Apartment residents told to take down U.S. flags

KATU.COM (Portland), 10/13/2009 by Melica Johnson KATU News and KATU.com Staff (Hat tip: Charles Nelson)

Oct. 15 UPDATE: Management got the message. All's well & flags are flying again!

ALBANY, Ore. - At the Oaks Apartments in Albany, the management can fly their own flag advertising one and two bedroom apartments - but residents have been told they can't fly any flags at all. ∴ Jim Clausen flies the American flag from the back of his motorcycle. He has a son in the military heading back to Iraq, and the flag - he said - is his way of showing support. ∴ "This flag stands for all those people," said Clausen, an Oaks Apartment resident. "It stands for the people that can no longer stand - who died in wars. That's why I fly this flag." ∴ But to Oaks Apartment management, Clausen said, the American flag symbolizes problems. ∴ He was told to remove the red, white and blue from both of his rides, or face eviction. ∴ "It floored me," he said. "I can't believe she was saying what she was saying."

Even long-time residents like Sharron White, who has flown a flag on her car for eight years, has been told to take it down. ∴ White said management told her that "someone might get offended."

"I just said to her 'They'll just have to get over it,'" White said.

Resident we talked to who had been approached to take down their flags all told us the same thing: that management told them the flags could be offensive because they live in a diverse community.

Attempts to find out for ourselves why management would ban flags were unsuccessful. KATU wanted to talk to management at Oaks Apartments, but no one has returned our calls. The woman we were told had made the decision said she was "not going to answer any questions."

The mother of one soldier fighting in Iraq put up a poster in her son's apartment window when she learned of the ban. Her son's roommate said he'll risk eviction to make sure it stays.

Another Oaks Apartment resident, Judith Sherer, doesn't have a car. Instead she carries an American flag around the complex to protest the ban, and wonders if the flag pin she wears is next to be "singled out."

"If I put it on and I walk outside, what's going to happen?" Sherer muses. "Am I going to be confronted by a manager about this?"

We're told the ban includes sports flags and even flag stickers on cars. Read More......

Get involved, be informed about new County expense

The Corvallis Gazette-times reported on Monday, September 14: County absorbs cost of saving butterfly. ARTICLE: Hefty permit fees are no longer part of a plan to protect the endangered Fender's blue. Pending grants should cover land costs, and the county will seek other revenue sources for administrative funds.

Benton County has chosen to involve itself extensively in enforcing the Endangered Species Act, even tho’ the US Forest Service is charged with the responsibility, thereby incurring large new expenses for the County. At the Benton County budget hearings a few months ago, department heads were reminded that the levy voters passed last year is the only reason that draconian cuts were not made in Department budgets, yet Commissioners are moving ahead on unnecessarily funding in the Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan. Funding will take a big piece of the Parks Department budget, and Commissioners “hope” that grants will be found to pay for unfunded costs.

Commissioners may have thought that their involvement would bring new development revenues to the County. However, because of massive public outcry, the Commissioners announced that they would drop plans for charging a fee to build a dwelling in the area where the Fender’s Blue Butterfly and half a dozen other species are found.

Public Meeting Sept. 16

A public meeting will be held at the Corvallis- Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Avenue in downtown Corvallis, on September 16th from 7-9 pm to provide information about the changes to the Benton County Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan since the last draft and to provide an opportunity for comments and questions. Please attend so you will have accurate information about the changes and comment on the County’s involvement in this plan.

The revised draft of the Benton County Prairie Species HCP is now available for a 30 day comment period ending on October 7th, 2009. The draft can be downloaded on the Benton County Natural Areas and Parks website http://www.co.benton.or.us/parks/hcp/documents/ and copies will be available for review at all Benton County Public Library Branches and at the Benton County Natural Areas & Parks Office. The draft Prairie Conservation Strategy will be included as an appendix to the HCP but can be downloaded separately. Comments may be emailed to the County at hcpinfo@co.benton.or.us or mailed to the Benton County Natural Areas & Parks Department at 360 SW Avery Ave, Corvallis, OR 97333. Read More......

