yes sir, Mr. Walden
At your suggestion, i am going to "let 'r buck"
First, let us get the pleasantries out of the way. I am happy that you
enjoyed your vacation, and the Pendleton Round Up. As i do not have the
transportation available, i could not attend.
According to the LAw of the Land, the civilian need is to take precedent
over the military need, therefore would it not be better if the Navy could
arrange the training around an agreedupon timetable with the local community,
instead of determining how the civilian agenda would conflict with military
agenda? (referring to this line "The Navy and the Oregon National Guard want
to make sure any additional uses do not conflict with their training needs..."
) Yes, training is needed to maintain our defense forces. and yes, we need
those forces to protect our Republic, and yes, we need to insure that the
citizen use of land does not make it impossible for that training to be done.
But again, the way you say it, it appears the civilian population must work
itself around the Republic Military schedule instead of compromise. I am
probably reading that wrong but that is what i read.
"Of course, paying taxes is a fundamental obligation of all Americans, but
especially so for the federal employees that rely on the taxpayers’ hard-earned
money for their paycheck." Now think about this. if the 'federal employee' is
paid with tax moneys, then taking taxes, with all the involved bookkeeping,
from said pay is more expensive than the tax gathered. Why not just CUT the
pay the amount of the tax? With "salary workers" that is easy, just give them
a lower salary. In this way, you are INSURED that the tax is 'paid'. But it
is my understanding that a personal direct tax is Unconstitutional to force,
making it a VOLUNTARY exercise, not an OBLIGATION. Now, if a person accepts a
responsibility that someone else offers him/her, then yes, it IS an obligation.
The Part of the Constitution i am referring to is, of course, Article I,
Section 9, paragraph 4 and Amendment XVI, whcih, because the Amendment deals
explicitly with the paragraph, should be read together. To help you in this,
it says "No Capitaion, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion
to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken...The Congress
shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source
derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to
any census or enumeration." Now, the way i read that is that yes, Congress IS
authorized to collect income taxes, by in Proportion to the (C)ensus directed
by the Constitution ONLY. All other (c)ensus are null in this respect. THAT
is the way i read that, but again, i COULD BE wrong.
I too would like to congratulate the Sgt.s Walker and Moore, and to thank
them for their service to the Republic. I do not personally know these
individuals, but they have earned the respect of all of us, as has every person
that has served or will serve in defense of this Republic.
As for the debt we owe those that have given the ultimate sacrafice, yes we
do have that debt, and we are failing in pay it. I am referring the shameful
way in which those WOUNDED and disabled while in the Service of the Republic
are being treated. Things like if they retire, and have less than a certain
percentage of service related disability, the disablitiy payment is removed
from their retirement payment. Would you care to tell me how such an
arrangement is HONEST, much less FAIR? And what, if anything, you are
currently doing to correct this?
WHY do we set aside a day to remember those captured ON THE SAME DAY that
we celebrate the LAW of our Republic? I am saying that we should not remember
our captured brothers, but i am saying that we must not forget what they were
fighting for when they were captured eithered. And putting the one together
with the other dilutes the tribute to both.
What part of the Constitution authorized the EPA? Or, for that matter, the
USFS, BLM, USPS, or any of the other 'alphabet soup' from the Nixon years? If
the Republic Government were to get out of the wya of the State, are we afraid
that the State would NOT regulate the businesses that affect the quality of the
environment? Are we afraid that the State would not maintain a wilderness that
supplies our clean air, while responsibly using the resources available in that
wildness? Here in The Columbia Gorge area, because the river was declared a
'National Scenic Area' (again, by what Constitutional authority?), a person
cannot do on his land as he sees fit. Is this a republic instance of
governance? I mean, when i have to have an environmental statement AND
unelected BOARD approval to build a toolshed in my backyard, how does that make
it MY land?
In closing, i wish to extend to the 3/116th Calvary godspeed and safe
return. I may not agree with the way we went to Afghanistan, but we are there
now and i support our troops in way. I hope that their tour is successful in
their eyes, because those are the eyes that matter.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Rep. Greg Walden`s Oregon Congressional Connection
To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:43:57 -0700
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September 22, 2010
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Dear Daniel,
Let ‘er Buck!
