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.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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.
“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
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