Wednesday, May 19, 2010

VICTORY!

Victory? How is losing with only 1,113 votes victory?

Of course we went into this intending to win. To win the election, we needed a lucky break with the media toward the beginning of the campaign. Not surprisingly, the media wouldn’t step outside of their box.

But winning the election was only one way to win. We entered this looking at the larger picture. We wanted to launch a new message, a new kind of candidate, a new kind of campaign. Because old school politics and politicians have brought this country to it’s knees. We need something new, something real. Something that represents us rather than special interests and those with money.

Someone needed to step up. One of us. Not a rich businessman, or a politician, or some other elite who pretends to walk with us. ONE OF US. No one was doing it so I did. Not for me, because what I do will likely not affect me very much. But for my kids.

I understand…you might not agree with everything I say. You might think I’m a little goofy on TV compared to Chris Dudley. But as we move forward, remember this…I am one of us. I have no agenda other than your agenda. I answer to no party. I accept no money so I owe a debt to no one. I represent no one other than you. This is how every representative of the people should be, yet none of them are. We should expect more. For the sake of our country, let’s hope this catches on.

So here’s how we see victory.

Over the course of the campaign we had 2,001 unique visitors to the website. 1,363 were from Oregon. This was the only way for voters to get information on the candidacy as there was no statement in the voters pamphlet. Even the TV debate had very limited information.

We received 1,113 votes, more than 80% of the unique visitors from Oregon to the site. We were hoping for around 10%. This is a HUGE victory! It means people who went to the website liked the message enough to cast a vote for the underdog.

So we (my wonderful daughter Kasondra and myself) would like to thank each and every one of you who supported and voted for Darren Karr this primary year. We’re not done. This is just the beginning.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Arizona - Rethought, Now Opposed

I constantly have to remind myself, “Darren, you’re not always right, no matter how right you might think you are.” This is one of those situations.

I stuck my foot in my mouth last night at a friends house and didn’t even notice it until this morning when my wife told me. It took a good 30 minutes of her explaining what happened for me to finally see her point. Immediately after this conversation with my wife, I started thinking about myself and where I may have made a similar mistake recently. A couple days ago I had a very light email exchange with one of my son’s teachers regarding a discussion his class had about the Arizona law. So it got me to thinking about my stance on the law and whether or not I was missing something. I was. I think it’s important to share it, even though we’re only two days away from the election.

First of all, I still believe the Governor of Arizona did the right thing. The bill that was presented to her was constitutional and it made it’s way to her desk in an ethical way. In other words, it was legal and it was the will of the people. Remember, We The People are in charge, not the Governor.

I believe the goal of the new law is to keep illegal’s from going to Arizona, and the law will probably help in doing that. But I see some problems here. 1) As much as I don’t believe there will be a problem with profiling, and I tend to give the authorities the benefit of the doubt until something actually happens, there is a possibility of profiling happening. 2) There is real concern from a good size group of Americans. 3) It seems to be very inefficient and expensive.

Because of this, I think the people of Arizona should reconsider this law.

That being said, we still have the issue of illegal aliens. The argument I continue to hear from the opposition to the law is the employers should be held accountable rather than the illegals. And that’s exactly what should be done. Here’s what I propose for Oregon:

1) Enact a law making it illegal to employ in any way, any person who is not in this country legally. The penalty for breaking the law will be not only a fine, but also jail time. The state will set up a verification system and anyone not using it and hiring an illegal will be prosecuted and punished. Corporate CEO’s will be held accountable. There will be no leniency. If a person drives to a “temporary worker station” and hires an illegal, that person will be caught, prosecuted, and punished with a fine and jail time.

2) Every single person, no matter what color their skin or what language they speak will be required to prove they are legally in America before receiving any state service, license, identification, or permit. This also applies to all people currently receiving state services.

3) Enact a law prohibiting banks and financial institutions (including check cashing) from doing business with people who cannot prove they are not in this country legally.

What do you think? Am I missing something? This should keep illegals out of Oregon and make the opposition to the Arizona law happy. It works for everyone.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Health Care

Obamacare is unconstitutional, inadequate, way too expensive, and will not work. There’s a reason the Constitution gives this responsibility to the states.

Oregon can ensure 100% of its citizens are covered by health insurance. Here’s what we need to do:

1. Make health care as inexpensive as possible. Go through the entire health care system from bottom to top with a fine tooth comb and find inefficiencies and waste. Eliminate all federal regulations and replace them with state regulations that we Oregonians feel are needed and not just a waste of time and money.

2. Allow insurance competition across state lines.

3. Enact tort reform.

4. (Stick with me for this crazy idea) Encourage the setup of a non-profit insurance company to insure high risk Oregonians. Oregon would tie the Oregon Lottery system into this non-profit to help subsidize the program. This will keep insurance prices down for healthy Oregonians and will make health insurance possible for Oregonians who cannot currently get insurance because of pre-existing conditions or other reasons.

5. Shore up the Oregon Health Plan. We need to remove the waste in the OHP. We also need to go through the list of recipients and make sure every single person is a legal United States citizen and a legal citizen of Oregon. Right now we have a waiting list of Oregonians who need medical care. This shouldn’t be the case. Under my leadership, the OHP will cover every single Oregonian who cannot afford health insurance in Oregon after steps 1-4 are enacted.

Don’t let Obamacare fool you. We Oregonians deserve much more. As Governor, I’ll keep Oregon OUT of the Obamacare mess, I’ll keep your hard earned money OUT of the federal health care pit and keep it in Oregon where it belongs. Remember, when you send $1.00 of the money you earn to the federal government in the form of taxes, Oregon sees only a fraction of that money back in federal services. Oregon can provide those same services to you at a fraction of the cost, and the services would be of much better quality.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Abortion

Not pro-choice or pro-life. The question is “what is your take on abortion”. I’m personally against it. I wouldn’t want my wife or daughter to do it. Of course, this isn’t an absolute as I can’t even imagine every single possible circumstance that could occur.

I’m also very strongly against people trying to push their personal, moral, and religious beliefs on me. Consequently, I don’t want to push my personal, moral, and religious beliefs on others. So am I “pro-choice” or “pro-life”? Well, I’m pro-stay-the-hell-out-of-my-business-and-I’ll-stay-out-of-yours.

Abortion really is a personal matter. The decision is based on a number of different things and I think the state should not be a factor. I realize religion is very important to a lot of people and believe me, I respect that. But religious people have to respect the beliefs of those who don’t hold the same religious beliefs. It’s never right to force religious beliefs on another person. Do we want a Muslim to force their beliefs on Christians?

So I think the matter becomes, “when does abortion become murder?”. Because I would hope we can all agree that murder is wrong and against the law. My belief is that life occurs when a baby can survive outside of the mother with medical assistance. As far as I know, that’s third term.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Unions

Unions have no place in government. Unions were originally designed to protect employees from the big, bad employer, which they did a great job at. Now they’re designed to control the government. That’s the people’s job. The government doesn’t screw it’s employees so there’s no need for unions in government. If I’m chosen by the people to represent them, unions in government are gone. The government will once again be represented and controlled by the people. And to you union workers, if you’re a good employee, which I assume most of you are, you’ll be happy. No more union dues, no more strikes, no more being used as pawns. Your fellow Oregonians will make sure you’re treated fairly and compensated justly.

Now don’t get me wrong here, If employees of a private company want to be in a union, they have every right to be. But the state is going to watch that union like a hawk and make sure that the rights of every single Oregonian in that union are in tact. I will encourage Oregonians to become a “Right to Work” State.

Every worker in Oregon deserves to be treated fairly and with respect, not just union workers. Oregon’s laws, and more important, our enforcement of the laws should reflect that. I’ve been in situations with my employer where they broke the law and screwed me. They knew what they were doing, they knew that chances were they could get away with it because I wouldn’t get a lawyer and pursue it. I bet lots of Oregonians have experienced something similar. Has Chris Dudley? Allen Alley? Doubtful. In my case, it would have been GREAT to have a union on my side. Or maybe a state that actually did it’s job!!

As Governor, I’ll make sure the state does it’s job for you. You won’t need to pay a union. You won’t need to pay a lawyer and muddle through the legal system. I’ve experienced these kinds of things first hand and know what needs to be done to help you. I’m going to restructure BOLI into an agency that is there for you, the employee. If you think your employer is breaking the law, you call BOLI and they will go to bat for you 100%.

You see, I know this may seem strange to some (the elite), but Oregon should really be watching out for Oregonians, meaning the people in Oregon, meaning it’s citizens. Not unions, or corporations, or politicians, or political parties, or politicians friends, or fringe groups, or special interest groups. So let’s take it back and turn Oregon into what we want it to be…because WE CAN DO WHAT EVER WE WANT TO DO BECAUSE WE ARE IN CHARGE!!

The Second Amendment

Let me make this very clear. I believe in the Constitution. All of it. If we follow the Constitution, our country will work it’s way out of this mess.

