Well the race is over for me but not for the chosen Republicans as we head into the General Elections. It is the day after the results were released and it looks like the gloves are off already. As for the Primary race, it was well fought and respectful. However, now is the time for all Republicans to unify behind the winners, because the November General Election is so important to our state and to our nation. I plan to contact all Republican candidates who ran for Governor and I hope to impact the November outcome by demonstrating our unified front.  

While of course I’m disappointed that my last minute run did not generate a grass roots explosion, I’m nonetheless glad I ran. I’m especially proud of the supporters who helped me push on. That motivational push continued right up to late yesterday afternoon when I received a phone call from a woman looking at her ballot and my website.  She asked me how I felt about abortion and gay marriage. When I mentioned I was against both, she said I had her vote.  

Tuesday, as I drove down I-5 to meet John Lim and his supporters at The Benson Hotel, I still felt there was some hope. At the election party I was warmly greeted by Senator Lim and his supporters who I felt sincerely endorsed my positions.  It was a nice closure to the campaign, and it reinforced my thoughts.  Many Oregonians from both parties told me I had a political future and should not quit politics. 

During the campaign as I crossed the state appearing at all the forums and debates that I could, I was often joined by my 13 year old son Chad, or my 19 year old daughter Casey Ann.  I really began to appreciate the American democratic process at the grass roots level.  I was experiencing something that I believe our founding fathers must have had in mind for our republic.   With candidates giving stump speeches, debating each other, and answering questions from the audience, I felt this was really the way campaigns should be held.  Whether it was a live forum or debate, a TV or radio interview, I was pleased that the voters were getting the right information to make good voting decisions.  To make more people aware of the candidates’ views at these forums, these events were often shown on TV and almost all of them were made available on the internet. 

All these things made me think that grass roots campaigns do in fact have a chance today, especially with the internet. I concluded people could now get more useful information about the candidates than ever imagined, even a couple of years ago.

There will always be biased reporting which seasoned politicians well know.  When that happens, I hope the people will understand there are always two sides to a story.  Truly, going through a political campaign is a huge education for a first time candidate as I learned.  However, it was fun meeting the people, and of course meeting and talking with my supporters over the phone. 

The day after the KATU live debates on May 2, I got a phone call from a woman from Astoria who told me that she and her husband were as mad that they had registered as Democrats and could not vote for me.  She then asked how they could help me get elected. 

On many more occasions in La Grande, Salem, Klamath Falls, Newport, Albany, Corvallis, Bend, Eugene, Tillamook, Prineville, and even in Portland, I was approached by supporters who liked my ideas and my concrete pro-business solutions for Oregon’s fiscal mess.  They liked my conservative social and fiscal stances, as well as my patriotic message.

It was you my supporters that kept me on the campaign trail and I thank you.  I want to thank my Campaign Manager, Bill Lambert from Colorado who was my daily supporter in more ways than one. If it was not for Bill, my campaign messages on the website would have not happened. I also thank my daughter Casey Ann, who provided our Facebook information and for her support with the Oregon State University Republicans. It was a great boost for my candidacy in the Corvallis area.  

I have a special thanks for Stella Guenther the Benton County Republicans Manager who held a “Meet and Greet” for me at their headquarters, where I spoke for over an hour.  As I’m writing this, Jo Rae Perkins, the Linn County Republican Party Chair just sent me an email stating that Chris Dudley should hire me to help turn Oregon around.  According to her, more people needed to hear my message.  I was also greatly supported in La Grande, by the Eastern Oregon Patriots with a personal meeting with them and their supporters. Needless to say, I thank all my supporters and the people who cared enough to go out and hear all the candidates speak.

This is the way American political elections should happen – face to face.  After my experience as a state-wide candidate, I believe this is the only way that voters can really find out what candidates stand for, what they believe in, and how they handle the tough questions. The 60 second TV commercials and radio sound-bites hardly scratch the surface of the candidate’s true abilities, beliefs, and qualifications.  As I mentioned in one of the forums when the subject of campaign financing came up, “we have the best Congress that money can buy.” No pun intended – it’s the truth.  That is why many candidates do not represent the people anymore, but instead represent special interests.  In essence, it’s not how much money is raised but rather how it is used that determines election’s outcomes. I think politicians should take a hard look at this issue – but then again it is really against many incumbents’ self interest to do so.

I will continue to be active in politics because I love this country.  You have my pledge that I will not sit still and watch the Federal Government pick apart the U.S. Constitution, bleed Americans of their rights and liberties, and of their hard earned money.  Also I cannot sit on the sidelines and watch Oregon continue to slide into economic ruin.  To me this campaign has been the wake-up call, and I ask you for your continued support.