I write to you on Wednesday after heading back to the nation’s capital
yesterday and following a very busy week and a few days at home in Oregon. I
got home last Thursday night at about 11:30 and was on the road to Pendleton by
5 am on Friday for a full day of festivities at the 100th Pendleton Round Up.
What a great display of patriotic, western Americana. One hundred riders on
horse led the Westward Ho! parade carrying 100 flags that were flown by our
brave men and women in Afghanistan.
Later came the Round Up court and soon after a wagon carrying former eastern
Oregon State Representative D.E. “Denny” Jones who turned 100-years old
yesterday. A former racing jockey and cattleman’s president, Denny represented
much of southeastern Oregon in the House for 26 years. The community of Ontario
is celebrating his centennial year this month and I’ll participate in a special
celebration Sunday.
I had the privilege to wear black, angora chaps in the parade that had been
worn 100 years ago by my uncle’s father (Wes Slaughter) when he participated in
the wild horse competition at the first Pendleton Round Up in 1910.
The Round Up board of directors and the Happy Canyon board of directors did a
fantastic job planning for and managing the enormous turnout for this year’s
historic celebration. With updated grandstands and many other improvements, the
events surely set attendance records.
That evening my wife and I joined a sold-out crowd to enjoy the Happy Canyon
Pageant (starring among others, my former staffer Colby Marshall as the
sheriff!). Nothing like good, clean Western fun to remind us of our heritage.
Saturday, I spent half the day in Boardman with representatives from the U.S.
Navy, the Oregon National Guard, Judge Terry Tallman, Port Manager Gary Neal,
Sen. Ron Wyden’s representative Wayne Kinney, and local officials and
stakeholders to discuss activities and issues at the Boardman bombing range.
The Navy will soon release its proposal for activities on the bombing range.
The local community would like to see enhanced cooperation between the Navy and
the local interests, including allowing enhanced uses on the range, such as
farming, underground water storage, and routing of new power transmission lines
so as to not reduce agricultural production. The Navy and the Oregon National
Guard want to make sure any additional uses do not conflict with their training
needs nor pose hazards to them or those using the land.
While differences remain, all participants agreed to improve lines of
communication and try to find common ground.
Also on Saturday, I delivered the weekly national Republican radio address that
acts as a counterpoint to President Obama’s weekly address. It’s available on
my website, in case you were doing something else on Saturday and missed it.
The Cliff’s Notes version of my remarks is that we need to focus in the short
term on two key points to address the sluggish job creation that is holding
back the economy:
Put the brakes on tax increases scheduled to go into effect at the end of the
year. Since the beginning of 2009, more than $600 billion new tax increases
have already gone into effect.
Let’s rein in the out-of-control spending by rolling back non-security
discretionary spending to the 2008 levels. That alone will save about $100
billion. Since 2008, American families and small businesses have been making
tough choices to cut back spending – it’s time for the federal government to
squeeze out the waste and stop borrowing 43 cents of every dollar spent.
With help of American people, the YouCut program that I’ve written about before
has identified more than $120 billion in wasteful spending. Unfortunately, we
haven’t been allowed a full up-or-down vote on cutting wasteful spending.
Last week’s YouCut winner, as decided by the American people, is a proposal to
require the collection of unpaid taxes from federal employees, saving taxpayers
up to $1 billion. In 2008, the IRS reported that more than 97,000 federal
employees were delinquent on their federal income taxes.
Of course, paying taxes is a fundamental obligation of all Americans, but
especially so for the federal employees that rely on the taxpayers’ hard-earned
money for their paycheck.
This attempt to save the taxpayers money was blocked as well. Ugh.
We need to get this federal spending under control, and fast. I joined a letter
with many of my colleagues to Speaker Pelosi last week opposing yet another $50
billion in borrowed money for federal government projects. We’re already
borrowing 42 cents on every dollar that we spend from our children and
grandchildren. Enough already!
Two Oregon Airmen recognized as tops in the country
Congratulations to Staff Sergeant Kenny Walker of Grants Pass and Staff
Sergeant Cheryl Moore of Portland who last Monday were honored in the nation's
capital for being selected as one of the Air Force Association's "Twelve
Outstanding Airmen" for 2010.
The honor recognizes enlisted airmen for superior leadership, job performance,
community involvement and personal achievements. They were selected out of a
potential pool of 260,000 Airmen to receive the award by an Air Force selection
board. You can read more about their individual commendations here.