The federal government has very few things it’s charged with. One is to protect the rights that are enumerated within the Constitution. One of which is the right to bear arms. It’s pretty clear to me that this applies to the ENTIRE COUNTRY. Why each state has its own gun laws and the federal government doesn’t step in to do its constitutional job, I can only guess. But it doesn’t. Oh the fed will come tell us that we can’t buy health insurance across state lines or stick it’s nose in any number of things it has no business in, but when it comes to a right it’s actually legally suppose to protect, the federal government is no where to be seen.

I believe a concealed carry permit (or whatever its called in different states) is no different than a driver license or marriage license and is constitutionally recognized in every state, and Washington DC by the “Full Faith and Credit” Clause. Not to mention the Second Amendment.

People who have concealed carry permits are proven to be some of the most responsible members of our society. We need more of them around us, not less.

I’ve seen Oregon’s politicians and bureaucrats in the recent past bypass Oregon law and our constitutionally protected rights. These people have taken an oath to protect and defend our laws. As Governor I will remove them from office. “Well you can’t remove an elected politician from office!!” Doh!! Ya got me!! You’re soooo good! I’ll remove the bureaucrats and everyone I can from office. Those elected who break their oath I will use the Bully Pulpit to expose and YOU can remove them. Because WE ARE IN CHARGE AND WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT!!

Oregon's Schools

Do we even need to look at the statistics to know that Oregon’s schools stink? My son attends West Linn High, supposedly one of the best schools in the state and it STINKS! Yeah, it’s pretty. They have a lot of really nice stuff. The teachers play ping-pong. It’s a really expensive, very cool school. But the education is AWFUL and it’s beyond me why we put up with it. Not only that but we continue to hand them more money every time they ask.

So if one of the best schools in the state is this bad, I wonder what the rest of the schools in the state are like? Geez, it’s hard to even imagine.

I sat next to Bill Bradbury at a forum a couple days ago. The audience asked the panel what we would do about schools. I gave my answer. Crickets. Bill gave his answer. He said the schools are underfunded and we needed to give them more money. The audience erupted with applause. Wow. What’s wrong with people? We’ve been giving, and giving, and giving money to the schools for how many years now? At least 20 years that I can personally remember. And have schools gotten better or worse? WORSE!!! So Bill…you super duper smart guy…WHY THE HELL DO WE WANT TO KEEP GIVING THE SCHOOLS MORE MONEY??!!! And…why is everyone applauding him??!! Just because he’s Bill Bradbury and you recognize his name and he’s some kind of rock star?

Ok…Here’s a question for you. If the price was the same, say…$100 per year and you HAD to pay it or you and your entire family would go to jail in China, would you send your child to a public school, or a private school? I’m pretty sure everyone is saying “Private school”. Why? They’re better in every way. There are reasons for this.

I want to make every single K-12 school in Oregon better than a private school and I can do it. “How?” you might ask? Because of rule #1. Oregonians are in charge and we can do anything we want.

We’re going to find the best private and charter schools in the country, we’re going to find out what makes them the best and we’re going to improve on that. Then we’re going to build Oregon’s schools system based on that. We’re going to kick the union’s butts out of the process and bring the teachers in directly to give them direct input on how we’ll rebuild our schools. Oregon teachers will be the best compensated, best treated in the country. Their jobs will be 100% better than what they have now because everyone’s focus will be on the kids and the kids alone. Parents are going to be directly involved in building this system at the local level so not every school will necessarily be the same, they will reflect the needs of the community.

The purpose of Oregon schools will be to: ensure our children enter adulthood with a world class education; to give them the skills necessary to succeed at life; prepare them for their secondary education. We want a 100% graduation rate. HEY! Stop saying it can’t be done!!! Go vote for Dudley if you want to have that kind of attitude! (He has the most money)

Oregon’s secondary education will be no different. We need to take a close look at it and see what we can do to make it better and more accessible.

EVERY SINGLE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE WILL BE GUARANTEED A COLLEGE EDUCATION if I am elected Governor.

But it’s not going to be “free” (a liberal term. I prefer “paid for by the tax payer, or the college graduate when they get a job”). I’m paying for half of my daughters college education. Their mother is paying the other half. My kids will pay back my half to me and my wife. I teach them that when something is “free”, it has less value to them, and they don’t work as hard for it. They also know that if their grades fall below a certain threshold, the funding stops. I want to do the same thing for every high school graduate in Oregon. Only not with my own money. I don’t have enough.

So…I’m sure I’m going to get people yelling at me “education should be free!!”. Well, nothing is “free”. The government doesn’t just print money even though some Presidents would like you to believe that. The money actually comes from your parents, or your neighbors, or that guy who dresses up, gets into his car, takes off, is mysteriously gone for the same amount of time every day, and comes back looking really tired, then does it again and again and again. Yeah, the people who work make things “free”. Like the “free” public schools our kids go to. They’re not really “free”. So let’s stop using that ridiculous word.

Look at it like this. If we have 100% tax paid for college for everyone, we pay for college our entire lives, whether we go to college or not. We end up paying for students to go to college to learn things like fiber arts, and all kinds of silly things that won’t help them contribute back to society or better themselves, it will only help them get credits to graduate and get that piece of paper. And once again, the education seems “free” to the student so it’s value is much less. We are hurting our students and our society with this method. I know this because my daughter’s going through it right now.

If we give each student a no or low interest loan that they MUST pay back, their education will be worth MUCH more to them. They will take classes that will help them get a better job rather than just get a piece of paper and they learn to be self reliant rather than to rely on someone or the state to take care of them.

I want the best for all Oregonians. We need the best schools in the world. Both primary and secondary. We can do it because WE ARE IN CHARGE AND WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT. No one can tell us no. Lets stop throwing money down a pit and create a great school system in Oregon. And lets do it NOW rather than wait around. It’s going to happen someday. Why wait? Seriously. Why? I’ll get on the job right away. You can have the best school system in just a couple years if you elect me Governor. I’m not going to screw around. I have no one to represent but YOU.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

The Arizona Illegal Alien Law

We have laws in this country. I follow them and I expect everyone else to follow them. I also expect everyone to be held equally accountable to the law, no matter who you are. It’s a pretty simple concept. So please, don’t excuse someone being in this country illegally because a business man is breaking the law by hiring that person. Both are breaking the law and both should be held accountable.

It’s not unreasonable for an officer of the law to ask for proof of legal residency when he/she has legitimate reason to suspect the person is not legal. If your argument is, “well, a driver license doesn’t prove you’re a legal resident.” Then the problem isn’t with the new law, it’s with the old driver license or ID card. Until that gets fixed, I’m sorry that the law is a burden on some people, but that’s the way it is. Some things in life are not fair. You should expect to either carry proof of legal residency around with you or make sure to not do illegal stuff. Don’t speed. Don’t run stop signs. Don’t hang out with gangs.

I think the bottom line here is…IF YOU’RE HERE LEGALLY YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!!!! Only people who are breaking the law should be worried…and they should be very worried.

So what in the world is everyone freaking out about? The police aren’t going to be “profiling” anyone. They aren’t going to be stopping brown skinned people who can’t speak english who are just walking down the streets just for fun because they have this cool new law to play with. You’re all freaking out, causing this uproar over NOTHING. “Oh…someone’s civil liberties MIGHT be violated.” %^*&#!!!!! THAT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!! How about we deal with the civil liberties that are broken every day before we deal with those that MIGHT happen sometime in the future!! Oh…because you particular people who are bitch’n about this specific thing couldn’t give a crap about some civil liberties, you only care about certain ones.

You know what? I care about ALL civil liberties. If someones civil liberties are violated because of this law I would stand up next to the people who are yelling and screaming right now. I have zero tolerance for violation of our constitutionally protected rights.

This you should know about me as your candidate for Governor. I strongly believe in the law. As far as signing legislation goes, it’s the Governors job to determine whether a bill placed before him is constitutional, and whether or not it has reached his desk in an ethical manner. If the answer to both is “yes”, then the bill is signed. If the answer to either is “no”, there is a veto. Politics does not come into play. Morals has nothing to do with the decision. Religion has no part in this. This is simply the will of the people. Not the will of the Governor. At this point the Governor is simply a check and balance on the system.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

PERS...The Only Solution

I’m a hard ass and I’m going to take a hard ass approach. PERS is going to bankrupt our state if we don’t do something drastic and immediate. I’m the only candidate willing to step up and do it. It’s not a complicated solution but it takes huge courage.

For current employees under a PERS plan - Each employee will be presented a choice. 1) Leave the union, give up your PERS and accept your new employee package which will be along the lines of what your employer (Oregonians) has. 2) Get fired and go be an employer (get a real job), be replaced by someone who respects the citizens of Oregon and doesn’t want to take advantage of their generosity.

