Radical progressives in Oregon are hoping for a blue
wave in November. The American Spectator expects Trump’s national achievements
and momentum will bring a red wave. Which will it be?
The Spectator admits, “There
are those polls saying that millennials are as interested in communism as in
capitalism, and there is the more anecdotal evidence within the Democrat Party
that Bernie Sanders-style socialism is ascendant. The Democrat primary victory
by avowed socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over New York congressman Joe
Crowley is being lauded as an example of the country’s lurch leftward; the
party’s chairman Tom Perez even called Ocasio-Cortez its ‘future’ last week.”
Is this trend happening in Oregon? Are we trending left, or
right? Are young collegiates hearkening toward the Siren’s song of socialism? Are
they smitten with attractive promises for unlimited equality and high paying
jobs? According to the rhetoric, aside from gaining equality, there will also be
plenty of battery operated gadgets – smart phones and $100k Teslas, – all powered
by “clean” energy with restored global ice-caps and endless wildlife living happily
ever-after on a pristine planet.
Or, maybe there is a different draw.
Maybe they have watched our last several generations slowly
succumb to a socialist-oriented bureaucracy. Many in Oregon mistakenly believe
that our municipalities, counties, state and federal governments will manage
our affairs better than ourselves. Maybe this latter tendency has led the young
to wonder if ‘real’ socialism might work?
Our lives have witnessed government intervention and regulations
growing at a relentless pace. This enlargement of government is straining budgets
because of the health, wage and pension benefits dedicated to the elites and public
servant classes. Budgetary stress, in turn, creates the need for more revenue,
meaning taxes will increase by leaps and bounds as baby-boomers retire.
The estimate is that 10,000 boomers will retire daily for
the next 20 years! This is the wave we should be wary of. It is not a blue wave
or a red wave but is a budgetary tsunami that will overturn and capsize
government budgets around the nation. It is the taxpayer’s worst nightmare.
First, each retiree will no longer be at the office, yet the
taxpayer is obligated to pay benefits for the next 30 years or more. Yet, the current
retirement plan structure doesn’t generate the cashflow required to meet the
promised payout.
Second, the original position is now empty. However, it’s
part of the budget; it has been a justified position for the past umpteen years
and it is on the state’s org-chart. The assumption is that it must be filled.
No one asks whether it is a service that anyone needs or
wants. No one even contemplates whether it is a service that government should
provide. The slot is open; we’ve always done it this way; it must be filled. Today’s
new-hire will come at an inflated salary level compared to when the original
position was dreamed up decades ago.
Although Oregon’s economic forecasters say the outlook is
rosy, our local school districts, library districts, municipalities and county
governments are facing enormous hurdles. While the state is enjoying economic
expansion and private-sector incomes are rising, so are tax burdens and public-sector
salaries. This will slow the needed private-sector economy which is, ultimately, the sole source for funding the state.
The private-sector can only grow if the government shows
fiscal restraint which is something Gov. Brown doesn’t appear willing to do. Remember,
Brown signed SB 1528 which increased taxes on small businesses by an additional
$1 billion over the next several bienniums. The Democrat majority did not have
to raise taxes in order to balance Oregon’s current budget. Instead, out-of-touch,
tax and spend progressives sponsored SB 1528 as a needless poke at President
Trump’s tax reform efforts and, in turn, directly burdened Oregon’s small and family-owned
businesses.
Throughout history, many have wondered about the forces, or
waves of sentiment, that shape the destiny of states and their cultures.
Henning W. Prentis, Jr. spoke to students during a 1943 address at the University
of Pennsylvania’s Mid-Year Convocation. He said:
“Paradoxically enough, the release of initiative and
enterprise made possible by popular self-government ultimately genrates
disintegrating forces from within. Again and again after freedom has brought
opportunity and some degree of plenty, the competent become selfish,
luxury-loving and complacent; the incompetent and the unfortunate grow envious
and covetous, and all three groups turn aside from the hard road of freedom to
worship the Golden Calf of economic security."
It sounds like he is speaking directly to us even though last
week we celebrated our nation’s most sublime historical achievement, the 242nd anniversary of “the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen
united States.” Our founders set the standard, they were willing to sacrifice
their lives to choose Liberty over security.
Thomas Jefferson who penned the Declaration of Independence
using only a goose quill, parchment and some India ink noted, “The true
foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen, in his
person and property, and in their management.”
This freedom, allowing the individual to manage his own
life, business and property is part of the fabric of our American traditions.
These traditions were universally woven into beliefs which spawned the very enterprises
which became foundational to our own self-governance.
This brings several questions to mind:
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Is this old school thinking?
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Doesn’t this universally apply to all people?
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Will young Oregonians fall for the deceptive trap offered by
socialism?
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Would the re-election of Gov. Brown afford every citizen
control of their own lives, property and destiny?
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Would a Democrat super-majority provide citizens with more freedoms
and opportunity or burden them with needless meddling and taxes?
The liberal progressives
of the Antifa, Occupy-ICE, and Dump-Trumpster movements will be rallying to
bring Oregon’s Democrat party further left by claiming to love freedom, fairness
and equality. Yet, they promote endless discord through their totalitarian
tendencies. They may have sincere motives, but their actions expose their own opulence
while loosening the bands of public virtue, expanding intolerance and sowing the
seeds of future faction and discord.
This is the paradox of our freedom. Our liberty tends
towards license, our initiative and enterprise beggars envy, and our own
prosperity becomes burdensome and debauched as government meddling grows.
But, thankfully, this is not the end of the story. In every
election cycle, we the people have the ability to elect officeholders who will
promote Liberty. This November, we can turn Oregon back to its prosperous roots
by advancing more freedom, less government and lower taxes!
Remember, if we don't stand for rural-Oregon values and common sense – No one will!
Dennis Linthicum Oregon State Senate 28
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1728 Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, S-305, Salem, Oregon 97301 Email: sen.DennisLinthicum@oregonlegislature.gov Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/linthicum
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