Slagle,
You might find this to be of interest. It is the current thinking among some of the leading Republicans in Oregon:
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deschutesrepublicans.org
By Brian Gatley
Dorchester Conference
After a wonderful weekend in Seaside, I thought I would share my
observations of the events at my very first Dorchester Conference
www.dorchester.org which took place March 4 - 6, 2005.
For those of you who don't know, the conference was started by Senator Bob
Packwood in 1964 to specifically recruit liberal Republican candidates for
public office. Recent years are showing that the liberal agenda is not being
supported by the majority of Republicans in Oregon.
The format of the conference is one of round table debates on various issues
(see below) intermixed with presentations by leading Republicans. There were
5 topics discussed over the course of the weekend. The resolutions were
presented as follows:
1. The US should invade Iran to stop further development of its nuclear
weapons if diplomacy and/or lesser military options will not do so. This
resolution was supported, but with a lot of concern about how it would be
carried out. Very few people were willing to give up the threat of force in
dealing with nuclear development in Iran.
2. The Oregon Legislature should authorize counties to issue "civil union"
licenses to adult couples, regardless of gender, that accord the same rights
governing property ownership, medical access and decisions, inheritance,
insurance and employment benefits and (non federal) tax status as those
currently accorded by marriage licenses. This was overwhelmingly rejected by
a vote of 188 against such licenses and 89 in favor.
3. Congress should amend the Social Security system to provide an option for
individualized investment accounts to those under 55, even if funding this
reform increases the budget deficit. This resolution was overwhelmingly
supported.
4. How Republicans can win state wide. This was a town hall discussion and
was clearly an agenda by the liberals to encourage "moving more to the
middle". It was evident that "moving to the middle" is agreeing to and
supporting the liberal agenda (gay rights and abortion rights). There was
not a vote or conclusion from this discussion. During Dino Rossi's
presentation earlier that day he pointed out that he refused to let his
opponents "get me out in the weeds". He stayed on his agenda and did not let
anyone drag their agenda into his campaign.
5. Appointment of Les AuCoin There were only 2 people of about 140 who
supported the appointment of Les AuCoin by Governor Kulongoski to the Oregon
Board of Forestry. Most everyone agreed that AuCoin is an extreme
environmentalist and would derail any efforts to responsibly manage our
forests.
We also heard from Senator Gordon Smith who presented an interesting
comparison of President Bush and President Lincoln. An informational
non-issue presentation.
Sue Hildick spoke on the Oregon education system and presented the very
interesting Chalkboard Project www.chalkboardproject.org.
Congressman Greg Walden, as always an outstanding speaker, presented a
horrifying view into the rise of methamphetamine labs in Oregon
walden.house.gov. A very important issue we all need to
pay closer attention to.
I hope this gives all of you one perspective on the conference.
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Of course, I find myself completely aghast that this fine lot of hypocrites would not spend one minute of their conference examining what to do about an utterly fraudulent leadership who created a quagmire in Iraq based on lies, distortions and jingoistic propaganda.
It would be far too much of a stretch to expect decency from a Republican today. |
