Thank You Republicans

Submitted by admin on Mon, 2009-08-10 23:22

Thank You Republicans from Oregon Republican Party on Vimeo.

Governor Tom McCall	*Thank you for protecting our state beaches…* In the 1967 legislative session Republican Governor Tom McCall signed House Bill 1601 into law. This bill included the support of Republican Representative Sidney Bazett from Grants Pass. Rep. Bazett, who was a committee chairman, kept the bill alive in committee until support could be formed. The bill, which was the first of its kind to be enacted by any legislative body in the nation, guaranteed that the state’s coastline would remain secure for generations to come. The bill specifically guaranteed public access to the state's beaches and established a state easement on all beaches between the low water mark and the vegetation line. The bill expanded upon an almost-60-year-old law that decreed public ownership of beaches between low- and high-water lines, but still allowed for privatization of the "dry sands" area between the high water line and the vegetation line, (“Beach Bill,” Choices that Created the Oregon Mystique: Governor Tom McCall's Foresight and Accomplishments, http://www.orgov.org/beachbill.html, April 29, 2009.)
Joseph Hayne Rainey	Thank you for electing the first African American Congressmen… The first African American to be elected and serve as a U.S. Representative was Republican Joseph H. Rainey from South Carolina; he served from 1870 to 1879. “Born into slavery, Joseph Rainey was not only the first African American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but also the first African American to preside over the House, and the longest-serving African American during the tumultuous Reconstruction period”, (“Joseph Hayne Rainey: Representative, 1870-1879, Republican from South Carolina,” Black Americans in Congress, Office of the Clerk – U.S. Capitol, http://baic.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=11, April, 29, 2009).
Hiriam R. Revels	The first African American to be elected and serve as a U.S. Senator was Republican Hiram R. Revels from Mississippi; he served from 1870-1871, (“Biographical Directory of the United States Congress,” Washington, D.C., http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000166, April 29, 2009.)
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback	The first African American to serve as Governor of a U.S. State was Republican Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback; he served as the Governor of Louisiana from 1872-1873. P.B.S. Pinchback was the son of a Mississippi white planter and a freed slave; he became active in Republican Party politics in Louisiana as a delegate in the Republican State Convention of 1867 and to the Constitutional Convention in 1869. (“P.B.S. Pinchback,” Louisiana Governors – Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office, http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/383/Default.aspx, April 29, 2009.)
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor	Thank you for nominating the first female Supreme Court Justice… Republican President Ronald Reagan nominated Republican Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female Associate Justice in the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor served as a Supreme Court Justice from 1981 to 2006. In the 24 years as an associate justice, she played a crucial role in decisions on major issues such as abortion and the death penalty. Judge O'Connor compiled an impressive list of academic, civic, political and legal achievements. (“The Justices of the Supreme Court,” http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/biographiescurrent.pdf, April 29, 2009.)
President Ronald Reagan	Thank you for keeping taxes low… President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Recovery Act of 1981, “Represented a fundamental shift in the course of federal income tax policy. This brought the top tax bracket down 50 percent. …In addition to accelerated cost recovery, the 1981 Act also instituted a 10 percent Investment Tax Credit to spur additional capitol formation. …As inflation came down and as more and more of the tax cuts from the 1981 Act went into effect, the economy began a strong and sustained pattern of growth.” (U.S. Treasury, “History of the U.S. Tax System,” Fact Sheets, http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml, April 29, 2009.) In President Ronald Reagan’s Tax Reform Act of 1986, “The number of tax brackets was reduced and the personal exemption and standard deduction amounts were increased and indexed for inflation, thereby relieving millions of taxpayers of any Federal income tax burden.” (U.S. Treasury, “History of the U.S. Tax System,” Fact Sheets, http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml, April 29, 2009.) President George W. Bush’s Economic Growth and Tax Relief and Reconciliation Act of 2001, “…represented a resumption of a number of other trends in tax policy. …The 2001 tax cut also continued the move toward a consumption tax by expanding a variety of savings incentives.” U.S. Treasury, “History of the U.S. Tax System,” Fact Sheets, http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml, April 29, 2009.)
	*Thank you for creating the world’s first national park…* Republican Representative William D. Kelley was one of the first people to suggest preserving Yellowstone as a national park. On March 1, 1872 Republican President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill into law that created Yellowstone as the first national park in the United States, (Aubrey L. Haines, “Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Establishment,” National Park Service, 1974, www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/haines1/iee3c.htm, April 29, 2009). For more information on the history of Yellowstone’s designation as the world’s first national park and to read the text of the original bill go to www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/haines1/iee3c.htm