incumbent vs. incumbent races

Washington (CNN) – While most of the nation's eyes were focused on the Republican presidential race in Ohio Tuesday night, a Democratic drama was playing out in the north of the state. ✧ Rep. Dennis Kucinich, one of Congress' leading liberal voices, was defeated by a fellow Democrat Marcy Kaptur. ✧ Kaptur will face Republican Sam Wurzelbacher, more commonly known as "Joe the Plumber," in the general election. Read more at CNN...
(Hat tip: Linda Weimer) Read More......

AIM: The War on Conservative Women

ACCURACY IN MEDIA, 3/7/2012 by Michelle Malkin, Guest Columnist

I’m sorry Rush Limbaugh called 30-year-old Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut.” She’s really just another professional femme-a-gogue helping to manufacture a false narrative about the GOP “war on women.” I’m sorry the civility police now have an opening to demonize the entire right based on one radio comment — because it’s the progressive left in this country that has viciously and systematically slimed female conservatives for their beliefs. Read more at AIM...

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Conservative warrior Andrew Breitbart dead at 43

Andrew Breitbart collapsed and died shortly after midnight Thursday. He was a new media entrepreneur, author of Righteous Indignation and former liberal turned conservative defender, who spoke recently at CPAC (full speech). Andrew Breitbart was a pioneer of new media websites including BREITBART (News), BIG GOVERNMENT, BREITBART TV, BIG HOLLYWOOD, BIG JOURNALISM and BIG PEACE. All websites featured an In Memoriam message by Larry Solov, President of Breitbart.com, LLC. Close friend and collaborator Matt Drudge wrote,

"DEAR READER: In the first decade of the DRUDGEREPORT Andrew Breitbart was a constant source of energy, passion and commitment. We shared a love of headlines, a love of the news, an excitement about what's happening. I don't think there was a single day during that time when we did not flash each other or laugh with each other, or challenge each other. I still see him in my mind's eye in Venice Beach, the sunny day I met him. He was in his mid 20's. It was all there. He had a wonderful, loving family and we all feel great sadness for them today... MDRUDGE"

Rush Limbaugh describes Breitbart as a "Bulldog for the Cause." BIG GOVERNMENT has been posting comments from conservative notables all day (see list of links below the fold). Rest in peace Andrew Breitbart and heartfelt condolences to his family. His life was way too short but he packed a lot into it... fearlessly. Photo: foia.tv

1. In Memoriam: Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)

2. Breitbart's death to be reviewed by L.A. County coroner

3. Walsh: 'We must continue his good fight'...

4. ...'not the end of his crusade, but its beginning'

5. Palin: 'Thank God for his inspiration and leadership'

6. Carlson: Andrew 'willing to do things that scared him'

7. Breitbart’s Greatest Moments: ‘Man Against The Mob’

8. Rep. McCotter: Breitbart 'Gave His All to Serve His Fellow Human Beings and This Country'

9. Reuters: 'He knew how to take a punch. And he liked throwing them.'

10. Romney: Breitbart 'brilliant entrepreneur'

11. Rick Santorum Reacts To Andrew's Death

12. Congressman Gohmert Makes Touching Tribute To Breitbart On House Floor

13. Liberals celebrate death of Andrew Breitbart

14. MSNBC Mocks Breitbart with Cartoons

15. Huffington Praises Breitbart's Passion, Exuberance, Fearlessness

16. Rush: Breitbart Exposes Liberal Media Bias Even in Death

17. Guardain: Breitbart married new media with political principle

18. Gutfeld: 'He Was Fun Personified'

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Oregon Republican Party opens three statewide primaries to non-affiliated voters

At the State Central Committee Meeting in Albany on February 5, Oregon Republicans passed the 2012 ‘Freedom Primary’...

The Oregon Republican Party, seeking to become more competitive in a state where most major offices are held by Democrats, announced Monday that it will open its May primary for three statewide offices to non-affiliated voters.  Oregon Republican Chairman Allen Alley said the party will allow these voters to cast ballots in the primary races for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer.  However, non-affiliated voters won't be allowed to vote in the presidential primary, in legislative primaries or in any partisan races for local office. Read more at OregonLive.com...

Read the Oregon Republican Party News Release HERE. Read More......

New 2012 Benton County Precinct Maps available online

(Hat tip: John H. Detweiler) - NEW Benton County Precinct Maps available online on the Benton County website.

There are significant changes to legislative district boundaries in Benton County as a result of the latest redistricting effort. To learn what changes were made in your area, please, check the 2012 Precinct maps now in effect. Maps showing political boundaries before the most recent redistricting process are now referred to as Old Precinct maps.

We suggest that you zoom in on your area on the Benton County Map to see what precinct you are in now. Sorry, we don't yet have an easy way to let you know what your current precinct number is, or if it has changed since redistricting. Read More......

Enemies of the American Dream

Republished from earlier posting on 3/15/2007

CapMag.com via News Wire , February 26, 2007 - Irvine, CA--America has long been known as the country in which individuals, no matter where they begin in life, have the freedom necessary to achieve great success--to live the American Dream. Yet the critics of "income inequality," complaining about high CEO pay, endless "dead-end jobs," and allegedly low "social mobility," say that the American Dream has become a fiction--and that the government must come to the rescue with new welfare spending.

In fact, said Alex Epstein, "Today's America, thanks to its legacy of economic freedom, offers unprecedented economic opportunity to all of us.

"Thanks to the ingenuity of individuals under generations of American capitalism, today we have available to us literally thousands of types of well-paying jobs, and myriad resources from which to acquire new skills and knowledge--this, even in spite of our horrible system of public education. Immigrants who come here speaking no English, but who work hard and have a commitment to self-improvement, routinely achieve great success--while their children fill America's top universities."

Anyone who claims that in America today it is nearly impossible to improve your economic situation is lying to you. Indeed, the biggest obstacle many Americans face is that very lie--the determinist philosophy that your success or failure is pre-ordained by economic circumstances. Those who accept this philosophy of failure will not be willing to exert the effort, self-discipline, and commitment to self-improvement that success requires. They will be ripe targets for anti-capitalist politicians who sell them on the latest welfare scheme by telling them that their problems are not of their own making, but rather of an overly capitalist system that permits such income inequality."

Americans must reject the present public outcry against income inequality, and recognize that the American Dream can become a reality for each of us--as long as we embrace a philosophy of responsibility and success, not determinism and failure." Read More......