Out of Many One: Republican Unity Project

The Republican Party in Oregon has been fractured. It has been that way as far back as my young memory goes. Just like everything else the fractures have only grown.

 

Some people are specifically aimed at this fracturing, they believe that if the GOP is split they can come in and unite the party under their banner. These people are not aimed at unity, they are aimed at dominion.

 

Broadly speaking the Republican Party is split into two camps, each made up of smaller groups and individuals. The first camp is the activist camp. This group has a lot of energy and passion, they organize well and get people to show up to events. They are good at making people feel like they are doing something but they lack focus and direction outside of vague ideas of ‘being heard’ or ‘fighting for liberty.’

 

The second party is the established camp. This camp lacks the energy of the activists and rarely holds big events, preferring regular meetings. They have experience and know how the system works and how to get things done over a long period of time.

 

Currently these two camps are at odds. On both sides you will have Trump supporters, patriots, liberty loving citizens, and people who love our country and state. But there has been calls from the activist wing to split off from the Republican Party.

 

The justification at the heart of this desire is legitimate criticisms of the GOP. Many feel they are more concerned with trying to win by abandoning Republican principles. That they have embraced the hateful labels foisted upon the party by their political opponents.

 

It is my belief that these two wings of the party need each other and if unified would become the party Oregon desperately needs. In order to do that we need to reach agreements on both sides. The word compromise is seen as a dirty word, but that is because its meaning has been corrupted through misuse.

 

Too often the word compromise is used to mean you need to compromise yourself in order to align with what one side wants to do. Instead the true meaning of compromise is both parties reaching a win-win agreement.

 

The changes that need to be made to the Republican Party can in fact be made by us, we just have to want those changes to be made. We elect our party chairs and we create the party platform.

 

It reflects us, to change it we need to change ourselves. While it is harder than it seems it is possible. The activist wing also needs to understand that sometimes change takes time, but if your cause is right and meaningful it will be worth the delayed gratification.

 

We need to stop listening to the people interested in dividing our party in the name of being more conservative or real than someone else. We also need to stop selecting people to lead us and create our platform who have been doing so for the last decade or more. We need to be willing to take risks, suffer the slings and arrows, and hit back when unjustly maligned.

 

It will be dirty, it will be painful, and it will carry real risks of failure, but we are the party of Lincoln, the party of Reagan, and the party of Trump. We have suffered before and produced something beautiful, and now our country has come knocking again. She needs our help, the question is are we simple mercenaries that demands payment for our service or are we patriots who will instead ask what we can do for our country.

Let us unite, because united we stand, divided we fall.

No Longer Silent: #timberunity #Oregon11

A lot has been happening in the state of Oregon. From the Governor sending the police after Senators to the #timberunity movement. I thought I would break it down in an attempt to cut through some of the media smoke and mirrors.

Just like every movement, this started before anyone showed up to protest at the capital.

Dangers of Super Majorities

This started when the Democratic Party won super majorities in both the Oregon House and Senate. On top of that they won the Governorship allowing for single party control of the entire state.

Some of the Democratic legislators felt that because they had been granted a super majority by the voters that meant that they could push through any legislation they wanted. To some it also meant that they did not even need to consider Republican representatives or their concerns from their constituents.

The Republicans were listened to in name only. Meaning they were given time to talk but nothing they said was considered or taken seriously. They had zero impact on legislation and were largely ignored by the Democratic legislators.

This dismissive behavior was farther compounded when every piece of legislation had an emergency clause attached to it. This put legislation into effect immediately after it was signed into law and would make it more difficult for the petition and referendum process to go forward.

They did not want these bills to go to be placed on the ballot and go to the voters. They even intended to restrict the ability for people to petition by introducing restrictions on how signatures could be gathered. It would seem the Democratic Party did not want the people or the Democratic process to take place.

