ORP Endorses Referendum Against Oregon Driver Privilege Card for illegal aliens
By Suzanne Gallagher
Chair, Oregon Republican Party

All Oregonians who believe in the rule of law should be outraged by the recent passage of Senate Bill 833, providing a 4-year Oregon Driver Privilege Card for illegal aliens. Oregon Democratic Senators and Representatives voted unanimously in favor. Governor Kitzhaber signed SB833 into law at a May Day Rally on the Capitol steps.

Representatives Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer) and Sal Esquivel (R-Medford), and Oregonians for Immigration Reform Vice-President Richard LaMountain have filed a Referendum.

If Protect Oregon Driver Licenses successfully collects 58,142 valid signatures within 90 days of the close of the 2013 legislative session, voters will decide whether granting Driver Privilege Cards to illegal aliens is a good or bad idea. The following facts are compelling:

• Public Safety - The salient tool necessary for subversive terrorist acts is a valid state driver license. No wonder the 911 Commission recommended states secure driver licenses.
• Voter Integrity - According to current Oregon law, non-citizens can easily vote in local and state elections. If Secretary of State Kate Brown is successful in passing Universal Voter Registration, illegal aliens will vote.
  
• Taxpayer Cost - OFIR estimates that the annual cost to Oregon taxpayers for government services to illegal aliens, after any income tax revenue from them, is $1 Billion.
  

The Oregon Republican Party Platform supports enforcement of immigration laws and the security of US borders. Giving Driver Privilege Cards to individuals in our country illegally is in contradiction with this.

read more

Backwards Budgeting
By Suzanne Gallagher
Chair, Oregon Republican Party

Imagine your family received a 10 percent increase in income this year. Like most Oregonians, you'd be pretty happy. Knowing your new income level, you might retool your family budget a little; pay down some debt or save for a rainy day.

Oregon government has 10 percent more to spend this year. That means $1.7 billion more for the next two years. However, Democrats who control both legislative chambers are doing things backwards compared to Oregon families.

Successful budgeting - whether for a nation, a state, a business or a family - means following basic rules of logic and common sense. We start with an estimate of our expected income and develop a list of priority areas on which to spend that income in a reasoned and equitable manner. As time goes on, we may adjust our budget as income fluctuates. None of this is rocket science.. It is good old-fashion common sense and every responsible family does it.

What conscientious business or family would start their budget process with an imaginary or ideal income number plucked out of thin air? No, we start with a reasonable estimate of our net income - these days usually from a two-income family - and go from there.

And yet, the Democratic leadership of the Oregon Legislature is basing its budget on a fictional, made-up number! It's like family budgeting based on what they want to make, not on what they actually bring home. Sure, it's nice to occasionally fantasize about what to buy after hitting the Powerball(r) jackpot, but that is not the same as responsible budgeting.

read more