Category: Statism

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Tuesday, June 20, 2023, by devadmin

Here in Oregon, we find ourselves in the midst of a truly heinous battle. 

Eleven Republican and Independent Senators united to deny quorum and stop further business in the Senate chamber. Our actions were sound; our reasons were valid; our cause was just, and if I dare say, righteous. Our principles and purpose were and still are valid. Our goal was to prevent unconstitutional, disingenuous, risky and life-threatening legislative concepts by stopping Senate business. Not unlike a workers’ strike, we denied quorum to make our voices heard.

Continuing in the language of a labor dispute, our strategy worked until scabs compromised our cause and broke the force of our strike. It only took one additional Republican to make the deal work for the Democrats and meet the quorum requirement needed for these horrific bills to pass.

Without some unifying purpose, what voice does any minority have? During the founding era, our nation was continually warned about the vigilance that would be required to keep our Republic whole. 

Over the past several weeks I have written newsletters about the most egregious bills attacking children, parental rights, increasing access to abortions and transgender care, and increasing assaults on our 2nd Amendment rights. I supply details with specifics about how parents, their children and all Oregon families and individuals would be harmed. Here’s a list:

• Assault Against Parents
• What’s Lurking in the Legislature?
• Irreversible Harm
• Standing Firm

What happened? Did Republicans get concessions? Were those concessions worth the price of having eleven Republican and Independent legislators barred from future office? One side answers, “Yes, they deserve it.” While the other claims, “Yes, the Democrats caved and victory is ours.”

The Oregon Capital Chronicle, tells us the story. Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) is quoted as saying, “There really isn’t anything that is coming out of there that I’m really that disappointed with…”

The Senate Democrat chief negotiator, Kathleen Taylor (D-Southeast Portland), said, “If the Republicans had not returned this session, we faced the reality that no additional bills would have passed. They could have stayed away, blocking every single progressive priority: no reproductive health care rights, no gun control and no rights for the transgender community.”

Senator Taylor presents an accurate assessment while parroting the Democrat talking points. As my newsletters illustrate, Republicans and Independent Senators denied quorum to stop the State from:

• becoming the authority over your children and your family’s decisions,
• furthering unconstitutional anti-gun measures on law-abiding citizens,
• increasing the healthcare costs for all Oregonians,
• covering transgender and abortion on demand for all, including minors,
• providing free abortion and gender-altering care to anyone, of any age, from any state,
• eliminating the right of patients to seek justice following provider malpractice.

The progressive and leftist Democrat party is moving by system and design under the colorable pretext of safety, caring for children or elevating the oppressed. These are fine sentiments when corralled by fences of reason, appropriateness, evenhandedness, reasonableness, objectivity, and justice. But when our vocabulary is getting warped by blatantly false ideas we need to argue for truth.

The Democrat party uses our own tax money against us and our children. The advancing power of the state is like the screw in a mechanical fitting. It is always turning, always gaining, always gripping, always penetrating, forever holding fast to what it gains and never letting go.

Friends, this political battle may have been lost. I believe the casualties and the price Oregonians pay will be high. But I am confident we will win this culture war if we continue to stand on our principles with unwavering fortitude. We must protect our children and never back down from working to restore our God-given rights to life, liberty and our own just pursuits.

Surrender is not an option.

The question before us is, how do we continue, where do we throw our weight, what battles should we fight?

At the end of 1776, Thomas Paine was sick at heart over the suffering and despair he saw after just six months of tragedy. Yet, he was also inspired by the undaunted resolution of others in leadership. His book The American Crisis, should continue to inspire us. It begins:

“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”

I will follow Paine’s counsel with all of my might. I will continue to serve Oregonians to the best of my ability. I will continue to work towards a positive, prosperous and wholesome future for all Oregonians. I won’t give up and I won’t back down from the ongoing fight.

Thank you for your steadfast support. As we forge onward, Diane and I send our Best Wishes for a great Father’s Day!`

Best Regards,

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate – District 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Wednesday, may 9, 2023, by devadmin

So, what’s up in Oregon?

Why have Oregon State Senators, from both Republican and Independent parties, chosen to deny quorum and stop legislative business.

Across all fifty states, legislative members have a fiduciary responsibility, by sworn affirmation or oath, to uphold their constitutional obligations.

Political pundits, mainstream sources and social media activists are good at repeating slogans, but as you know, little else. There is rarely a look at the details lurking in the shadows.

Oregon Senate President, Rob Wagner (D), has claimed an “open door” policy and pretends to “want robust debate” about policy issues. Yet, unfathomable volumes of recorded video from every floor session and committee hearing testifies clearly against this one-sided fantasy.

The Democrat majority has steadfastly refused to share accurate details about the numerous bills that have had no Republican input. The mainstream and social media talking-heads continue to carry water for the majority party and have continued to mischaracterize sincere issues that truly deserve “robust debate and discussion.”

For example, HB 2002, HB 2003, and HB 2005 are respectively being promoted as necessary to “save abortion”, “secure elections” and “prevent gun violence.”

These phrases simply peddle the popular twaddle while hiding the truth. These three examples, out of 3000 bills this session, are stepping stones in a divisive political misinformation agenda.  These bills codify party talking-points and bumper-sticker slogans.

The HB 2002 marketing template is a political strategy to scare women into thinking that those “church-going conservatives” want to strip away a women’s legal right to an abortion in Oregon.

A woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy is legal at every step along the journey, from conception to the last minute of the pre-birth moment. The Dobb’s decision from the Supreme Court has no impact on Oregon State law and HB 2002 does not add or subtract any additional rights for women.

What it does do is allow an individual of any age to receive an abortion, without parental notification. Yet, other adults, teachers, school nurses, neighbors, medical service providers or even a possible abuser or trafficker might know, assist, and conceal details regarding all of these medical procedures. 

Progressives are running wild with claims that this bill is about “reproductive health and women’s rights.”

The significant text, which gives but a toehold to their deceit is achieved by replacing the plain English phrase, [terminate the individual’s pregnancy] with the politically charged text, “exercise the individual’s reproductive health rights under section 3 of this 2023 Act.”

That’s all folks.

That’s the extent of changes with regard to adult women.

However, when it comes to children the floodgates are wide open. First, HB 2002 removes all age limits on reproductive healthcare. Current law contains the phrase, “[who is 15 years of age]” which would get removed.

Here is another sample:

If we don’t stand for rural Oregon Values and common-sense… No one will!

Regards,

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate – District 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Tuesday, February 10, 2022, by devadmin

Following this trend, the Senate Judiciary Committee has gone one step further. Senate Bill 1510 removes common-sense traffic safety measures, like functional headlights and taillights and passed out of the committee with the Democrat majority voting in favor and all Republicans voting against.

Despite unprecedented increases in traffic fatalities in Oregon, SB 1510, limits options for traffic enforcement. “A police officer may not initiate a traffic violation stop for unlawful use or failure to use lights”, such as, (a) a headlight; (b) a taillight; (c) a brake light ; (d) a taillight that does not emit red light as required; or, (e) a registration plate light.

Are we making the claim that two headlights, two taillights, and two brake lights aren’t important, or are we promoting the same disrepair, disorder and destruction that we are witnessing in our cities onto our roads and highways?

Additionally, Legislative Counsel published an opinion which found language in the bill may allow for racial discrimination. While the bill does not explicitly mention race-based discrimination, the opinion discussed the use of a term, “culturally responsive organizations,” which could be interpreted as a proxy for race. A portion of their review follows:

“[C]ulturally specific organization by definition “serves a particular cultural community [and] is primarily staffed and led by members of that community.” “Cultural community” is not synonymous with race. However, coupled with the Justice Reinvestment Equity Program’s express purpose of “promot[ing] racial equity [and] reduc[ing] racial disparities,” it is possible that in the implementation of the program, “cultural community” could be interpreted as a proxy for a specific racial group, and the program could provide grant funds to an organization based on the organization’s explicit categorization of persons it has served or will serve based on race.”

SB 1510 will go to the Ways & Means Committee for a financial review.

The next bill, Senate Bill 1568 would create a new unelected and unaccountable board to consider the release of criminals from prison. Board members will be appointed by the Governor, without any input or confirmation from the Senate. The board will not include any representatives from law enforcement or victim advocates. The bill also gives the board power to grant criminals  “get-out-of-jail-early-cards” during a declared a state of emergency, like when the Governor shut down businesses and required healthy Oregonians to stay home under the pretense of “being safe.”

The last bill, Senate Bill 1529-2, is the item that rubs salt into the open wounds of Oregon’s unemployed, the bankrupted main-street economy, the students whose schools are closed or saddled with ridiculous masking requirements, and those suffering from hopelessness and depression after experiencing the dramatic unconstitutional attacks on human dignity and liberty at the hands of the elite.

Essentially, the “gut and stuff” Dash-2 amendment saddles Oreognians with another layer of authoritarian hierarchy. The amendment redefines a “Public Health Emergency” to include the determination made by the Public Health Director. This moves the Public Health Director from a position as an advisor to the governor, to the governor’s equivalent when it comes to declaring a health emergency.

This is also a convenient construct to by-pass the our next level-headed Governor, who may be reluctant to whimsically shut-down our main-street and rural economies. The last thing Oregonians need is another out-of-touch administrator telling us how to live our lives.

Let your Legislators know how you feel!

Join with me to Defend Life, Liberty and Property!

If we don’t stand for rural Oregon Values and common-sense… No one will!

Regards,

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate – District 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Tuesday, January 21, 2020 by devadmin

Big problems are on the horizon with the Democrat super majority’s Short Session Swindle, otherwise known as the Cap and Trade Bill (LC19). The most troubling is the unrelenting control and absolute authority that will be handed over to non-elected bureaucrats over the 30-year life-cycle of the program.

Bureaucracies are most irksome and troubling when agency and department heads pursue agendas that vary from the goals of those elected to office. Elected officers can be held accountable whereas bureaucrats are free to reign. Administrative agencies become another branch of government. They exercise vast amounts of power and authority. They write rules, compliance obligations, sanctions, penalties and the methods for adjudicating discrepancies.

These issues will explode with exponential fury when the statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) agenda is set for the next three decades by people who will be long-since gone. The alphabet soup of agencies chartered to control Oregon’s productive economy may outlive as many as 7 future governorships. These agencies will saddle businesses with untold complex, capricious and unachievable goals while dispensing favors and wielding power. The bill’s effectiveness will not be judged by the stated emission targets but by the underlying controls handed to the bureaucracies and the dizzying tax revenues.

