Bruun collects $160,000 in battle for Schrader's spot

By Peter Wong

Statesman Journal

Scott Bruun isn't Scott Brown, but the Republican from West Linn hopes to do Nov. 2 with the 5th District congressional seat what the Republican from Massachusetts did Tuesday for a U.S. Senate seat — wrest it from the Democrats.

Although Bruun has a contest in the May 18 primary against retired Salem businessman Fred Thompson, Bruun already has collected $160,000 for his battle for the seat held by Democrat Kurt Schrader of Canby.

"This is a good start," he said Thursday at a luncheon of the Valley Pachyderm Club. "It's given us national attention, and we are going to use that momentum — and the fact that for the first time in a long time, we have some wind at our back rather than the tide in our face."

Federal statements are due by Jan. 31. Schrader had $461,248 on hand as of Sept. 30, the most recent deadline of the Federal Election Commission; Thompson had $109.

The 5th District, which extends from the Mid-Valley into the Portland suburbs and the central coast, has been represented by a Democrat since 1996. During most of those years, Republicans outnumbered Democrats, but in 2008 — when Schrader won the seat vacated by Darlene Hooley — the balance tipped toward Democrats.

Schrader rode a Democratic tide to defeat Republican Mike Erickson, who was making his second bid and could not overcome personal questions raised by GOP rival Kevin Mannix during a bitter 2008 primary.

The campaign arm of U.S. House Republicans has targeted Schrader's seat this year — and Schrader is gearing up for what he expects to be a tough re-election contest.

Bruun said another tide has started with Brown's victory for the Massachusetts Senate seat, which Democrat Edward Kennedy held for 47 years until his death in August. He said it should send a message to President Obama and the Democratic congressional majorities about their agenda.

"My campaign is about saying no to this European-style atrophy — this centrally planned mediocrity — and saying yes to an American renaissance," Bruun said.

Bruun said he opposes the Democrats' economic-recovery program, increased federal spending, overhaul of health care, and pending cap-and-trade legislation to limit greenhouse-gas emissions and allow industries to buy pollution permits.

He also said he would continue tax cuts that President George W. Bush proposed and a Republican Congress approved in 2001 and 2003; Democrats may let some of them expire this year.

"I have no doubt that Congress will not address this issue in 2010," he said. "They will let it expire. But it's not just these policies — it's the mind-set that goes behind them."

Bruun, 43, is a vice president of a venture capital firm and has been in the Oregon House since 2005 — one cycle in the majority party and two in the minority. He also ran for Portland's 3rd District congressional seat in 1996, when he lost to Democrat Earl Blumenauer.

Bruun said he was recruited to run by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, the only Republican in Oregon's congressional delegation, who also is the deputy chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. But he said NRCC isn't officially backing him, even though NRCC noted his fundraising and regularly has criticized Schrader in press releases.

West Linn Tidings

By Rep Scott Bruun

As a small child I remember my Grandma Ilene, a constant worrier, pleading with those of us in her family to be careful whenever we visited Oregon’s beaches.

Warnings about slippery rocks, drift logs and sea lions were often mentioned. But her constant warning, without fail, was that we watch out for “sneaker” waves by never turning our backs on the ocean. Sage advice.

As Oregonians ponder Measures 66 and 67, and decide whether tax increases are the path to take during widespread economic downturn and job loss, we would be well advised to consider Ilene’s warning: Watch out for the sneaker wave headed our way.

The sneaker wave of federal tax increases that will, barring action by this current congress, occur after 2010.

We forget but in 2001 and 2003, to address the economic downturn caused by the tech bubble and 9/11, congress moved to reduce certain taxes. To incentivize job creation and economic growth, congress reduced tax rates on work, capital gains, equipment investments, dividends and inheritances. And it worked. Rate reductions spurred economic growth and investment that held constant until the rug was pulled out from under all of us by the housing bubble, poor credit standards and faulty regulatory oversight.

Given its policies and politics, it seems likely that our current congress will let tax rate reductions expire in 2010 without much mention or notice. What this means is that top federal income tax rates will go from 35 to 39.6 percent, capital gains rates from 15 to 20 percent, and inheritance taxes from zero this year, to 55 percent in 2011. Even the current $1,000 per child tax credit will fall to $500 in 2011. All of which will create a major burden for job creation, innovation, investment and economic growth in America going forward.

Here of course, Oregon fares no better or worse than other states. Everyone across the country would pay more, and America’s economic engine as a whole suffers.

But these federal tax increases, combined with the increase proposals in Measures 66 and 67, would put Oregon’s workers, families and small businesses in a uniquely difficult situation. These increases mean that in less than one year, the combined top income tax rate for Oregonians will go from 44 to 50.6 percent, capital gains from 24 to 29 percent, and business tax rates from 41.6 to 47.5 percent.

Taxes matter; they effect decisions to work, save, invest and consume.

Increased combined tax rates will negatively affect these factors, and further burden Oregon’s comparative advantages. While we may not have much influence on congress and those federal rates, we do control our destiny when it comes to Oregon’s rates – and ultimately the message we send to job creators across the globe.

I have no idea how Ilene would have voted, God rest her soul. But as we consider what to do on 66 and 67, I hope we remember her advice: Carefully negotiate the logs and slippery rocks we do see, and be mindful to not forget the sneaker wave behind us.

Vote no on 66 and 67 so Oregon’s workers, families and employers are better prepared for the federal wave coming.

