Election filing deadline is Tuesday, March 6th

If you plan to file for any local public office, including Precinct Committee Person, you must submit your filing form by 5 p.m. on March 6 to Benton County Elections in the basement of the county courthouse, 120 NW Fourth St, Corvallis, Oregon. Voters pamphlet submissions must be submitted and paid for by March 8. File for positions in the Oregon legislature and for State offices by 5 p.m. at the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office in Salem (certain offices require a filing fee or signature petitions). Contact information:

Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division
Open 8 AM - 5 PM, Mon - Fri
(503) 986-1518
(866) 673-VOTE
elections.sos@state.or.us
255 Capitol St NE, Ste 501
Salem, OR 97310-1306

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Oregon Republican Party opens three statewide primaries to non-affiliated voters

At the State Central Committee Meeting in Albany on February 5, Oregon Republicans passed the 2012 ‘Freedom Primary’...

The Oregon Republican Party, seeking to become more competitive in a state where most major offices are held by Democrats, announced Monday that it will open its May primary for three statewide offices to non-affiliated voters. Oregon Republican Chairman Allen Alley said the party will allow these voters to cast ballots in the primary races for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer. However, non-affiliated voters won't be allowed to vote in the presidential primary, in legislative primaries or in any partisan races for local office. Read more at OregonLive.com...

Read the Oregon Republican Party News Release HERE. Read More......

New 2012 Benton County Precinct Maps available online

(Hat tip: John H. Detweiler) - NEW Benton County Precinct Maps available online on the Benton County website.

There are significant changes to legislative district boundaries in Benton County as a result of the latest redistricting effort. To learn what changes were made in your area, please, check the 2012 Precinct maps now in effect. Maps showing political boundaries before the most recent redistricting process are now referred to as Old Precinct maps.

We suggest that you zoom in on your area on the Benton County Map to see what precinct you are in now. Sorry, we don't yet have an easy way to let you know what your current precinct number is, or if it has changed since redistricting. Read More......

Planned Parenthood CEO a Top White House Mandate Advisor

LIFENEWS.COM, 2/14/2012 - Jake Tapper of ABC News wrote a remarkable story last week revealing the players in the Obama administration’s internal debate on the contraception mandate.

According to Tapper, President Obama’s top advisers on the issue included Vice President Joe Biden, former White House Chief-of-Staff Bill Daley, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, former Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes, White House Senior Advisers Valerie Jarrett and Pete Rouse, former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, two U.S. Senators – and Planned Parenthood Federation for America CEO Cecile Richards:

The debate within the White House on this issue was, sources say, heated…. Read more at Life News

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Sign the Right-To-Work Petition

Dear Concerned American,
They snickered when I said I came to the U.S. Senate to change Congress. ✧ But their laughter stopped when I sponsored the National Right to Work Act to free U.S. workers from forced unionization and break Big Labor's multi-billion dollar political machine forever. ✧ President Barack Obama and Big Labor allies in the Senate are now feverishly scheming to bury the National Right to Work Act without a vote. ✧ So I have a question for you. ✧ Will you be the sledgehammer? Sign the petition now! --Rand Paul

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CPI: Opposing More Top-Down Control of Oregon Education

Steve Buckstein of Cascade Policy Institute testified before the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee on Wednesday, February 8th.

CASCADE POLICY INSTITUTE, 2/8/2012, Testimony of Steve Buckstein - [Excerpt:] "I’m here to oppose SB 1581 because I believe that the legislature is continuing to fall into the “bigger is better” trap. The goal of unifying everything from early childhood through graduate school education can’t be accomplished without pushing power and control even farther away from the people who should matter most—parents and students. This bill, by giving even partial control over a number of positions in Oregon’s public education system to the new Chief Education Officer, simply continues movement into that trap. Read full testimony at CPI...

Related: Oregon Catalyst, 2/13/2012 - Whose education testimony are the Senators afraid of? by Steve Buckstein Read More......

Obama To Unleash “Truth Teams” To Counter Negative Coverage

GOP describes squads of supporters as “propaganda teams to deceive voters” - The Obama campaign is to “educate” and deploy what it describes as “truth teams” to ensure that any attacks on the president’s record are feverishly countered in the run up to the general election. Read more at Infowars... Read More......

Breitbart TV: White House Coordinating With Media Matters

Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller broke a blockbuster investigative report on Media Matters, the liberal media watchdog group headed by the mercurial David Brock. Carlson talked about the report this morning on Fox and Friends. ✧ Unnamed former and current Media Matters' insiders are frustrated over Brock's focus on attacking Fox News. Watch video at Breitbart tv... Read More......

From: Government Gone Wild!