For retired PERS recipients - Sorry, we’re cutting you off. Yep, you heard me right. You’re getting cut off. We Oregonians are going to evaluate your financial situation on a case-by-case basis and determine how much Oregonians owe you for your prior service to the community then you will be paid accordingly. I guarantee, it will be fair and you will not be put into the poor house. But you will not be living fat while Oregon tax payers suffer and the state goes bankrupt.

This may sound harsh, but please, someone tell me why state employees are ENTITLED to something more than what Oregon tax payers have? The tax payers are the boss. State employees are not better than anyone and are not entitled to a damn thing. We shouldn’t respect a state employee any more than we respect the nice man who pumps our gas or the waitress who brings our lunch. In fact, a state employee should treat every single tax payer as if they are the CEO of the company when they walk through the door. How often does that happen? And I’m not just talking about the guy at the DMV, I’m also talking about the judge who thinks he’s some kind of English Lord who demands respect just because he’s a state employee and wears a black robe. News flash your judgeship…we’re the boss.

“Darren…you’re CRAZY!! There’s no way you can do that!! The unions will never go for that and all these people have contracts!!!”

Yep. I’m CRAZY. If you take one thing away from my running for Governor, please remember this…

WE, THE CITIZENS OF OREGON ARE IN CHARGE. No person, elected, appointed, or anyone else can tell us what we can or can’t do. If a law says “no”, remember who is in charge…WE ARE. We simply change the law.

NO UNION CONTROLS THIS STATE!!!!! We need a Governor who understands this and who will stand up for YOU instead of cowering at the feet of the mighty union!!! The union isn’t might…We The People are mighty and WE run the show. You sure wouldn’t know it by the way the state is ran.

“Well yeah Mr. Big Shot…but the Unions will just sue the state and we’ll have to pay anyway!!”

Well first of all, the state can’t be sued unless it agrees to be sued. I know it sounds completely stupid, and it is, but that’s how it is. It’s called “sovereign immunity”. But lets say the unions do find someone or a part of the government to sue. Who cares? They sue, they win, we don’t pay. What happens next? NOTHING!!

Please remember rule #1. WE, THE CITIZENS OF OREGON ARE IN CHARGE

If we the citizens of Oregon decide not to bankrupt the state by not paying on PERS, who is going to enforce a judgement? Once you figure out who, how are they going to enforce it? Seriously, try to answer that one for me? IT CAN’T BE DONE!!!

To all PERS recipients: You were scammed along the lines of the Madoff scam. The people on both sides of the negotiation table scammed you and you should sue them. I personally feel very bad for you. But like the people scammed by Madoff, you are a victim and sometimes victim’s suffer. Oregonians break their backs to provide for their families and pay taxes. Tax payers did not bail out the Madoff victims and they should not be required to bail you out (and bankrupt the state) just because you worked for the state. That being said, Oregonians do feel somewhat responsible for you since you did work for us and we will give you fair compensation equal to what we as hard working Oregonians would expect to receive for a similar job.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Republican "Unity Pledge"

I’m here for you. No amount of money, no political party, no special interest group, no corporation will influence me…ever.

The Republican candidates for Governor sent the following pledge around to the candidates asking us to sign. I sincerely don’t think they meant anything bad by it, and I don’t think it’s unusual:

OREGON
REPUBLICAN UNITY PLEDGE

In the spirit of Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment, I pledge to support the winner of the May 18th Republican Primary for Governor. I will work to keep our Party unified for the November election, so that we can defeat the Democrat nominee and win the Governor’s office.

I understand that we need to work together for the common good and I will encourage my supporters to assist the Republican Nominee on May 19th.

I, _______________________, as a Republican Candidate for Governor in Oregon, do hereby accept the Unity Pledge and agree to adhere to its principles and conduct my campaign accordingly.




I sent the following response in an email to all the candidates:

Dear Fellow Candidates,

I've already made a pledge to my fellow Oregonians to represent only them. This is not only a pledge, but something that's at the core of my being. I cannot in good faith, in this election or any other, pledge to blindly support a candidate simply because they are a Republican.

That being said, if the Republican candidate represents the best interest of Oregonians, I will back him fully.

Thank you for understanding my position on this matter.

Respectfully,


Darren Karr


If you have questions or comments on this, please post them here and I’ll be happy to address them.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Oregon's Taxes

A question was asked in the blogs…”How do you feel about Clark Colvin's idea of introducing a sales tax?” Since I’ve been meaning to discuss taxes in the blogs, I wanted to start a new blog post to answer this question.

I gotta tell you, I really like and respect Clark. He know’s a lot about business and how financial systems work. Way more than I know. I don’t claim to be the smartest guy in the world about everything, or even about one single thing. What I am REALLY good at is finding smart people who are HONEST and LOYAL and working with them to solve problems and create solutions.

It doesn’t take a room full of smart people to see that Oregon’s current tax system is a disaster. If I sat down for one month and did nothing but try to come up with a worse tax system than what we have, I couldn’t do it. Even if I was being paid $10 million to do it. Our system is inefficient and extremely expensive. It was not designed to facilitate the needs of the tax payers. It was designed to facilitate the needs of politicians and the elite, which it does very well. If you’re rich and/or elite, the tax system is working well for you. If you’re not, you’re getting screwed by it. Although, you probably don’t even know it because the elite have controlled you to the point that you’re completely oblivious to how much taxes you actually pay to the state. So, for you who think you don’t pay taxes just because you don’t pay an income tax, you’re mistaken…and you’re a sucker.

I’ve heard Clark talk about this a few times and I hope he doesn’t think I’m stealing his idea. Mine is similar with a few key differences. I’m not going to try to explain Clark’s tax plan. You can see his on his website. I encourage you to do so.

Here’s mine.

First of all…and here’s where mine differs from Clarks from what I know based on what I’ve heard him say at the forums we’ve been at. I would eliminate every single tax and fee from every single government entity in Oregon. Every single city, county, and state tax, fee, or other creative way a government agency takes money from the citizen. This would include but now be limited to; auto registration fees, driver license renewal, fishing license, hunting license, income tax, property tax, gas tax, cigarette tax, beer tax, sporting goods tax, parking violation fines, speeding ticket fines, etc. There are hundreds of taxes on the books that the Oregon Department of Revenue is responsible to collect. Surprisingly, Oregonians don’t even know they’re being taxed in most cases.

Second, in light of ditching all of these taxes, I would eliminate the Department of Revenue. This would save $200 Million. On top of that, think of all the money saved by not sending out all the tax forms, pamphlets, and everything else that is income tax related.

Third, institute a consumption tax. This is what Clark advocates for. But mine is a little different than Clarks. There are a lot of reasons to like a consumption tax over an income and property tax. The main reason for me is that you can control it. If you don’t want to pay tax, don’t buy stuff. Or buy cheaper stuff. Or buy used stuff. My plan won’t tax used stuff. It won’t tax stuff you need to live like medicine, most food, some clothing, electricity, automobiles to a certain price, homes to a certain price (these things will need to be worked out in the final plan, but the idea is to make it so people who just want to live a simple life do not have to pay a lot of taxes).

Under this tax, all Oregonians will automatically have a fishing license, their driver license will always be paid for, their car registration will always be up to date, no more paying for trail head passes if you want to go hiking or skiing. Everything is completely paid for through the consumption tax. No more collecting receipts for your income tax at the end of the year. No more filling out income tax forms for Oregon. No more worrying about getting audited by the state. No more worrying about the state repossessing your home if you can’t pay your property tax at the end of the year.

*UPDATE* one more thing about this plan. The tax rate will adjust periodically. I'm thinking quarterly but it can be every six months or annually. Whatever works best. The adjustment will be based on an equation that will keep the state budget constantly balanced and the tax rate as low as possible. For instance, if more taxes are raised one quarter than expected, the next quarter the tax rate will be lowered. Or, if consumption is expected to be higher one quarter, say fourth quarter, the rate will be lowered for that quarter.

Life is going to be a hell of a lot less stressful in Oregon under this plan.

So you want to tax the rich people more? This plan will do exactly that. Rich people don’t sit on their money. They spend it and they’re going to be paying a hell of a lot more taxes than the poor people so don’t you worry, that evil rich guy is still gonna be paying his share in taxes.

This is going to have to be placed in the Constitution where it can’t be manipulated by the unscrupulous people we have running our government because you know damn well they will try to get around it and tax you some other way. But you and I can make it rock solid. I’m telling you, this plan will save Oregon from bankruptcy and put a hell of a lot of money back in your pocket as well as give our state more money to work with.

So, this blog entry isn’t the entire plan. It’s actually quite involved and extensive. If you have questions, please go ahead and ask. I hope this gives you a good general idea of the great things we can have in this state if we get rid of the crappy revenue system we have and replace it with a consumption tax. And let me say again, I’m not the smartest guy in the world. Put me in a room with a bunch of super smart people and we can make the world’s best tax system and implement it in Oregon in record time. AND without influence from big money special interest. It’s all for YOU.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Disgusting...Career Politicians

Last night I attended a candidate forum in Tillamook. This was a general forum with candidates running for different offices including Governor, County Commissioner, State Treasurer, State Senator, and Circuit Court Judge.