Newsletter: Benton Co. Republicans, Aug. 15

If this doesn't send your pocket book screaming, nothing will. Out debt exceed our gross domestic product. Your personal share of the debt is over $191,000 each! WOW! See the Mother of all Clocks! If THIS doesn't shock the living day-lights out of you....I don't know what would! Be certain to read the comments at the very end...you must click on "about" (at the very bottom of the Clock page).

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Benton Co. Republicans have authorized a new activist group, “Protect the Republic.”
This group will cooperate with patriots who are concerned about issues and policies that pose a threat to our Constitution and our freedoms. If you’d like to learn more about “Protect the Republic” just reply to this e-mail and we’ll send you more information. Your support is needed!!

Following are opportunities for involvement:

PATRIOTS RESIST JOB KILLING TAXES!
Portland, Ore. – Friday August 14th – Oregon Republican Party Chairman Bob Tiernan called on all Oregonians to oppose the job-killing taxes that were passed this June by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature. He asked all voters who are registered to sign the petition to refer the two major taxes on the ballot.

"We are down to 41 days in which to gather signatures for our cause - it's up to each and everyone one of you who agree that we just can't afford more job-killing taxes to stand up, sign the petitions, and then call your friends and tell them why they should sign the tax petitions too," said Chairman Tiernan.

How can you get involved?

• You can call our local petition chair Linda Weimer at 740-1736 to learn how to circulate the petitions and for your copies of the petition; or...
• Call the Oregon Republican Party at 503-595-8881 to learn more about the issues and where you can pick up petitions
• Go to the ORP's website to watch the training videos for signature gathering
• Contact ORP Field Organizer Kevin Hoar by email or at 503-595-8881 about the Great Tax Rebellion Day on August 21st
• Download an e-petition from the ORP's website, print it, sign it and sent it in
• Forward the e-petition link to your friends and family and get them to sign as well!

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Benton County Unnecessarily Plans to Spend Your Resources to Enforce the Endangered Species Act and Take Over Private Property

On July 5, 2009, the Corvallis G-T ran a front page article inviting people to designate their property as a home for the Fender’s Blue Butterfly, which is on the Endangered Species List. People were invited to sign up throughout Benton County to plant lupine on their property as food for the butterfly which would encourage it to forage on new lands.

The Wren-Kings Valley area is the area where the lupine and the butterfly are currently found, and many of the land owners in this area are angry about being told what they can do on their land. A designated area becomes an area where the government dictates if there can be new development and of course no habitat can be disturbed without big government involvement.
Unnecessarily, Benton County is set to spend $800,000 to take over the job of enforcing the Endangered Species Act and to create conservation easements through purchase of land. Jerry Jackson, candidate for Benton County Commissioner, feels strongly that the county should not be a regulatory means for the Endangered Species Act.

Jerry says that the current draft habitat conservation plan should become non-regulatory and have no authority to add to any additional species, restrictions and or to purchase private property to create conservation easements in the so-called “blue zones” (See the article in July 5 G-T).

During the semi-annual Benton County budget process, budget shortfalls were discussed and the Board of Commissioners publicly admitted that the county does not have enough money to operate in the future without spending down their reserves. You don't have to go any further than Starker Forests in western Benton County to see we have great stewards of the forest in place without wasting more than $800,000 on a study to regulate your lands.

The next Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, August 20th, 10am-Noon at the Corvallis-Benton County public library in downtown Corvallis. Here’s where you can do something to influence the progress of this encroachment on private property rights. CALL THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND ASK THAT THE MEETING BE MOVED FROM DAYTIME TO THE EVENING SO THAT MORE PEOPLE CAN ATTEND!!! Then proceed to learn all you can about this government encroachment on private property.

The August 20 meeting will be a work session to discuss the revised draft Benton County HCP. HCP Staff have been working to revise the document since the close of the 90-day draft HCP comment period in April of this year. The County plans to release the revised draft HCP, including the Prairie Conservation Strategy (an Appendix), for an additional 30 day comment period this September. The agenda will be posted on the Benton County HCP website soon at www.co.benton.or.us/parks/hcp/stakeholder.php.

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Important Events

• Monday, August 17, 11 a.m. - Picket the Service Employees International Union (S.E.I.U.) office at 606 S.W. 15th Street, Corvallis to protest Pres. Obama’s request for S.E.I.U. members to strongarm people at several Town Hall meetings across the nation.


