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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2017)
2 Wednesday, March 22, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Obama failed to lead By Dick Brady Guest Columnist 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. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: In reference to Jeff Mackey’s letter of March 15, here’s just one thought out of all the head-shaking and confusion I experienced reading it. I find it amazing how little people actually know about the history of their own civilization, even including relatively recent times. Hitler didn’t start rounding up “liber- als, gays, immigrants, woman, transexuals, Jews or Muslims” until several years after his democratic election in 1933. So Trump still has time. First Hitler had to send out continuous propaganda releases to convince people that these groups were the enemy and the cause of all their problems. At the same time, he had discredited the press and then eliminated it alltogether. Sounding familiar? Since he was elected during the great depression (which hit Germany harder than most countries) it was easy to convince people that he had the solu- tions to their fears. They were desperate for someone to save them and to have someone to blame. It’s no wonder people in this country who remember their history have used the term “Nazi.” The parallels of Trump’s rise and Hitler’s are too numerous to list in this small paper. Am I worried about a fascist coup in our country? Not really. For one thing, we have, for the most part, recovered from Bush’s great recession thanks to Obama’s slow and stead- fast policies. The upper Midwest, however, hasn’t done as well as the rest of the coun- try (largely because of corporations wanting to better their bottom line by moving facto- ries and employing automation) and it’s no See LETTERS on page 32 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Friday Thursday Saturday Sunday Monday Chance Showers Mostly Sunny Rain Chance Showers Chance Rain/Snow Slt. Chance Showers 51/26 52/36 52/33 52/30 47/30 52/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. Re: Steve Nugent’s op-ed “An understandable reaction,” in the March 8 edition of The Nugget: A f t e r r e a d i n g M r. Nugent’s column, my first reaction was, how, after only one month in office, could he come to such neg- ative conclusions, with no redeeming values whatso- ever. In fact, according to the opinion piece, he ends with the statement “all of these things bring serious doubt as to the legitimacy or fitness of President Trump.” Really? Reality check — half the country feels otherwise, that a change was needed and needed badly, because of what Barack Obama turned this nation into in eight years. In fact, had it not been for California, President Trump would have won the popular vote as well. Out of 3,141 coun- ties in the U.S., he won all but 57. So, let’s take a moment and examine some more facts on why a change was needed. For starters, Barack Obama in eight years added more to our national debt ($9.3 trillion), than all other 43 presidents com- bined, which our children and grandchildren will inherit. Second, the national economy under Obama declined to the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s; median income a minus $5,000 per person; 11 million more in poverty; 43 million on food stamps, and welfare roles at their highest. Third, increased regu- lations on the business community cost a stagger- ing $873 billion; 300,000 manufacturing jobs lost; a global trade deficit of over $700 billion last year alone — all under Barack Obama’s watch. In short, business growth in the last eight years has stagnated, especially in Oregon. Fourth, the failure of Obama’s signature piece of legislation — Obamacare. Rather than promises of “keeping your doctor” and “savings of $2,500 per family,” the exact opposite has occurred. Choice in healthcare providers has decreased and costs have increased — as well as deductibles. Premiums are up an average of 25 per- cent nationwide, including Arizona at 116 percent. Fifth, what about for- eign policy, you say? Surely, there is a silver lining there. Sorry, no such luck. There are many examples of the failures of the Obama administra- tion in dealing with foreign policy, such as giving Iran $150 billion dollars with- out virtually any restric- tions; bowing to foreign leaders, repeatedly telling them that America is not very special; backing away from terrorists and refus- ing to call them Islamic terrorists. I could go on and on about Obama’s legacy such as his administrations lack of transparency, account- ability for anything, scan- dals such as refusing to take any responsibility for or prosecute anyone for Benghazi and the terrible loss of four Americans including Ambassador Stevens, the giving of arms to Mexican crimi- nals and the loss of border patrol agents, to name just a few. Let’s just leave it at this — Obama failed to lead. But the biggest damage is how he divided this country culturally. On January 20, 2017, President Trump took office and truly inherited a mess. But, he has a plan — to increase jobs, lower taxes, reform the tax code, negotiate better and fairer trade deals, cut burdens to corporations, bring back our manufacturing jobs, promote energy indepen- dence, build a border wall, vet refugees, take care of our military and our vet- erans, repeal and replace Obamacare, and appoint constitutionalists to the U.S. Supreme Court. Maybe, then, we can make America great again. It sure hasn’t been great the last eight years. I am proud as a small businessman to say I support President Trump. Finally, there is someone who has my back. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
