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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2018)
2 Wednesday, October 24, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N The right person for the job By Jeff Mackey 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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: The October 10 Nugget featured an arti- cle entitled, “Fire crews quell fast-moving blaze.” A fire in the area of Sno Cap Lane and Vista Ridge Drive came dangerously close to destroying many homes. However, it was stopped by, “quick and heavy response enabled fire crews.” What’s the lesson? Quick responses from firefighters and putting the fires out imme- diately saves lives, property and minimizes the impact of smoke. It’s a lesson we should be applying throughout the Sisters-Bend- Redmond area! Unfortunately, federal forest policy has grimaced at the practice of putting out fires quickly in favor of a wait-and-see approach that allows fires to rage before action is taken by firefighters. Perimeter containment only magnifies the effects of smoke and results in the burning of millions of acres of forest. The impacts are unhealthy smoke, destruc- tion of forest and property, loss of busi- ness and spiraling costs to fight the fires and repair infrastructure. Most costs are borne by local communities, not the fed- eral government. According to a Headwater Economics’ Research Report entitled, “The Full Community Cost of Wildfire,” nearly half of all costs are paid for by the local community in long- and short-term impacts. The national cost in 1990 was $1 billion and increased to $4 billion in years 2000-2018. The forest service spends 67 percent of their budget on fire sup- pression, which accounts for only 12 percent of the total cost of fires. According to the Center for Disease Control, one in three households are at risk See LETTERS on page 25 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny PM Showers Rain AM Showers Showers 56/38 56/40 53/47 50/44 55/45 56/42 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC 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. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Graphic Design: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partners: Vicki Curlett & Patti Jo Beal Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Owner: J. Louis Mullen 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. ©2018 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. 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. Donald J. Trump is the right person for the job. When I look back to the Reagan years when Chrysler was failing, a businessman named Lee Iacocca worked his genius and turned it around. He was a blunt- spoken, aggressive, and results-oriented individual with a wealth of experience. Reagan and numerous politi- cal leaders plus other senior business leaders sought his counsel on budget deficits, military spending, industrial policy, unemployment, job training, and foreign trade. I can even remember bum- per stickers touting “Lee Iacocca for President.” When you think about it, America is like one huge complex corporation, with the President as the CEO of USA, Inc. Obama, a political new- bie, spiritually guided for 20 years by “GD America” Reverend Wright, edu- cated in the ways of neo- Marxist Saul Alinsky and Chicago politics, launched his campaign in the home of non-repentant terrorist Bill Ayers. America’s new CEO’s resume highlight was as a community organizer. If you need a heart sur- geon you don’t hire a biology student whose only experi- ence was dissecting a frog. CEOs are ultimately judged on their accomplishments. Obama’s included the Fast and Furious scandal, the IRS used as tool to silence oppo- sition, Benghazi cover-up, Hillary email scandal cover- up; he traded terrorists for an Army deserter, a horrible Iran deal with attempted secret transfer of millions in cash, and Syrian “red line” failure, among many others. According to the commerce department, during the eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency, the average annual real GDP growth was 1.5 percent — the weakest economic performance of any post WWII president, and the fourth worst ever. And after eight years, much to the horror of the elite lib- eral press, stockholders (i.e. voters) demanded a change. In spite of the 24-7 hate- ful FAKE news, complete resistance by the Democrats under Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, various Republicans, and leftover corrupt appointees from the Obama administration at the highest levels of the FBI and Justice Department, our new blunt-speaking, aggres- sive, and results-oriented CEO with a wealth of busi- ness experience has accom- plished more in two short years for Americans than the previous two presidents: Lowest unemployment rate since 2000; consumer con- fidence at a 17-year high; historic tax cuts, businesses moving back to America, unprecedented global cam- paign to achieve the peace- ful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula; has worked with international allies to decimate ISIS; leadership that has contrib- uted to the return of over 17 Americans held overseas; rolled back unnecessary job- killing regulations beyond expectations; followed through on his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; top cor- porate tax rate was lowered from 35 percent to 21 per- cent so American businesses could be more competitive on world stage; signed legis- lation to bring more account- ability to the Department of Veterans Affairs and provide our veterans with more choice in the care they receive; and has con- firmed the most circuit court judges of any President in their first year; and secured Justice Neil Gorsuch’s and Brett Kavanaugh’s confir- mation to the United States Supreme Court. Promises made and met. So the questions USA, Inc. “stockholders” need to ponder in the upcom- ing midterms, with an open and objective mind: Do you want a continuation of win- ning leadership and results for USA, Inc., or do you want a huge reversal back to corrupt, divisive, and incom- petent leadership for USA, Inc.? Stockholders missed a chance to select another highly qualified business- person, Mitt Romney, as CEO for USA, Inc. after the first four years of Obama. This last time they got it right and America is stron- ger, America is respected, American is wealthier, America is safer, America will be great again, and the swamp will finally be drained. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