The First Walk Out

The Republican Senators, tired of being relegated to seat fillers walked out in protest to stop two bills. One on gun control (HB 978) and the second on mandatory vaccines for kids attending public schools (HB 3063). The Oregon Senate is made up of 30 Senators, 18 Democrat and 11 Republican (one seat was empty due the passing of a Republican Senator Jackie Winters, rest in peace Senator and thank you for your service).

In order to get any business done the Senate must have 2/3 quorum, meaning they need at least 20 Senators present before they can pass legislation. After a few days and much negotiation the Democrats struck a deal to get the Republicans to return to the capital. Both bills were tabled (returned to committee) and a bill that would increase taxes to ‘pay for schools’ was passed.

The stipulations of the agreement were as follows:

The Republicans returned, the two bills were put aside for 2019 and they started to talk on HB2020. The bill number never changed and the Republicans felt like they were being ignored again. Not to mention that the bill had the emergency clause added in.

While the Republicans were deciding on what they should do, Oregonians from rural communities showed up at the capital on Wednesday June 19^th to protest the bill. They drove their logging truck and heavy equipment in and stood one the capitol steps.

This was #timberunity, a grassroots campaign made up of loggers, truckers, ranchers, farmers and people from rural communities in Oregon. They would be the ones paying the biggest price if HB2020 passed and they showed up to express their concern. Chief among those concerns was that their livelihoods would be taken away from them.

The Democrats did not seem to care, saying the sacrifice was worth it if it helped stop climate change.

#Oregon11

The Republican Senators, listening to their constituents, frustrated that their concerns are being ignored by the majority, and believing that the deal to get them returned was violated (HB2020 was not reset) used the only tool available to them, they walked out.

Enraged at this act of defiance Democrats called upon the Governor to compel the Senators to return. Governor Kate Brown gave the orders to Oregon State Police to find the Senators and bring them back to the capital.

Senator Brian Boquist said to Oregon State Police superintendent “Send bachelors and come heavily armed. I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.” Republican Senators flee the state to prevent them from being rounded up by the police to be used as seat fillers in order to pass legislation that they believed would damage the people in the communities they represent.

The Republican Senators become known as the #Oregon11. To retaliate the Democrats plan on fining the missing Senators $500/day of legislative session they miss. They then plan on keeping the session open all weekend in an attempt to increase this penalty.

Democrats and the media call on Republicans to return, saying they have a duty to be at the capital to work for the people who voted them into office. Republicans and their supporters refuse knowing that by returning to the capital they will simply be seat fillers and unable to represent their constituents.

#timberunity and Oregon GOP plans a protest for Saturday (Occupy the Capital) to show support for #Oregon11 and to oppose HB2020. Senate Democrats, citing fears that ‘militia groups’ are going to show up at the capital cancel Saturday’s session.

No proof or source has been provided for these threats and no arrests have been made at the time of this writing. Militia groups offered protection to the fleeing Senators but no proof has been made public showing that they made threats to invade the capitol building. Oregon GOP and #timberunity show up at the capital to protest.

Democratic State Rep Paul Evens makes a statement on twitter comparing the protesters and the #Oregon11 to terrorists. The legislative session is set to end June 30^th and the Republican Senators have shown no signs of returning before then.

Freedom Rally

Thursday June 27^th #timberunity, rural communities, Republicans and many others hold one of the largest rallies at the State capital ever. Trucks parade around the building honking their horns, people giving speeches on the steps of the capitol building, and protesters with signs stand together outside in order to oppose HB2020 and show support for the #Oregon11.

Senate President Peter Courtney announced that he no longer has the votes needed to pass HB2020 when a few members of his party decided they will not vote for the bill. The Progressive members of the Democratic Party believed that with a super majority that they could do whatever they wanted.

They believed they could pass legislation with impunity and that they knew what was best for Oregonians, even better than Oregonians themselves. So far they have not succeeded with HB2020, but they have succeeded in one area, uniting rural and working Oregonians and energizing them to speak up and say no more.

#timberunity #Oregon11