Anne Marie for State Rep. – House Dist. 45

I just returned from a post election meeting of many many Republican House candidates. As you can imagine, most of use were defeated, but many of us came out winners, and I wanted to share with you highlights from that meeting:

1. Almost every single House seat (save maybe one) had a Republican/conservative candidate. That certainly is not always the case, and we can be proud of that. Voters had a choice instead of just voting for incumbents.
2. Because of our collective efforts to give every incumbent a “run for their money,” much of the Democrats financial resources were tied up. Follow me here. So let’s say my incumbent has $20K dollars and no opponent. He can then divert a chunk of change to another one of his colleagues in a tighter race, and give him/her a bunch of cash to help their campaign. That did no happen this time. Democratic incumbents held onto their cash to the tune of over $300K.
3. How did that help Oregon? It made it so that Oregon, in all of it’s races……won six House seats. That didn’t happen in the Senate and that didn’t happen on the federal campaigns either. Only in the House Republican seats was there such a big gain, and it’s because we froze their assets. They had to work for their seat, and in six cases, lost it

What do we focus on for 2012? Oh the ideas flew, but I’ll give you a few.

• Voter fraud. We can try all we want to change back to a walk in voting system, good luck. Our population likes the convenience and it will be hard to get that changed. Where we need to focus is on the fraud. I will preach it to the top of the mountains, Janice Dysinger of the Multnomah Co Republican party almost single handedly took this up, recruited volunteers, and scheduled….watching ballots being counted. We need to support her and continue in that effort. It will be a long process, but once we can prove fraud, documented with video, we have credibility on our side.

• Redistricting to favor Democrats. You know it’s there. Just look on the map of Oregon’s districts. We failed at our most recent redistricting attempt for more fair districts. We need to pay more attention to that. The powers that be who decide whether to take another swing at that are still deciding. Please google Common Sense for Oregon, attn Kevin Mannix, and send him a personal note that you commit to helping that process and are willing to start collecting petition signatures now. Folks, if we don’t pay attention to that, our minority voice will continue to be squelched even more.

• Start now! Three things we always need to be doing. Helping those not registered to vote, to register to vote. The Dems do it constantly, and it shows. We need to match their efforts.

• Raise up leaders. We need to be attending our neighborhood association meetings, Rotary Club meetings, city and county council meetings. That is where we find our voice and find a niche. We get ourselves educated on issues really quick, and out of the “us” pops up a knowledgeable leader who can get on the ballot, and not have “none” beside their name for government experience.

• Fundraise, now. This does come down to money. Once you hear a candidate is running, and I saw this in my campaign, donating two weeks before an election is not as effective as donating ten months before an election. I don’t want you to hear me say don’t donate at all…..because all donations are appreciated, accepted and used. If you want to get the most bang for your donation dollar, donate before the primary. Why? That is when candidates are making decisions on how many yard signs to buy, radio spots to purchase, etc. They need support in the beginnning, and they need it generously. Your donation dollars go a whole lot further. Trust me, elections come down to dollars and cents for fiscal conservatives, and every donation counts.

• Donate to your county party, always. Why? Because they give to candidates. In talking to a current seat holder in our House, his opponent was given a cool $1000 in this election and his last election by their county Democrats. For us fiscal conservatives, do you know what that could have done for all of our campaigns? That is just seed money to Dems.

Things to think about as well look to 2012. We have gains to be glad for. We need to build on it, and keep on pressing for more gains in 2012.

So while we watch our reader boards on the ol’ television last night here are some thoughts.

Turn back the clock to the spring of 2009, in our esteemed state capital, when our state had a super majority. A super majority is where one like-minded party has the majority of votes in the House, Senate and governor’s office. The majority party could do the following–pass whatever the heck they wanted to.

That is why Oregon saw a gargantuan increase in spending, increase in “nanny state” legislation, and more fee increases (fees feel the same as taxes, remember that) than ever before…..all during an extreme recession. All these increases in spending and increases in fees and taxes mean you and I get hit in the pocket. You may not always see it. Look the fine print on your utility bills. Heck just look at your utility bills compared to last year. Have you renewed your car’s registration lately? These fee increases were just from $10 to $20. They were $35 to $125. Ten dollars to $150. All on Oregonians who are unemployed, trying to drive to a job interview. I have heard more than one Republican legislator say “I am so glad I could show up so the Democrats could have a quorum.” Absolutely an obscene example of government gone wild.