Cap and Trade schemes are attractive to governments because of a contemptible contrivance that generates revenue through bureaucratically set goals, taxes and penalties. These arrangements become “pay to pollute” virtue signaling efforts. Oregon will make money regardless of GHG emissions compliance. In essence, companies are free to pollute as long as they pay the state’s ransom.

LC19 states, “it is the goal of this state to achieve a reduction in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions levels in Oregon:

(a) To at least 45 percent below 1990 emissions levels by 2035; and

(b) To at least 80 percent below 1990 emissions levels by 2050. … to prepare for the effects of [global warming] climate change.” _{[strike-out in original text]}

Global cooling went out in the 80’s. The global warming ‘hockey-stick’ was a disgrace. Now climate change is the new toxically undefined term that is being used to scare our children. Additionally, what scientific evidence proves that an 80% emission level below 1990 levels is the right target for a date 30 years into the future? Why was 1990 chosen?

The date arises from AGENDA 21, a worldview which captured the minds of the statists in Oregon leading up to United Nations Conference on Environment & Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The AGENDA 21 preamble states, “Its successful implementation is first and foremost the responsibility of Governments. National strategies, plans, policies and processes are crucial in achieving [its goals].”

Disguised under the global banner of foremost government responsibility, we can see the easily abused keywords: “plans”, “processes”, “strategies”, and “policies.” All of which combine to mean that you and I, as individuals, no longer count. It is the bureaucracies and their goals that matter.

If the term “statism” designates concentration of power in the state at the expense of individual liberty or business, then LC19 is a perfect storm of statism. It does not represent a new approach to government. It is not consensus government. It is merely a continuation of political absolutism where those with power keep their power and the rest pay their dues. It is no different than the absolute governments, monarchies, or random tyrannies that have plagued most of human history.

Our Founders, the Declaration and our constitutionally federated Republic argue for the individual, with Jefferson noting, “the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride.”

But the super majority sees things differently–they believe it is not up to you to decide whether vaping, vaccines, plastic grocery bags, straws or firearms are appropriate tools for your life and happiness–the government should make that decision for you.

Am I being over-zealous and bombastic?

Here are some recorded statements of AGENDA 21 policy promoters:

• “Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable.” – Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the U.N. Earth Summit, 1992.

• “Ski runs, grazing of livestock, plowing of soil, building fences, industry, single-family homes, paved and tarred roads, logging activities, dams and reservoirs, power line construction, and economic systems that fail to set proper value on the environment are not sustainable.” – U.N. Biodiversity Assessment Report.

• “We must make this place an insecure and inhospitable place for capitalists and their projects – we must reclaim the roads and plowed lands, halt dam construction, tear down existing dams, free shackled rivers, and return to wilderness millions of acres of settled land.” – Dave Foreman, Earth First.

Do you wonder why the four dams on the Klamath River have been slated for removal; why the Pelican Butte Ski Resort was never approved; why your farm and water rights are under constant attack; why your electric rates are climbing higher; or, why there are new bike-lanes instead of new auto-lanes?

The current mindset has been in the global-socialist kettle for more than 70 years and has been percolating within Oregon for the past three or four decades. Governor Goldschmidt (D) created the Oregon Task Force on Global Warming in late 1988. The task force was composed of 12 state agencies charged to review current scientific knowledge and assess how global warming could affect the state.

In 2004, an advisory group created by Governor Kulongoski (D), chose the global warming target date, 1990, based on recommendations from another United Nations organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The advisory group notes, “This target is based on limiting CO2 to double the level that existed prior to 1750.”

Doubling the colonial population would get us to a US population of 8 million. This is far below today’s population where 320M people produce nearly $20T in GDP and export food, goods and services to the world.

Despite the hype, there are no renewable technological solutions that can get Oregon’s economy to a carbon neutral, carbon free, or fossil free state. Without high net-energy fuel sources, which solar and wind sources are not, our capabilities will quickly regress toward the past, perhaps, circa 1750.

In their mad rush for money, Governor Brown (D) and the super majority appear unwilling to acknowledge the technological constraints facing top-down bureaucracies. A free-market approach, where men and women can exercise their entrepreneurial spirit and sequester innovative breakthroughs, is the best hope, along with carbon sequestration through good forest management. Good stewardship comes from private resources combined with clear and well-structured property rights. Mobs and crowds are not good stewards, individual are.

Therefore, Oregon should preserve capital accumulation for businesses and families so that our collective prosperity can lead to better stewardship for Oregon and our planet. Otherwise, you and I, our businesses, our jobs, our families and our communities will no longer be welcome in Oregon.

Stand with me and other steadfast Republicans in stopping this bill or be prepared for the “the re-wilding of our communities.”

If we don’t stand for rural-Oregon values and common sense…  No one will?

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Wednesday, april 1, 2019, by devadmin

The National Popular Vote (NPV) is another leg of the progressive movement that is rolling across the US. Simply put, it is part of the scheme to undermine our fair and balanced election process. Although the popular vote initiative sounds reasonable on its surface, the devil is in the details. The NCSL (National Conference of State Legislators) website states:

“The National Popular Vote (NPV) movement emerged in late 2006 and has slowly gain some steam since then.

“NPV seeks to ensure that the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes nationwide is elected president. When a state passes legislation to join the National Popular Vote Compact, it pledges that all of that state’s electoral votes will be given to whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote nationwide, rather than the candidate who won the vote in just that state.”

