I truly believe in the Reagan rule: "We don't eat our own" but, lately I am not completely sure what's going on with our Republican leadership in the Oregon House.
First of all you may have read or heard of Rep. Vickie Berger (along with Republicans Cliff Bentz and Bill Garrard) leading the charge on suspending the voter approved Measure 57. Now I know we have a budget problem and I know that some believe we can't afford this measure but the people passed it and it is not the legislature's job to overturn the will of the people.
I also understand the concept that each representative has their own agendas and their own ideals and don't have to go along with the rest of the caucus all the time, but that break from the group should always be on issues that are good for Oregon and true to what they want.
My question to the leadership of the House GOP: you have got to have a little more control over the caucus members. Perhaps a little more leadership?
Second: the redistricting issue. I am happy that we have a Legislative Redistricting deal done. I know that the Democrats had the GOP up against the wall with numbers and the Secretary of State as a threat, but, did we really need to throw Rep. Patrick Sheehan and Rep. Jason Conger under the bus? Sheehan loses the majority of what he won in 2010 in what was a very difficult race in which he had numbers against him. Now he has 35,000 voters from Multnomah County added to his new district when he was only 130 voters short of meeting the requirements to keep his current district intact. He told me today that "the whole process is gerrymandering, period". He also said when asked how this affects the next election, "I have to step back and really look at the next election". Will all of the hard work he put into his district now have to be done all over again to a completely different constituency and the friendships and promises made to those people all be for nothing?
With Rep. Conger it is much the same story although not to the extent of Sheehan's. In what is a mostly Conservative area, the one small Democrat stronghold is Downtown Bend. His "new" district is missing all of it's old parts. The rural farming and ranching communities around the city. As he stated to me today on the whole redistricting plan: "it was designed incorrectly". Both of these gentlemen made it very clear they still support the leadership and they will certainly still fight hard for their constituents but I could sense the great disappointment in both of their voices that as Freshman Republican House Members, they may not have been treated in the most equitable fashion.
I just have to wonder why the GOP leadership is not being more proactive and a little bit more assertive. We don't always have to compromise. We could, just once in awhile, make a stand.
I also want to make it clear that this is not an attack on the GOP in the House overall, just some fine tuning needed. Perhaps it's been so long since they've had any share of the "gavel", they've forgotten what it means to have a little more "say" in the Oregon Legislature! For that, I am grateful. The 30/30 split this year was one of the more productive (fewer stupid bills) and least rancorous in memory. It tells me too, that come 2012, with a lot more work, the GOP could win that ONE more seat it needs to take back the majority but this redistricting issue will have to be addressed again some day and the leadership needs to do a much better job of keeping their "people" in line.
Monday, June 13, 2011
What's going on with the Oregon House GOP?
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Craig Schelske Victorious in Lawsuit
Craig Schelske just announced he won a settlement out of court with the attorneys who represented his ex-wife Sara Evans, the country star, in his suit claiming slander and defamation of character.
Craig has been battling for this day for nearly 2 years. This is not only a victory for Craig personally but for all people who have been trampled on and dragged through the mud in a divorce. He is working with a new non-profit organization to help those who have been through this type of situation called Families Unite dot org. The attorney he sued was John Hollins Sr. a very prominent and powerful attorney to "the stars" of Nashville.
If this had gone to court, some of your favorite Country Music stars would have been dragged in and it would have gotten very ugly. This attorney and his staff went beyond the norms to smear Craig and now he has defeated this very powerful firm and kept faithful to his Christianity!
This is just one of the many ways Craig was STILL being attacked as recently as last summer: SATAN HAS CRAIG'S MIND!
Now, the good news:
From Craig today: "After nearly 5 years the self-proclaimed "attorney to the stars", Nashville’s , or better yet, "Music City's" finest divorce attorney, recipient of the much coveted Best Lawyer’s Award, who represented such notables as Trisha Yearwood and LeAnn Womack, oh, and Sara Evans, surrendered yesterday to little ‘ol me."
Also this from Craig:
For the full story on what happened in the divorce case and all that Craig has been through click on this story: Craig Schelke vs. Sara Evans Court Case
I will be interviewing Craig today and filling in the full story. Be listening to The Bill Post Radio Show at noon on AM 1430 KYKN or online at www.1430kykn.com
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Why Chris Dudley Lost, what I've wanted to say for Six Months!