What happened last night? Right now, I say this tentatively until final numbers come through. Here is what we have now:

30-30 in our House
15-15 in our Senate
Republican Governor

What does this mean? It means if anyone wants to pass a tax or fee increase, there will need to be discussion. In 2009, there was discussion, and then that discussion was dismissed and the fees and taxes passed anyway. Now, if anyone on either side of the aisle, wants a majority vote, there has to be discussion, compromise, and listening. In the past, the majority party might have appeared to have listened, but didn’t show it in their votes.

If I can say this…..it is almost a perfect scenario. No one party has a majority. On both sides there needs to be listening to the other side. I think we can all agree that a super majority of Republicans would not be good either. Why? For the same reason we don’t want to have a Democrat majority, it would be one agenda and a lopsided government. The idea of having two houses and a leader is there is ample opportunity along the way of a bill to have lots of checks and balances. Lots of compromise, lots of discussion, lots of listening. Since we dont’ have a majority on either side, we have the perfect scenario.

Warning. What could happen? Gridlock. After watching the opposite of gridlock, I almost welcome it at this point. It means the discussions will happen and need the workings of our government to happen. We as voters need to be patient. We will all have wins and losses in the next session, and we need to take a sigh of relief from that. The opposite has been dismal.

I invite all of you to continue to watch this page. As the legislative session approaches, I’ll be watching it…..closely. We all should. Did you know you can watch the sessions live online? Did you know it is actually quite entertaining?

Let’s not stop watching anything. Those we have voted in need to to be kept to their promises, and those who are continued incumbents need to know they are being watched a whole lot more closely.

Anne Marie

Today Oregon’s governor announced what fiscal conservatives have been crying from the rooftops for years…..we are broke and getting more broke by the minute. Click here for the piece of news most have seen coming. The bottom line is this, a state cannot increase its budget by 44% (which Oregon has in the last two legislative sessions) during one of the worst recessions since the Depression with no end in sight.

Have the non majority votes in Salem ducked and avoided this? As far back as the 2006-2007 biennium, the non majority representatives and senators have said, let’s cut a little now so we won’t have to cut a lot later. Unfortunately, this advice landed on deaf ears.

So Oregon’s House Republicans have released a list of reasons why this is a great time to call a truly “Emergency Legislative Session.” No, I am not talking about the “Emergency Session” in February that just resulted in more spending shenanigans. I am talking about one where the sole purpose is to cut and limit Oregon’s budget. I like it. I support it. Vote me into the 2011 Legislature and you can bet I will get behind this.

The Senate Republicans are trying right now to organize this session. Under this process of organizing, each Senate member will receive a ballot to vote on whether a special session should be called. Think of it this way, if a member opposes this call…..he or she is essentially voting to uphold the Governor’s cuts to schools when it is apparent there is a more reasonable plan that would not cut schools. Remember this the next time you hear a majority voting legislator go on and on about how their pet programs are “for the kids.” This truly is for the kids.

Here it is:

TALKING POINTS ON A SPECIAL SESSION TO RE-BALANCE OREGON’S BUDGET

• Imposing across-the-board reductions is the wrong solution to rebalancing the budget. The 2009-11 budget was crafted with disproportionate decreases and increases to state agencies to begin with.

• Rather than making across-the-board reductions, we should prioritize spending with a focus on the most critical programs and services.

• Those agencies which received high rates of growth in spending will merely see decreases in growth. Essential programs such as K-12 education, which have already been cut, will face additional cuts. We cannot continue to further punish education at the expense of massive increases in other agencies.

• A re-balance will require difficult and perhaps even unpopular choices. Republicans are willing to engage in dialogue and make those difficult decisions. Others seem more interested in hiding behind the Governor during this election year.

• The Legislature has twice called itself in for pre-planned “emergency” sessions, and did so without facing a deficit as large as $562 million. Why would the Legislature choose to ignore the option of a special session now, when we truly have a budgetary emergency?

