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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2016)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM Cow pasture decisions must be made according to law Land use matters are city council made on the tricky. When the City Herber family’s desire Council hears certain to develop their land. I types of land use applica- would love to engage tions, we sit as judges and in discussion about this have to weigh all facts topic, as I’m sure many provided to us against a of my fellow council- strict set of criteria and ors would. However, State statutes. The state we can’t discuss the is- requirements the city and sue just yet. The vote the council must follow on Monday was to di- are the result of decades rect staff to bring back of land use planning and the matter in ordinance litigation, preserving our form so that we can for- farm and forest lands and mally vote on the pro- planning the space for cit- posed zone changes that ies through the manage- were requested of us. Cathy Clark ment of land inside our All discussion has been urban growth boundaries. in the public setting of Perhaps our most important job our council meetings to make sure in these types of issues is to ensure everyone can read the same ma- we work to be fair and impartial in terials we do and hear the same our evaluation of land use proposals, discussion we hear. We need to be striving to create an even playing sure that all discussion continues to fi eld to weigh the proposal against take place only in open meetings. all other development proposals So, until that vote has been taken, within the city, and then to weigh the city council simply can’t discuss those proposals against what is best the matter, not even among our- for the entire city at present and selves, or receive any information into the future. People who own that hasn’t already been submitted property within the city have rights to the formal record. After the fi nal to do what they want with their vote has been taken, however, I and land within established guidelines the other councilors will be free to that meet state land use goals and discuss with Keizer citizens why we adopted city comprehensive plans, chose to vote the way each of us zoning and development regula- did. I can only ask your patience for tions. a little while longer and I promise, That means we continue to face we will be willing and available to decisions on how our city will visit with you. (Cathy Clark has been mayor of change and plan how that will hap- pen. I understand that many Keizer Keizer since January 2015. residents don’t like the decision the from the mayor’s desk This veteran will honor anthem the McNary Band in a one-day rush to collect two semi-trailers full of cans and over $7,000 in monetary donations. This year was an amaz- ing show of support from our community, we surpassed the amount of monetary donations we have re- ceived in the past and again fi lled to trailers. You helped us hold another successful Band Day. One student said “This is fun, do we do this every weekend?” The band students of McNary High School begin in early August getting music and drill ready for the marching season. They consistently work hard though the entire year to build their musical skills and talents and to support our fellow student athletes at the football and basket- ball games. They themselves com- pete for the state band champion- ship and at the individual state solo and ensemble championships each year. The funds we collect on Band Day keep the tradition of musical excellence achievable. With all the expenses we face to keep the pro- gram running your support on our Band Day, and even the fi reworks booth and Jazz Night fundraiser we hold each year, is vital to our suc- cess. So from our musical hearts to your giving nature please accept our thanks. Keizer is an “dream come true” community to work in, musi- cally serve and live. Jennifer Bell, band instructor McNary High School letters To the Editor: First, thanks to Gene McIntyre for his remarks in last week’s Keizertimes (Protests during national anthem, Sept. 23). I would like to add just one item regarding the United States Code having to do with rising, removing your hat and standing at attention for the playing of the national anthem. Legislation passed by Congress a few years ago modi- fi ed the code to permit veterans to present the hand salute for all ap- propriate occasions. Note, it would permit, not require the salute. On a personal note, I have been reluctant to salute for most occa- sions because my time in the Air Force was between confl icts. How- ever, due to the recent activities of a few, I have decided to begin the practice when in public. And I would urge other veterans to do the same. I think it would show that we outnumber the complainers. Wayne A. Moreland Keizer Thank you community To the Editor: McNary High School’s Band Day was a huge success! The band was out in full force on Sept. 10 collecting refundable cans, bottles and monetary dona- tions. One hundred and fi fteen band members, over 25 parent vol- unteers, the entire band booster staff and the amazing members of our beloved Keizer community came together to support the students of Share your opinion Email a letter to the editor (300 words) by noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com Lyndon A. Zaitz, Editor & Publisher SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon Donald Trump clings to deception By MICHAEL GERSON There is a story from the history of professional wrestling in which a manager named Freddie Blassie comes to the edge of the ring and, while the referee is distracted, breaks a cane over the head of the opposing wrestler. Af- ter the match an interviewer asked Blassie, “Where’s that cane of yours?” He replied, “What cane? I didn’t have no cane!” During the last political year, life has imitated professional wrestling. Those expecting such antics from Donald Trump during the fi rst presi- dential debate were not disappointed. When confronted with his claim that global warming was a hoax perpe- trated by the Chinese, Trump replied, “I did not [say it].” He did. When Trump’s claim that he could not re- lease his tax returns because of an IRS audit was exposed as false, he still in- sisted on it. When charged with say- ing that he could personally negotiate down the national debt, he said this was “wrong.” The charge was right. When Trump’s transparently decep- tive claim to be an early opponent of the Iraq War was debunked, he dou- bled down in a babbling defense citing Sean Hannity as the ultimate arbiter. It is not surprising that Trump in- habits his own factual universe, in which truth is determined by useful- ness and lies become credible through repetition. What made the fi rst presi- dential debate extraordinary was not the charges that Trump denied, but the ones he confi rmed. When Hillary Clinton claimed he didn’t pay any federal income taxes, Trump said: “That makes me smart.” When Clinton accused Trump of de- frauding a contractor out of money he was owed, Trump responded: “Maybe he didn’t