Among the candidates were four career politicians. Betsy Johnson, a State Senator from Tillamook County; Ted Wheeler, our current State Treasurer; Tillamook County Commissioner Tim Josi, and a lady state senator running against Ted Wheeler for State Treasurer, I don’t remember her name.

The forum started with the Governors which was unfortunate. I gave my opening statement, Clark Colvin (a very cool guy) gave his, then we answered questions from the audience. No big deal. We’d both done this several times before. So why was this unfortunate? Because this was the first time we had been in the same room with a bunch of career politicians! I had to sit there for two and a half hours, listening to the thing I can’t stand the most about politics and politicians and couldn’t say a damn word! I was SEETHING!

Betsy Johnson was really the main culprit. The others bothered me because they seemed to worship her like some kind of political goddess. Patting her on the back every chance they got. Her opening statement consisted of her outstanding accomplishments as a Senator “finding” money for projects in Tillamook county. To the tune of what sounded like hundreds of millions of dollars. The other career politicians thought that was just WONDERFUL! I’m not sure what the audience thought, I couldn’t really get a read from them, although I did see some heads from older women nodding. Betsy is an older woman so I think they may have connected. But when I heard Betsy say these things I winced. My daughter sitting in the audience said she saw my face grimace.

I soooo wanted to follow-up!

People! How the HELL do you just FIND money??!!!

Don’t give HER or ANYONE ELSE props for FINDING MONEY in our state!!!!

This only means someone has LOST or MISMANAGED or INTENTIONALLY hid YOUR money!!!!!!

So Betsy could later FIND IT!!!

Laugh at ME when I say I could FIND 10% waste in every single state agencies budget??!!! I LAUGH AT YOU!!!! BECAUSE YOU, BETSY ARE AN LAUGHABLE!!! YES I’M YELLING BECAUSE I’M SICK OF YOU THINKING THAT THE PEOPLE OF OREGON ARE STUPID AND YOU ARE SO DAMN SMART!!!!

And here are the other career politicians…”you go girl! I sure wish I could “find” money like you can. Good job working for the people of Tillamook like you do.” Piss off. Tillamook, I want your roads to be fixed and as Governor I will help get that done. But there will be no “finding” money in your state government under my watch. Betsy won’t find it because it will be already spent on your roads and other things Oregonians need. It won’t be held back to be used at a later date as a bargaining chip. Disgusting.

OK. Maybe there’s a logical explanation for “finding” money. Betsy, feel free to explain and I’ll back off some. I’ll send this blog entry to her office. On the other hand, I fully expect Betsy being a career politician to be able to explain her way around this no matter how sketchy it may be. It’s what they do. Betsy, let’s just be honest.

So, that was one of Betsy’s “moment’s”. There’s one more. Someone asked her about HB 3013. I didn’t know anything about this bill. It’s a Marine Reserve Bill that recently passed the Senate. The people in the audience were obviously not happy this bill passed and were looking for an explanation. I looked up some info on it when I got home but I’m going to try to explain it to you the way Betsy explained it last night.

The bill ended up restricting a lot of Oregon’s costal waters from fishing. I think this is what the audience was so opposed to. Betsy made it very clear that she DID NOT support HB 3013 but she and the rest of Congress were forced to pass the bill against their will because special interests with a whole lot of money outside of the state had threatened to take away ALL of Oregons coastal fishing if the bill didn’t pass. Yeah, you heard me right. How were they going to do that? By introducing a bill to OUR state congress and spend millions of dollars in OUR state to get OUR citizens to pass the bill.

So Betsy, the rest of our spineless congressmen, and our spineless Governor sold you and I down the river to special interest. It was special interest who wanted HB 3013 to pass and they got it. And Betsy had the NERVE to stand up before this crowd of people and praise herself for doing the “right thing” by graciously saving the people of Oregon from the nasty special interest group. Once again, “you go girl!” from the other career politicians.

SPECIAL INTEREST CONTROLS OUR GOVERNMENT. Did the Governor step up to stop this? Nope. He was probably in the pocket of the special interest group.

I won’t be. I’m in no ones pocket. I’ll use the bully pulpit, veto power, and everything else at my disposal to stop this kind of despicable practice in out state government.

This is just a couple examples of the kind of CRAP that’s going on in our state. Can you imagine what else is happening? We need ME in office to represent us. Dudley, Alley, Bradbury, kitzhaber…they will be business as usual. I’ll fight to get rid of the crap in our state and make life better for us.

But don’t just vote for me. Vote out the incumbents. We don’t need them. Forget about how “nice” they are, or how “smart” they are. Just get them out of office and get someone else in there.

After it is all said and done…it was a great night. Thanks to AAUW for having us!!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Why I'm the Only Republican Who Can Beat The Democrat

Yesterday I had an interview with the editorial board at the Bend Bulletin. This is the process they go through to figure out who they’re going to endorse for the primary. They were very nice and I think the interview went well. My strategy for these interviews is to set myself apart as the only candidate who can beat a Democrat in the general election and become Governor. And of course make a strong point for the need for conservative leadership in Oregon.

“This guy can’t beat the Democratic candidate…He’s CRAZY!”… you may be thinking.

Well…Yes. I may be a little crazy. Or a lot. Or somewhere in between. Or maybe I just make a lot of sense and all of the career politicians and elite are crazy. Either way, here’s my reasoning.

First of all, we need conservative fiscal policy in Oregon if we’re to avoid becoming California. We don’t want to be handing out IOU’s instead of tax refunds. We don’t want to go bankrupt. We don’t want to raise taxes even more. We don’t want to ask the federal government for a bailout.

We need lower taxes for EVERYONE, jobs for EVERYONE, smaller government, less government spending, and zero government waste. Is anyone in their right mind against this? This is a conservative fiscal policy. Every Republican candidate is for this, including me.

It’s funny, the Democrats are even changing their tune to sound conservative in their fiscal policy. Good ole Teddy (our current Governor) came out and said after eight years of his leadership that we now “need smaller government”. John and Bill (Democrat candidates) are now mysteriously against Measures 66 & 67 for one reason or another.

Right now, Chris Dudley and Allen Alley are the front runners for the Republican nomination. They’re the only two candidates who are invited to all the major debates and forums and the only two who the major media outlets give any real attention to. Why? I’m not exactly sure. Their policies aren’t any different than Republican candidates policies from the past. It’s the same ole Republican crud that we’ve been hearing for the past 20 years. The same old losing crud. Actually, I am sure why they’re the front runners and get all the attention. Because they have all the money. It has nothing to do with what they have to say or their ideas for Oregon.

Oregonians don’t elect Republicans as Governor. Period. Every cycle we hear from the elite that “this is the year for the Republicans, we can win it this year!” then the Republicans get their asses handed to them by the Democrats in November. It’s going to be no different this year despite what you’re going to hear from the right wing establishment.

The bottom line is, for Republicans to win in Oregon, they need the Independent vote and they can’t get it spewing the same old Republican BS ie… Dudley, Alley.

So, Republicans…here’s your choice.

1) Choose Dudley or Alley as your nominee and get another Democrat as Governor.
2) Choose Darren Karr as your nominee and have a moderate Republican Governor with very conservative fiscal policy.

Now…why am I so confident I can win?

I’m an Independent and have been my whole life. I’ve never even seen a primary ballot. I don’t like either party and was pained to join the Republican party. I’ll bring the Independent vote to the Republican party in November. Not only because I’m an Independent, but also because I’m moderate like most Oregonians. Although I’m a Republican, I believe that if Oregonians want social programs, they should have them (this will take some explanation, don’t freak out on me. I’ll start another blog to explain and it’ll all make sense). I’m also not a politician or an “elite” and I don’t take money so I’m not in anyone’s back pocket. I represent only Oregonian’s, no one else. Is there ANY other candidate, Republican or Democratic who can say that?

My daughter and I came up with this saying and I love it…”You can buy a thousand smart men, but you can’t buy even one honest man.”

I built my life and my campaign on honesty and integrity. Not on a political party or money or a half baked promise. This is how I’ll build Oregon’s government.

So lets break down votes in Oregon. There are:

1) Democrats
2) Independents
3) Republicans

Democrats usually get the Independent votes because Independents don’t like lame Republican policies, so Democrats get elected Governor.

If I’m the Republican nominee, I’ll get the Republican vote because Republicans vote for the guy with the ( R ) next to his name and I have conservative fiscal policy. I’ll get the Independent vote because I’m an Independent, a moderate, not a politician or an elite, and I’m like most Oregonians. I’ll get some Democrat votes because I’m going to give them a raise and Democrats like more money (so does everyone else). On top of that, I’ll get the young vote because I’m only 40 years old as opposed to the Democrat who are both over 60 years old and I have cool new ideas.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Questions? Comments?