• Tuesday, August 18, Carpooling: 7:30 a.m. - Be at Republican Headquarters, 1760 S.W. Third Street, Corvallis to ride as a group to the Town Hall meeting sponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-U.S.Cong.Dist.4 from Oregon). There will be no August midvalley Town Hall meetings by any Congressman, and the closest meeting will be Rep. DeFazio’s Town Hall in Junction City’s city hall from 9 to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug 18.
  If you can’t attend in the morning, Rep. DeFazio will hold two other Town Hall meetings on Tuesday: 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. at the Eugene Hilton and Convention Center, 66 East 6th Av., Eugene; and 7 to 8 p.m. in the Springfield City Council meeting room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOUR COUNTRY, STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!


• Thursday, August 20, 10 a.m. - Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, August 20th, 10am-Noon at the Corvallis-Benton County public library in downtown Corvallis.


• Thursday, August 20, 5 p.m. - Annual Republican Barbecue! This year it’s in the Beer Garden at The Philomath Frolic Rodeo Grounds, 502 S. 13th Street, Philomath. Come enjoy Sandy’s fabulous Tri-tip or chicken barbecue!! Bring the whole family for lots of fun, music, and word from the campaign trail. You’re invited to bring a dessert to share (no cream desserts, please). Call message line for tickets: (541) 754 9155 (Look for signs telling you to turn south on 11th Street for easy access, since there is road work on S. 13th St. After you cross Applegate, proceed on South 11th. Look for the gate, which will be open (the road will take a slight left angle as you proceed to the gate. Stay on the road, which will lead you to the Benton County Republican Barbecue! EASY!)

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This e-mail is sent to you by Benton County Republicans, 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 754 9155. Please visit our website at http://bentongop.blogspot.com.

If you would like to subscribe to our e-mails, please make your subscription request HERE. Thank you. J. Nelson Read More......

Newsletter: Benton Co. Republicans, July 31 - Obama's Popularity Plummets as Voters Learn the Truth

“Government’s first duty is protect the people, not run their lives.”--President Ronald Reagan, Republican, (1981-1989)

The latest polls reveal that voters are turning away from Pres. Obama and the Democrat Party. Non-aligned voters have especially lost confidence in Democrat leadership. Watch for a huge barrage of propaganda against the pharmaceutical companies during August, as Nancy Pelosi tries to bolster the Party image.

In this newsletter:

• Today’s Political Cartoon
• Obama Misleads Public, Does an End Run Around Congress
• Obama Lies about the details of his healthcare proposal
• $$$$ Billions of Stimulus Funds Disappear!
• Watchdog says TARP tab could hit $24 Trillion!!!

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Political Cartoon (This cartoon was sent to us by Beth Ann Ryker. Thanks, Beth Ann!

Have You Heard Pres. Obama Describe His Healthcare Plan? Don’t Believe What he Says! Pres. Obama has been making misleading claims about his healthcare proposals. When Obama says his plan will keep “government out of healthcare decisions” and Americans will have “the option to keep your insurance if you’re happy with it,” he is not telling the truth!

Arizona Republican Rep. John Shadegg says, “The Democrat-backed health care plan “inserts the federal government and the federal bureaucrats in virtually every healthcare decision in America. And, under the clear terms of the bill, you will not be able to keep your current plan, whether you like it or not.”

Shadegg sees the House bill as a “massive takeover of every aspect of healthcare.” The legislation “empowers bureaucrats to make virtually every decision,” he says. “It creates a new healthcare advisory commission, a new healthcare benefits board. It creates a new commissioner who would have powers just short of the powers of the president.”

As for Obama’s claim that his plan allows Americans to keep their present insurance if they wish, “That simply again is flat false,” Shadegg says. The House bill sets forth standards that every insurance plan in America must meet regarding coverage, minimum benefits, plus more requirements are forthcoming. “No plan currently in existence in America could possibly meet those standards. Therefore, no plan today will continue to exist” under Obama’s healthcare. The statement that if you have a plan you like you can keep it “is simply wrong.”