While I couldn't be at the ceremony in person — I hadn’t returned to the
nation’s capital yet — a representative from my office attended and delivered
letters of congratulation.
Sgt. Walker and Sgt. Moore represent the best of the best, representing
enlisted peronnel serving at each major Air Force command and operating agency.
Their sustained superior performance and dedication to duty are examples to
airmen throughout the Air Force.
The unshakable confidence that I have in the strength of the of the American
spirit comes from citizens like Sgt. Walker and Sgt. Moore who are selflessly
defending our way of life. We are truly forever indebted to them for their
service to our great nation.
Sgt. Moore is assigned to the 8th Intelligence Squadron at Hickam Air Force
Base in Hawaii. Sgt. Walker is assigned to the 116th Air Support Operations
Squadron at Camp Murray, Washington.
Support our Gold Star Mothers
While we celebrate the accomplishments and outstanding examples set by the
likes of Sgt. Moore and Sgt. Walker, we must also remember that some of our
heroes make the ultimate sacrifice for our country and our freedoms, and a
great deal of that sacrifice is borne by the families they leave behind.
Last week I signed on as an original co-sponsor of a resolution supporting Gold
Star Mothers Day, which is observed on the last Sunday in September of each
year in remembrance of the supreme sacrifice made by mothers who lost a son or
daughter serving in the Armed Forces.
As you may already know, Gold Star Mothers is an organization for mothers who
have lost a son or daughter in service to our country. In 1940, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt designated the last Sunday in September as "Gold Star
Mothers Day” to recognize and commemorate the tremendous sacrifice these
courageous mothers have endured on behalf of our nation.
It’s a small token, but we must always remember that the sacrifices for our
freedom are made not only by the brave men and women of the Armed Forces, but
also by the families that they leave behind. We owe them all a debt we can
never repay.
National MIA/POW Recognition Day
September 17 was National MIA/POW Recognition Day. At events all across the
country, families, citizens, and our government renew their commitments to
obtaining the fullest possible accounting for all Americans held captive or
missing from our nation's ongoing and past conflicts.
We will continue to prepare and train personnel who may become isolated and to
recover those who become missing in the future. Let us never forget that we do
these things because of the more than 88,000 Americans remain missing from
World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War.
Over 200 years ago, General George Washington said, “The willingness with which
our young people are likely to serve in war, shall be directly proportional to
how they perceive veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by our
nation.”
A key part of that treatment relates to our efforts to account for our missing
and recover our prisoners. Let us never forget the sacrifice that they have
made for our freedoms.
It is an honor to represent the men and women of our nation’s military, and I
will continue my efforts in Congress to ensure that they and their efforts are
never forgotten.
Regulatory over-reach
I met with leaders of the country’s forest and paper companies last week in
Washington to discuss new rules under consideration at the EPA that they
estimate could cost 16,888 pulp and paper industry jobs and when taken together
with other regulations could result in 30 mills closing. The combined economic
effect of these new maximum achievable control technology regulations affecting
industrial boilers could result in more than 71,774 total jobs losses,
according to Fisher International, a consulting firm that specializes in the
economics of paper mills.
This is just one more example of regulatory over-reach that is costing jobs at
a time when our economy is very fragile. When I was in John Day recently, the
people installing a new pellet burning boiler system to heat the new building
at the airport said they might be able to meet the new standards on paper, but
in reality they weren’t sure the facility would pass. That means the latest
technology in the world won’t meet the EPA’s proposed rules. Is it any wonder
our economy is lagging?
The 3-116
One final note: The Oregon National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry, a
part of the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat team, held their mobilization ceremony
at Eastern Oregon University yesterday before leaving for six weeks of training
at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Following their training, the 3-116 will deploy
to Iraq to support Operation New Dawn. This is the second time in six years
that the 3-116 has been called to duty in Iraq.
Time and again, the guardsmen and women of the 3-116 Calvalry have proven
themselves more than deserving of the gratitude of their fellow Americans while
defending freedom around the globe. The families of our soldiers also deserve a
great deal of recognition for the tremendous sacrifice they make when their
loved ones are overseas. Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.
Best regards,
Greg Walden
U.S. Representative
Oregon’s Second District
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