Sounds like a great idea. Perhaps they can enlicit the assistance of their local Sheriff to use his constitutional powers to resist unconstitutional federal assaults on his fellow citizens.

"The group has met twice at the Medford Public Library and are engaged in fighting the tax initiative for corporations to pay more than $10 per year ..."

The irony of that statement alone is worth the price of admission.

Dipsticks probably don't even understand how the PUBLIC library keeps the doors open for yahoos like this.

"Perhaps they can enlicit the assistance of their local Sheriff to use his constitutional powers to resist unconstitutional federal assaults on his fellow citizens."

First they'd have to convince the Sheriff's office to pay back any Federal dollars they've received, for instance under the Patriot Act, since these dollars come with partnership and compliance agreements...

Based on what I've read here, I don't mind this group.

I think that an emphasis on the 10th Amendment isn't exactly my cup of tea for all situations... but it's at least a more viable and reasoned ideology than a lot of the yelling and screaming we've heard in recent months.

And based on what I've read here, it doesn't sound like they're getting ready for some violent revolution... they want to "influence the outcome of the 2010 elections"? Great. Hey -- that's what politics in America is all about!

Just so long as, if they lose, they understand how democracy works and simply look towards the next election rather than equip themselves for combat.

Free speech, free assembly, etc. Sounds like these folks have done nothing wrong.

I detest nut-jobs as much as anybody, but endless whining about groups you disagree with is not productive. Don't like these guys? Start your own counter-group.

If you want to know who the really dangerous folks are in Oregon, check out the web site maintained by the Southern Poverty Law Center at http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp#s=OR Those are the folks you don't want to be spreading their hate.

Live and let live.

Scott, in most of Oregon, including Jancson county Libraries are funded through propoerty tax levies or through direct property tax ad valorem.

Scott, that would make YOU the dipstick.

Sounds like just another PR machine manufactured astroturf movement to me. If they get established enough that you can see where they get their funding from, follow up on this blog with that info. Many people would love to know.

It probably is one of those deals, considering the weird contradictions in their party platform (they want to keep things small, which I suppose means small business, but they're looking to give big business an unbalanced tax advantage? Good luck with that.) Any organization that is funded by that right wing political machine is no better than an advertisement. There's absolutely no requirement for it to be a real movement besides an attempt to get people to buy the product they're pitching (their confused and outdated party platform).

Kurt: You're making Scott's point for him. Just thought I'd point that out.

Taxpayer funded libraries are the same thing as a public library. It's funded by collecting taxes from the public. That's how public stuff works, as opposed to private, which means some guy owns it and controls whether or not he wants you to go into those front doors.

So why call Scott a dipstick if you're just going to go and make his point for him?

Kurt:

Could you possibly use a spell check or a 5th grade edumacation and get back to me ASAP.

Oh, and while yer at the library, look up why "Jancson county" had to close their libraries.

We must crush them!! Send in Carla. Let her start a smear campaign against the organizers. If they are republican, chances are that one of them molested a child or farm animal, or had a relative that spoke ill of a person of color. We will bury them under a mountain of their own hypocricy!

Gee Old Dipsticks, I find it interesting that a group that purports to be advancing the concerns of us 'little forgotten people' would be so concerned with protecting giant multinational corporations from from paying more than the $10 per year?

Fox News deceives, you believe.

Follow the money and you'll find out who pulls the string.

I think it's nice that they're out in the open, so we know who they are. One of the nicest things about free speech for crazy people is, we too are free to point and laugh.

Greg, you do realize that the Southern Poverty Law Center's main mission is fighting the Klan and other racial supremacist nutcases, rght? They don't spread hatred, they oppose it.

follow the money ... you guys are so cute.

The group has met twice at the Medford Public Library and are engaged in fighting the tax initiative for corporations to pay more than $10 per year and to tax individuals earning $250,000 or more which translates to about $180 more per year.

eh... CORRECTION: for individuals, the new higher tax bracket kicks in at $125,000, not $250,000.

What 'translates' to about $180 more per year? How/where did you come up with that number? A 1.8% surcharge is $180 additional tax (besides the regular 9% or $900) on every $10,000 earned over the new bracket limits.

Real and correct topic detailed with good theme and concepts.

They sound like "constitutionalists" who think only the sheriff has any authority and oppose the concept of national government. This group sounds like they have good PR but peel back the Oregon "Constitution" Party and you'll find those who don't think the Oregon Republican Party isn't conservative enough.