In a perfectly wild example, imagine if every single voter in Oregon cast a Republican vote for the President. Under NPV, after the polls close and the chads are counted and recounted, if a democrat candidate had a slim majority of votes nationwide, the state’s electors would be required to cast their vote for the democrat, even though not a single soul within the state affirmed that choice.

This is a clear violation of the principle of local control and the consent of the governed. Unfortunately, this twisted logic has Oregon’s democrats feverishly working to be the 16^th “blue” state to pass an NPV bill (SB 870). It has already passed through the Senate and House, largely along party-lines and is now on its way to the Governor’s office.

The founders created a uniquely American scheme for electing office-holders at the national level. It was designed to disrupt the natural tendencies of mankind which have been witnessed in every age. To wit, regardless of national origin, religion, creed, sex or gender people exposed to power will be tempted by lust and selfish greed to amass more power.

Our nation’s founders wanted to preserve the principles of representation while building in constitutional safeguards for diluting unnecessary concentrations of power.  For example, they split the legislative body into two chambers, the House and Senate. Senators, representing the States, were elected to office by their respective State Legislatures. Unfortunately, this protection was undone in 1913 with the passage of the 17^th Amendment.

Prior to the 17^th Amendment, the Constitution specified that senators were elected by state legislatures. This construction gave state governments an equal say in the national body with regard to legislation, rules and regulations that would affect all states. Each state would have equal representation in the Senate with two Senators from each state.

The framers believed that in electing senators, state legislatures would cement their ties with the national government. The 17^th Amendment changed this process to a direct election by the people of their state, essentially making it identical to the process for the U.S. House of Representatives. The fervor for NPV at the presidential level is an exact replica of the turmoil that hammered the nation during the debates around the 17^th Amendment.

The House of Representatives was designed as the only chamber which had members directly elected by a vote of the people. Like our state’s House, this body was responsible for protecting the interests of the people and was the body that had budgetary power, being responsible for taxes and revenue.

The constitutional design had the president, or chief executive, elected by both houses of the legislature via their specific electors – the Electoral College. This arrangement created yet another filter on the proxies coming from the House and Senate and created a formidable obstacle to slow the quickened motives of ingenious men.

Additionally, the terms of office for these elected positions was purposely staggered across two-, four- and six-year spans with one-third of the Senate being elected every two years. In turn, the states generally dispersed their powers by having them exercised by municipalities, counties, and other local governments – local governance being the preferred choice.

The current NPV tomfoolery would ordain what the progressives falsely call “popular” rule but it is more akin to mob rule where everything is centrally orchestrated.

In the most recent 2016 election, the Electoral College proved to be a legitimate safety net for preserving the will of the people:

1. There are 3,141 counties in the United States. Trump won 3,084 of them. Clinton won 57.
2. There are 62 counties in New York State. Trump won 46 of them. Clinton won 16.
3. Clinton won the popular vote by approx. 1.5 million votes.
4. In the 5 counties that encompass NYC, (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Richmond & Queens) Clinton received well over 2 million more votes than Trump. (Clinton only won 4 of these counties; Trump won Richmond) Therefore these 5 counties alone, more than accounted for Clinton winning the popular vote of the entire country.
5. These 5 counties comprise 319 square miles. The United States is comprised of 3,797,000 square miles.
6. When you have a country that encompasses almost 4 million square miles of territory, it would be ludicrous to even suggest that the vote of those who inhabit a mere 319 square miles should dictate the outcome of a national election.

Large, densely-populated, group-think cities (NYC, Chicago, Seattle, LA, etc.) shouldn’t be allowed to usurp the opinions of the rest of the country. The progressive movement toward NPV is a dangerous idea and runs contrary to our founders’ remarkable blueprint for preserving the Liberty for the people while tempering the ever-present lust for capricious power.

Thos. Jefferson spoke directly to this in 1798, writing, “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”

Finding freedom in the chains of our Constitution is what made America great in the first place … and …  it will Make America Great Again.

Remember, if we don’t stand for rural-Oregon values and common-sense, No one will.

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin sunday, april 1, 2019, by devadmin

 Oregonians are keenly aware that there has been trouble brewing in Salem’s marbled halls. Metro-centric Democrats have achieved super-majority standing in both Legislative Chambers. While in the minority, Republicans, like myself, have sound fiscal and legitimate policy perspectives, and like all minorities, we deserve to be heard. But that has not been the case this legislative session when my colleagues and I have been run over and bullied time and time again! Our ideas are ignored, and our voices remain muted.

    The game has been rigged, especially for important bills like HB 2020, the carbon tax bill. The Democrats claim this is an emergency, and everyone needs to pitch their money into the pot. Yet, the committee hearings were slanted towards the proponent’s perspective. “Invited testimony only”–sessions were scheduled and packed with “expert panels” whose goals were to enlighten the masses and give credence to only one-side of the discussion.

    Even the typical “public-hearing” got the squeeze and this happens across all committees. For example, during testimony for a bill dealing with water rights (SB 977-1), farmers and ranchers, some of whom traveled 5 hours to testify, were given 60 seconds to explain their position. The pretense is that the only solution that can save us, our resources and our planet is the government’s solution. Of course, this necessarily means giving the government control over us, our resources and our planet.

    Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold of us.” Therefore, the perfect response, is to deny the Democrat super-majority a quorum for advancing their one-sided efforts. As the Republican Whip for the minority party, I think denying quorum is an effective tactic and a perfectly appropriate decision for Republicans.

    Our action has elicited claims that, “Republicans aren’t doing their jobs and should return to work.” Think about it, would the presence of a couple of Republican “NO” votes make HB2020 less onerous or costly? Would those Republican “NO” votes cause the well-connected cronies to lose their exemptions or their windfall profits?

    No, the game has been rigged and the turmoil and angst that the Democrats are displaying is due to Republican Senators successfully derailing their runaway government-growth train. Continued support for ramming HB 2020 down the line comes from those scurrying for the largess they’ve been promised. After all, $550 million during the first year can buy a freight load of support, flattery and sycophancy.

    On a more fundamental note, what makes any person believe that the law would become more legitimate if an extra 11 Senators were forced to sit in the Chamber wearing their prison garb?

    The Democrat super-majority is advocating for the round-up and capture of elected representatives by the Oregon State Police. Additionally, they are proposing to fine each of us $500 per day. Then, to drive the knife deeper into the wound, the Senate President scheduled floor sessions for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which allowed the super-majority to levy an extra three days of fines. The sheer level of avarice is stupefying.

NEW TAXES, FEES AND BURDENS

To illustrate, let’s roll through the new taxes, fees and burdens placed on businesses and people. The Democrat super-majority initiated state-wide rent control, which dampens the supply of affordable housing and chases away real estate investors. This is quite ironic because their goal is to increase affordable housing within Oregon.

    Then, they banned plastic straws, followed by a state-wide ban on single-use plastic bags like those used at the grocery store. Remember, there was a time when paper bags were outlawed. Back then, the chant was, “Save the Planet, ban paper bags.” Today, we hear the same chant, “Save the Planet, ban plastic bags.” Which will it be, paper or plastic? Why is it so distasteful, to the super-majority, to allow the consumer to choose?

    Additionally, the progressives passed a gigantic tax and spend initiative, which instituted a Gross Sales Tax without a single Republican vote. House Bill 3427 was disguised as an education funding bill, but without a constitutional amendment, the funds can be spent anywhere. Officially called a Corporate Activities Tax, the effect of this Gross Sales gimmick will be felt across all business and trickle down to the paying customer.

    Not content with just tearing up real estate opportunities and “funding” education, the progressive Democrats pretend they can curb rising health care costs by raising $380 million in taxes from hospitals and health insurers. The idea that inflicting $380 million in additional taxes will lower the cost of healthcare is patently absurd.

    The cache of taxes raised by the Democrat super-majority in this legislative session will extract $750 per man, woman and child, or $3000 for a family of four, per year.

    When will it end? Now!

SOCIALISM ALWAYS FAILS

    First, it is time the Democrat super-majority returned freedom back to the people of Oregon. Second, the authoritarians ought to take a page from the Original Star Wars trilogy and realize that the more they tighten their grip, the more people will slip through their fingers.

    As F. A. Hayek argued, socialism has always failed due to internal errors in its assessment of factual evidence, logical assumptions and historical understanding. We have observed its gross failures many times during this past century. These failures have occurred across many nations, cultures and ethnicities and all point to the errors in the starting assumptions. Hayek notes this is the “fatal conceit” of the political class – the idea that rule-makers are able to shape the world around themselves, according to their legislative wishes and desires.

    The legislative mandates inside of HB 2020, the gas and emissions tax, are nothing but a blunt force, trauma inducing tool to force tax-payers into compliance while extracting their hard-won earnings into the pockets of the well-connected. This legislation is not about “climate change.” It is about money. Oregon has one of the lowest carbon emissions rates in America. This is just another way to grab billions of dollars out of the pockets of Oregonians.

   At America’s founding, John Dickinson writes about Spain, where money, for a single emergency, was needed. “The request was violently opposed by the best and wisest men in the assembly.” But they caved and, “this single concession was a PRECEDENT for other concessions of the like kind… until the people ceased to be free.” (emphasis in the original)

    Unlike those in Dickinson’s account, I will never cave.

    Thank you, for supporting the “Oregon 11,” as we stand for Liberty, freedom, sound policy, and fiscal responsibility!

Remember, if we don’t stand for rural-Oregon values and common sense – No one will!

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Thursday, April 19, 2018 by devadmin

In my last article I shared from Whittaker Chambers’ autobiography, Witness. Today, I will pick up another observation from Whittaker that I will apply to most government institutions–federal, state, county, regional and municipal. Chambers discovered inconsistencies and discrepancies within the New Deal which puzzled him. He noted that the stated purposes of the policy initiatives did not necessarily match with the final results.

Chambers summarizes the tangled nature of the bureaucracy,

“It’s coalition of divergent interests, some of them diametrically opposed to the others, its divided counsels, its makeshift strategy, its permanently shifting executive personnel whose sole consistency seemed to be that the more it changed, the more it remained the most incongruously headed hybrid since the hydra.”

Anyone who has attended a “public meeting” knows the truth of his summary. There are always opposing views, some worth hearing, others not. How will the juggernaut be navigated? Who will guide the discussions? Which compromises will be investigated, which ignored?

The seeming contradictions and purposeful inefficiencies create tensions that would hamper any problem-solving exercise but, in a sense, it offers hope. People hope they can make a difference; they chime in to express their policy preferences. People board the bandwagon to have their voices heard or to get a seat at the table.