Thank you and God Bless America,

Clark Colvin,

Former Republican Candidate for Governor,

May 19, 2010                 

As a post script, I’ve dusted off my doctoral dissertation written over 20 years ago where I submitted that since ancient times, republican forms of government degenerate into socialism and/or government sponsored dictatorships.  I’ll have the whole document on the website soon so you can review my findings.  Then you can take law abiding corrective action. The United States of America is not immune from this outcome.  Why – because of secular liberalism.   It sounds scary, but today will are starting to live that nightmare.  It’s happening now in Greece, the cradle of our civilization, and it can happen here.  I fear our current politicians either do not know this, or worse, they are hiding it. 

Lastly, Carl Rove recommended one political book to me and I’ll pass it on to you – “The Dream and the Nightmare” by Myron Magnet.  Another on finances is “The Great Depression Ahead” by Harry S. Dent Jr.  Together, these books answer the “why”, the “when”, and the “how much”.

By Nick Budnick / The Bulletin

.… .A Golden Gate records administrator, however, said school records indicate that Colvin received a full Ph.D., dissertation and all.

“I think I probably will be as educated as any of the candidates,” Colvin said.

Colvin said it is his business savvy that will be his best qualification for governor. He cited his two decades as a consultant specializing in helping lumber companies and building materials retailers restructure. His firm is called CSC Capital Group.

He said that if elected, he would use his experience to restructure state government and look at ways to improve Oregon’s business environment, such as by shifting from an income tax to a sales tax.

“The bottom line is that we need to change Oregon into an entrepreneurial state by its tax structure,” he said. ….

 The following is applicable to all States. But let’s first start in Oregon as an example to all other States.

1) Thou shall not impose high taxes.  Income taxes have a large negative effect on economic growth.   

Before 1913 (except in times of war), the year the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified creating the IRS, the effective tax rate imposed by all levels of government seldom rose above 5%.  Today it is 31.6 % of personal income. Income taxes are against what the founders fought for in our War of Independence.  The only fair tax is a national and state sales and consumption tax that would be caped at 5%.

2) Thou shall not penalize investment earnings.  Taxes on investment earnings slow economic growth.

States that want more economic growth should eliminate their taxes on both income earnings and investment earnings.  Both discourage business investments that make job creation possible. Taxes on investments also discourage saving for future consumption.  Eliminating taxes on capital will automatically increase Gross Domestic Product for all States and the United States.

3) Thou shall not impose excise taxes.  Excise taxes are obsolete.

Excise taxes originated long ago when government’s revenue needs were smaller, interstate commerce was rare, and enforcement was easy. Today excise taxes are regressive, are imposed unfairly, often lead to evasion, and are an unreliable revenue source. They are on the other hand attractive to elected officials because they are less visible to a majority of constituents. 

4) Thou shall create a transparent and accountable State Budget.

The core functions of State Government are to ensure public safety, facilitate a fair system of justice, assure educational opportunity, assure basic human needs, and act as a responsible steward of public property. Thus if the sole purpose of collecting taxes is to finance the core functions of state government, then it follows that first state legislators and the Governor must identify those core functions and measure the performance of stated agencies. Second, Governors then must utilize a line-by-line, department-by-department, program-by-program, agency-by-agency performance based budgeting system. And third, Governors must perform performance audits with results reported directly to the people. 

5) Thou shall privatize public services whenever possible.  

Privatization is a proven way to reduce government spending while improving the quality of core public services. So once a state’s core functions are identified, Governors and state legislators must decide which public services can be privatized. Costs are always higher in the public sector because the discipline of the market is missing.  However Governors must hold both public service agencies and private companies providing public services accountable by reviewing profit and loss statements on a monthly basis. 

6) Thou shall avoid corporate subsidies. Subsidies, tax abatements, business loans, and economic development programs are questionable politics and bad economics.

It is far wiser to leave money in taxpayers’ hands than to give it to a chosen few in government in hopes that they will make the best economic development and investment decisions. Public officials will seldom succeed in choosing winning programs and avoiding losers, thus lowering tax rates will benefit the state economy as a whole. 

7) Thou shall cap expenditures as a percentage of State Gross Domestic Product, and to the sum of inflation and population growth.

In simple terms you don’t spend beyond your means. And you don’t spend money you don’t have. Government cannot grow faster than the private sector, and the best way to measure this is by comparing the per capital ratio of state expenditures to number of state citizens. The best way to enforce such measures is to pass a constitutional amendment. 

 8) Thou shall fund students not schools.

Free and universal K-12 education is generally agreed to be one of the core functions of state government.  However, by historical standards, public schools are costly and yield poor achievement results.  Funding students means creating voucher programs which pay for tuition even if parents choose private schools for their children. School choice allows parents to play a much more important role in their children’s education.

 9) Thou shall reform the health care industry state by state, though not by Federal mandates.

Next to education, health care is the next largest state concern and expense.  However, costs have been rising at double-digit rates in many states. It is the health care industry and the professions that milk the system that needs change, specifically in reducing costs. Such reforms include:  Enroll people with preexisting medical conditions in high-risk pools offering subsidized private health insurance. Reduce the price of private insurance by removing unnecessary price controls and coverage mandates, which increase health care costs by forcing people to buy insurance for services they don’t need. Limit Medicaid eligibility to the truly poor. Implement disease control programs, which will reduce unnecessary drug expenditures. And, create benefit packages that allow people to opt out of Medicaid plans and use their state-paid premiums to purchase private insurance.