• Through items such as remaining other fund ending balances, common sense policy changes, and a freeze on all state employee salaries (concepts outlined in the Back to Basics Budget), there are enough resources to hold education and other critical services harmless.

• The Legislature has a Constitutional responsibility to balance the State’s budget. To leave massive spending adjustments up to the governor relinquishes Legislative authority to another branch of government.

On my way to the April 15th Tax Day rally in Salem, I carpooled with a friend of mine. She has been unemployed for a very long time and has scoured all job posting boards for a job. She was explaining a job she saw listed by the state, and it just made my blood churn. Since then, the job has been filled, but my friend had a printout of the job.

If you read it, it sounds like a fun job. It is using social networking websites to do something (not sure what) for the state of Oregon. Read it for yourself.

This kind of a job is worthy of being part time, a college internship, or a temp position. If it were a private sector job, it would be classified in one of those categories. Nope. It is a state job “represented by Service Employee International Union (SEIU).” It is much more than that, to the state and SEIU.

This job also has the boo hoo at the end of it saying “Due to extraordinary budgetary shortfalls, Oregon state government is continuing cost reduction measures which include mandatory unpaid time off (furlough days) and suspending mandatory step advancement during the 2009-2011 biennium. Positions are subject to these measures based upon representation, and salary range. In general terms, employees are subject to 10-14 furlough days, and will not receive salary step increases until at least August 31, 2010.”

So someone is hoping the legislative session over the summer of 2010 lifts these furlough days and allows for wage increases. Nevermind that there are private sector employees who have had their salaries, wages and hours cut permanently. There is no magical August 31, 2010 date for them.

Well that shouldn’t be too hard of a pill to swallow considering this entry level, truly not full time, internship type of job pays $3382.00 to $4716.00 monthly!

Your tax payer dollars are paying for someone full time to play on myspace, facebook and twitter…..to the tune of $3300+ a month.

Can someone from the state or SEIU please tell me how this type of job is fair to other Oregonians who are hurting and suffering, yet paying for this kind of fancy job? How is this even needed in economic times like these? Why isn’t this job a non-salary, internship for some business student at the University of Oregon or Oregon State? Can someone from Oregon or the SEIU please justify to me the huge amount of wasteful pay for such a non essential position during such economic crisis times? These are not hypothetical questions, I really do want an answer.

Vote for me. This kind of waste is absolutely ridiculous.

I have a long time friend. She is a long time public school teacher. Here are her circumstances. She has been with her job for over 11 years and has seniority. Over the years her job has slowly grown from being simply the computer technology teachers, to more computer technology times ten, plus yearbook and I believe school newspaper. She has taken on a lot.

Last fall she and her husband had their first child and she is feeling the pangs we all do as moms, we don’t want to go back to work, but we also like the roof we have over our head.

I talked to her about teaching for our online virtual charter school that my kids attend. She also has another friend who is a teacher for them. Stop here and pay attention……she said she couldn’t afford to work for our school for two reasons 1) all of her health care is paid for through her job 2) she makes 60K annually. It would be a huge hardship for her family to give that up. Yet she and I both agree: the public school system is broken down badly. Yet we have very different outlooks on it, and different ideas to fix it. I was and still am vehemently against Measures 66 and 67. She was vehemently for it.

Yet, here is the new twist. Her job was just eliminated. She’s been laid off.

Consider this……her huge (not on par with private sector job) wages and Cadillac quality health care package is probably what caused her layoff to happen. Those of us who have been outspoken against Measures 66 and 67 as well as continually allowing such lush health care to be procured by public employees makes it so that public agencies need to divert money away from salaries, and into health care and PERS.

To my chagrin, my good friend, is one of the statistics us opponents have been screaming about. I am sorry for my friend. She will be hard pressed to find a job in education in Oregon. She will not ever be able to find a job at her pay level with her benefits either. I am hoping she can see the bigger picture of this. Best wishes to her. I wish it didn’t have to come to this.

Vote for me. I see the big picture. I get where education money is going. This is a perfect example of our education dollars not paying for education. Please click on the support tab and help out my campaign. As the primary comes and goes, these sorts of issues will become sharper. I need your support now.

You have probably received your voter’s pamphlet by now…..have you noticed the obvious?

If you just do a cursory flip through it, it appears that only Democrats are running for House and Senate offices except for a rare few.