Shadegg says that nationalizing health care will give Democrats their goal of making Americans dependent on the government. Obama and Pelosi say they can cover all Americans while bringing health care costs down. The Congressional Budget office has been very candid and straightforward in saying THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE. The CBO says that Obama’s health plan will increase the cost burden on the United States Government, on all insurance providers, and on every one of us!!!

The CBO also says that Obama’s health care spending will create a massive spike in the federal deficit!

Our legislators must read the whole bill and vote in a responsible manner! We don’t want Congress to pass legislation they haven’t read and then say, “Sorry, I didn’t read it before I voted for it, so of course you can’t hold me responsible because I didn’t know.”

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House Republicans Unveil $700B Healthcare Plan
“We are introducing this bill because we support health care reform, but in a way that empowers patients.” This bill gives GOP lawmakers a positive plan to point to when they go home for the congressional August break.

The GOP plan was drafted by Rep. Tom Price, R-GA, a physician. It avoids expanding the federal role in overseeing the health insurance industry. Unlike Dem proposals, it would not set up new federally regulated purchasing pools for individuals and small businesses. Instead, it would allow individuals to use the Internet to purchase lower-cost coverage available anywhere in the country.

The plan would offer tax deductions and tax credits to help make the purchase of health insurance more affordable for individuals. States, associations and small businesses would be allowed to pool together to offer less expensive insurance coverage. It would provide grants to states to help set up high-risk pools for people with medical problems who are denied coverage by commercial insurers. And it would allow employers to automatically sign workers up for the company’s coverage—similar to what’s done with 401 (k) retirement plans.

The GOP will would take on medical malpractice, limiting jury awards for pain and suffering and creating new health courts in which a specially trained judge would hear and decide cases involving medical negligence.

Republicans say their plan is fully paid for, but it hasn’t been assessed yet by the Congressional Budget Office, the official scorekeeper for the costs of legislation.

It’s unclear how far the plan would go in reducing the number of uninsured. Most independent analysts—and the insurance industry—say some sort of requirement to purchase insurance is needed to ensure coverage. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said “we believe we can come up with a plan where every person in the uninsured has access to insurance.”

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President Does an End Run Around Congress!
In last year’s presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised us that he would not bypass Congress in his decision-making.

Truth: Obama has appointed an army of “czars”, each wholly unaccountable to Congress, and each spearheads major policy efforts for the White House, with authority second only to the President.

In his first six months, Obama has done an end run around the legislative branch by appointing many people who are not subjected to Senate confirmation and congressional oversight, and who have absolute authority in almost every aspect of our lives. Barack Obama poses a grave threat to our system of checks and balances!!

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Obama Already Breaking Tax Promises
By Grover Nyquist, Wednesday, July 29, Newsmax - On September 12, then-Senator Barack Obama made the American people a promise. We were told “no family, making less than $250,000 a year, will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax. Not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

President Obama didn’t keep that promise. He broke it 16 days into his presidency when he signed the SCHIP bill, instituting a tax hike on smokers, a group with a median income of $36,000. And that’s about the last place his promise was even comprehensible.

Since then Obama has broken that promise while he and his mouthpieces have told America that the promise comes without caveats, that the president doesn’t draw lines in the sand, and that he has kept and will keep the promise. It sounds baffling in print – it’s even more confusing when you see and hear it.

But with healthcare and cap-and-tax – both loaded with tax hikes – potentially hitting the president’s desk in the next few months, IT IS VITAL THAT THE PRESIDENT BE REMINDED OF HIS PROMISE. American simply cannot afford any more twists and turns in this bizarre saga of Obama’s tax promises.

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Obama Fails to Shove Healthcare Through the House before Vacation
When Congress leaves Washington D.C. for a month of vacation, nationalized healthcare will still be waiting for a vote. And voters are anxious to tell their Congressional representatives during August about necessary changes in possible healthcare legislation. To counter voters, a massive propaganda campaign has begun, trying to make the pharmaceuticals, not the Democrats, the bad guys. Democrats will be painted as the saviors of the masses.

Obama admitted this week that the House will not vote on this bill before the end of September or the middle of October.

