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Salem, OR ­– Senator Larry George (R-Sherwood) issued the following statement yesterday morning after a remonstrance on the Senate floor:

“The Governor’s caustic, partisan press release Thursday evening is a disturbing departure from his private statements and the bi-partisan, collaborative tone over the past several weeks. In a private conversation with the Governor on Wednesday, he stated that his proposal was not an ultimatum to paint Republicans into a corner. He stated his proposal was an initial step to break the log-jam on PERS negotiations.

“As a sign of our good faith, we have taken a significant political risk and for more than two months have pushed a detailed and serious revenue package, including tax increases on the wealthy and relief for small business and low income Oregonians. We have relentlessly pursued negotiations with Democrats to find a balance of increased revenue (whoops, there’s the language I DON’T want to hear from a GOP senator or representative, we are not negotiating on ANY NEW TAXES!)  and real PERS reforms. We have done this in a bi-partisan manner, because we believe true PERS reform is essential for the long-term welfare of classrooms and vitality of local services.

“In order for revenue (there’s that BAD word again, REVENUE means TAXES) and PERS reform discussions to be successful, two things must happen: Republicans must make hard votes on taxes, Democrats must make hard votes on PERS. Senate conversations on the revenue (he said it again didn’t he?) package are almost complete.

“The reality is that PERS negotiations, where Democrats must be willing to stand up to their political supporters, have resulted in a log-jam. Legislative Democrats are simply saying no. That is not a negotiation. (Now that’s good strong language I like to hear, stand up to the Democrat threats, they are empty threats they NEED GOP votes to raise taxes.)

“We have rejected the temptation to use the absence of real leadership on PERS reform as a political bludgeon, and have instead embraced the opportunity to find true bi-partisan compromise and adopt a solution that empowers Oregon.

“We reject the Governor’s assumption that declining his first offer of a small PERS package is an end to the conversation. In a true negotiation, you make offers, not ultimatums. We believe that though the challenge is great, there is a historic opportunity to truly reform PERS, raise new revenue, (we must get away from the whole “revenue” language completely!) give small businesses tax relief, and position Oregon for success and prosperity. We are at the table, awaiting the arrival of the Governor and legislative Democrats.”

Sen. Larry George

Ok, so I love Senator Larry George, I respect him greatly but, we have to ask our state senators and representatives to stick to the GOP platform and principles of “less government” and “low taxes”.  I think that Sen. George is doing a great job but just got caught up in Democrat language and with further reflection will see this small error and along with the other GOP senators will NOT allow any new taxes on ANY Oregonians this session or any other session.

On another note, we have the two house bills either presented by or co-sponsored by Rep. Julie Parrish of West Linn.

Rep. Julie Parrish

HB 3510 would prohibit anyone other than an “authorized reseller” from selling an event ticket that has not yet been released for sale. Although the term “released for sale” is not currently defined in the bill text, it can be surmised from the text that the intent is to prohibit ticket scalpers from selling tickets before they are made available for purchase from “authorized resellers” like Ticketmaster, Stubhub, and Ticketcity.

However, due to the phrasing of the bill, this could also prohibit season ticket holders from selling their tickets unless they have been granted access to comprehensive data on seating arrangements including, as written in the text of HB3510, “the exact number and location of spaces at the venue, on the date and at the time specified for the entertainment event, that remain unsold.”

Without compliance with these specifications, any ticket sold by an unauthorized reseller would be considered counterfeit.

When questioned on the inspiration behind HB3510, Rep. Parish’s office stated that a family member of an aide within Rep. Parish’s staff had attempted to purchase tickets to an event through an unauthorized ticket reseller, and later discovered that they had been charged more than the face value of the ticket.

The testimony submitted by Rep. Parish at the public hearing on Monday, May 13th 2013 contained screenshots comparing several ticket listings for an upcoming concert, as well as two online search engine result listings, hand marked to indicate the “authorized resellers” in the search results.

So, a staffer’s family member’s aunt who is related to a person who knows someone who got into a situation where they paid too much for a ticket?  Really?  So we need the “gubmint” to step in?  This is NOT Republican thinking.

There’s also HB 3518 which would shut down the growing number of poker rooms operating in Portland and in small communities across Oregon. House Bill 3518 seeks to ban “social gaming” except for churches, fraternities and non-profit organizations.

House Bill 3518 comes to us from State Representative Julie Parrish and, I believe, is based on substantial misinformation. Frankly, we don’t know why Rep. Parrish is targeting the card rooms. They’re posing no problems. She says they’re operating outside the law but that’s far from reality.

State law currently allows cities to create their own social gaming ordinances. Clubs obtain business licenses from their cities under ORS 167.121. These licenses are annually renewable. Failure to comply with local rules and ordinances can result in the revocation of a social gaming license. It’s important to note that social gaming in private clubs can only exist where local jurisdictions allow it. House Bill 3518 would preempt that local control.  So are we now in a place where the state should tell the county or the city what is best for them?  This is NOT Republican thinking.

Neither were the votes on Illegal Immigration Tuition Equity, Driver’s licenses for Illegal Aliens, Columbia River Crossing and many other votes that concern me greatly this year.

Hold ALL state senators and representative’s feet to the fire, Democrat and Republicans.

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What are they saying and who are they?

Official picture description:

Gov. John Kitzhaber and fellow Democratic leaders House Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney.

BUT, how would YOU caption this photograph?  Keep it clean but have fun!  Use the comments section below and let ‘er rip!

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NOW, if I could only convince him and his staff that The Blaze Radio Network NEEDS The Bill Post Radio Show!  Tweet them at @TheBlazeRadioNetwork and demand the show if you want it.

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