GovernmentGoneWild.org

"Big Government is on the rise and both political parties are to blame. Government Gone Wild! is dedicated to educating everyday citizens of the dangers of Big Government while motivating people to get off their couch and get involved." Read More......

Obama's economic policies have created a nation of jobless citizens dependent on government handouts

(NaturalNews) [...] the oft-tried Keynesian strategy of profligate government spending as a way to spur a capitalist economy has not only failed miserably, which was predictable, but it has created a class of Americans who subsist nearly entirely on government largess.

GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have hit on this as part of their campaign strategy. Romney has said "over the past three years, Barack Obama has been replacing our merit-based society with an entitlement society". Gingrich has labeled Obama "the best food-stamp president in American history." Read more at Natural News... Read More......

Newsletter: Last Chance!

February 11, 2012 Newsletter - Benton County Republicans

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Last Chance to register for the Linn/Benton Presidents' Day Gala  and Benefit Auction for 2012 (our Lincoln Day Dinner), Saturday, February 18th at Teen Challenge, Willamette Valley Men’s Center, 31700 Fayetteville Dr., Shedd, OR. Register by Monday, February 13th for best price!
• See This Weeks' Headlines
  

Benton County Lincoln Day Dinner 2012

Last Chance to get discounted tickets!

This year's Lincoln Day Dinner features two very special speakers with a message that every American should hear! Reverend Wayne Perryman, inner-city community activist, corporate consultant and author of “Unveiling the Truth” and “Blacks, Whites & Racist Democrats” will share political history and current views based on his fact-finding research. Ms. Anita MonCrief, national spokesperson for American Majority and editor of Emerging Corruption, will address her experiences as whistleblower to ACORN Project Vote and combating voter fraud. Dinner Location: TeenChallenge, Willamette Valley Men’s Center, 31700 Fayetteville Dr., Shedd, OR. Tickets: $60. Need to be ordered by Monday, February 13. $75 at the door. To order, go to www.lincolndaydinner.net. A map is posted on this site. The Dinner provides funds for many “Caring for America” projects:

• All 4th graders in public, private, charters schools and students who are home schooled receive Student Dictionaries with information about America, its founding documents and hits history. 1,000 dictionaries were given away this school year.
  
• Organizing Constitution Day events
  
• Preparing Library displays for President’s Day and Constitution Week
  
• Maintaining our float to keep the Republican Party visible, including appearances in the Albany Veterans Day Parade, the Philomath Frolic and the Corvallis 4th of July Parade.
  
• Making 2,000 buttons with positive slogans to give to our Veterans along the parade route on November 11.
  
• Holding a flag rally outside the Corvallis National Guard Armory on Armed Forces Day.
  
• Helping the Republican Party prepare mailings, walk precincts and get out the vote.

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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -Thomas Edison

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THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

Budget? Why Follow a Budget? 

(From The Heritage Foundation, 2/10/2012)

Families and businesses have budgets, yet Washington doesn't -- and it hasn't for the last three years… For Congress, the budget is an outline of how and where money will be spent across the federal government and how high taxes and borrowing will be. The budget guides all spending, tax, and reform bills that must be passed during the year, and Congress is obligated to pass one every year. Despite those facts -- and even with a $15 trillion national debt -- Senator Reid last week said, "We do not need to bring a budget to the floor this year," disavowing the entire budgeting process... Why does a budget matter? It's all about priorities. And if Washington doesn't govern with one, well, it isn't governing. Instead, Congress is avoiding the tough decisions it must make to get our twin crises of spending and debt under control. The first step to doing that is to pass a budget, like the House did last year and intends to this year. Otherwise, spending will continue to spiral out of control, and no choices will be made about what is important and what is not.

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Why Oregonians Deserve the Right-to-Work 

(Steve Buckstein, Cascade Policy Institute, 2/9/2012) 

The twenty-two states that have not required workers to join a union and pay union dues have enjoyed, as a group, more rapid employment and income growth, better job preservation, and faster recoveries from recession. Oregon is not one of those states, yet. Right-to-work laws provide job seekers and current employees the right to work for a company whether or not they choose to join a union. It is unconscionable that workers are denied the right to earn a living simply because they decline to join a union. Basic principles of liberty and justice demand that we defend everyone’s right to work without third party interference. The right to work is, therefore, a moral as well as an economic imperative. Read more at Cascade Policy Institute...

