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Portland Mayor to Bush: Pay up for cops overtime during campaign stop
Portland Tribune ^ | October 24, 2003 | DON HAMILTON

Posted on 10/25/2003 1:49:56 PM PDT by nwrep

Portland's Communist Party Mayor Vera Katz smiles in this transgender day parade photo

Portland wants campaign to pay $116,756 in OT for August visit
By DON HAMILTON     Issue date: Fri, Oct 24, 2003
The Tribune


   The city of Portland will ask President Bush to pay the overtime bill that police ran up during his campaign visit to the Rose City last summer.
   
It's not the first time and probably won't be the last.
   Mayor Vera Katz says she will send a bill to Bush-Cheney '04, President Bush's re-election committee, for $116,756. Most of it is for police overtime, but a portion would pay for increased employee benefits incurred because of the overtime, said Scott Farris, the mayor's spokesman.
   The city has billed political campaigns in the past for police overtime and will continue to do so in the future, Farris said.
   "This will be an ongoing policy in this administration to bill for any kind of overtime costs associated with political fund-raising events that are not open to the general public, that are clearly not part of an official's official duties," Farris said.
   That means visits next year by the Democratic presidential nominee could generate a similar overtime bill, as would purely political activities of government officials.
   Presidential visits always require additional security, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But Portland's attempts to bill campaigns for police overtime is new, prompted in part by the increased costs to the city from the escalating protests in Portland when Bush visits.
   The city's first bill for police overtime went out last year after President Bush came to town to raise money for Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith's re-election. To be fair, the city later sent a similar bill for overtime to his opponent, Bill Bradbury.
   On Aug. 21, President Bush raised more than $1 million for his re-election during a $2,000-per-person lunch at the University of Portland. Police from many local agencies helped with security as more than 3,000 protesters marched outside the North Portland campus.
   Once the Portland Police Bureau collected its overtime reports, the tab added up to $116,756. The letter requesting reimbursement probably will be sent to the committee sometime next week, Farris said.
   A spokeswoman for Bush-Cheney '04 declined comment. She referred questions to the Secret Service, which determines the level of security necessary for a presidential visit.
   Last year, an overtime bill for $51,346 went to Smith's re-election campaign after three campaign visits: one from President Bush, one from Vice President Dick Cheney and one from House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
   The Aug. 22, 2002, presidential visit accounted for the largest portion of the overtime bill: $38,943. Cheney's June 24, 2002, visit required $8,256 in overtime. The bill was $578 for Hastert's Aug. 14, 2002, stop in Portland.
   The Smith campaign didn't pay the bill sent to it because the president's Aug. 22, 2002, visit involved more than just raising campaign money, said Caroline Mullen, Smith's press secretary.
   During that visit, she said, Bush also met with 18 community leaders to talk Oregon issues. The meeting was held at the Hilton Portland, the site of the Smith fund-raising lunch but was unrelated to politics, Mullen said.
   "The president came and focused on Oregon issues on that visit, and that's invaluable to Oregonians," she said. "When the president, Democrat or Republican, comes to Oregon, it would be unwise to send a signal he's not welcome."
   Last year the city also sent a $1,685 overtime bill to Bradbury, the Democratic Oregon secretary of state who unsuccessfully challenged Smith last year. The bill was for visits from former President Clinton and Sen. Tom Daschle, the Senate Democratic leader.
   Bradbury's campaign sent the city a check for $1,685.
   "These events were specifically for our campaign, and we felt it was our responsibility to pay, said Jules Kopel-Bailey, a Bradbury campaign aide. "We didn't want to shift the burden to the taxpayers of Portland. We paid it and forgot about it."
   Not all cities handle security for such visits the same way. The city of Lexington, Ky., for example, decided against asking for reimbursement for $15,956 in police overtime after an Oct. 9 presidential campaign visit.
   An unexpected overtime bill hurts when the city is cutting services, Farris said.
   "Like most cities across the nation," he said, "we are facing budget shortfalls that threaten our ability to deliver effective municipal services to the community. In order to minimize cutbacks in essential services, it is incumbent on us to reduce or eliminate some of the largest discretionary demands on our budget."
   
   Contact Don Hamilton at-   dhamilton@portlandtribune.com
.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: antiamericanism; antibush; blackshirts; brownshirts; bush; bushdoctrineunfold; electionpresident; freespeech; leftwingnut; oregon; portland; portlandmayor; potus; president; protestors; unamerican; usefulidiots; verakatz; visit
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To: Howlin; Ed_NYC; MonroeDNA; widgysoft; Springman; Timesink; dubyaismypresident; Grani; coug97; ...
Uh, yeah. The check.......it's in the mail! Yeah! That's the ticket! (NOT!)

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

21 posted on 10/25/2003 8:35:16 PM PDT by mhking
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To: hunter112; Mears
I'm with you, I think ALL Presidential campaigns should pay for extra security required by a visit. And I mean, with a deposit in advance.