Here is the truth and the political strategy. I am in the voter’s pamphlet, as well as many others, you just have to look hard and know you won’t see our picture. The last legislative session, our state raised the cost of what it takes to post a picture and full bio in the primary voter’s pamphlet. By a lot, like from a few hundred dollars to about $700. Ouch!

So many of us, me included, know that we will get our party’s nomination since we are the only ones listed for our party. In very few cases in this state do fiscal conservatives have a contender in the primary. I know of two where there are contenders and it’s because we are trying to oust those who said they were fiscal conservatives only to take money from special interest groups and vote in those group’s pet projects in the last legislative sessions.

Okay, so who do you see pages and pages and pages of in the voter’s pamphlet? Democrats, lots and lots of them, at $700 a pop. That is a lot of money to spend on a fairly benign campaign trail hurdle. Seriously very few of the Dems have Dem contenders. So why pay a bunch of money for an exercise in campaigning? Because they can.

Questions to consider…..

If you were to support these campaigns how does it feel knowing your contribution dollars are paying for a moot point?

I believe this is just another example of Oregon’s majority vote party right now. Spend. Spend and spend some more.

If I were a supporter of these campaigns, I would be irritated that my donated dollars were paying for a voter’s pamphlet that really isn’t necessary.

My promise to you, if I get voted into office, I value your tax dollars. They are not lottery money to spend on pet programs for special interest groups.

If you donate to my campaign, and I hope you do. I am on a small budget. Yet, it’s the same principle. The dollars you donate to me are considered closely. What should I spend money to bring the most publicity bang for my buck. I am not going to pay for a voter’s pamphlet that is mainly a listing of uncontested primaries.

Please vote for me, but also please click on the campaign button. I need all the support I can get.

Having attended the UChoose forum as a featured candidate on April 8th and my third Tea Party protest on April 15th (see pics from these events in my Gallery), I come away with so many great tidbits of info. Let me give you some highlights:

• Did you know that 47% of our population does not pay taxes? Implication? Those people are using government assistance of some kind on some level. What happens when that number teeters to above 50%? Scary huh? The minority of the population will be paying for the majority of the services. Makes you not want to work doesn’t it? Scary thought…..

• Sound byte I heard, “When you pay someone to do nothing, you get nothing.”

• I was called an “extremist” this week. If fighting for freedom and the founding principles the writers of our Constitution defended, then it’s a title I carry proudly. I saw a whole lot of “extremists” at the Tea Party, mostly senior citizens, unemployed and their kids. Scary people they were…….not.

• It is really easy to pick Chris Dudley out of a crowd.

• I am still on the fence on who I want to vote for governor. I have a whole lot of great choices, but I am on the fence between two of them. I am so thankful to have a great group of candidates to choose from.

• One in five Portland residents are unemployed. (Click link to see a time line of unemployment for the last two years. Kinda scary.)

• Someone told me they would rather the government regulate our insurance industry than the companies themselves. I made a huge list for this person: US Postal Service, EPA, Social Security, etc. All bankrupt. What happens when our health care is bankrupt? It’s a scary question.

• Ron Maurer is running for Superintendent of Public Education in Oregon. His race will be decided in this May’s primary. I fully endorse Ron for this position and I hope you do, too.

• 30% of undocumented aliens are in the U.S. on expired VISAS.

• My neighbor and I jokingly sparred about issues. He wanted to see how fiscally conservative I am. He gave a donation to my campaign before the end of the afternoon.

• For the first time I was asked about an issue that isn’t in the news, and I gave my opinion, as well as how I would vote if required. What do we think of legalizing marijuana, after all we have medical marijuana already, and taxing it to death like we do alcohol? My answer….well, if Oregon could regulate medical marijuana correctly I would be all for it. Currently our medical marijuana laws, cards, etc. are such a mess, it would be a hard argument to show me the state could take on more responsibility with it. Considering I can open a Nickel Ad paper, answer an add, and get a medical marijuana card in Oregon without a valid medical reason for needing one, it’s a hard sell. My answer is no. It’s just another way to extract money from those in our state that can’t afford basic needs.

I have more to think about and digest. I have really enjoyed solidifying my views on minimizing government, growing jobs, reducing spending, reducing special interest group interference, and our future as a state.