 10) Thou shall prohibit the use of state employee’s paychecks to fund public sector labor unions political purposes. 

 State and local governments condone the practice of forcing government workers to pay union dues to support political activities, whether they agree or disagree with such activities. Legally there is no reason why state and local governments should do this for unions. Contributions of money for political purposes should be voluntary, lest it is tyrannical. In order to break the power of state government unions we must stop deducting the paychecks of public workers for political purposes, thus reducing pressure for bigger and more expensive government.

May 5, 2010

Clark Colvin Oregon Governor Candidate Disagrees With Academic Reporting

The Oregonian on May 4, 2010, stated “Clark Colvin, a Republican candidate for governor, never earned the doctorate in public administration he claims in campaign information”, citing Tasia Veene (in fact Tasia Neeve) director of marketing and communications of Golden Gate University.  In the Oregonian’s article, Ms. Neeve stated “Mr. Colvin did not complete his program and therefore does not have a degree from Golden Gate University,”.

In another article on April 5, 2010, reporter Nick Budnick of the Bend Bulletin wrote “….  A Golden Gate records administrator, however, said school records indicate that Colvin received a full PhD, dissertation and all”.

In reconciling the differing views on his record, Colvin states that “discovery of existing evidence (from Mr. Budnick) outweighs not finding evidence from Golden Gate University” (from the Oregonian).  The University states they have a practice where paper records are not kept over five (5) years.

Mr. Colvin entered the Golden Gate PhD program in 1986 and completed his coursework in 1988 with a 3.7 GPA according to transcripts.  His dissertation proposal was approved in 1988 and he spent the next two years writing his dissertation.  It was then submitted in 1991.  The dissertation committee consisted of the late Dr. Otto Butz, then president of the university, Dr. Jean Claus a professor, and the late Dr. Russell Kirk, a well known author.  Drs Butz and Claus supported Colvin’s thesis, while Kirk dissented. 

Colvin’s 1000+ page thesis titled “Representation In Evolution” traced history forward from ancient Athens and concluded that republican forms of government degenerate over time because of liberalism and eventually eroded into socialism and/or a government sponsored dictatorships.  Colvin declined to rewrite his dissertation to adapt to Kirk’s ideology instead believing that his historical conclusions and concerns for modern America were indeed valid.

After Kirk was no longer on the committee, Butz and Claus continued to review the document appointing another reader to the committee.  “Both Butz and Claus worked to see I was awarded the degree which was done in 1995.  The award date of 1995 coincided with Budnick’s findings from Golden Gate University” says Colvin.

 Additionally, regarding the Oregonian’s note of “Colvin’s listed diploma from the University of London, and attendance at Harvard Business School and the Amsterdam Institute of Finance could not be confirmed.”, Colvin states that he has certification documents of all these completions.  While there are two “University of London” branches, one in the U.S., and the other in London England, Colvin attended the original London site in The United Kingdom.

It was great to talk to you last week. When you become governor and implement your financial restructuring package Oregon will again run in the black! It is hard to believe it has been six years since you were here in beautiful St. Cloud MN. When you arrived we were a successful 100+ year old family building material business. Since our financial restructuring with you we have gone through the toughest business climate since the late 70’s, early 80’s. The formula that provides for success also helped to manage a downturn. The resources you helped to establish made our management team smarter and wiser. We have managed through the tough times and are once again poised to take advantage of the recovery, if it ever happens! Good luck in your run for governor. I have a feeling it is easier to manage a nuclear submarine, than trying to manage an out of control cost structure that we have in our various government entities. Please greet Trish and your family from us back here; we look forward to following the progress of your campaign.
God Speed.

 Loran Hall

President, Mathew Hall Lumber Company

127 6th ave no, St. Cloud MN 56303

(320) 252-1920

www.mathewhall.com

Hello and thank you for visiting my web site.  I hope you will share this experience with your friends.

The following pieces are part of a vision I have for a better future for Oregonians.  It’s a big picture, not one to be done in a day, but one that can start with your vote and your help.

You can read through the following pieces in order – best because they are all related, or you can pick a topic.

In any event, I’d appreciate your comments.

Sincerely,

Clark Colvin

Who is Clark Colvin?  Why is he running?

1. Who is Clark Colvin? Why is he running? 
2. Backdrop of Oregon’s crisis 
3. The anticipation of risk
4. Oregon state government’s implosion
5. The taxation explosion
6. All Oregonians are feeling the pain
7. How bad is the financial crisis?
8. Oregon home owners are getting killed
9. The ripple effect of unemployment

10.  What can Oregon do?  What should Oregonians know?

11.  New perspectives for Oregon