Please post your questions and comments here.

Monday, March 15, 2010

A Pay Raise For Every Working Oregonian

Oregonians work hard and deserve to keep more of the money they earn. I’m sure most don’t know that their employer pays a tax on their wages. This is above and beyond the income tax the employee pays. If I’m elected Governor, I’m going to eliminate that tax for businesses and ask that in return, the businesses pay that money to the employee rather than the state. (If the business doesn’t like this deal, they can opt to pay the state instead)

Money earned by Oregonians is better spent by Oregonians rather than wasted by the state. Of course, this will work for every single employee of a private business, even top executives. It will be up to the discretion of the businesses whether or not to pass this savings on to these executives or examine other options such as dispersing this among other employees. Regardless, there will be more money to spread around to the people who actually earn it.

This is how you create economic stability.

Create, Save, Bring Back(?) Jobs

President Obama has set aside $787 billion of your money to create jobs. That’s $787,000,000,000.00. This started in February 2009. Today Oregon’s unemployment rate is around 11% and our under-employment rate is around 21%. I encourage you to look at recovery.gov to see how the money is being spent and the results. From what I see, I don’t want the federal government spending any more of my money trying to “create or save” jobs.

We can do much better in Oregon and we can do it without spending one thin dime (not literally for those of you who will one day want to pick apart every word I ever said). The President wants to “create or save” jobs. We’re going to take it one step further because we have the ability to actually have a creative thought that doesn’t involve taxing someone or spending money we don’t have.

Lets bring jobs back to Oregon. We’ll start with manufacturing jobs from China and call center jobs from India. I know, it sounds crazy, but it also sounds crazy that we send hundreds of billions of US dollars to foreign countries for these services. WE NEED THE JOBS HERE IN OREGON AND WE NEED TO KEEP THE MONEY IN OUR OWN COUNTRY. So lets start thinking like AMERICANS and figure out a way to get it done.

I have some ideas for this that do not involve paying children slave wages and working women 20 hours per day, 6 days per week. THIS CAN BE DONE. Get it out of your head that I’m crazy and it can’t. Instead, post to this blog some of your own ideas of how it CAN be done. We’re talking about a whole new industry that can be brought to Oregon, something that no one in the country has even considered.

So, on to creating or saving jobs in Oregon…

Oregon is a piss poor place to do business. Believe me, I know. I own a very small carpet cleaning business and dealing with the state on the very limited basis that I do is enough to drive me crazy. I can only imagine the headache the state causes larger businesses that have to deal with multiple state agencies on a regular basis. I hear horror stories frequently from friends and people I run in to. Based on what I hear and the opinions of these people, most, if not all of this is unnecessary. From what I’ve seen of almost every thing else the state does, I would have to agree.

Businesses, this is what I’m going to do for you. I want to make Oregon the best place in the world to have a business. I’m not going to create boards and panels to study this and that. I’m going to take action from day one.

By electing me, I’m going to consider it a referendum of the people that they want jobs and economic stability in Oregon. I’m going to enter an agreement with any private business in Oregon to release them from paying state corporate income tax, payroll tax, and measure 67 tax. This is similar to the deal Facebook received when they agreed to build their facility in central Oregon. In exchange, the businesses will agree to pay the money once paid to the state in payroll tax to their employees, essentially giving their employees a raise.

This may sound extreme but remember, when measures 66 and 67 passed, we Oregonians learned from commercials on TV and radio (tongue-in-cheek) that corporations in Oregon only pay $10 per year in corporate income tax so letting them off the hook for that isn’t going to cost very much. Payroll tax goes to pay unemployment claims which will drastically decrease when companies begin coming to Oregon and people go back to work. There will be more income from the raises employees receive so income tax revenue will increase.

We’re also going to need to cut some spending. We’re going to start by cutting 10% from the following non-essential departments. I’m betting there’s at least 10% waste so services won’t suffer one bit. If this isn’t enough, we’ll cut more. If that isn’t enough, we’ll begin to cut entire agencies within the departments. Before you freak out, ask yourself, “are jobs and our state not going bankrupt more important than some of these departments?” Also keep in mind, we’re not doing this so rich people can get more rich. We’re doing it so Oregonians can have jobs.

Total cuts of 10% from the departments below will be $2.1 billion. Measures 66 and 67 raised $733 million. Needless to say, they were not needed. Oregonians were duped. I will also do what I can do rescind measure 66.

Consumer and Business Services: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 21.9% $1,067,892,695

Economic Development: $4,733,654,135

Natural Resources: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 4.5% $1,643,646,999

Transportation: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 23.35% $4,340,034,464

Commission for the blind: $14,766,173

Administration: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 17.7% $9,659,590,181

Judicial Branch: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 23.17% $761,602,271

Legislative Branch: $89,184,923

Total: $21,548,769,570 (21.5 billion dollars)


I’m going to do everything I can to make Oregon the best state in the nation, and the best place in the world to do business. I’m going to review every single aspect of doing business in Oregon with the people who actually have to deal with the state and figure out what we have to do to make things better. We’re going to assert our rights as a sovereign state and get the federal monkey off our back so we can be more competitive on every level. This is going to be priority number one. We need to clean up the business atmosphere in Oregon right away and get people back to work.

Oregonians Held Hostage

For too many years Oregon politicians at every level have held Oregonians hostage using schools and essential services. “If you don’t pass this tax measure, we the ruling elite are just going to have to cut teachers and police, we will have no choice”, It works every time. No more. Now we have a prioritized list of services the state provides. When we’re short of funds, we cut from the bottom of the list, not the top.

“Well, uh uh, we can’t do that because the funds are in different accounts and we can’t take from those accounts and use them for schools and important things like police.” (Tell that to Social Security) Well guess what? We The People are in charge and we’re going to change that. So stop holding that over our heads because it’s not going to work anymore. We’re now wise to your little games.

Here’s where we start. These agencies are less important than schools and other essential services and will be cut before teachers and police officers if I am Governor. Oregonians have been made fools of for too long. Go look at the state budget for yourself and tell me there’s no other place to cut rather than our teachers. Below is not the entire budget.

Consumer and Business Services: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 21.9%
$1,067,892,695

Economic Development:
$4,733,654,135

Natural Resources: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 4.5%
$1,643,646,999

Transportation: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 23.35%
$4,340,034,464

Commission for the blind:
$14,766,173

Administration: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 17.7%
$9,659,590,181

Judicial Branch: Budget increase from 2007-2009 – 23.17%
$761,602,271

Legislative Branch:
$89,184,923

Total: $21,548,769,570 (21.5 billion dollars)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Core Life Philosophy

Yesterday I sat in on my daughters college political science class and listened to students describe their utopian political philosophies. I noticed one thing in common that also rang through in all other political philosophies I see in the world today. They are all based on the premise that people are bad.

This section of my campaign is about life philosophy, not political. But I think they intertwine. So, speaking of life…

When I was at the beach, my wife and I pulled into the Seaside Post Office, which we had never been to. As we pulled in, a car was pulling out. The passenger, a young man (around 20 years old) jumped out of the car, threw his hands in the air and yelled at us. He was obviously pissed. I couldn’t hear what he was saying because my windows were rolled up but by his gestures my wife could tell he was pissed that we entered through the exit. We weren’t blocking his car or any other traffic so why was he so pissed off? Because he assumed people are bad and they just do bad things, and that pisses him off. I looked around and saw no signage saying it was one way, nothing on the pavement in the parking lot, so I pulled up next to the car and rolled down my window to apologize. The driver wouldn’t have anything to do with me. They drove off all pissed and that probably ruined their day.

The point being, they automatically assumed I was a bad person rather than assuming I was a good person making an honest mistake. I can go on and on with examples like this and it makes me sad. People didn’t use to be like this. People use to smile and say “hello” to each other when they passed on the side walk. They don’t anymore. Society has programmed us to assume people are bad THEN have them prove to us they are indeed good. It should be the other way around.

In my life, I choose not to go with what society has tried to engrain in my soul. I assume people are good until they show me otherwise. I smile and say “hi” when I walk by. Go ahead, call me a “cheese ball”. After all, thats what you’ve been programmed to do. The natural state of a human being is to be caring and compassionate to others in all aspects of life and to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. This should be reflected in individual life, and most importantly, in our government. Why most importantly? Because government is a role model. How are we as a society to be expected to assume people are good when our government is all about assuming people are bad from the get go? Our laws are based on people being bad. Our police assume people are bad. Our judges assume people are bad. Etc. Etc. Etc. “Innocent until proven guilty” is a great concept, in fact that’s what I’m talking about. But it’s not practiced.