Did I mention jobs? Just checking.

Please also visit the “Contribute” page and make a donation.

Another candidate said it best to me at the Tea Party, “We sure ain’t winning our campaigns on dollars!” The unions/majority party have money to drop whenever they feel like it. The non majority candidates plan to win a a bit of fund raising and a whole lot of principle. Can you help with the fund raising just a bit?

Yes, I am a virtual school mom. What is that?

Oregon has several virtual schools. They are a public, online charter school. That means they are accountable to the state for academics, funding, fiscal accountability, etc. Currently they fall under charter school law.

What is it like on a day to day basis? I am at home with my kids. We log into the Learning Management System (LMS) set up by our virtual school. I can see a monthly or weekly calendar of tasks we must accomplish that day for school. A typical day includes Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Online Technology, Art, and PE. We can also count the piano lessons he takes towards Music Appreciation.

I am considered his “Learning Coach”. It is my responsibility to put the material in front of him, explain it to him (it is all written out for me verbatim, I am not his teacher), assign him work, and if he has a test, administer it and send it to his teacher. He does have a teacher who lives far away. We have met her, and we talk to her weekly. She is a great resource to me when we hit roadblocks. If I need to talk to her more, I simply call her or email her. She was instrumental last year in getting my son’s math scores on track.

Curriculum. Do I need to go buy it? No, it is provided to me since my child is considered a public school student. All textbooks and materials that are to consumed are returned to the school at the end of the year, just like in a regular school.

Grades. My son has been on the honor roll several times. He just slam dunked a math test and a language arts test this last week. He completed a huge project where he had to pick a famous invention, create a storyboard advertisement of it, advertising this invention and why people should use it. That was a chunk of fun work!

Fiscal responsibility for these schools. Roughly speaking, virtual schools can educate kids for about 2/3 the price of a regular bricks and mortar school. That is super rough, but consider this……Oregon spends on average about 10K per kid a year. So we’re talking, roughly, about 3k in savings, per kid a year if Oregon were to totally go virtual, which is beyond unreasonable. But let’s just say. So, let’s just say (because I know I am close on this, but don’t want to say for sure) that 250,000 were in Oregon schools last year at 10k per kid. We do some math here, carry the one, bring down the zero……click…..click…….ka ching…….2.5 million dollars. I know the school budget is way way beyond that, and that is another post. However, take 2.5 million times 2/3 the cost. Or about 1.65 million dollars. Hmmm……

Oh the grades too. The virtual school my son attends. Check out a recent article (click here) that gives the scoop on how statewide schools performed for standardized academic testing. Most schools landed in the “satisfactory” range. Our online virtual school landed, along with only one other charter school in the state (no regular public schools), landed in the “Outstanding” category for standardized academic testing. Within the same article, click on “your school’s state report card” and find your own school and see how it rated. You need to know.

One criticism that online virtual schools seem to get all the time, goes something like only wealthy families could do that. Just an FYI when you hear that, over half the kids enrolled in the virtual school my child attends qualifies for free or reduced lunches. They are not wealthy families. They qualify for assistance actually.

So my bottom line, virtual schools educate kids cheaper and better.

Why did we choose it for our family? My kid was not doing well in a regular classroom and fell alarmingly behind in a crucial subject. I knew he needed one on one attention. He also fell behind at a private school, which was even more alarming to me. So while we decided against the private school option because it was cost prohibitive, we knew the local public school would not be good either. Why? Because he didn’t do well in a classroom setting with 15 kids, and our local schools have a 35+ student classroom with scores in the “satisfactory” arena. He wouldn’t do well, and would skate by. So we went virtual since I am a work-at-home mom.

Is this for everyone? No. However, is the traditional classroom for everyone as well? No. Do all kids look different, act different, learn different? Yes. Why then do we expect them all to fall into the traditional classroom setting?

What tossed me into the political setting was fighting for my kid’s school. Every legislative year since charter schools were allowed in Oregon, there has been harassing legislation to close them down. The legislative session of 2009 targeted online virtual schools. Had us parents not noticed and fought like crazy, this innovative, future thinking, school option would be closed down right now. Who were we fighting?