do a good job and I was unsatis- fi ed with his work.” When Clinton criti- cized Trump for casual mi- sogyny and for calling women “pigs,” Trump brought up Rosie O’Donnell and said, “She deserves it.” When Clinton recalled a Justice Department lawsuit suit against Trump for housing discrimination, he dismissed it as “just one of those things.” When Clinton attacked Trump for coddling the Russians, Trump at- tempted to excuse them of hacking, shifting the blame toward obese com- puter geeks. When Clinton accused Trump of betraying American allies, Trump answered: “We defend Japan, we defend Germany, we defend South Korea, we defend Saudi Arabia, we defend countries. They do not pay us. But they should be paying us. ... We cannot protect countries all over the world, where they’re not paying us what we need.” Rather than affi rm- ing the importance of NATO, or re- assuring our Pacifi c partners, Trump reduced America’s global role to a protection racket, run by a seedy ex- ecutive who admits to cheating con- tractors when he is “unsatisfi ed with [their] work.” During the debate, the points scored against Trump were damaging. But the points he ceded would dis- qualify any normal politician, in any normal presidential year. Trump has made some political gains over the last few weeks through greater discipline—speeches from teleprompters, carefully selected me- other views dia interviews, no news conferences, a Twitter account in the hands of oth- ers. But the candidate has internalized none of this. He might as well have sung I Gotta Be Me as his opening statement in the debate. It was Trump unplugged, and often unhinged. Past debate criticism has looked for hints and signs to determine losers —a candidate, say, looked impatiently at his watch or sighed in an off-put- ting way. Rhetorically, Trump drove a high-speed train fi lled with fi reworks into a nuclear power plant. He was self-absorbed, prickly, defensive, in- terrupting, baited by every charge yet unprepared to refute them. During his share of a 90-minute debate, he was horribly out of his depth, incapable of stringing together a coherent three- sentence case. The postmodern qual- ity of Trump’s appeal culminated in an unbalanced rant claiming, “I also have a much better temperament than she has.” An assertion greeted by audience laughter. And Trump concluded his performance by praising himself for his own grace and restraint, during an evening that showed him to be nasty, witless and deceptive. It should now be clear to Republicans: Vanity is his strategy. Trump’s defenders will charge his critics with elitism. The great public, it is argued, gets Trump in a way that the commenting class does not. But this claim is now fully exposed. The ex- pectation of rationality is not elitism. Coherence is not elitism. Knowledge is not elitism. Honoring character is not elitism. And those who claim this are debasing themselves, their party and their country. (Washington Post Writers Group) Stop blaming PERS for money problems A number of Oregonians chroni- cally grouse about and wring their hands over the cost of PERS as caus- ing all the state’s fi scal problems. How- ever, fairness and law reigned and the Oregon Supreme Court shot down the plan to cut PERS retirees’ ben- efi ts due established and continued by contractual obligations. But when it has come to rais- ing taxes on those most able to pay by their business profi ts, the Oregon legislature ducks and covers. Mean- while, Oregon’s corporate minimum tax is ridiculously low. It’s been stuck at a pathetically low $10 since 1931. This level was at one time even an embarrassment to Oregon’s business community. In 2009, during the Great Reces- sion that hammered the state’s fi - nances, the Oregon corporate lobby stepped up with a couple of tax pro- posals. Led by Associated Business Industries (AOI), a business coalition proposed a fl at minimum tax on all corporations—C-corporations and S- corporations—with a plan that called for a minimum tax of $300 a year, re- gardless of a company’s profi ts. Another group, Oregon Business Association (OBA), recommended charging S-corporations a fl at $250 regardless the level of sales or profi ts. For C-corporations this group pro- posed a sliding scale starting at $250 per year and capping at $25,000 based on corporate in-state sales, not profi ts or taxing gross receipts. The legislature adopted OBA’s idea, playing a bit with the details. For S-corporations, the legislature set the minimum tax at $150, obviously less that what AOI and OBA sought. For C-corporations, the legislature want- ed a sliding scales minimum tax, start- ing at $150 and going up to $100,000 for corporations with $100 million or greater in Oregon sales. The legislature’s plan was opposed in the form of Measure 67 to which AOI gene h. was adamantly while mcintyre against OBA stayed on the side- lines. Some will remem- ber that Oregon voters overwhelm- ingly approved Measure 67 in spite of a massive campaign of misleading information put out by the business community. The business community is at it again with misinformation on which they’re willing to spend gobs of mon- ey on a 4-page, colorful, slick and shiny piece, that arrived in Oregon voter mailboxes on September 20: No expense was spared. Meanwhile, the under funding of our schools goes on and on and the state is unable to address the needs of Oregonians and PERS retirees con- tinue to be given the blame for all things fi scally evil in the state of Or- egon. Hence, that minimum tax issue is out there for consideration again. Measure 97 has the promise of trans- forming Oregon’s schools, health and senior services, boosting the business climate and quality of life here. Measure 97 would amend the min- imum tax, increasing it strictly on C-corpora- tions with Oregon sales greater than $25 mil- lion a year and only on the sales above that big business level. And this is an im- portant and relevant piece of information: No small business will pay the updated minimum tax. As things stand, large corporations like Bank of America, Comcast, and Walmart, view the current capped minimum tax as nothing but a small bother. They know that Oregon has the lowest business tax level in the U.S. and, with CEO and execu- tive pay in the stratosphere, they want to keep things just the “tidy” money way they are. Further, they care little to nothing about what happens to the people of Oregon as long as money can be made off us. If our state worked as an every- vote-counts democracy then the legislature would work for all of us. Unfortunately for working folks, those with the big bucks, the corpora- tions and others who have excessive means can buy our legislators. The only way we common folks can help ourselves is by getting together to vote in favor of Measure 97 and do so by not believing the false predictions that a tax increase will be passed on to the public in the form of higher prices. How so? Because competition at the counter still best sells goods and ser- vices. (Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap- pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)