So, my core life philosophy is, “People are good, let them be good. They’ll do it on their own. They don’t need to be pushed to do it. They don’t need the government to force them to do it.”

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Core Political Belief

I just got done writing about two hours of BS that sounded like a politician…*delete*

Now, I ask myself as I write this, “what is at the core of my political beliefs?”.

Answer. “Liberty.”

Things controlled by the government: The air we breath. Where we walk. What we walk on. What we sleep on. Time. What we poop in. What we drink. Who we love. Who we have sex with. What kind of pet we can have. What can and can’t save our lives. Where we travel. When we travel. And pretty much everything else. I looked up “Liberty”. This isn’t it.

I have “We The People” Tattoo’d across my back. Not because I want to impress you and get elected governor. But because I believe in it so strongly that I wanted it to be a part of me. The Constitution guarantees protection of our inalienable rights including freedom of speech, religion, assembly, press, blah blah blah. Yes, these are VERY important. I “blah blah” them because we all know these. In fact, we might know up to the Fifth Amendment only thanks to Law and Order…”I plea the Fifth!!”.

The Bill of Rights. Ten Amendments created to protect our liberty. Each as important to our liberty as the next only in different ways. If one is forgotten or neglected, we lose some of our liberty.

In this day and age, the single most important Amendment is not the First or the Second. It’s the Tenth. Yep, there really is a Tenth Amendment. Most people have no idea what it says and if they know what it says, they have no idea what it means. This is by design. The federal government and those in power don’t want you to know.

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America -
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

Let me break it down in simple terms for you. It means, the federal government has no damn right to involve itself in every stinking aspect of our lives. In fact, this is the primary reason our country is in such terrible shape today. No, it’s not all GWB’s fault. Although, he certainly didn’t help things. Because the federal government has reached sooooo far and become soooo large, we’re now basically screwed as a nation.

But, there’s still hope. Because power was given to the federal government by states with inalienable sovereign rights, the states can also take away those powers. Oregon is Sovereign and without interference of the federal government, Oregon can prosper. In fact, this is true for each and every state. Think about it, the states have the ultimate power in this country. Not the President, not the federal government.

I’m sure this all sounds crazy. After all, you’ve been conditioned your whole life to think the opposite. Try to look at it this way. If you send $1 to the federal government, what happens to it? It comes out of your pay before you see it, gets routed through some bureaucracies in the federal government, a bunch of federal employees get paid for processing paperwork, our Oregon Congressmen head to DC to fight to have it put in some piece of legislation as pork, it may or may not pass. If it does, it comes back to Oregon as a fraction of that dollar. Maybe say…$.70. So…You just invested $1 and got a $.70 return! Not only that, but it also came back with a bunch of jacked up federal rules that might not even have anything to do with the best interest of Oregonians! Woooohoooo!!! That really sucks butt for those of you who don’t get it!

Now, why did we do that? I really have no idea other than we’ve been conditioned to believe that’s the way things have to be done. Well, according to the Constitution, thats not only the way things are NOT suppose to be done, its ILLEGAL!!

Oregonians can spend that $1.00 much more efficiently here, in our own state. Imagine what we could do with our schools if we had the extra money and no federal regulations that came from the honorable Senator of Alabama? This’s why the Founders gave us the wonderful gift of guaranteed State Sovereignty. It’s our right, just like Freedom of Speech, and JUST as important.

Lets take it back. Please.

I’m sure I have some people’s panties in a bunch at this point. No, I’m not saying I’m for absolutely no government regulation. I’ll be very clear here.

I’m for:
State Sovereignty
No federal government control of anything inside the state of Oregon that is not specifically permitted by the Constitution
State regulation of every single thing the people of Oregon deem necessary to be regulated, even if I don’t personally agree with it.
Honesty, the law, efficiency, no waste, the best state we can have

Monday, March 8, 2010

My Favorite Quote

This is an Apple advertising slogan from 1997.


I love it. This is why I use the word "Crazy" often.


Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

My Life in General

Age: 40
Sex: M
Marital Status: Married
Interests: Long walks on the streets, listening to crap music
Born: Olympia, Greece

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz.........

That's about as drab as the third person talk you usually have to endure on a candidate's site. They have to put on a face for you so they have someone else write it for them. Not me. So let me tell you about myself.

I was born in Olympia Washington on June 3rd, 1969. Thats right ladies...same age as McDreamy and McSteamy...40 is the new McSEXY. I should probably add, my WIFE likes to call me "McBelly". Not sure why. Anyway, every year on June 3rd my mom gives me a huge hug and says with a smile and a tear in her eye, "I can't believe you came out of me". Not because she's ashamed of me or anything (at least I don't think), but because I'm 6'5" weighing in at 220 pounds (all muscle). My mom is pretty tiny. I really love my mom. Funny story, she was given these really cool ash trays as a baby shower gift when I was born (she didn't smoke). I still have one. I'll post a picture sometime.

I have two younger brothers Mike and Matt. For some reason Mike and I nick-named Matt "Pitt" I think he spells it "Pit" but I've always used two t's. I think the name has to do with "Pit Stain" but he was way too young (like 3 years old) to have pit stains so to this day it still doesn't make sense to me and I just don't remember. We still call him Pitt. Mike is just Mike. Although my grandma use to call him "Mike the Dike". That was funny as hell. I guess while we're at it, I've always been called "Big D" for obvious reasons (because I'm overly tall). Or just "D".

My Mom, Dad, brothers and I lived around Olympia through the third grade. We moved around a lot and I think I went to three different schools. In the second grade I met my best friend Mike. I only lived by Mike and went to school with Mike for that one year but it seemed like a large portion of my life. Funny how that is when you're a kid. We had some pretty sweet adventures together. Today Mike is a VP at a very successful multi-national company. Even though I get to see him only once or twice per year, I still consider him one of my closest friends.

I'd like to take a minute to talk about friends because they're very important to me. I'm very particular as to who I call "friend" because I believe my friends are a large part of what defines me as a person. I'm confident that if you spent some time with my friends, you would leave them with a warm feeling inside.

I have two classifications of friends, "friends" and "brothers".

"Friends" are people who I know and respect for one reason or another. I trust that they are good people and will not stab me and other people in the back. If they do, they are off the friend list. I’ll go out of my way to help a friend. I’m fortunate to have many friends.

“Brothers” are people outside of my family who I trust with my life and who I would do most anything for at the drop of a hat. They would do the same for me. I have a handful of brothers, not all are boys.

I’d like to call out some of my more special friends and brothers because they’re so important to me (in no particular order)...Mike L., Doug W., “Super” Herb B., Braedie, Darrell “Dew’d” Z., Sam “SamBone” H., Korey “Kool Kor” O., Dan “The Man” W., Randy H., George “Horhay” S., Mike B.

Kind of off topic...I like to write with background noise. Usually the TV because the rhythm of music doesn't work well in my head while I think. As I'm writing this, I'm watching/listening to "Remember the Titans", one of my all time favorite movies. I know it's cheesy to watch a movie and think that that's how the world should be. Or the warm feeling you get after seeing a "feel-good" movie like this one. But I can't help it. I can't help but to think that we're not stuck with the world we have now, just like blacks and whites weren't stuck with the world they were living in back then. It just takes one person to sit in the wrong seat. These days, the seat is much bigger.

I'll try to move along a little quicker...

During the summer between third and fourth grade we moved to a duplex in West Linn Oregon. I had never been out of Washington until then. It was like leaving the country to me. I didn’t really even know where Oregon was. All I knew was I was moving away from my friend Mike, but our moms assured us that we would still be friends and they would make sure we still got to see each other. My mom and dad’s families lived in Olympia and Tacoma areas so I still got to visit Mike often. I made friends quickly in West Linn but none are still around today. Too bad really. They were great people. Richie…get ahold of me please. I would love to catch up with you.

In the summer before the sixth grade we moved to Milwaukie Oregon and lived there until I became an adult. I graduated from Milwaukie High School in 1988. These were really interesting times for me. I didn’t realize it then, but later in life when I started figuring things out, I looked back and saw that those years was when I began to “become a man” I guess you can say. I’m sure that’s not unusual. Oh, hey Ken C. from Wake Ct., father of Angie, I really hope you believed me when I told you that I wasn’t sneaking into your back yard to Angie’s window for anything bad. We really were just looking at pictures like I said. Thanks for being cool.

This is probably a good time to describe my family since they’re mostly responsible for who I am.

I’d say my family would be considered lower middle class back then. I don’t know that for sure though. I don’t think we were poor, but maybe by government standards we were. As far as the brothers knew, we always had food and clothes and a place to live. Both my parents were always employed. My mom has worked at the same place since 1979 I think? My dad has worked at about a bagillion different places but had one job for a good 5 or 6 years. I could be wrong about that. He was always happy with whatever he was doing.

