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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 2017)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2017 4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS Opinion / Politics Notice to Readers There will be no January 5, 2018 issue of The Baker County Press so that we can take a little break for our family during what is typically one of the slowest news weeks of the year. We’ll be back january 12 as usual with a double issue. Thank you. — Editorial — It’s time to free the Hammonds We were thinking about resolu- tions and such during this, the end of yet another year. What we’d like to see is President Trump resolve to pardon the Hammonds and right a miscarriage of justice. Right now we have a couple of Harney County ranchers sitting in prison essentially as domestic terrorists for burning of few acres of publicly-managed land while acting as stewards for their own. Their sentences are more severe than those we often see for the per- petrators of violent crimes—rape, manslaughter, assault and battery ... and sometimes, yes, even mur- der. Since the Hammonds submitted to custody, we have watched as the USFS (United States Forest Service) and the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) let their own burn projects get out of control, or failed to correctly get the jump on wildfires, allowing them to acci- dentally cross onto private lands. No compensation to the landown- ers—ever. Certainly no criminal charges pursued. We have watched other landown- ers right here in Baker County let slashpile burning cross onto feder- ally managed lands, resulting in an expensive firefighting effort that involved helicopter suppression ef- Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker County Press reserves the right not to pub- lish letters containing factual falsehoods or incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or detracting from specific for-profit business- es will not be published. Word limit is 375 words per letter. Letters are limited to one every other week per author. Letters should be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty- Press.com. Advertising and Opinion Page Dis- claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest forts. Not so much as a fine issued there. Again, no criminal charges. Theories abound as to why the Hammonds were treated differ- ently, but the fact remains—they were. We believe it comes back to that old adage about the nail that sticks up highest gets hammered down first. And now we have a federal whistleblower within the BLM who released in his internal inves- tigation report documenting gross misconduct by that agency, includ- ing targeting of the Bundy family, a mistrial there, and corroboration of the testimony of witnesses who spoke out in favor of the Bundys and/or the Hammonds. We understand that the man heading up the Bundy raid, and several other raids like them, went so far as to keep a kill list of U.S. citizens he was proud of torment- ing and even pushing to suicide in at least one incident. He has since been relieved of his position. Allegations of corruption within these land-management agencies is not part of some conspiracy theory; they’re proven facts. We were told by our congress- man’s staff that clemency paper- work has already been handed to the Executive Branch of our Fed- eral government, and in the hands of the President and Vice President. We hope the President signs it and puts an end to this ugly chapter. These men have wives and children at home without their husbands and fathers, trying to continue their family ranch opera- tions on their own. They could use a blessing. —The Baker County Press Editorial Board Opinions or Letters to the Editor express the opinions of their authors, and have not been authored by and are not necessarily the opinions of The Baker County Press, any of our staff, management, independent contractors or affiliates. Advertisements placed by political groups, candidates, businesses, etc., are printed as a paid service, which does not constitute an endorsement of or fulfillment obligation by this newspaper for the products or services advertised. — Contact Us — The Baker County Press PO Box 567 Baker City, Ore. 97814 Open Monday-Thursday for calls 9 AM - 4 PM Open 24/7 for emails YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS President Donald Trump 202.456.1414 202.456.2461 fax Whitehouse.gov/contact US Sen. Jeff Merkley 503.326.3386 503.326.2900 fax Merkley.Senate.gov Phone: 541.519.0572 TheBakerCountyPress.com US Sen. Ron Wyden 541.962.7691 Wyden.Senate.gov Kerry McQuisten, Publisher Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com US Rep. Greg Walden Esa Murrell, Advertising and Sales Esa@TheBakerCountyPress.com 541.624.2402 fax David Conn, Advertising and Sales David@TheBakerCountyPress.com Published weekly every Friday. Subscription rates per year are $29.95 all areas, e-mail delivery. $39.95 print issue, home delivery, Baker City city limits only. $49.95 print issue, mail delivery, outside Baker City city limits only. Payment in advance. A division of Black Lyon Publishing, LLC 541.624.2400 Walden.House.