WHY CHRIS DUDLEY LOST
I knew this day was coming and have held my tongue and played the good “team player” game. Well, being a “team player” didn’t sit well with me and now here we are.
All the way back in February and March of 2010, several people, very prominent in the Conservative movement and the Republican Party, met with Chris Dudley and his campaign staff. These people spoke very clearly to Mr. Dudley. He was advised, urgently, to “get rid of those people”. Of course “those people” were the Gordon Smith insiders including Dan Lavey and Kerry Timchuck. Later, Brittany Brammel and LeRoy Coleman and other “outsiders”.
To their faces, they were told that they could not win this election, that Chris had to surround himself with Oregonians, and especially Oregonians who understand Oregon, not just the Portland Metro area. Chris was told during several long meetings, before the primary mind you, that he had a real chance to win if he listened now! Chris chose to go with the plan they had laid out for him and now we see the results.
Chris Dudley was a creation of Gordon Smith insiders who left Oregon after Gordon lost but came back to “create” another moderate candidate for office. Now, these same people will go back to D.C., with a little bit more money in their pocket, a little smudge against their pride but nothing else will change in their lives, yet they leave us in this mess!
The Libertarian (limited government) and Constitution (far right conservative) candidates each pulled more votes than the margin of victory for Kitzhaber. I had to explain on many occasion after the primary to my friends, family and radio listeners, that Dudley would be surrounded by good Republicans after the election and to take comfort in that. Why did I have to explain it that way? Because person after person was concerned about Dudley’s moderate to liberal stance on everything except fiscal issues. I am afraid that many of those same people either voted for the “other party” candidates or they left the Governor unchecked on their ballot.
We have tried again and again to win with moderate candidates from the Portland business crowd who promise solid fundraising. This year, we had the establishment GOP candidate, and he lost against the most complete insider, old way of government liberal in a year in which the entire Nation was in the midst of a true Conservative tidal wave of support, and they swept in limited government insurgent outsiders while we here in Oregon are left with Kitzhaber.
One thing that this election showed is that money alone will not win a statewide Republican race (same in California). It will take a good ground game with really energized folks. Those folks just could not “pull the lever” for Chris Dudley.
Instead of trying to please the middle, instead of trying to sound like you are not going to make any waves and play nice with the folks who have dug Oregon into this hole, what the Dudley campaign should have said is: “this State requires a complete makeover and I will be the one to do that even if it means only one term, I will stick to Conservative principles and will surround myself with strong Conservatives and I will not sleep until Oregon is the back in the condition it deserves to be in. That means that some old pictures are going to fall off of the wall.”
People will vote Republican if a Republican articulates a strong and exciting limited government message. A message delivered with a sense of commitment and passion.
Most of all, in the next gubernatorial primary, the Republicans should run a true Conservative, stop pandering to the Portland crowd and Republican voters should listen less to the folks with all the money and more to the candidates who run on a limited government message, and stay true to our Conservative ideals, the ones that made America a strong refuge.
The Pivot: guest opinion from Dirt Blogger
This is a guest opinion from a friend who goes by the name "Dirt Blogger".
The pivot
He will make pledges to work with "the other side". He will moderate his rhetoric to appear as though he is sensitive to the voice of the people. This will be dis-arming for the Republicans but they must understand his strategy. Obama feels that his vision for our country is a highly developed understanding of what is best for society in general. This comes from the consensus that he and his deeply intellectual academics have conceived in the sequestered existence of their Ivy League lecture halls and tenured government positions.
Governing in a Representative Republic is not what he has in mind. Making changes toward his goals through administrative and near impossible to repeal legislation is a much more effective approach. This is what he and the Democrats have accomplished, against the will of the majority of Americans, in a quick 2 years. While the Republicans have been scratching their heads as to why the Democrats would commit political suicide they have pushed an agenda through that will be reversed over his politically dead body. Obama is not a politician like Clinton, he is a revolutionary. He has already set into motion changes and precedence that will not be easily be corrected. Waiting to see if Obama is going to meet in the middle is a waste of time. The people have given their opinion of the direction we have been dragged, kicking and screaming the whole way. Now is the time for a hard line in the sand and an all out effort to undo the damage. In other words, he will not pivot.
Dirt Blogger can be found here: The Dirt Blogger