Both my parents worked only when the brothers were older. When we were younger, my mom stayed home and raised us. We never went to daycare or preschool. I want to call out this point because I believe it to be very important for parents (or family) to raise children, not daycare providers, nanny’s, the government, etc. It’s my personal (not political) opinion that if you can’t raise your children, you should wait to have children until your situation allows you to raise them. There’s nothing more important than our children.

My mom. Wow. For some reason I’m having a hard time trying to describe my mom. I thought this would be an easy one. In one word…Love. My mom is the most pure person I have ever known or even heard of other than Jesus. She’s not perfect, but she really tries to be. She’s Christian, a Catholic converted to non-denominational when we moved to Oregon. She raised the brothers as Catholic which was possibly the most boring thing I’ve ever experienced. I’ll never forget the relief I felt when we first experienced the small Four-Square Church in Oregon City. Thank you mom!

My mom has always been very strong but we had no idea how strong she was until later in life. She endured way more than we knew. She did it for us. It paid off.

My dad. I wish I would have been as good a father as my dad was. That said, I really hope my son is a better father than I was to him. I think I was lazy compared to my dad. Maybe its because of more TV channels? Video games? Computers? It just seems like my dad was always taking the brothers to do things. We would go fishing all the time, he would take us to the park to throw the football and play, camping almost every weekend during the summer, and a bunch of other fun stuff. He took Mike and I on the best fishing road trip when I was about 14. I think we drove through seven states in his Pinto station wagon. My dad was an awesome father. My dad is also a great friend. To me and his circle of friends. I think I learned that from him.

When I look back on my relationship with my dad I find it very interesting. There were some things about my dad that were not good. At the same time, I believe these things are in a strange way at the very core of who I am. Thank you dad.

Money is something my dad wasn’t too smart about. I didn’t know this until later in life. I very vividly remember my dad saying, “sure we can buy this stereo component, it will raise my credit card payment only about $5 per month.” OK, I realize that if you work for the government, you probably don’t see a problem with that, BUT THERE IS! (Just to be clear, the government thing was a joke…partly. I’m sure not everyone in the government think that. Only most of them.) My dad wasn’t different than most every American is today, a credit card is something you use if you have it. He also never saved money or planned for retirement. Today, my dad lives off of Social Security, partial disability from the Air Force, and a small pension. But he’s happy as a clam and he’s independent. He doesn’t ask for anything and is always there for the brothers and his friends.

Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever told my dad these things. I’m going to interject before I continue, as I have more to say about my dad because he’s so important in the story of my life and who I am. My dad for all of his faults is a great man. Everything I mention here he has realized on his own and has changed without intervention. I have a lot of respect and love for my dad.

The relationship between my mom and dad was not good. The brothers didn’t realize this until I was in about the seventh grade. Once I realized this, my relationship with my dad began to change. I felt like I needed to stick up for my mom and ended up butting heads with my dad way too often. Let me be clear, my dad was never physically abusive to me or my mom. I remember thinking that I wished my parents would just get a divorce and move on. To this day I believe that would have been best for both of them. I know for a fact if that would have happened, my dad would have been there for the brothers just as much as he was when they were together. He loved his boys more than anything. He still does.

As bad as my dad was to my mom, he eventually realized it and apologized to her, she graciously accepted, and they’re now very good friends. They divorced about 15 years ago. It takes a real man to do that.

My dad was never very good at giving encouragement or guidance. I think this is because he believed we were smart enough to figure things out for ourselves and maybe that’s how he was raised. That wasn’t the case. We were dumb, just like most teenagers. I never held this against my dad and really don’t think of it as a flaw in any way. He honestly thought he was doing the right thing and helping us out. Two of the most glaring examples: When at 18 years old I told my dad I was going to elope, he gave me a hug and congratulated me. Not a good life choice but I didn’t know better. Number two, he never encouraged me to go to college. Not really that big of a deal but I wish he would have. To be fair, neither did my mom. Neither of them went to college themselves so it might not have been something they would have considered. I don’t hold this against them at all.

This brings me to my self realization thanks to my dad.

I got married to my girlfriend of three years at 19 years old. I had joined the Air Force in July 1988 and came back in December 1988 on leave and eloped. In August 1989 we had a real wedding and she moved to Travis AFB California with me. Nine months later we had a baby girl. About a year and a half later we had a still born. Very sad. But it led to having our son in October 1992. In November 1992 I was 23 years old, married, had two kids, and was out of the Air Force.

Unfortunately, I had taken on the traits of my dad where my marriage and financial responsibilities were concerned. I was not good to my wife in the very same way my dad was not good to my mom. I had a raging temper and was very unreasonable. I would rather hang out with my friends than be with my wife. We didn’t run our credit up too bad in the Air Force but I did nothing to prepare for civilian life. So when we got out, we moved in with her parents.

Let me just say…I loved her family. I really looked up to and respected her dad. They are full on Filipino, straight from the Philippines. Her dad was so supportive and encouraging. He put up with me when I was really kind of a loser. He must have seen some potential in me. I can’t think of any other reason he would have been as wonderful as he was. Or maybe he was just a great guy. He passed away several years ago. It was very sad for their family and my kids who were very young. It would have been beneficial to them to have grown up knowing their grandpa. But it wasn’t just him. Her mother is a wonderful, caring woman as well. Her sisters and brothers are wonderful aunts and uncles to my children and great people. I’ve learned a lot from all of them also. I’ll talk more about that later. It’s very significant…my second “come to terms with myself”.

Throughout this, I was a good father to my kids. I loved them more than anything. But I was all messed up in the head. Not from drugs or alcohol or anything like that. I just didn’t know anything about life or how to be a man and a husband (I sure thought I did). I wish someone would have told me. Maybe they did and I just didn’t listen. That’s entirely possible. Regardless, my actions and my situation was my responsibility.

After five years of being a jerk of a husband, running up credit card bills, and working jobs that would get me no where, my wife and I divorced. It was a pretty peaceful divorce and I made sure to stay close to my ex-wife and kids. She worked grave shift 14 days per months and I had the kids on those days so I still got to be a dad and raise my kids. Thank god. Kids need their fathers. Just like I needed mine.

So I’m still working up to this point about my dad. About three years after the divorce, I was dating a girl (Braedie, now one of my best friends) and treating her the same way. Something happened. It wasn’t something Braedie said, or anyone else said or did. For some reason it just hit me. I was acting like my dad, and as I remembered, I didn’t like the way my dad acted. This was my first “come to terms with myself”. I finally learned the single most important thing my dad had to teach me. It was “don’t act like your dad”. At least where my significant other and money were concerned.

I realized that my dad is at the core of my being. That’s not a bad thing at all. Like I said earlier, there’s a lot of good stuff about my dad, and that’s at my core as well. He gave me this incredible ability to identify and attract wonderful people who become lifelong friends. He gave me this crazy love, closeness thing for my kids that I just don’t see in many families. He gave me an ability to see my faults and admit to them, then better myself. The bad things about my dad are at my core and I have to fight them constantly but it gets easier all the time. Because I now know my dad is in me, I can control the bad and have been able to turn it into greatness.

The best part of all of this is…I know what’s going on now, I know how things work. I can consciously instill this in my children's core and make them even better husbands and wives. Even better mothers and fathers. Thank you dad. I love you.

So that’s my family. Now jumping back a little bit. I was a C5 (very big airplane) Crew Chief (mechanic) in the Air Force during the first Gulf War. I was one of the lucky few who didn’t get deployed to the desert. Most of my friends did though. I did work my butt off. Those of us left behind were a skeleton crew working with civilians and Reserves processing at least 10 times more traffic than our most busiest non-war time. We worked 12-14 hour shifts 6-7 days per week. And we were proud to do it.

When I got out I worked as a general manager for a restaurant and a movie theater until 1998 when I quit to start an internet company with a friend. That lasted about a year and we went our separate ways. I continued to be my own boss until 2001 when I went back to school on my GI Bill for Computer Science and ended up studying Political Science as well. In 2003 I was offered a job I couldn’t refuse, so I didn’t. I dropped out of school and took the job making more money than my mom made after working for the same company for 25 years. This was after making less than $10,000 per year for the past five years. I had no bills and a boat load of new cash. At least it seemed like it to me.

But I wasn’t stupid. I went out and bought a 1997 VW Jetta because my car was almost dead and I needed something reliable to get to work. I had to buy it on credit which I didn’t like but I paid it off very quickly. I still have that Jetta and love it. I opened a high yield savings account, claimed 10 for my deductions and put the money in the savings account instead of giving it to the government every payday. I immediately maxed out my 401k which the company matched 50% so I was receiving free money. I maxed out my HSA which is completely tax free (like free 33%), I enrolled in the employee stock purchase program and had some of my pay automatically taken out for stock purchase. The same year I was hired I used my GI benefits to buy a house in West Linn about one mile from my kids mothers house. I continued my internet business so I could use it as a tax write off. I paid off the few bills that I did have like my student loans. I didn’t get any credit cards or charge anything. If I wanted something I waited until I could pay cash for it, which usually wasn’t very long since I didn’t have many bills.