State Rep. Scott Bruun, R-West Linn, represents District 37, which includes West Linn, Tualatin, Lake Oswego, Rivergrove, Stafford and Durham.

The Oregonian

By Jeff Mapes

Republican congressional candidate Scott Bruun - as well as his cheerleaders at the National Republican Congressional Committee - boasted Tuesday morning that Bruun had raised $160,000 in the first quarter of his campaign.

The reports aren't due until Jan. 31, so we don't know the details (other than that Bruun said he still had $150,000 in the bank on Jan. 1).  But Bruun, a state representative from West Linn, is clearly hoping this reasonably strong start will boost his momentum as he takes on freshman Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

Not surprisingly, Schrader, who represents Oregon's 5th Congressional District, still has a fundraising lead (it should be noted that it's hard to out-raise an incumbent).  Schrader had raised $545,000 through the end of September and had nearly $250,000 in the bank.

© 2010 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

Republicans claim the first-term Congressman now in 'lock step' with DNC

Wilsonville Spokesman
By Patrick Johnson

He's changed.

That's the consensus from two Republican candidates after reviewing Rep. Kurt Schrader's first term in Washington D.C.

The responses came after a series of articles ran in Eagle newspapers around the Willamette Valley, where Schrader outlined his first year in office as a freshman Democratic Representative for Oregon's 5th Congressional District.

"I read the interview and what I see in my friend Kurt Schrader is a desperate attempt at self-rationalization," said Rep. Scott Bruun, who has served in the Oregon House of Representatives since 2004. "Kurt is a good man, I admired him when he was in the Oregon Legislature. I would still call him a friend, although I'm not sure he would think the same of me. The Kurt I knew in the Oregon Legislature was independent and since he has gone to Washington has been in lock step with Nancy Pelosi and the DNC."

Bruun announced in October he will be running for Schrader's seat, that is if he can make it past the May Republican primary, where he faces Fred Thompson of Salem.

Thompson agreed with Bruun's characterization of Schrader.

"Kurt Schrader has voted more than 98-percent of the time with Nancy Pelosi," Thompson said. "That's wrong, because she is not right 98 percent of the time. We don't need San Francisco politics here in Oregon. This is Oregon. I read what Kurt said about what he learned during his time in Washington D.C. Well, the only thing he has learned is that when she pushes a button, he pushes the button for her. That's not right. My wife and I don't even agree 98-percent of the time."

Thompson has less political experience than Bruun, but said that he would bring business acumen to the position if elected. He describes himself as the "conservative" candidate in the primary race.

Both men said that Schrader's "yes" votes on the stimulus, cap and trade and health care bills show that he is more interested in bowing to the will of his party than representing his constituents in Oregon.

However, Schrader recently joined the Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of fiscally conservative Democrats who don't always see eye-toeye with the party's leadership.

CAP AND TRADE
Both Republican candidates said they feel the cap and trade legislation will have detrimental impacts to economic development, because of the unknown cost of energy until the bill is resolved.

"I know if I had an expansion planned for my company and I had this hanging out there I would hold off until I knew how much my energy costs were going to increase," Bruun said. "A lot of people can't make accurate decisions about their businesses or investment with this hanging over their heads. I don't think it will solve the problem, which is climate change. I think it struggles so hard to be all things to all people that inevitably it doesn't do anything."

Thompson said he has done a lot of work in the energy industry and he feels the only thing the cap and trade legislation will do is create a bigger market for energy brokers.

He said he has worked diligently to get facilities to meet the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. That was done in house, without having to pay brokers for emission levels.

"I don't agree with that, if we have an air quality issue, we need to resolve it," Thompson said. "We should resolve it at the manufacturing facilities, not have a bunch of brokers out there that are swapping credits back and forth and taking a portion of the proceeds. You are just taking revenue, cash, out of the businesses which is not going to allow them to bring capital investments in their businesses to resolve the issues."

HEALTH CARE
Bruun and Thompson both said they don't support current legislation being considered for health care reform.

They both are concerned that the House and Senate bills being discussed will raise the cost of health insurance for business and individuals, as well as change the relationship between the citizens and the government.

Both also said that tort reform, and addressing the malpractice insurance issues, are key to any health care legislation.

Thompson said that when his older brother had polio, the government tried to put his brother in "crippled children schools and hospitals."

Through the Shriners International, his brother was able to get some control of the arm that was impacted, which he considered an act of charity.

He believes that if the current plan is passed, all of those charitable hospitals will be run by the federal government.

"This is my bottom line," he said. "I believe you have the right to have health care. I believe you have the right to have the hospitals you want, the doctors you want, the treatment you want, but you do not have the right to have someone else to pay for it."

Bruun said he feels the problem with healthcare is the third-party payer system, in place today. In this system, employers pay for the insurance and most employees don't understand the costs of the coverage.

"So the employer-based system, you and I as the patient are not the customer," Bruun said. "There is no free-market in healthcare because the ultimate user is not the customer, so it creates a lot of opportunities to overconsume."

Bruun said the system must change by transitioning from businesses paying for health insurance to having a federal tax credit system for consumers for health insurance.

"If you can find your healthcare coverage that is less than the (tax credit),
great," he said. "If not, you can pay extra, it's up to you. It allows people to shop. You are never going to have the costs come down until you have a free market, and you won't have a free market until people can shop."

Both men are currently running for the Republican candidacy in the primary for the District 5 seat, scheduled for May 18.

The filing deadline for the primary election is March 9.