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Billions in Stimulus Disappears in States Without Oversight
Illinois, President Obama’s home state, is the worst in the nation when it comes to information available online about how federal stimulus money is being spent. Illinois also scored a zero in information about stimulus spending on highways.

The 50-state study by the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog Good Jobs First sought to assess how well states are living up to President Barack Obama’s pledge that the $787 billion federal stimulus bill would seek “an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability.”

To fulfill that and similar promises from governors, state web sites were supposed to play a central role as one-stop shops where watchdogs, reporters and citizens could go to track stimulus cash. On a scale of zero to 100, Illinois scored zero!

Most states also scored poorly, with an average rating of 28. Illinois is so tainted with political corruption that critics said it should try to be more transparent than any other state.

Maryland scored 80, Colorado was second with 68, and only 4 other states scored above 50. Oregon was not specifically named.

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Thanks, Paul Rentz, for calling our attention to an article on the front page of the G-T this week:

The folks that say Health Care Companies are greedy have NO competition compared to the Federal Government and the State Of Oregon- do the math!
According to an AP article that was on the front page of the Gazette Times (Corvallis’ morning paper) July 28th, 2009, Oregon lawmakers spent $176 MILLION dollars creating 113,260 hours of jobs (average job lasted 35 hours for 3,236 employees) or $1,554 PER HOUR! Is this part of the same government that is telling us that they can save us money in health care if we put them in charge?!? They think private sector health care is a rip off- oh my!

WE HAVE TO GET THE WORD OUT!
Paul Rentz

SPIN METER: 'Help Wanted' counting stimulus jobs
By RYAN KOST (AP) – 2 days ago
PORTLAND, Ore. — How much are politicians straining to convince people that the government is stimulating the economy? In Oregon, where lawmakers are spending $176 million to supplement the federal stimulus, Democrats are taking credit for a remarkable feat: creating 3,236 new jobs in the program's first three months.
But those jobs lasted on average only 35 hours, or about one work week. After that, those workers were effectively back unemployed, according to an Associated Press analysis of state spending and hiring data. By the state's accounting, a job is a job, whether it lasts three hours, three days, three months, or a lifetime. "Sometimes some work for an individual is better than no work," said Oregon's Senate president, Peter Courtney.

With the economy in tatters and unemployment rising, Oregon's inventive math underscores the urgency for politicians across the country to show that spending programs designed to stimulate the economy are working — even if that means stretching the facts.
At the federal level, President Barack Obama has said the federal stimulus has created 150,000 jobs, a number based on a misused formula and which is so murky it can't be verified.

At least 10 other states have launched their own miniature stimulus plans and nine others have proposed one, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many of them, like Oregon, have promised job creation as a result of the public spending.

Ohio, for instance, passed a nearly $1.6 billion stimulus package even before Congress was looking at a federal program. When Gov. Ted Strickland first pitched the idea last year, he estimated the program could create some 80,000 jobs.

In North Carolina, a panel authorized hundreds of millions of dollars in new debt to speed up $740 million in government building projects. According to one estimate, the move could hurry the creation of 25,000 jobs.

As the bills for these programs mount, so will the pressure to show results. But, as Oregon illustrates, job estimates can very wildly.

"At best you can say it's ambiguous, at worst you can say it's intentional deception," said economist Bruce Blonigen of the University of Oregon. "You have to normalize it into a benchmark that everybody can understand."

Oregon's accounting practices would not be allowed as part of the $787 billion federal stimulus. While the White House has made the unverifiable promise that 3.5 million jobs will be saved or created by the end of next year, when accountants actually begin taking head counts this fall, there are rules intended to guard against exactly what Oregon is doing.

The White House requires states to report numbers in terms of full-time, yearlong jobs. That means a part-time mechanic counts as half a job. A full-time construction worker who has a three-month paving contract counts as one-fourth of a job.

Using that method, the AP's analysis of figures in Oregon shows the program so far has created the equivalent of 215 full-time jobs that will last three months. Oregon's House speaker, Dave Hunt, called that measurement unfair, though nearly every other state that has passed a stimulus package already uses or plans to use it.

"This stimulus plan was intentionally designed for short-term projects to pump needed jobs and income into families, businesses and communities struggling to get by," Hunt said in a statement. "No one ever said these would be full-time jobs for months at a time."