Well, simple answer. All the school unions were listed at the top of the bill, Senate Bill 767. Keep in mind, charter schools are not unionized schools but they do receive state enrollment dollars. When Oregon kids go to these schools, enrollment dollars follow them–away from regular, unionized public schools. Who else was at the top of the bill? Several key legislators I can name if you want, but there was one in particular that caught my eye.

One in particular…..my district’s House incumbent. My senator was there was well. But my House Representative testified, is on the Education Committee, and is a long time educator. He is also employed by the very union that was right next to his name at the top of the bill.

So let’s just pretend here and make an analogy of what my current House Representative did for Senate Bill 767……you work for a coffee company. In your spare (ha!) time you decide to run for state representative and win! Go team go! Your coffee company comes to you and asks you to co-sponsor legislation that would require all state offices (schools, courts, etc) use only their coffee. Would you do it? My answer would be “No, that is a conflict of interest. If you want to bring forward that kind of legislation you will need to ask another representative.”

Technically…coffee House Representative would be breaking no rules in the state of Oregon. It is actually legal in the state of Oregon to sponsor legislation by someone you are also employed by.

That is exactly what happened here. It happens a lot with legislation actually. A union pays for your campaign, they pay for your yard signs, they may even pay your paycheck, and you in turn co-sponsor legislation and vote how they want you to vote.

However, I have one problem with that and I hope you do too. Is that representative government? Especially since the incumbent truly does just vote how the union voted this last legislative session on all bills, not just this one in particular. How was House District 45 represented? I would argue, it wasn’t. At all.

Vote for me. Trust me, the unions are not supporting my campaign, nor do I want them to. I want to represent you, our district, and our choice in education, among other important things. I believe that is what our founding fathers wanted when they realized what representative government was like and wrote it into our Constitution. Taking money from special interest groups then in turn making sure their pet projects get pushed through the legislative process is not representative government.

Also, since the unions aren’t bankrolling my campaign, could you go over to the contribute page and donate a few bucks?

How do I feel about last night’s narrow margin vote? Gut punched and run over by a Sherman tank. I’ll give you some bullets on my opinion, but let me put out some ground rules first.

First, as a state representative, I would have the same kind of power and influence over such decisions as the voter does. My decisions on the state level don’t affect anyone at the national level.

Second, we already have a type of Obama health care coming our way in 2011 that was approved by our state legislators last summer. Oh what do you mean you didn’t know that? Well, Oregon’s press was completely missing in action when it came to covering that mini version of what happened yesterday. Interesting huh?

So this is how I feel on both the state and national decisions that have now both gut punched me and my family and run roughshod over rights I hold near and dear to my heart. We are helpless at this point. There is a huge machine of influence that drives this kind of majority thinking. It is a machine of power, influence, and sheer raw power, and it is a combination of a lot of forces.

What can we do?? Hands down, you and I have got to get out of our homes, which we probably don’t spend enough time in anyway, and make our voices heard. Do we need to make ourselves look like crazy people and camp in trees. I pause for thought there only because nothing else seems to have worked thus far, let’s try it. No. We also don’t want to seem like extremists that people turn a deaf ear to.

1) It is positively imperative. We must speak with our collective vote in November. This powerful machine needs to have it’s battery pulled out of it. A great way to do that is disable the engine. You and I have no choice, we must find out who our candidates are, and not just by biased commercials we see on TV.

2) We must support those who we want in office both by our voice and our pocketbook. This machine has money like you have no idea the kind of money they can throw around. Here in Oregon alone, the Oregon Education Association laid down upwards of $5 million dollars to get Measures 66 & 67 passed. A teacher’s union! I don’t know about you, but that is a ghastly amount of money to spend on a ballot measure. But it also reveals the buying power one of these power brokers has.

One of Oregon’s House Representatives recently did a little fundraising surrounding his birthday. He turned 37 and did a big Facebook plug for everyone to give him $37 so he could raise a few thousand dollars, which he did. Now compare that to the check for $5 million. Do you see the size of the machine compared to the size of reality?