I wasn’t rich. I was a computer geek making only $42,000 per year. But it sure felt like a lot to me. I kicked so much butt at that job. I turned the position into something it never was suppose to be. I was hired to do the job. Instead, I took it upon myself to streamline and enhance the position which in turn made the operations department run much smoother. When that happens, everything seems to work better.

In 2006 I was offered the opportunity to start a new department within the same company (not a small company, $50 mil per year). Business Analytics with a raise to $70,000 per year. I knew NOTHING about business analytics. I took the job which was to set up the department, assess immediate client needs, meet those needs, maintain those needs, and do the same for new clients. I did this with no supervision, only a couple spreadsheets given to me by the VP at the very beginning. I figured it out and kicked butt. I absolutely love being the best at what I do. In 2009 I lost my job.

I met my current wife at work in 2003. We dated from 2004 and married in 2005. Prior to dating her, I incorporated the following rules which are based on passed failed relationships and “loves”. I’m sure they seem stupid to some people, but they work. I try to teach them to my kids to save them some heartache where love and relationships are concerned.

1) No moving in with each other. This had actually always been a rule because I didn’t want the kids to think that was the appropriate thing to do.

2) No saying “I love you” for at least a year. I know it feels like love, but it’s not. If after a year you still feel that, then it’s love. At that point you can say it and truly mean it.

3) No fights for at least a year. If a fight happens while you’re still in the “courtship” phase, it’s only going to get worse so break it off. There’s no sense wasting time on this one. Move on to the next one.

4) Be completely honest about your feelings always (a no brainer but rarely done). If this causes a fight, see rule number 3.

Onward…In 2007 we (my wife and I) became minority partners in a carpet cleaning business. I guess you could call us Entrepreneur-Americans if you really need to hyphenate minorities.

Here’s the deal with my wife and I. I don’t want to get my family involved in my political life. But there are some things people are going to want to know. And there are some things people should know, and some that are none of your business. So I’m going to break this down pretty simply giving you the information I think you need. Remember John Kerry? How about John McCain? Well, I’m John and John. But my name’s Darren. And my wife is kind of like the Johns wives but not nearly to that extent, not even close. The funny thing is, I didn’t know this about her until many months into dating her. She’s very modest.

My wife comes from a successful farming family in Washington. She has a Master’s degree and a VERY good job that pays a lot (at least to me and most people). Well, she did have that job. Coincidentally, shortly after Measures 66 and 67 passed she lost her great job that she had been at for nine years. Maybe not a coincidence. She’s going to have to take about a 40% pay cut at a new job. But luckily we believe in living a debt free life so this isn’t going to affect us.

We live in a 3,800 sf house in West Linn, which is big but not huge, built in 2003. If you see the inside, you’d notice there’s not much on the walls, our furniture is nice but all was purchased at outlet or discount stores, we have absolutely no bedroom furniture. In other words, we’re very thrifty. We would rather invest our money than spend it on expensive stuff for our house. I do like to indulge in Apple computer equipment since most everything we do is on the computer.

With the exception of a couple years of payments on my Jetta (I paid it off as fast as I could), I’ve never had a car payment in my life. I’m almost embarrassed to say (not really. Ok, maybe) that my wife leases her car. Since we’re rich (not really, for sure this time), she drives a really nice car. It’s a 2007 Bug. The lease is up in April and we’ve been saving to buy it out so she’ll be driving it for probably five more years. *UPDATE* We turned the Bug in to the dealer and saved the $15,000 to help pay for the kids college.

So here’s what’s going to kill me in the run for Governor of Oregon. I drive an H2. OUCH! That hurt! My whole adult life I’ve driven VW’s. Love them. I still have the Jetta and drive it once in a while when my son’s not borrowing it. So my son was turning 16 and I really wanted him to have a car to drive so his mother and I wouldn’t have to shuttle him between houses. I had had the Jetta for five years and figured it would be a good car for him and a good time for me to get something new for myself. I was kind of tired of small cars and wanted to try something big, wanted something to cart the kids and dog comfortably around in, and something that didn’t look like everything else on the road. I always liked H2’s so I started to look into them. This was when gas prices were through the roof so guess what? H2’s were dirt cheep. We had saved up some $$ in anticipation of this day and I paid cash for a 2006 H2. I’m going to drive it until it dies.

For those who want to water-board me because you think I’m killing Mother Earth, here are a couple things to consider.

1) H2 energy cost per mile $3.027. Prius energy cost per mile $3.249.
http://www.cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/DUST%20PDF%20VERSION.pdf

2) I also drive a 1992 Ford Ranger 4-banger that I purchased for $1,800 for everyday work related driving around.

*UPDATE* My wife’s new job bought her an annual bus pass so she’s now driving the H2 to the park-and-ride in West Linn and taking the bus to downtown Portland every day for work. I’m driving the pickup.

We still own my original house in West Linn. It’s a rental house that we break even on every month. Since the economy has taken a dump, I don’t think we have any equity left in it. We also own a house in Seaside that we purchased when my wife got a fat raise one year. We did that instead of buying a new car or blowing the money in some other fashion. It was an investment. It’s now a vacation rental that we lose money on every year. Since the economy took a dump, I’m pretty sure we lost our equity in that too.

Between my wife’s earning power and my knowing how to survive being poor, we make a great team.

I’ll speak about my kids in general.

My daughter is 19 and my son is 17. I’ve learned more from a couple of kids than I would ever have imagined. For some reason they are way too smart and wise for their ages. My daughter and I talk about politics and religion a lot. I love her take on those topics. She’s so logical. My son and I talk about music and ideas and all things creative. (Shameless plug: he has a band on iTunes called Sleeplong) They keep me grounded when they see me start to slip. I don’t know what I’d do without them.

Moving on to the second self-realization…

This is a really hard thing to write about for many reasons. It’s very personal and involves many people that I don’t want to disparage in any way so please forgive my vagueness as I try to get across some very important points.

My kids and I were always very close. When my daughter was 15 years old, some things were said to her and my son (13 years old) about me that were not true. The result was my daughter not talking to me or seeing me for about two years. Even if these things were true, they should never had been said to a 15 and 13 year old about their father who loved them and they loved.

It also resulted in hatred and bitterness between people who once were very good friends, and very expensive and emotionally draining court experiences. This was a completely unnecessary experience but one that many divorced families go through regardless. I honestly think it can easily be avoided.

Anyway, during the two years without my daughter, everyone told me, “hang in there and continue to do the right thing. Eventually she will come around and you’ll be glad you did the right thing.” This was no comfort to me. Lost time with your daughter is something you could never get back and I was pissed off at the people who did this to me and my daughter. I hated them. My heart was black because of it. It pained me to continue to let them walk all over me and her day in and day out.

One day after a court hearing everything came to a head. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I felt like I was going to explode. Instead of doing something I would regret (nothing illegal), I called one of my “brothers”, Doug W. who met me to talk. I was off the hook, chain smoking and cussing up a storm. Then he said something that for some reason hit me hard. “You need to forgive them”.

This was my second self-realization.

Forgiveness. I’ve heard it before but never believed it. How holding bitterness and hatred in your heart could make you a miserable person. This is not a religious thing, but at that moment I let all that hatred go and forgave every single person involved for what they had done. I didn’t care that they hadn’t asked for it, I gave it to them anyway. It felt so good. I hugged my “brother” and went home.

I sat down and wrote my daughter an email telling her that I could no longer hold these feelings for others in my heart and no matter what others did to me, I would not hate them. I would forgive without question and ask for nothing in return. My daughter showed the email to the others involved and…*loss for words* most of us are good friends again. My daughter and I now have a very strong, loving relationship.

A strange, or not so strange circumstance came of this. Immediately after, I couldn’t stomach the word “hate”. It seriously made my stomach turn when I heard it. I found that people use the word for way too many things and the word has a very strong meaning even though people don’t realize it. So I banned it from my house. It’s been banned for over two years now. I’ve asked my friends not to use it around me too because it really bothers me. It’s funny because the word “love” ended up bothering me too, I think because it has such strong meaning like “hate”. Of course “love” is not banned, but I find myself using it less because over use seems to take away some of it’s meaning. If you hear me use the word “hate”, you can be sure that I truly, “hate” what ever it is I’m talking about. Same thing with “love”. Whew, I’m glad that’s over. I don’t like even typing that word.

I’ve been through a lot. The most important thing I’ve learned in 40 years is that I don’t know everything and every day I just keep getting smarter. I once realized that I have advice I could give to a 20 year old that if they follow it, they would have a great chance of living a successful life. More importantly, there are people in the world who could do the same for me. I constantly seek out those people and ask for that advice.

Everyone’s life is a sum of all it’s parts. Mine’s no exception.