Health care protests

Letters to the Edito; CCC responds to economy; Family Caregiver Month

, Nov 10, 2009

matthew graham / oregon city news

Protestors stand outside of Congressman Kurt Scharder's Oregon City office to protest health care reform last week.

ADVERTISEMENTS

To the Editor:

Kurt Schrader does not represent Oregon’s 5th District. Voting with Nancy Pelosi 97.9 percent of the time, he instead represents the agenda of the socialist wing of the Democratic party. He believes what Nancy Pelosi believes.

Speaker Pelosi is elected by voters in perhaps the most liberal of all districts in the country. The majority of voters in our district probably don’t share the values the voters in her district do. Most of us don’t believe in turning our cities into illegal alien sanctuaries. Most of us don’t favor ignoring open drug dealing on our streets and the other crimes that are routinely ignored in Pelosi’s district.

President Obama has sought to move America away from the principals that have made us the greatest country on Earth towards the principals of socialism. In less than a year the federal government has taken ownership or control of major parts of our economy. This week they chose to take over even more of it by ramming through the House the most far-reaching and intrusive piece of legislation this country has ever seen. Within the 1,900 pages of the bill are provisions to allow a health care czar and his bureaucrats access to every record on every American the government has, create hundreds of new government agencies, regulate countless other parts of your life including governing every vending machine, controlling every piece of medical equipment, fining and potentially imprisoning those who choose not to buy government-approved insurance, and the list goes on.

The health care bill Schrader so proudly voted for is the most transforming law ever voted on in our country’s history. It takes us from a land of people who are free to live our lives as we think best to a land of people so controlled by bureaucrats and politicians that even our own health care is not our own business.

Given the far-reaching power of this bill, it is even more revolting that Kurt Schrader won’t even support posting bills online 72 hours before they’re voted on!

So much for the most transparent administration in history. So much for representing the people of Oregon’s 5th District. Rep. Schrader’s votes have been and continue to take away more and more of our freedom.

It is time for voters to tell Kurt Schrader we believe in freedom and liberty; not government control over every aspect of our lives.

Casey Flesch

CCC responding to economy with new offerings

To the Editor:

Enrollment is soaring at Clackamas Community College as Oregonians seek education and training in the wake of the recession. We are serving more students than ever before. In the past year, our Workforce Development staff assisted 7,014 people with job-seeking services. This is a 10-fold increase over the year before.

This is not only a dramatic example of how our county has been affected by the economy, it also illustrates the key role CCC plays in meeting the needs of our community. Community colleges are on the front line, whether addressing changes in industry that require retraining, or providing an accessible and affordable pathway to a four-year degree.

At Clackamas, midnight welding classes have been added to meet increased demand as people increase their skills and abilities. Federal Department of Labor funds will be used to develop curriculum to train local people to repair the rotor blades on the gigantic wind turbines that are increasingly providing electrical power. Federal dollars are also being used to increase services to veterans in our community. These are just few examples of the many ways your community college responds to the needs of the economy to help people get back to work.

As your representative to the CCC Board of Education, I am visiting organizations within the Gladstone, Oak Grove and West Clackamas areas to report on business and activities at your community college. If you would like me to speak to a group in your community, please contact Susan Iwata at the college: 503-594-3017.

Thank you.

1 | 2 Next Page >>