Still, critics say counting jobs, without any consideration of their duration, isn't good enough.

"You can't let them say, 'Well, we never said it was going to be full-time,'" said Steve Buckstein, a policy analyst for the Cascade Policy Institute, a free-market think tank. For the price of Oregon's $176 million, lawmakers could have provided all 3 million state residents with a one-hour job paying about $60, he said.

"By their definition, that's 3 million jobs," Buckstein said. "Is anybody gonna buy that?"

Oregon's 12.4 percent unemployment rate surpasses the national average of 9.4 percent. To supplement the federal stimulus, the state sold bonds to pay for everything from replacing light bulbs to installing carpet and finishing construction of a school in the farming community of Tillamook.

The "Go Oregon" program is still new. According to its latest progress report, 8 percent of the money has been spent and hundreds of projects have yet to be completed. More paychecks are bound to be written as construction continues.
If Oregon's dollars-to-jobs ratio remains steady, the program will create about 688 full-time, yearlong jobs. So far, it's generated only enough hours to employ 54 people full-time for a year.

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This e-mail is sent to you by Benton County Republicans, 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 754 9155. Please visit our website at bentongop.blogspot.com.

If you would like to subscribe to our e-mails, please make your subscription request HERE. Thank you. Read More......

Benton County Draft Prairie Habitat Plan

OREGON REPUBLICAN BLOG, 6/20/2009 by Jerry J. Jackson, Sr. - "It is time to be very aware of the Power our County is trying to Obtain!" Read more at the Oregon Republican Blog... Read More......

Newsletter: Benton Co. Republicans, June 29

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.” …Thomas Paine (1737-1809) U.S. Patriot & political philosopher
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Multiple articles.
Independence Day, July 4

8 to 11 a.m. Start Independence Day at our annual Benton County Republican Breakfast! We’re in our new Headquarters at 1760 S.W. Third Street in the Millrace Center. Bring your friends!

You’ll love our ham and eggs, hot off the griddle and cooked just like you like ‘em. Top your beautiful fresh pancakes with butter and maple syrup, or get creative and make them Red, White and Blue beautiful with strawberries, blueberries, and maybe a dollop of whipped topping. Of course, there’s OJ, coffee and tea, too. The price is $6.00 for everyone 12 and older. Children 4-11 eat for $4.00, and those aged 1-3 get breakfast for just $1.00. Say “hello” to our Republican elected officials, who are winding down the 2009 legislature and who will be serving breakfast. Remember our new address: 1760 S.W. Third Street in the Millrace Center. And bring the sign you’ll be carrying at the Tea Party later in the day.

4 to 6 p.m. Americans, Let Your Voices Be Heard at the Independence Day Tea Party in Corvallis in front of the Courthouse, 120 N.W. 4th Street. It’s your opportunity to voice your concerns about government. So stand up and speak up for freedom!

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On YOUTUBE: From the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) speaks out against what’s happening to government today in the United States. Learn how Pres. Obama and his czars are bypassing Congress and forcing their policies on our nation, Gangster Style! It doesn’t matter what party you belong to. You’ll find this unbelievable and very eye-opening. Copy and paste this in your browser address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thR-1VuztIY

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A report has surfaced that the Environmental Protection Agency is suppressing an internal study that undermines the administration's position on global warming.

As the EPA wraps up its proposed rule-making process that seeks to label carbon dioxide as a pollutant harmful to human life, Sam Kazman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute says the federal agency has suppressed a critical internal report.

"One of their career analysts who's been there for nearly 40 years did a study criticizing the agency's approach. His boss told him that study would be kept concealed because it would only shake things up," he explains. "Namely, the administration had decided what direction to take; namely that carbon dioxide would be regulated, and this report would only cause trouble for the agency and for that office."

Kazman says his organization was able to examine a draft of the study and basically concluded that in looking at the real-world data, warming has stopped in the last eight years. It added that in the past, ocean cycles have had greater influence on climate change than have carbon dioxide emissions.

He finds it ironic that the Obama administration has pledged to be open and transparent, yet sits on a report such as this.