If you live in the Portland area, your county does have one of these:

http://www.oregon912project.com/

Zull and Scott, I do apologize for impaired typing last night. However when you spend all week-end helping your daughter, son-in-law and grandson move culminated Monday evening the typing skills go a bit.

My point to dispstick Scott is that Libraries are mostly supported through property tax levies at the county level. They are not supported via corporate existence taxes and/or sales taxes that this group is advocating against.

Oh, and dipstick Greg, I know why Jackson County Libraries closed. It is because the former Library Director built a system wide monument to herself and pushed for passage of a library bond that built new libraries throughout the county that the library did not have the resources or revenue to support. The good people of Ashland, having already passed their own library bond saw an oportunity to vote their indebtedness onto the rest of the county and proved to be the deciding votes.

A few years later when there was no money (thanks eco zealots) due to the depletion of O&C funds, the voters refused (twice) to vote additional taxes onto themselves for the bloated library system. It operates quite fine today on a limited schedule.

The Jackson County to Grants Pass area has a long history, back to the early 1970's, of "survivalists" that at one time stockpilled food and weapons and had plans to block I-5 should the need take place. These people never left, they just got older. In the early 1990's, the militia movement was strongest in that same area. Over here in Central Oregon, all the militia guys ever did was play war in the US Bank parking lot.

It would be easy to dismiss these crazy folks. They have been somewhat harmless for decades. But - they are at their foundation racists, they are paranoid, and they are armed.

Paulie - they are dangerous, leave no doubt in that regard. On the other hand, they currently represent a relatively small group. But, with FOX et al going at it in the media, I wouldn't be surprised to see their numbers grow to even more dangerous levels.

Demofan wrote:

"you'll find those who don't think the Oregon Republican Party isn't conservative enough"

Because it's not. But then, the Republican party in most states is not.

That's how Republicans got John McCain as the 2008 candidate and it's why Republicans lost.

In the Presidential race, running as 'Democrat lite' is a losing strategy for Republicans, just as running a 'Republican lite' candidate would be for Democrats.

Obama ran hard to the left to win the Democratic nomination. He was THE most liberal Senator in the chamber.

The fact that he now is ticking off the left by not pushing health care thru is to the advantage of the Republicans.

The more that Americans find out about what he really has planned, the less they like it.

My County probably has some of these groups/individuals too. Unfortunately when they get elected as it happened in my County a few years back, their leadership (dis)abilities become painfully obvious and they cost us taxpayers a lot of money as a former county commissioner's actions did here. Her machinations and conflicts of interest cost us taxpayers more than a half million dollars in litigation expenses.

Joe White, that fact that you buy into that nonsense that Obama was the most liberal Senator says tons about where you get your information as well as your ability to parrot what you are told and not think about what you read and hear. That same group that came to that conclusion came to the same about Kerry in 2004, no doubt a coincidence that he was the Democratic candidate and that they came up with that only when it was clear he would get the nomination.

Two seconds of thought would do you better. Really, Obama is more liberal than Russ Feingold?

And Obama ran "far" to the left? Yes, I for sure heard him denouncing US imperialism...like let's send more troops to Afghanistan. And he was gonna tear down the system of free enterprise (I guess more than the previous four presidents), crazy leftist that he is.

As was if you put his positions during the campaign on a piece of paper, but did not say they were his, you would think they were those of Republican lite.

"That's how Republicans got John McCain as the 2008 candidate and it's why Republicans lost."

Yeah, if they only had some foaming at the mouth "tenther" on the ticket they would have won in a landslide... Oh wait, they did, but she was running for VP.

I hope the Republican Party does become the party of "repeal a hundred years of progressive legislation". I hope Rick Perry wins the nomination from Kay Hutchinson in Texas and turns around the next day and secedes Texas from the Union. I hope the Republican Party locks itself in a basement with a tin foil hat. But that's just me...

"He [Obama] was THE most liberal Senator in the chamber."

Which isn't saying much since the Senate is a pretty conservative chamber in general. Of course, to the tenthers Alexander Hamilton was a Marxist firebrand.

Joe White,

Are you some kind of comedian or something. Barack Obama isn't even in the same ballpark as the most liberal member of the senate, Bernie Sanders, the Independent from Vermont. He calls himself a Social Democrat. As Jim mentioned Russ Feingold and I'd add Barbara Boxer and Teddy Kennedy as other obvious examples.

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