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Obama's sneaky treaties 

(By Dick Morris, Published on TheHill.com on 2/7/2012)

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are entering negotiations over -- or seeking ratification of -- five treaties that could radically limit our national sovereignty and the reach of our democratic institutions. Particularly scary is that the treaties, once signed and ratified, have the same status as constitutional law and cannot be altered or eclipsed by Congress or state legislatures. And their provisions must be enforced by U.S. courts. Those who wish to preserve our sovereignty and democratic control over our future must rally to block these treaties, either by pressing Obama and Clinton not to sign them or by blocking their ratification.

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Expanding Energy Production to Create Jobs, & Help Pay for Better Roads & Bridges 

(Speaker Boehner's Press Office, 4/2/2-12) 

In the coming weeks the House will vote on the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R.7), a pro-growth bill that removes barriers to new American energy production to create more than a million new jobs, and cuts red tape to speed up improvements to our roads and bridges (without the earmarks, wasteful spending, and taxpayer bailouts of the past). Watch Speaker Boehner talk about the pro-growth aspects of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, which uses revenue from new energy production to help pay for repairs to highways and bridges. It...

• Removes barriers to job growth by approving the Keystone pipeline rejected by President Obama, lifting the president’s offshore drilling ban, opening a small portion of ANWR, and more;
  
• Eliminates wasteful spending and earmarks,
  
• Eliminates nearly 70 duplicative federal transportation programs,
  
• Ensures taxpayer dollars are spent on highways – not ‘beautification’ projects and other non-highway activities;
  
• Cuts the permitting time in half by speeding up bureaucratic approvals,
  
• Delegates more decision-making authority to where it belongs: individual states, not Washington; and more.

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Learn How to Get Involved in Oregon’s Legislative Process 

Americans for Prosperity

With the start of legislative session on February 1st, we are embroiled in a battle for the next 35 days to protect our liberty and freedoms. Please take the time to join us in room 350 (war room) at the Oregon Capitol on February 15th, 22nd and the 27th through the end of session. The room will be open from 8 a.m. until the legislature concludes for the day. We will be informing folks on the bills and hearings taking place that week and using the Oregon citizen lobby analysis to craft testimony that can be used to talk to legislators either for or against priority legislation. Come prepared to learn the legislative process and advocate for economic freedom and prosperity in Oregon! Your time and presence is more important than ever. If you would like more information about the war room please contact Ted Campbell, AFP Polk County Chair at TEDCSM@aol.com.

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Get Partisan Politics Out of Our Initiatives! 

Preserve Oregon's initiative process by signing and helping to circulate these petitions: My Signature Counts Amendment and the Ballot Access Act (About).

Click here to download the My Signature Counts petition.
Click here to download the Ballot Access Act petition.

Please pass this email on to your friends and family that are registered voters in Oregon. Ask them to sign the petitions and gather signatures. The My Signature Counts Amendment puts into law that when you sign an initiative or referendum petition, your signature will be counted. This initiative preserves all valid registered voters’ signatures and prevents the Secretary of State or Attorney General from throwing out valid signatures with a statistical error due to format issues, marks on the initiative sheet, etc. All initiative petitions go through a process of drafting a ballot title. The ballot title and its drafting process have become roadblocks for successful initiative petition campaigns in two ways:

• Opponents of an initiative petition use the ballot title process to delay the circulation of a petition,
  
• Most ballot titles are biased and inaccurate.

The Ballot Access Act would amend the Oregon Constitution to require the text of any measure that is 100 words or less to be printed on the ballot. Please download the e-petitions, follow the instructions to sign and fill out, and sending them back right away.

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This e-mail is sent to you by Benton County Republicans and Benton County Republican Women, P.O. Box 808, Corvallis OR 97339. Our office is located in the Millrace Center at 1760 S.W. Third Street, Corvallis. Our telephone number is 541-754-9155. Please visit our website at: www.bentongop.org. If you would like to unsubscribe to our e-mails, please make your cancellation request to bentoncorepublicans@gmail.com. Thank you.

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Which is worse, outsourcing jobs or our national security? The Obama Administration decided to do both.

Americans for Job Security is outraged by the Obama administration’s recent decision to turn its back on the proven American aerospace manufacturing community and instead award a $1 billion defense contract to Embraer, a Brazilian owned and operated aircraft manufacturing company. ✧ Our nation has seen a lot of reckless actions come from the Obama White House over the last three years, but this one could be the most damaging.

Take action now! Send Letters to tell your U.S. Congressmen to Support American Defense Jobs. Read More......

CPAC 2012: February 9th through 11th

CPAC (streaming video)
Conservative Political Action Conference

A project of the American Conservative Union

A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling, 'stop!' -William F. Buckley, Jr.

A man is not free unless government is limited. -Ronald Reagan

"Concentration of power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it." -Milton Freedman

To seek for utopia is to end in disaster. -Russell Kirk

Human societies, like human beings, live by faith and die when faith dies. -Whittaker Chambers

The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry. -William F. Buckley, Jr.

