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Wednesday, October 5, 2016 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. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
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To the Editor:
Amidst bad news, bad behavior, and just
plain meanness comes the story of Josh Erskine
and the book he wrote (“co-wrote” as he says),
“Inque.”
To not only take on the pain of a friend’s
suicide but to turn it into a force for good is
inspirational. I love that he used the project to
further his education, honor a friend, and create
a fund dedicated to suicide prevention.
The story made me cry and then it made
me celebrate. I bought the book on Amazon
and a couple to share as well. I am grateful to
The Nugget for running the story and grate-
ful to Josh for his courage, kindness, and
perseverance.
Karly Drake-Lusby
s
s
s
To the Editor:
There is controversy over some NFL play-
ers sitting down, locking arms, or raising fists
in protest of injustice in America during the
National Anthem prior to NFL games.
I am a Vietnam veteran, and spent my
career in law enforcement. I am a huge sup-
porter of the 1st and 2nd amendments. My
reaction is one of complete anger and disgust
towards these self-righteous “children” who
have gained so much on the backs of those
who gave everything.
Having spent two tours in Vietnam with
the 173rd Airborne Brigade, I’ve witnessed
the horrendous price paid for our freedoms;
selfless acts that completely exacerbate the
pettiness of contemptuous behavior during
the National Anthem. These overpaid prima
donnas need to take their protests elsewhere
so I, and I’m sure millions of other patriotic
Americans, don’t have to witness their dis-
graceful tantrums while I enjoy football.
Good for Jerry Jones, the owner of the
Dallas Cowboys, who made it clear to his
“employees”: show respect or lose your job.
Pat Bowe
s
s
s
To the Editor:
Deschutes County needs Sheriff Nelson.
As longtime residents of Deschutes County,
we have seen our community change from
what has been described as “an artsy resort
community in the high Oregon desert” to what
Aspen is to Colorado.
Over 50,000 residents have been added
to our population since the 1990s. Bend’s
See letterS on page 28
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Last week, Congress
engaged in a bipartisan bar-
rage of CEO bashing.
The Senate Banking
Committee assailed Wells
Fargo CEO John Stumpf
for pushing employees to
create as many as 2 million
bogus bank and credit card
accounts without customer
consent — making custom-
ers pay overdraft and late
fees on accounts they never
knew they had.
Meanwhile, the House
Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform
criticized Mylan NV CEO
Heather Bresch for raising
the price of its EpiPen, an
emergency allergy treat-
ment, forcing customers to
pay $608 for a two-pack that
had cost $100 in 2009.
Noting that Mylan had
sought legislation to increase
the number of patients who
receive prescriptions for
EpiPens, Rep. Mick Mul-
vaney, R-S.C., angrily told
Bresch: “You get a level of
scrutiny and a level of treat-
ment that would ordinarily
curl my hair, but you asked
for it.”
Such shaming before con-
gressional committees tends
to reassure the public that
Congress is taking action.
But, especially with Repub-
licans in charge, Congress is
doing nothing to prevent the
wrongdoing from recurring.
Can we be clear? CEOs
have only one goal in mind:
making money. If they can
make more money by mis-
leading or price-gouging,
they’ll continue to do so until
it’s no longer as profitable.
For years we’ve watched
Congress grill CEOs of
Wall Street banks about
bank fraud. If it’s not Wells
Fargo’s sham accounts, it’s
JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie
Dimon, whose bank failed
to report trading losses.
(Remember the “London
Whale”?) Or it’s Gold-
man Sachs’ Lloyd Blank-
fein, whose firm defrauded
investors.
Republicans rage at the
CEOs who appear before
them, but they haven’t given
the Justice Department
enough funding to pursue
criminal charges against
corporations and executives
who violate the law. They
haven’t even appropriated
enough money for regula-
tory agencies to police the
market. Funding for the
Consumer Financial Protec-
tion Bureau, for example, is
capped at 12 percent of the
Federal Reserve’s operat-
ing expenses. Even now,
Republicans are trying to
put the CFPB’s funding into
the appropriations process,
where it can be squeezed far
more.
Congress has allowed
Wall Street banks and phar-
maceutical companies to
accumulate the sort of vast
market power that invites
wrongdoing.
Similarly, for years we’ve
watched Congress condemn
CEOs of pharmaceutical
companies for price-goug-
ing. If not Mylan’s Bresch,
it’s Turing Pharmaceuticals’
Martin Shkreli, who jacked
up the price of Daraprim —
used to treat life-threatening
infections — from $13.50
to $750 a pill. Or Valeant
Pharmaceuticals’ Michael
Pearson, who quadrupled the
price of Syprine, used to treat
an inherited disorder that can
cause severe liver and nerve
damage. Or Amphastar Phar-
maceuticals CEO Jack Y.
Zhang, who hoisted the price
of naloxone, used in cases of
heroin overdoses, to more
than $400 a pop.
Yet Congress has not
enacted any laws prohibiting
such price-gouging. To the
contrary, as with the banks,
Congress has allowed phar-
maceutical companies to
accumulate the sort of vast
market power that invites
wrongdoing.
Mylan and other phar-
maceutical companies can
engage in price-gouging
because they’re the only
ones producing these lifesav-
ing drugs.
Congress has made it ille-
gal for Americans to shop
at foreign pharmacies for
cheaper versions of same
drugs sold in U.S., and it
hasn’t appropriated the Food
and Drug Administration
enough funds to get compet-
ing versions of lifesaving
drugs to market quickly.
Instead of setting up fur-
ther rounds of CEO perp
walks for the TV cameras,
Congress should give the
Justice Department and
regulatory agencies enough
funding to do their jobs.
© 2016 By Robert Reich;
Distributed by Tribune Con-
tent Agency, LLC
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.