As Chambers mentions, the organizational dynamic of these bureaucratic shenanigans becomes quite advantageous for the state. The confusing agenda items and internal conflicts allow the   bureaucracy to shield itself from any close scrutiny while always drifting toward the collectivist panacea–socialism.

As a pluralistic society our culture extols the virtue of many pathways and the value of many interpreters with myriads of opinions.

However, if the goal of collective action is known to be compromise, then all parties must willingly accept compromise before coming to the table. By implication, it also means there is no truly correct path, no right or wrong, good or bad. All pathways may or may not get us where we need to go. Consensus decisions get accepted, however, because we have shifted our value system in favor of compromise over correct action.

Yet, how many of us compromise when doing the laundry, changing our motor oil or shaving our under-arms or faces? Do you find yourself arguing for compromise or doing the job correctly?

Do you leave a couple of quarts of dirty oil in the crankcase to avoid being dogmatic about your auto maintenance habits? Do you throw two scoops of detergent into the wash along with two scoops of dirt? Do you shave under one arm, but not the other? Why not?

Why don’t we approach science, education, math or healthcare with hearty doses of compromise?

Although this collectivist mentality has continually surfaced throughout man’s history, in the US it was perfected by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Amity Shlaes, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Forgotten Man, documents that in 1936 Pres. Roosevelt systematically figured out how to establish the modern political constituency.

This was the wedge in the door that has been so meticulously exploited in the identity politics movement. Roosevelt knew that he could promise something to small groups without creating animosity among others. He could strengthen unions in order to get union member votes. He could also appeal to artists, senior citizens or railroad workers by establishing specific offices, programs or bureaucracies to meet the needs of each constituent group.

In fact, Roosevelt’s federal spending, during the peacetime period of 1936, outpaced state and local spending for the first time in US history.  Shlaes notes that the results created, “the Roosevelt landslide of 1936 –but also the modern entitlement trap.”

However, our problem is not entirely an entitlement trap. Our real problem is that the bureaucratic machine has been engineered to live an immortal life. Government service industries live longer than presidential administrations. They live longer than governors, commissioners, supervisors or regional directors.

The leviathan doesn’t require any new ideas or agendas. It only needs more resources–men, women, money and machines. In other words, it needs continual feeding. Like Frankenstein, its agenda was laid out in statute at creation. It knows its job and knows what demands are at its doorstep. The leviathan only needs to stay warm and dry. It accomplishes this by fostering an environment that serves its survival.

The question comes down to us and our individual families. Are we willing to continue to fund and demand government services that don’t live up to their promises? Everyone should be willing to abandon those failed attempts, curtail the spending and focus our efforts in other directions. This would immediately slash the ever-consuming growth of the bureaucratic machine which needlessly absorbs more and more of our lives and resources.

Popular author and political journalist, P. J. O’Rourke, forcefully asks a similar question. He wonders,

“What is this oozing behemoth, this fibrous tumor, this monster of power and expense hatched from the simple human desire for civic order? How did an allegedly free people spawn a vast, rampant cuttlefish of dominion with its tentacles in every orifice of the body politic?”

The progressive-left’s answer comes directly from the progenitor of Marxism, German philosopher G.W. Friedrich Hegel,

“The State is the march of God through the world… The State must be comprehended as an organism… To the complete State belongs, essentially, consciousness and thought. The State knows what it wills… The State…exists for its own sake… The State is the actually existing, realized moral life.”

As the May Primary Election approaches, remember, the future is in our hands. Make your vote count. Vote against bigger government, excessive taxation and outlandish regulations.

Fight for the right things – Vote for Liberty. Remember, if we don’t stand for rural Oregon values and common-sense, No one will.

Best Regards,

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Wednesday, april 4, 2018, by devadmin

Here’s a look-see…

PERS unfunded liabilities are looming ever larger, high-school graduation rates, OHA budget over-runs, carbon emission debates, over-spending tendencies, school choice, criminal incarceration rates, marijuana problems and the opioid epidemic.

Additionally, we will be dealing with Clean Air Oregon, Carbon Cap and Trade, a potential constitutional referendum on unanimous juries, electric rate-payer protection, pharmaceutical drug transparency act and a limit on late-term abortions.

Myself and my fellow Legislators have got our work cut-out for us.

Aside from these and other issues, the Senate President added me to two new committees. Additionally, the Governor appointed me to a Special Task Force dealing with the rash of Opioid deaths by overdose.

Opioid overdoses plague rural and urban communities, alike.

Opioids such as morphine and fentanyl are the preferred clinical treatments for moderate to severe pain because of their strong analgesic (pain-relieving) properties. Effective pain management is one of the greatest challenges of modern medicine.

The increases in opioid deaths highlights the need for safer analgesics. Opioids, typically, cause death from respiratory depression induced by an overdose.

It is estimated that more than 100,000 adults suffer from chronic pain in the United States alone, and that this costs up to $635 billion per year in medical treatment and lost workforce productivity. The most commonly used drugs for pain management can have numerous side effects. For example, some cause cardiovascular complications, gastrointestinal bleeding, and renal disease.

Aside from these medicinal side-effects, opioids are extremely addictive. Opioids, both prescription and illicit, are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. Opioids were involved in 42,249 deaths in 2016, and opioid overdose deaths were five times higher in 2016 than 1999.