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown 503.378.3111 Governor.Oregon.gov State Rep. Cliff Bentz 503.986.1460 State Sen. Ted Ferrioli 541.490.6528 Baker County Commissioners Bill Harvey; Mark Bennett; Bruce Nichols 541.523.8200 Copyright © 2014 -2017 541.523.8201 — Guest Opinion — Tax reform for Oregon By Congressman Greg Walden Pro-growth tax reform is on its way to hardworking, middle-class Ameri- cans. And it’s about time. The biggest percentage of tax reductions next year will go to those earning between $20,000 and $50,000 a year. That’s according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. An eastern Oregon family earning the median income of approximately $50,000 a year will pay about $1,300 less next year. Over the next eight years that’s a savings of $10,400 for that family. What does that mean across the country? A typical American family of four earning $73,000 a year, will see a 58% reduction in their federal taxes. That’s real relief. Moreover, by nearly doubling the standard deduction, even fewer Oregonians will have to hire an ac- countant to search the 73,954 pages of the federal tax code only to discover darn few of the special interest loop- holes apply to them. We’re closing the loopholes and making filing your taxes as easy as filling out a postcard. For those who choose to itemize their taxes, I worked with my col- leagues to maintain provisions im- portant to Oregonians such as pre- serving the ability to deduct medical expenses, and a combination of both property and state income taxes up to $10,000—helpful in our high-tax state. For students and teachers, I also successfully fought to maintain the deductions for student loans and teaching expenses. The IRS should have new tax with- holding tables in employers’ hands before February. Once that happens, taxpayers will begin to see more going into their pockets, and less going to the Washington, D.C. bureaucracy. In addition to providing historic and meaningful individual tax relief to Oregon families, this measure is also designed to rekindle job growth. Few in Congress were job creators. My wife and I spent more than 20 years as small business owners in the Colum- bia Gorge. I can tell you from first- hand experience of growing a business and meeting a payroll, passage of this Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will help small businesses, family farms and ranches, and those contractors with a truck and backhoe expand and grow. Oregon’s breweries and wineries get substantial relief from the beer and wine excise taxes thanks to Repub- lican Senate provisions I fought to include in the final bill. These sav- ings will our let our craft brewers and Submitted Photo Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) represents Oregon’s 2nd Congres- sional District, which includes 20 counties in central, southern and eastern Oregon. winemakers reinvest more money locally in their businesses and our communities. Globally, we’ll finally see American- based companies bring money home and invest it here, rather than look for ways to shelter earnings over- seas. America had one of the highest corporate tax rates in the industrial- ized world, resulting in lost jobs and American companies moving abroad. That all changes under this legislation. Our plan makes the American economy more competitive, which will lead to more job growth and eco- nomic expansion. We’re finally giving American companies a better place to do business. A spokesman for Intel, one of Or- egon biggest employers, told the Or- egonian newspaper that these changes “ can help level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers and make us more competitive in today’s global econo- my. The bill should also spur further investment in American manufactur- ing and (research and development).” These tax reforms are boosting confidence in our economy. Last month, the National Federation of Independent Business confidence index hit an all-time high. Mean- while, in the fourth quarter, optimism among manufactures also reached a new high. While the stock market will ebb and flow, a 5,000-point gain in the last year is both historic and welcome news to those with savings and retire- ment accounts, especially after the last eight years of slow growth. Many factors affect the strength of the economy, including an available and trained workforce, international incidents and more. Congress and the President need to focus on rebuilding America’s infrastructure next. But after waiting 31 years for real tax re- form, finally we have a law that brings tax savings to hard working Ameri- cans and makes us competitive again overseas. Age to purchase tobacco raised to 21 Oregon will soon start enforcing a new law that raised the required mini- mum age to legally buy or obtain tobacco products from 18 to 21. SB 754, known as Tobac- co 21, has been in effect since Gov. Kate Brown signed it into law Aug. 9, 2017, with enforcement and fines beginning Jan. 1, 2018. Oregon is the fifth state to increase the age to purchase tobacco, after California, Hawaii, Maine and New Jersey. Under the new law, retailers can no longer sell tobacco products or inhal- ant delivery systems, such as a pipe or vaporizing device, to people younger than 21. Violations of the law are punishable by a fine of $50 for employees, $250 for store managers and $500 for store owners; for managers and owners, the fines double by the third offense. OHA's Public Health Division is authorized to enforce the minimum age of tobacco sales law and coordinates with the Oregon State Policy to conduct state-sponsored compliance inspections. Katrina Hedberg, MD, Oregon's state health of- ficer and epidemiologist based at the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, said raising the minimum age for buy- ing tobacco products and inhalant delivery systems is proven to reduce youth initiation of tobacco use. She noted nine of 10 adults report they started smoking before they were 19, and nearly 100 percent start before age 26. "The earlier kids start using tobacco, the more at risk they are for becom- ing addicted to tobacco and developing chronic diseases such as heart dis- ease, asthma and cancer," Hedberg said. Help is available for anyone in Oregon ready to quit tobacco. Call Oregon's toll-free Quit Line at 800-QUIT-NOW (800- 784-8669) or visit www. quitnow.net. People who see a retailer selling tobacco products or inhalant delivery systems to someone younger than 21 can report the violation with the business name, address and other informa- tion to Tobacco.Inspec- tions@state.or.us. Learn more about Tobacco 21 at www.HealthOregon. org/tobaccoretailsales.