I agree to the fullest..The president apparently has been adding more and more security everywhere he goes. And also, add up ALL the $$$$$ he's picking up on EACH stop..

22 posted on 10/25/2003 8:43:16 PM PDT by Bella
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To: nwrep
Who wants to bet against her neglecting to send a bill to the Demonrat party members that come to Portland.

Any takers, I could really use the dough.
23 posted on 10/25/2003 8:50:16 PM PDT by Ogmios (Since when is 66 senate votes for judicial confirmations constitutional?)
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To: Oorang
RE:Are there any candidates for mayor that look even halfway decent?
In a word NO.......
24 posted on 10/25/2003 10:32:41 PM PDT by suzyq5558 (Terri is not in a coma!)
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To: SAMWolf
This is the perfect thread to post your famous welcome to Portland Picture.
25 posted on 10/26/2003 6:47:48 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Get a free FR coffee mug! Donate $10 monthly to Free Republic or 34 cents/day!)
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To: Mears
Say what you want but I don't see any problem with this at all.

This was my initial reaction as well. But then I started thinking about how this would stack up against the constitutional "smell test". It doesn't.

You want a candidate to pay for his freedom to speak in some location because his thoughts are unpopular with the anarchists and leftist in that city? The more violent and unreasonable the protest, the more the target of the protest pays. Bad idea.

26 posted on 10/26/2003 7:31:31 AM PST by SC Swamp Fox (Aim small, miss small.)
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To: nwrep
Katz? Isn't this the chick who had one of the Portland terror suspects on her payroll for a while?
27 posted on 10/26/2003 7:32:42 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: hunter112
See Reply #26.
28 posted on 10/26/2003 7:37:00 AM PST by SC Swamp Fox (Aim small, miss small.)
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To: Grampa Dave
By popular request, LOL.


29 posted on 10/26/2003 8:24:59 AM PST by SAMWolf (Let's head over to the Foxhole and quaff a few root beers. (Phil Dragoo))
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To: nwrep
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1008337/posts

FreeRepublic.com "A Conservative News Forum"

Is there ANY evil that they won't blame on Bush?
The Star ^ | Sunday 26 October | Michael Bowers


Posted on 10/26/2003 6:12 AM PST by mjbowers


Is there any evil that they don't blame on Bush?

Sunday, October 26, 2003

By Michael J. Bowers

Star columnist




The hate just never stops.

Now it's George Bush's fault that the prime minister of Malaysia is an anti-Semitic bigot.

This is what Paul Krugman, the leader of the Republican-haters on the New York Times opinion page, believes.

In case you missed it, a couple of weeks ago, the prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, told an Islamic summit meeting: "The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today, the Jews rule this world by proxy: They get others to fight and die for them."

To make it worse, Mohamad got a standing ovation from 57 Muslim leaders.

This hate was astonishing enough. I didn't think it could be topped. But I underestimated the ability of Paul Krugman. He topped it.

Krugman says you really can't blame Mahathir; Bush made him do it!

Here's how Krugman explained it on Tuesday morning:

"Mr. Mahathir thinks that to cover his domestic flank, he must insert hateful words into a speech mainly about Muslim reform. That tells you, more accurately than any poll, just how strong the rising tide of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism among Muslims in Southeast Asia has become.

"Thanks to its war in Iraq and its unconditional support for Ariel Sharon, Washington has squandered post-9-11 sympathy and brought relations with the Muslim world to a new low."

Is there anything at all in the world that the Bush-haters will not blame on the president?

Krugman is one of many such haters on the Left. Eight years ago, Nina Totenberg, a reporter for NPR, as much as wished doom upon Sen. Jesse Helms.

"If there is retributive justice," she said during a heated radio discussion, "he'll get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it."

Now Totenberg is back with a similar sentiment for Army Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin. The general's sin? He described the war on terrorism as akin to a war on Satan.

Now I believe some of the things Boykin said were a little nutty. But I also believe it was hard not to see something Satanic in the images of the condemned workers peering out the windows of the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

But seeing evil in wanton murder is too rigid and fundamentalist for good people like Totenberg. She said of the general: "I hope he's not long for this world."

When people who heard her were taken aback, she backpedaled. "In his job, in his job, in his job, please, please, in his job!" she said.

Thanks, Nina. That makes it all better.

Earlier this summer, I wrote about the Left's hatred for all things Bush, and so I have hesitated to bring it up again lest I be guilty of repetitiveness.

But this week, I can't rein myself. The hate just gets more and more offensive.

For example, in September, Jonathan Chait, a writer for The New Republic, wrote a remarkable piece explaining why he hates President Bush. Some of his friends, Chait said, describe Bush's very existence as a "constant oppressive force in their daily psyche." Chait can't even stand the way Bush talks or walks.