AND WHERE’S THE MEDIA WHILE THIS DECEPTION IS GOING ON?

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Andy and Bev Caron selected this cartoon as the Cartoon of the Year…
Maybe even the Cartoon of the Century. They note that ABC isn’t named, but, since it always follows along with the rest of the mainstream media, it belongs there, too.

(Click image for larger view)


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June 29th’s Gazette-Times story on page B6 reports that President Obama scored a major victory last Friday after the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill designed to “curb global warming.” The bill passed 219 – 212 in the House and will substantially raise energy costs for every family in America if it passes the Senate.
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A Reader Speaks Out….
In response to an email from Benton County Republicans:
I had requested e mails from the Benton County Republican Party. I am a registered Republican and support my party....However I am extremely disappointed in the e mail I received in regards to measure 57..Billions of dollars have been poured into the Measure 11 measure at great expense to our state. It was termed a Fiscal Folly years ago. A nonsustainable measure. I have written legislative people and no one was willing to come against this measure, although admitting it was expensive. We voted for it years ago as it was presented as a bill for continued offenders. That made sense.This however is not the way it works... With the Mandatory Minimums a hickey is the same as rape and gets 75 months.

There is no time off for good behavior. No look back. While incarcerated you can finish your high school education, get a certificate in welding learn to play guitar proficiently, be in the worship band, work in the cafeteria, drive the food carts, make fences for home depot and mentor young people who have been incarcerated and not adjusting well..When you are released you have to register as a sex offender. A fifteen year old is released when they are 22 and the last learning experience is prison. Oregon just believes in locking them up and forgetting about them.

We pay approx 40,000 per year to lock up a young person. This measure is destructive, unconstitutional and wrong. We did not vote for this to happen. We voted for it because of repeat offenders, and not to see a young person a first time offender be a victim of this.

I set through a court session involving this kind of injustice. I have had several years to think it through, and see statistics.

You will never know the hurt and anguish of knowing a country you love and was born in would turn its back on you. A person has to have incredible character to survive this kind of injustice, be locked up for 75 months and be able to try to pick up the pieces of their lives.

I am aware that people are truly aware of dollars and cents..As a Senior Services worker I see that all of this monies could have been used to assure Senior and Disabled persons adequate care as they try to remain in their homes. The OPI program is the best program we have ever had, and is forever on the chopping block. Every one should know by now it is cost effective and with just a few hours a week a person can be cared for and remain in their home.

I believe it is time to change/rearrange our thinking regarding these issues. It is in our power to alleviate suffering, promote fairness, and put monies where it is needed.
Sincerely,
Marva Barnes, Philomath, Oregon

Ed. Thanks, Marva, for raising our awareness of flaws and deficiencies in the bills our legislature passes.

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This e-mail is sent to you by Benton County Republicans, 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 754 9155. Please visit our website at bentongop.blogspot.com.
If you would like to subscribe to our e-mails, please Contact us with your request. Thank you. Read More......

Letter: On buying local

Corvallis Gazette-Times: Letters to the Editor, 6/17/2009 by John Detweiler, Buying local is not always the best deal for Corvallis (June 17) - The Corvallis City Council seems to be discussing sustainability a great deal these days. However, before the council forces costly programs or regulations on the voter, the council may wish to find out what the voters actually think before doing so. ∴ I suggest that spin-free questions be asked in the next citizen attitude survey that addresses the benefits and costs to individual voters of specific actions in the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition (CSC) action plan.

One of the CSC goals is to encourage people to buy from local firms. However, if local firms cannot compete with non-local firms, the voter will incur additional costs if they buy locally.

If Oregon State University is forced to buy from local firms at higher prices, someone will pay those extra costs. A question should address the marginal costs a voter is willing to incur for the marginal benefits of buying locally.

Another CSC goal is to revive Corvallis watersheds to conditions that provide healthy habit supporting reproducing populations of cold-water native fish.

A question should address the costs of providing that habitat. Will the taxpayer, or the people living next to these streams, be willing to incur the costs of improving the streams?

It appears to me that the council is assuming that the CSC speaks for all the voters in Corvallis. We need to find out if that is true.

John H. Detweiler
Corvallis Read More......