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Middle East Crumbles Around Obama’s Foreign Policy

MORNING BELL, 2/8/2012 (Hat tip: Jean Nelson) - Thousands are dead in Syria, with more blood spilled each day. Iran is within arm’s reach of a nuclear weapon, threatening Israel’s very existence. And in Egypt, 19 Americans are banned from leaving the country, making them veritable hostages in an unfriendly land. All indications are that the Middle East is crumbling, and President Barack Obama’s foreign policy is collapsing right along with it. Read more at Heritage/The Foundry... Read More......

Palin: Lessons to Learn from Komen and Planned Parenthood

FACEBOOK & Motivation Truth, 2/4/2012 by Sarah Palin - The conflict between Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and Planned Parenthood once again raises the issue of Planned Parenthood’s funding. As has been pointed out many times, Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide mammograms. So, why should a breast cancer charity feel enormous pressure to donate to an abortion provider? It’s frustrating to see Komen feel it had to reverse its decision based on political pressure. Here’s an interesting and very good take away from all of this [at MotivationTruth]... Read More......

VDH: Are You ‘Them!’?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON at WORKS AND DAYS, 2/5/2012

Until the appearance of Barack Obama on the national scene, I knew of “them” only from an old sci-fi movie in which huge ants (“Them!”) ate people.

But there are new monsters in America, and I am starting to wonder whether I am to be considered among them: those of the uninvolved and uninformed lives, the bar-raisers, the downright mean ones, the never deserving of respect ones, the Vegas junketeers, the Super Bowl jet setters, the tuition stealers, the faux-Christians who do not pay higher taxes, the too much income makers, the tormenters of autistic children, the polluters, the enemies deserving of punishment, the targets to bring a gun against, the faces to get in front of, the limb-loppers, the tonsil pullers, the fat cats, the corporate jet owners, the one-percenters, the stupidly acting, the not paying their fair sharers, the discriminators on the “way you look”, the alligator raisers and moat builders, the vote deniers, the clingers, the typical something persons, the hunters of kids at ice cream parlors, the stereotypers and profilers, the cowards, the lazy and soft, the non-spreaders of money, the not my people people, the Tea party racists, the not been perfect and mistake makers, the disengaged and the dictating, the not the time to profiteers, the ones who did not know when to quit making money, and on and on.

My God, man, how did Barack Obama & Co. conjure up so many demons? Read more at Works and Days...

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On Ronald Reagan's 101st Birthday, His Legacy Lives On

Today marks President Ronald Reagan's 101st birthday. Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan made his journey west to Iowa as a radio broadcaster, then on to California to take Hollywood by storm. He crossed America as a spokesman for General Electric, and then -- after discovering the import of conservative values -- entered the political arena, where he would ultimately lead his fellow citizens out of a wilderness of self-doubt, helping the country come to see that it could be morning in America once again.

Read more, watch video and sign a virtual 101st birthday card to President Reagan at Heritage/Foundry... Read More......

AFP honors Reagan: Two Visions of America

Washington, DC – Today Americans for Prosperity, the nation’s premier advocate for economic freedom, released a very special “Happy Birthday” message to honor President Ronald Reagan on his 101st birthday.

Ronald Wilson Reagan, February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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Labor Force Participation Rate Tumbles To Fresh 30 Year Low

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a record 1.2 million people fell out of the labor force in one month. How does this figure effect the positive drop in unemployment to 8.3% reported for January 2012? See article and charts at Zero Hedge...

Added 2/13/2012: See chart.

Unfortunately, we can't trust that good news is, indeed, good news. As President Reagan said, "Trust, but verify." --bc Read More......

Senate passes insider-trading bill

Aiming to restore voters' faith in Congress, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday that makes clear it's illegal for members of Congress, their staffs and many executive-branch employees to trade stocks and other securities based on inside information learned on the job. Read more at CNN... Read More......

Expanding Energy Production to Create Jobs, & Help Pay for Better Roads & Bridges

SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER, 2/4/2012 - In the coming weeks the House will vote on the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R.7). Removes barriers to job growth by approving the Keystone pipeline rejected by President Obama, lifting the president’s offshore drilling ban, opening a small portion of ANWR, and more. Read more at the Speaker's Blog... Read More......

Senator Prozanski (D-Eugene) aims to gut Oregon Public Meeting Laws

Lawmakers Respond To Largest Public Meeting Law Scandal In Oregon History By Trying To Gut Oregon’s Public Meeting Laws. Read more at Oregon Catalyst...
SB 1526 (pdf) Read More......