Is this hatred normal? Or are we approaching the edge of insanity here?

Not only do the Bush-haters hate, they also lie.

For instance, a couple of months ago, President Bush stated there was no evidence of a close link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. The press bit into his leg like a pit bull and hasn't let go yet. They keep saying gleefully that Bush "admitted" no link.

But this loaded word makes it a lie, because Bush never said there was a link. We didn't knock out Saddam because the dictator plotted 9-11; we knocked him out because we want to create a stable, democratic Middle East that won't birth more fanaticism and terror.

Another thing the haters complain about is that Bush sold the war as a response to an "imminent" threat. He lied, they cry — Iraq was never an imminent threat.

Again, those who accuse Bush of lying are lying themselves. Bush never said the threat was imminent. In fact, in his State of the Union address, he said just the opposite:

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words and all recriminations would come too late."

And then there's the report by weapons inspector David Kay to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

According to Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican who attended the closed briefing, Kay said he had found no actual weapons of mass destruction. But this was only a small part of the report. Kay also outlined what had been a vigorous, extensive and frightening effort by Saddam to gain such weapons.

For instance, said the senator, "Kay found a prison laboratory complex that might have been used to test biowarfare agents on humans, unmanned aerial vehicle and missile technology banned by the United Nations, and equipment for uranium enrichment that could have helped restart Iraq's nuclear weapons program once sanctions were lifted."

Chambliss was shocked when he woke up the next day to headlines such as: "No evidence of Iraq WMD programs found."

Pathetically, the Bush-haters can dish it out, but they can't take it. Whenever a conservative says something even remotely skeptical of the motives of the Left, they go into a rage about Republican "mean-spiritedness."

It boggles the mind. Do these people ever read their own newspapers? And have they never heard the awful things said by the likes of Bill Moyers, Bob Herbert and Michael Moore?

Did they miss the recent "Boondocks" strip in which the cartoonist had our wonderful and brilliant national security adviser, Condi Rice, destroying the planet because she can't get a boyfriend?

Today's Bush-haters: Never before have I seen a group of such mean, nasty bullies pretend to be the victim of such meanness, nastiness and bullying.

Michael Bowers is a copy editor for The Star. He can be reached via e-mail at mbowers@starnewspapers.com.

30 posted on 10/26/2003 8:27:54 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Get a free FR coffee mug! Donate $10 monthly to Free Republic or 34 cents/day!)
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To: SAMWolf
Thanks same. That picture shows the true nature of the Islamofacist loving Rat B$tch that Vera is.

Jail the violent protestors and put them to work or charge them $1000 to pay for the police costs.

Vera will next ask for victims of armed robbery, rape and other acts of violence to pay for the extra police costs.
31 posted on 10/26/2003 8:30:49 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Get a free FR coffee mug! Donate $10 monthly to Free Republic or 34 cents/day!)
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To: nwrep
She has to bill campaigns since she has run out all the businesses with her tax increases and regulations. Paris Oregon is about as high taxed and efficent as France. And it has cute little trains running everywhere$$$$$$.

Pray for GW and the Troops

32 posted on 10/26/2003 8:38:20 AM PST by bray ( Old Glory Stands for Freedom)
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To: nwrep
the poLICE just another stupid fat union.
33 posted on 10/26/2003 8:50:33 AM PST by Jimbaugh (They will not get away with this. Developing . . . . .)
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To: nwrep
But Portland's attempts to bill campaigns for police overtime is new, prompted in part by the increased costs to the city from the escalating protests in Portland when Bush visits.

So bill the fricken protestors (call it a "rally" fee) since they are the ones who pose the threat. Oh yeah, I forgot... when they riot and cause mass disruption, the charges against "protestors" (seditious anarchists) are dropped.

34 posted on 10/26/2003 9:51:17 AM PST by weegee
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To: nwrep
Katz always looks like she's high on something.
35 posted on 10/26/2003 9:54:10 AM PST by nightdriver
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To: mewzilla; nwrep
Yup, Katz employed one of the terror suspects. Click here for an article mentioning this.
36 posted on 10/26/2003 9:54:28 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: mewzilla
Krazy Katz bump.
37 posted on 10/26/2003 12:00:42 PM PST by mewzilla
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To: nwrep
Any city whose populace would actually be so stupid as to elect such a droolingly idiotic ultra-Leftie deserves what they get.
38 posted on 10/26/2003 1:30:06 PM PST by RightOnline
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To: SC Swamp Fox
You gotta point, I hadn't thought of it that way. I've been treating political speech with the same reverence that I feel towards telemarketers calls, and its just not the same thing. I stand corrected.
39 posted on 10/26/2003 10:26:05 PM PST by hunter112
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To: nwrep
That's not a picture of a human is it?
40 posted on 10/27/2003 5:59:39 AM PST by Bikers4Bush
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