Oregon’s own statistics mirror the national averages. In Oregon, the opioid overdose death rate in 1999, was 2.1 persons per 100,000, while in 2016 the rate was 11.9 persons per 100,000. However, Oregon is at the high-end of the scale with regard to opioid prescriptions. There are 82.2 – 95 opioid prescriptions for every 100 people in Oregon.

A dedicated coalition is needed among the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Prescribers will need to focus on accurate data collection of distribution systems and product tracking to curb opioid abuse. Over the long-term, researchers are ever-hopeful for scientific breakthroughs in academic and pharmaceutical research for the treatment of chronic pain.

More items for investigation will be Oregon’s mandatory minimums on controlled substances, our prison and incarceration systems, local community-based re-habilitation efforts, staffing and budgetary requirements for state and local law enforcement.

Incarceration rates mandated by Oregon’s sentencing guidelines costs taxpayers hundreds of millions annually.

The biggest single problem with the system, as it is engineered today, is that it costs too much and is largely ineffective because the incarcerated individuals are rarely rehabilitated.

Here is a graphic summarizing what we see for all 50 states. (I will try to acquire Oregon specific data for next time.)

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Friday, October 20, 2017 by devadmin

I just touched down in Klamath County after a whirl-wind tour in Washington, D.C. I had two big items on my scheduled agenda. The first was appointments with Rep. Greg Walden and several other House members regarding land, forest, habitat and watershed policies that greatly impact our Western States. Rep. Walden has been deeply involved in efforts to improve how our federal forests are managed and he led several calls for forest management reform. The Congressional Western Caucus, joined in, stressing the need for Congress to fix the broken federal policy that leads to catastrophic fires in Oregon and much of the West.

Second, I was in D.C. to participate in the final sessions of the Legislative Energy Horizon Institute (LEHI) conference. I’ll circle back to this topic later.

At the capital, I met with staff members from the Department of Interior (DOI) Committee on Natural Resources. I also met with the Liaison Office of Intergovernmental Affairs dealing with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and federal policy regarding the DOI. Lastly, Chairman Bishop’s Committee on Natural Resources provided staff time with the Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee.

Topics of discussion ranged from water rights, access and quality to fire management on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). (Fire management for US Forest Service land is under the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) not the DOI.)

Another topic was the upcoming quandary over the needless removal of four perfectly viable dams on the Klamath River. Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who represents Modoc and Siskiyou Counties, in California, will hand deliver your letters to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke regarding the destruction of our Klamath River dams. (Email your letters, this weekend, to Congressman LaMalfa’s representative Erin Ryan.)

Lastly, while in D.C., I stressed the need for the feds to clean-up the regulatory processes that get foisted on the states and private sector by federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Most of the staff members I encountered were new to their respective organizations and are bringing fresh, new and innovative ideas to the President’s administration. A fresh set of unbiased eyes should always be welcome.

I found it encouraging that there was a universal optimism about lessening the regulatory constraints stemming from federal agencies. I was also assured that an overall policy shift would give increased emphasis to the local officials and the local decision making process. This shift will certainly provide greater assurances for the public and provide better protection for life, health, and local safety concerns.

This is the most important issue.

For our benefit, a historical reference was noted by founder, Thomas Jefferson:

“the crown deprived the body of the peo­ple of this power of local rule, and vested it in a small num­ber of per­sons… In this way, the ancient free­dom of the munic­i­pal­i­ties was under­mined, and the power of the rul­ing classes was installed in its place.” (The His­toric Ori­gin of the Con­sti­tu­tion of the United States, p. 150)

Two other items that surfaced in our discussion, were specifically tied to the EPA. First was the elimination of the current “Sue and settle” process and the resulting mandates that occur outside the regulatory process. Special interest groups and their high-priced attorneys have used lawsuits to force federal agencies – especially EPA – to issue regulations that advance their own interests and priorities. Following the suit, the courts compel agencies to take steps, either through changes in a statutory duty or enhanced enforcement timelines. Essentially, agencies must acquiesce to the courts consent decree or settlement agreement, which in-turn affects the agency’s obligations.

This means that a judge’s opinion forces an agency to take action that is not a mandatory requirement under its governing statute. This clearly violates the court’s authority, the separation of powers and eliminates any need for legislative bodies. Additionally, since these changes come through the court system they are shielded from public review and carry an unwarranted legitimacy. In the end, these settlements cost the American taxpayer millions of dollars.

Second, was the rollback of the Clean Power Plan (CPP). Last Monday, the head of the EPA announced that he would sign a new rule overriding the Obama-era effort to essentially destroy America’s coal-fired electrical energy sector. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt declared, “The war on coal is over.” The current policy’s strict limitations on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants would make coal too expensive as a base load generation source.

According to the Energy Information Administration, in the past decade, coal-fired energy production has declined from 49% to 30.4% of US energy production. The Trump administration’s efforts will limit the speed at which our nation’s coal energy production declines, but the declines will continue due to gains in natural gas availability, as seen in the graphic below.

Following these meetings, I attended the LEHI conference which shed light on all aspects of our nation’s energy grid. Coal-fired power-plants, hydro-facilities, wind and solar farms, geo-thermal sources, natural-gas powered turbines and nuclear energy resources were all part of the curriculum.

