The Latest

Conservatives vs. Boehner and the Republican Facade

0 Comment Jan 5, 2015 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Culture, Economy, Politics

Conservative Challenger to the Establishment’s Gang

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) said Sunday that he will challenge John Boehner (R-Ohio) as Speaker in the new Congress.

“I’m putting my name out there today to be another candidate for Speaker,” Gohmert said on “Fox and Friends.”  Gohmert said that after “years of broken promises, it’s time for a change.”

This is Good News

This is important for all Americans and especially for Republicans.

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Federal Politics – Deny State Authority

0 Comment May 18, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Culture, Regulations

The idea of State Rights has long been neglected by our representatives in Congress and this neglect has allowed the federal government to grow like a malignant tumor. In the anti-Federalist paper, Brutus XII, we read, “that this constitution,… will not be a compact entered into by states,… but an agreement of the people of the United States, as one great body politic,…  The courts therefore will establish it as a rule in explaining… as will best tend to perfect the union or take from the state governments every power of either making or executing laws.”

Brutus’ pamphlet, published on February 07, 1788, was an accurate projection and his fears have become reality in our lifetimes.

Our republican government refers to two things:

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Young People Should Care About the BLM and Their Overreach

0 Comment May 7, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Regulations, Natural Resources

Walk into any Republican meeting and you see it – folks 50 years and older (like Diane and myself) who are primarily concerned with the future for their children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, many young people (those same kids and grandkids) are too busy, too apathetic or simply don’t see how politics affects them and so they tend not to participate in such events.

I want to challenge young people – even though you may be skiing in Bend or going to college in Ashland, and even if you feel that the issues you hear on the news don’t affect you, they do and they will. I wager that most young people saw Bundy Ranch on the news but didn’t see how a grandfatherly rancher’s fight in Nevada affects them, and so brushed it off.

A few days ago, however, I recorded a podcast in which we discussed the change to the BLM’s mission statement that’s disturbing and chilling. Right on the heels of that recording, I saw in the Bend Bulletin that the BLM is removing more than 500 geocaches from Bend-area wilderness, and then that the National Park Service is restricting personal recording devices. My kids geocache, and hike and fish and bike and love the wonderful playground that Oregon has to offer. But for how long will they be allowed to enjoy so-called public lands?

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Amnesty is Coming Unless We Act

0 Comment May 5, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Culture, Regulations

We all know that one of the main functions of the Federal government is to insure our security and aid in the naturalization of new immigrants. Neither of these items are being upheld by our current government. The reforms passed by President Ronald Reagan back in 1986 are not being enforced. Why should we pass new laws when the old ones are not being upheld?

We must secure our borders. That must be the first order of business. Instead, Speaker John Boehner (a close political ally of my opponent) told supporters that he is “hell-bent” on getting comprehensive immigration reform (i.e. amnesty) passed this year. My opponent, Congressman Walden, told fellow Republicans that they should concentrate on immigration (amnesty) “after the primaries are over”.

Rep. Walden has been endorsed by the Oregon Farm Bureau and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, both of which are very vocally pro-amnesty. Republicans in the House have lost their way on this issue. Most Americans want steady jobs for Americans before worrying about illegal aliens. We understand the need for border security and enforced immigration laws.

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The FDA Hurts Businesses

0 Comment Apr 17, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Culture, Economy, Regulations

My opponent recently released a letter to the FDA, declaring that their new rules on brewers and ranchers will hurt Oregonian businesses.

He’s absolutely right – but my question is, why has he been funding the FDA with printed money from Washington, and then writing flimsy letters against it?

Wouldn’t the logical solution be to cut off the funding for unConstitutional entities like the FDA and EPA? Why is our Congressman of 16 years so scared to take these Federal behemoths on?

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I Support Cliven Bundy and Bundy Ranch

0 Comment Apr 16, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Regulations, Natural Resources

A lot of people are asking about my stance on the Bundy Ranch issue in Clark County, Nevada, where the BLM and citizens recently had a stand-off over cattle grazing rights. Many people are pointing out that Cliven Bundy has not paid his fees to the Federal government, and that may be true, although there are several arguments to both sides of the issue. (I’ll put some sources at the bottom of this post).

However, what is not contentious is the atrocious treatment of private citizens by the BLM, the bullying of rural Americans by radical environmentalists and the overwhelming injustice that is Federal monopoly of our public lands.

It seems clear that we’ve reached a point in our history when private citizens and small-business owners are increasingly forced to make public scenes just to survive. Because of the labyrinth of laws, the convoluted nature of crony capitalism and the politically-motivated restrictions on our ways of life, the West in particular is gasping for air and some folks feel, as Mr. Bundy does, that resistance is the only option.

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Tough Questions about Forest Access

0 Comment Apr 14, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Regulations, Natural Resources

I received a note from a supporter that I would like to share.

This was written by someone who has worked tirelessly for public access to the mountains and forests that our tax dollars pay to keep open. The anger and frustration voiced by this man and others is what keeps me motivated to make change for Oregonians. This individual will not be satisfied with empty rhetoric or false promises. For too long we have shrugged aside do-nothing representation and allowed too many excuses about Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

It’s time to start dismantling the Federal tyranny over our open places and lifestyles.

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America the Beautiful

0 Comment Mar 31, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Culture, Natural Resources

“O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee…”

We all know the words, and we all love the sentiment in this old folk song. Our kids and grandkids probably sing this song in school plays, much as we did at their age. But even as we sing these cherished words, the beauty they represent is slipping away.

Ludwig von Mises, in his preface to Bureaucracy, writes: ”The main issue in present-day social and political conflicts is whether or not man should give away freedom, private initiative, and individual responsibility and surrender to the guardianship of a gigantic apparatus of compulsion and coercion, the socialist state. Should authoritarian totalitarianism be substituted for individualism and democracy?”

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Government-Induced Drought and Water Issues In Oregon

0 Comment Mar 28, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Regulations, Natural Resources

As most Oregonians know, Klamath County (indeed, most of the 2nd District) is in a season of severe drought. Add to this politically motivated backroom deals, and a radical environmentalist agenda with lots of out-of-state clout and capital, and this is a scary situation for rural Oregon.

The problem is simple – we have limited fresh water. Animals and people alike need fresh water for survival, and droughts are part of Earth’s natural cycle. Therefore, we should prepare for such eventualities with dams, reservoirs and other water storage facilities, and we should share the water between all interested parties, not use the strong arm of government to pick politically-correct winners and losers.

Last year, before I was in this Congressional race, I gave a presentation on this topic to the Jackson County Americans for Prosperity group:

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The Real Forest Management Travel Solution

0 Comment Mar 25, 2014 — by: Dennis Linthicum 0 Comment
Categories: Regulations, Natural Resources

Last week, The Baker City Herald editorial staff wrote, “Rep. Greg Walden has gotten right to the heart of the debate over managing national forest and he only needed to write a four-page bill to do it.”

However, it’s time for a reality check, because although I applaud his effort, it seems clear that Walden only threw this piece of legislative silliness onto the House floor because I am on his heels, chasing his lackluster votes. I have heard for years from hunters, farmers, ranchers, loggers and outdoorsmen worried about their forest access and concerned with the deafness of Washington bureaucrats. They tell me of their frustration in writing endless letters to Walden’s office and their local papers, along with their attempts at “public comment” debacles.

Do you really believe that Representative Walden was suddenly moved by his love for our freedoms as Oregonians, or does this seem politically-motivated to you? Why have our forests been padlocked for years and why has his office been bragging about his ineffectual votes, until now?

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