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House Parties Rock: This week, hundreds of Oregonians at the grassroots organized house parties throughout the state. The event was a smashing success!!! The grassroots energy from the 2004 campaign remains
strong and continues to be influential in this critical battle against President Bush's plan to privatize the system.
Special thanks to Senator John Kerry, Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Senator John Edwards for their participation in this great event.
We are funding a statewide radio campaign to provide Oregonians the facts about Social Security, which will educate all Oregonians about what the Bush Administration's proposal means to them. It's not too late to help! Click here
https://www.dpo.org/cgi-bin/don8an.pl/ssi or call Kristine Philips at (503) 224-8200 to help.
A Rockin' Town Hall: In an effort to engage younger people in the debate about Social Security, Congresswoman Darlene Hooley and Everclear's Art Alexakis will host a town hall next week.
Monday, April 11th, 7pm. Rogue Brewery (in the Pearl District), Flanders and 14th. Full details:
LINK
Art will present a detailed PowerPoint on the economics of Social Security, and give a New Deal-present history of the most successful social insurance program in the history of the United States.
Congresswoman Hooley will perform an acoustical version of 'Father of Mine' and take a few other requests from the audience.
Bush and Gordon Smith Under Fire: Again this week, President Bush's Social Security plan failed to earn greater public support from Americans, even as Bush continued his roadshow to pitch the privatization scheme.
Democrats are winning. Bush is losing.
That being said, there is no let up in this fight. If Democrats become apathetic and count this one a win, we have the shortest memories in history, and we deserve to lose. Consider that Democrats got burned that way on nearly EVERY
SINGLE piece of harmful legislation that Bush passed in his first term.
One thing that Senator John Kerry, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and Senator John Edwards all made clear when addressing hundreds of Oregonians around the state on Tuesday:
Oregon is critical in this debate. Gordon Smith needs to to be pressured not to support President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security. In classic Smith "deliberation" (read: finger in the wind), he has refused to take a position on
Bush's plan.
If history is any guide, Gordon Smith will support Bush's plan. He voted twice in 1998 for measures that would similarly establish private accounts and undermine Social Security's guaranteed benefits.
Two things you can do:
Join a group that is meeting up to deliver the personal stories of Oregonians next Thursday, April 14th, at noon in Portland. Details of the PDX event:
HERE (Or if you can't make it to Portland and live near one of Smith's other offices, form your own group and make it happen.)
Email a letter to the editor of your local paper telling them that Gordon Smith needs to take a position on Bush's Social Security plan, and that he needs to oppose it:
CLICK HERE
With Smith, "Undecided" means "When the chips are down, I'm going to vote the wrong way, but I don't wanna say anything in public in the meantime." Help make him. We can win this fight nationally if Oregonians force Gordon Smith to do
the right thing.
Seriously. <-- Cool link.
2.) ***ACTION ALERT*** MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD AGAINST RADICAL 'NUCLEAR OPTION' IN THE US SENATE
After months of threats and escalating rhetoric, the Republicans in the Senate appear to be ready to take up the "nuclear option" (pronounced "NOOK-u-lar" by President Bush) to change long-standing US Senate rules, and effectively
eliminate Democrats' ability to filibuster.
For over 200 years, the Senate filibuster has been an essential component of the checks and balances that limit the power of the president and the majority party in Congress.
Eliminating the filibuster will upset that balance, carefully constructed by the founding fathers over 200 years ago, and there is no compelling reason to change the rules in the middle of the game.
Last weekend, hundreds of Oregonians signed petitions urging Senator Undecided, Gordon Smith, to oppose the use of the "nuclear option" to annihilate one of the key checks and balances in our system.
Still, Smith appears to be considering support of Frist's use of the "nuclear option."
Smith's recent statements on the role of the judiciary in the Terri Schiavo case (on which he also has no position) suggest he might just need a little more cajoling on the specifics.
"I'm not for things that go after judges. They're an independent branch of government."
Smith later stated that he was "for jobs" and "against criminals."
Write Gordon Smith directly and tell him he needs to oppose the radical "nuclear option" in the US Senate.
Email a letter to the editor of your local paper telling them how you feel about radical changes to Senate rules for the purpose of advancing a right-wing agenda:
CLICK HERE
3.) RAGE WATCH: DEMOCRATS "CRAZY" IDEA TO PUT EDUCATION FIRST MAKES KAREN MINNIS LOSE HER %^#@
The budget debate over the level of education funding in Oregon has hit a crescendo in the last week or so. Although with serial rage-oholic Karen Minnis at the helm, no one knows how loud it might get.
On Thursday, House Democrats tried to get a vote on a no-cuts budget number for Oregon schools.
LINK
Rep. Phil Barnhart, of Eugene, argued that school districts need to know now what the level of state support will be as they develop their budgets, and that the budget-writing committee should know where House members stand before
negotiating a final number.
On the promises of the campaign, Barnhart said: "Now is the time to do what everyone here has said we should do: put education first."
Speaker Karen Minnis and Republicans, despite having vowed in the campaign to put education first, refused to do so. The Democrats' motion was defeated on a party-line vote.
Multiple
sources in Salem have Minnis storming into Minority Leader Jeff Merkely's office after the floor debate and "dropping multiple F-bombs" on the House Democratic Leader.
While Minnis' rage-oholism is a pretty open secret around the Capitol, to the Speaker's credit, word has it she apologized to Merkely the next day for her inappropriate behavior.
Which blows again next: Mount St. Helens or Karen Minnis? Stay tuned...
4.) AGE WATCH: KAREN MINNIS AND HOUSE REPUBLICANS TAKE THEIR TOYS AND GO HOME (AGAIN)
Remember the spoiled kid in elementary school who would simply refuse to play ball when they didn't get their way? Neither do I. But while we're on the topic of elementary school mentality...
For the second time this legislative session, House Speaker Karen Minnis and Republicans have decided to
pick up their toys and go home.
This time, the issue is school spending. Republicans have decided to boycott while they fight for an education number that would chop more than a week off what is already the shortest school year in the nation.
The Oregon Education Association, Stand for Children and other education advocates have all said that $5.4 billion is the minimum "survival budget" for schools.
The Republican proposal is $225 million short. If enacted, many districts would face the need to lay off more teachers, even though Oregon has already lost more than 1,000 teachers since 2002.
Responding to the "take toys, go home" strategy, Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown said House Speaker Karen Minnis "slammed the door on the public process."
Senate budget leader Kurt Schrader
summed it up best: "We're trying to help kids, not be like children."
Even the Big O seems to agree that it's time to cut the BS and make good on the pledge to
put schools first.
"One thing should guide the discussion: Every poll of Oregonians, every public hearing, every campaign for the Legislature, has carried the message that schools should come first.
Now that push has come to shove, now that crucial services must be balanced against one another, lawmakers must make schools the top priority."
***Disclaimer***
The Capitol Insider is a special publication of the Democratic Party of Oregon. Content and opinions expressed in these updates do not necessarily represent official or endorsed positions of the Democratic Party of Oregon. They
are, however, intended to provoke thought, facilitate greater grassroots understanding of legislative processes and yield better public policy in Salem and Washington, D.C
Comments and suggestions should be directed to editor@dpo.org.
Democratic Party of Oregon Officers
Jim Edmunson, Chair
Meredith Wood Smith, Vice Chair
Margaret Branson, Treasurer
Genie Uebelacker, Secretary
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