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Wednesday, January 28, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I N I O
N
Robert B.
Reich
American Voices
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone
number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not neces-
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To the Editor:
My dog and I were about two minutes into
our usual walk on the popular path at the cor-
ner of McKenzie Highway and Edgington
Road when my dog lagged behind. I turned
to find him sniffing a gruesome sight: a com-
pletely skinned, crimson red and frozen ani-
mal — dog-like but unlike anything I’d ever
seen. No fur, no evidence of a fight.
Non-emergency animal control explained
that they don’t remove animals from the for-
est like this. I told them it was on a well-used
path. Still not their job. I showed the picture
to a deputy at the sheriff’s department who
explained that what I was seeing was the com-
pletely legal killing and skinning of coyotes
for their fur.
“And its OK to just leave them?” Also
legal.
I also learned when I connected with Jim
Anderson that while all this is legal, it is also
the case that lead ammo is left in the dead
animals and that raptors and other birds are
poisoned when they feed on the carcasses. I
had hoped that at least the dead animal would
be a useful part of a food chain.
Learning that what we discovered was the
aftermath of sportsmanlike pursuits that are
legal, I hope that those who hunt and skin ani-
mals this way might leave animal remains far
from public areas and could remove ammu-
nition from the bodies so that other animals
aren’t also hurt.
Annie Painter Bridgeford
s
s
s
To the Editor:
One week after a newly elected(?) mayor
and the boat is already rocking! To “sneak”
the food cart issue thru without public input
reeks of disrespect and disconnect to our
community by city officials AGAIN! Holy
Mozart! What did that amphitheater pre-
sentation cost us? Thank you, Mr. Asson, to
See letterS on page 18
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Jeb Bush and Mitt Rom-
ney are zeroing in on inequal-
ity as America’s fundamental
economic problem.
Bush’s new political
action committee, called
“The Right to Rise,” declares
“the income gap is real” but
that “only conservative prin-
ciples can solve it.”
Romney likewise prom-
ised last week that if he runs
for president, he’ll change
the strategy that led to his
2012 loss to Barack Obama
(remember the “makers” ver-
sus the “takers?”) and focus
instead on income inequality,
poverty and “opportunity for
all people.”
The Republican estab-
lishment’s leading presiden-
tial hopefuls know the cur-
rent upbeat economy isn’t
trickling down to most. But
they’ve got a whopping cred-
ibility problem, starting with
trickle-down economics.
Since Ronald Reagan
moved into the White House,
Republican policies have
widened inequality.
Neither party deserves
a medal for reversing the
trend, but evidence shows
that middle-class and poor
Americans have fared bet-
ter under Democratic presi-
dents. Personal disposable
income has grown nearly six
times more with Democrats
in the White House than with
Republicans.
Under Clinton, in whose
administration I am proud to
have served, even the wages
of the poorest fifth rose.
According to research
by economists Alan Blinder
and Mark Watson, more
jobs have been created under
Democratic presidents.
These broad-based job
and wage gains haven’t ham-
pered economic growth. To
the contrary, they’ve fueled it
by putting more money into
the pockets of people who
spend it — thereby boosting
business profits and hiring.
I’m not saying Democrats
have always had it right. The
lion’s share of economic
gains over the past 35 years
has gone to the top regard-
less of whether Democrats
or Republicans inhabit the
White House.
The most recent recov-
ery has been particularly
lopsided, President Obama’s
intentions notwithstanding.
Nor can presidents alone
determine how the econ-
omy performs. At best they
orchestrate a set of policies
that nudge the economy in
one direction or another.
Since Reagan, Republi-
can policies have nudged it
toward big gains at the top
and stagnation for everyone
else. The last Republican
president to deliver broad-
based prosperity was Dwight
D. Eisenhower, in the 1950s.
Then, the gains from
growth were so widely
shared that the incomes of
the poorest fifth actually
grew faster than the incomes
of the top fifth. As a result,
America became more equal
than ever before or since.
Under Ike, marginal tax
rate on the richest Americans
reached 91 percent.
Eisenhower also presided
over the creation of the inter-
state highway system—the
largest infrastructure project
in American history—as well
as the nation’s biggest expan-
sion of public schools.
It’s no coincidence that
when Eisenhower was presi-
dent, more than a third of all
private sector workers were
unionized. Ike can’t be cred-
ited for this, but at least he
didn’t try to stop it or legiti-
mize the firing of striking
workers, as did Reagan.
Under Reagan, Repub-
lican policy lurched in the
opposite direction: lower
taxes on top incomes, less
public investment, and efforts
to destroy labor unions.
Not surprisingly, that’s
when America took its big
U-turn toward inequality.
These Reaganomic prin-
ciples are by now so deeply
embedded in the modern
Republican Party, they’ve
come to define it.
Republican presidential
aspirants who say they want
to reverse widening inequal-
ity are faced with an awk-
ward dilemma. How can
they be credible on the issue
while embracing these prin-
ciples? Yet if they want to be
nominated, how can they not
embrace them?
That the leading Repub-
lican hopefuls recognize the
economy has to work for
everyone and not just a few
is progress. But unless they
disavow the legacy of Ronald
Reagan and adopt the legacy
of Dwight Eisenhower, their
words are nothing more than
soothing rhetoric — akin
to George W. Bush’s mean-
ingless “compassionate
conservatism.”
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.