LEHI is designed to educate state legislators on the North American energy infrastructure and delivery system. High turnover in state legislative bodies hampers the long-term institutional knowledge concerning complex energy issues in states and provincial legislatures. The conference was designed to fill-the-gaps for legislators who are responsible for developing state energy policy yet often lack a comprehensive understanding of how the existing energy infrastructure operates.

Experts discussed the technological pros and cons of the each of these technologies, their current markets, capital incentives, regulatory hurdles and tried to align them with projected grid requirements for North America. The bottom-line is, for local rule to be effective, prudence and wisdom must prevail in our public policy debates. Then, we can positively impact our standards of living and our business successes.

This dilemma is fast approaching Oregon’s energy horizon, but, that’s a conversation for next week. Until, then…

Remember, if we don’t stand for rural Oregon values and common-sense – No one will!

Best Regards,

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate 28

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Thursday, October 10, 2019 by devadmin

Today’s government enterprise often reminds me of the “Blob”, from the 1958 Steve McQueen movie. In the movie, an eerie, sticky, tar-like alien blob pursues its own ends. It slowly oozes through towns and communities absorbing everything while growing larger with every tasty morsel. Oregon’s government appears to be following the same path. It appears to be always growing, crushing and devouring rather than building, encouraging and supporting a free-market economy and the independence of the citizenry.

The unbridled administrative state and its relentless bureaucracy are slowly over-whelming the public. It is a somewhat self-regulating behemoth that grows in either lush or lean conditions and, unfortunately for Oregonians, the super-majority rather likes spritzing this blob with a legislative version of Miracle-Grow^™.

This can be seen with the sheer number and volume of rules, regulations, and laws on the books. It can also be recognized in the internal structure and layout of existing departments, agencies and commissions where administrative solutions are defined and adjudicated within the same body. Positions of concentrated power are also starting to bubble forth in broad areas, like the proposals for state czars in energy, education, equity and emissions.

When the state gets caught in a bind or has actually done harm these self-regulating agencies can simply morph and change the rules. They can do this because the rules allow them to, and of course, they are the experts.

Recently, the Oregon Court of Appeals forewent resolving a dispute over the impact of catastrophic rules that hampered agricultural businesses and water right-holders within the Klamath Basin. Irrigators in the Klamath Basin brought a lawsuit against Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) using airtight arguments – powerful testimony, reams of data, and an array of expert hydrologic and geologic witnesses.

The lawsuit originated because OWRD asserted that all agricultural wells within the Klamath Basin watershed were hydrologically connected with surface water flows. This assertion was based on the misapplication of an inappropriate model rather than real-world seismological, geological, or hydrological proof. Using this unproven claim, OWRD, could badger agricultural well owners within one-mile of a surface water flow by alleging impairment of flows that might harm senior water right holders.

This assertion created nothing but trouble for OWRD. The department got embroiled in multiple lawsuits, spent all of their legal funds and faced opposition arguments that were unbeatable because of the agency’s allegedly errant use of a ground water flow model. Faced with this possible defeat, OWRD needed a shape-shifting strategy and some rule changes.

Therefore, regulations were adopted earlier this year, which only last for two years and will expire in March 2021. Under this rule wells farther than 500 feet from surface waters in the Upper Klamath Basin would not be subject to regulation. This new 500-foot rule, like the prior 5,280-foot (one-mile) rule also appears arbitrary, and seems to lack the needed science, seismological, geological, or hydrological proof.

The recent rule modification reduced the number of impacted wells in the region from 140 down to 7 but will only last for two years. What comes next; for what time period? Will the next set of regulatory rules be set at a one-mile, five-mile or ten-mile mark?

In the meantime, the new rule was a complete success because it caused the appellate court to dismiss the lawsuit. The Capital Press reported the case was considered, “moot and unworthy of review” due to the new rules governing surface water interference.

Wow!

A new, temporary rule can clear the administrative state of possible wrong-doing and make a legal conundrum disappear, even though plaintiffs were originally harmed by an agency’s actions.

The lawsuit filed by the irrigators in the Upper Klamath Basin whose wells were shut down in 2015 and 2016 by the OWRD, should have been allowed their day in court. Their data provided sound testimony that their groundwater pumping did not reduce flows in the Sprague River and did not detrimentally impact the senior water right holders.

Sarah Liljefelt, attorney for the plaintiffs, said the dismissal is disappointing because the agency’s repeated rule changes have effectively denied the irrigators a ruling on the merits of their case.

It is disappointing, indeed, but this is the nature of the ‘Blob.’ It continually morphs and changes, enhancing the bureaucracy while providing little, if any benefit to the citizen. It grows incessantly and its weight becomes burdensome and sometimes even nefarious.

Our real problem is that we, as taxpayers, fund the whole game. We fund the bureaucracy, the legal teams, the rule-makers and the courts.  We are on the hook for taxes, licensing fees, permits, and we will soon owe the Corporate Activities Tax along with numerous other new “privilege” taxes that the super-majority is conjuring up.

It is time to remove the dead-hand of government power from the forces that protect the well-heeled elites and their cronies. Join with me as I continue to fight for all Oregonians. It is time to escape the smothering Blob and live free from the regulatory over-reach that absorbs our lives, families, businesses and livelihoods

Remember, if we don’t stand for rural-Oregon values and common sense… no one will!

Dennis Linthicum
Oregon State Senate 28