My recommendations:

Go to events where you can hear your candidates speak. The U-Choose event coming this week and next are both amazing events. The candidates are asked the tough questions but in a friendly environment. I do not see the “machine” putting out such events, at all. Sponsors of such events in Oregon are U-Choose, 912 Project, Freedomworks, Americans for Prosperity, and the Oregon Tea Party. From my vantage point all of these organizations also support one another. When I go to one event, I see representatives from all of these people. You and I cannot afford to look at the blurb on the voter’s pamphlet and let that be what guides our vote. We cannot afford that.

I recommend when you get out there (with all of our free time, I know) you ask your Congressional candidates specifically what they are going to do to repeal the damage that has been done by last night’s passage. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to warn you right now, it won’t be a swift vote that can repeal that. It will take time. That is what is so frustrating to me. What an amazing waste of time that was. Obama has spent a year pushing such an aggressive agenda. Yet in that year, we have watched our nation lose jobs like a fast running spigot, we have become more indebted to foreign nations, and he has done nothing but waffle on Afghanistan. Yet, our President just keeps pushing an agenda that just doesn’t seem like the most important thing right now. So he got it pushed and the next group of people get to come and in make it important enough to reverse. However that group of legislators will also have those urgent issues on their plate as well as reversing this huge mess. You need to ask your candidates how important it is to them to reverse that. It needs to be reversed.

Again, as a state representative, I have no influence in national decisions. Yet we also have a smaller version of this coming our way here in Oregon. What would I do? I am not going to go waltzing into the capital and think I got it all figured out on state healthcare. I do know this, our Republican leadership rocks. Every single time the majority party has offered up such costly legislation that gets rammed through and passed, the Republicans have also had their version that never got out of committee. I have seen a few examples of some amazing legislation that has these sorts of things going for them:
1) Fiscal responsibility.
2) Low fiscal impact to taxpayers.
3) Creates private sector jobs, family wage jobs.

I want to see what the R’s have. I know many of us are also disenfranchised by some R’s out there. I agree! Don’t vote the party! Vote the issues!

However, here is one thing I can tell you. Who am I seeing consistently at the tea parties I go to? Who am I seeing at U-Choose events? R’s. Oregon’s Republican party is being refreshed by the growing voice of discontent. Why? Because the Dems won’t even open the door and let in the discontent, literally. If we want change, we have to find a party that is the most like minded and can get something done.

My closing example. The last U-Choose event, watching Scott Bruun, Congressional candidate, speak. He was explaining the heated battle that took place in our state’s capital over health care. And he referred to the R’s not as Republicans but as “the Resistance”.

We all need to not be part of a party, but a part of the Resistance.

I am part of the Resistance. Please vote for me, please donate. I am up against the machine just like every single other Resistance candidate.

I was warned that once I filed my candidacy I would get flooded with endorsement forms to fill out and that I may need to pick and choose them.

Today, I received my first one from an organization and it just made me laugh, hard out loud. Picture cartoon characters when they are guffawing wildly.

I won’t mention the organization, but they just want three questions answered, in seventy five words or less. Here is what got me……they are such loaded questions with such a slant, there is no hiding their thinking. And truly, it’s their questionnaire and they can do it how they want. Want to know the three pressing questions that would make or break their endorsement of me? Drum roll please…..

• What modifications to Oregon’s “kicker” law would you support? (Limit 75 words)

• Do you consider the privatization of institutions of higher education an acceptable alternative to adequate public funding? Explain. (Limit 75 words or less)

I know my response to all of them, which would guarantee I would not get their endorsement. But I want you, the voter to know my response. Your endorsement is the one I really want.

Answer to number 1. I support no modifications to Oregon’s “kicker” law that would allow more money from voter’s to enter Oregon’s General Fund and be unaccounted for.

Answer to 2. Oregon legislators need to listen to the voters who voted in Measure 11 demanding mandatory sentences for violent crimes. Do the crime, do the time.

Answer to 3. I do believe that higher education should be privatized because government has no need to be in the business of funding and regulating higher education. Oregon is having a hard time funding K-12 education.

Naaahhhhh…I won’t send it in.

Vote for me. I believe the voter’s have spoken on every single one of these issues, and legislators trying to circumvent the voting process haven’t read the Constitution in awhile. I also believe these three issues, except for maybe kicker reform, are completely irrelevant right now. Oregon needs jobs, now.

Did I say jobs? Yes.

Jobs. Just makin’ sure.


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