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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2004)
Commentary Oregon Daily Emerald Friday, October 29, 2004 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 JEN SUDICK EDITOR IN CHIEF STEVEN R. NEUMAN MANAGING EDITOR JARED PABEN AY1SHA YAHYA NEWS EDITORS PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTER MORIAH BAL1NCIT MEGHANN CUNIFF KARA HANSEN ANTHONY LUCERO CANELAWOOD NEWS REPORTERS CLAYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROETMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN MILLER BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURC PULSE EDITOR NATASHA CHIUNCERIAN SENIOR PULSE REPORTER DAHVJ FISCHER AMY IJCHTY RYAN MURPHY PULSE REPORTERS DAVID JACERNAUTH EDITORIAL EDITOR IENNIFER MCBRIDE AILEE SLATER CHUCK SLOTHOWER TRAVIS WILLSE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDITOR GABE BRADLEY NEWS FREELANCE EDITOR/ (SECTOR OF RECRUITMENT DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR IAUREN WIMER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER TIM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER PART-ilME PHOTOGRAPHER ERIK BISHOFF PARTTIME PHOTOGRAPHER BRET FURTWANCLER GRAPHIC ARTIST KIRA PARK DESIGN EDITOR ELLIOTT ASBURY CHARLIE CALDWELL DUSTIN REESE BRLANNE SHOLLAN DESIGNERS SHADRABEESLEY IEANN1E EVERS COPY CHIEFS KIMBERLY BLACKFIELD PAUL THOMPSON SPORTS COPY EDITORS AMANDA EVRARD AMBER LINDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS LINDSAY BURT PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR SLADE LEESON WEBMASTER BUSINESS (541) 3465511 JUDYRIF.DL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER REBECCA CRITCHETT RECEPTIONIST NATHAN FOSTER AIB1NG CUO ANDREW LEAHY JOHN LONC MALLORY MAHONEY HOLLY MISTELL DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MEUSSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TYLER MACK SALES MANAGER ALEX AMES MATT BETZ HERON CAUSCH-DOLEN MEGAN HAMLIN KATE HIRONAKA MAEGAN KASER-LEE MIA LEIDELMEYER EMILY PHILBIN SHANNON ROGERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES KELLEE KAUFTHEIL AD ASSISTANT CLASSIFIED (541)3464343 TRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KATY GAGNON SABRINA COWETTE LESUE STRAIGHT KERI SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541)3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER TARA SLOAN PRODUCTION COORDINATOR JENCRAMLET KRISTEN D1CHARRY CAMERON CAUT ANDY HOLLAND DESIGNERS TTie Oregon Daily Emerald is pu6 lished daily Monday through Fri day during the school year by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Ore gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. Courtesy ■ Guest commentary Rein in savings for Social Security Since the presidential debates began, there have been few comments on an issue that should register as a top prior ity, especially among young Ameri cans: Social Security. In this race for sol vency, each candidate has placed his bet on a different horse. President Bush puts his money on Nest Egg, a relative ly young system with great potential derived from a foundation in the Protestant work ethic and the Ameri can dream. Senator Kerry has endorsed TVust Fund, a veteran racer who re placed Seabiscuit in the limelight in 1935 when the pay-as-you-go system of Social Security came to the United States. This issue has been left in the stable for two reasons: Neither candidate wants to scare seniors — the most con sistent voting demographic — by dis cussing changes in Social Security, nor do they want to scare those who must bear the burden of the failed system — young Americans. Political procrastina tion has forced our generation to inher it the single greatest financial debt the world has ever known. We are faced with the challenge of financing Social Security’s promise to our retiring par ents, securing our own retirement and preventing the next generation from in heriting the same burden. The current pay-as-you-go system is both economically and socially ineffi cient. Economically, it fails to adequate ly meet the needs of the growing num ber of retirees. Socially, the current system disconnects effort and reward, the foundation of the American dream. These inherent flaws must be resolved to maintain long-term viability in our country’s largest social program. A sys tem must be developed that allows the workers of our generation to take re sponsibility and ownership for our fu ture instead of simply transferring debt from one generation to the next. We need a system based on the fundamen tal American principle that hard work pays off. Finally, we need to accom plish these goals without forcing work ers of the previous generation to live in poverty. Financial independence builds So cial Security through individual secu rity. If all Americans save for their re tirements, future financial burdens can be avoided. Encouraging work ers’ ownership in their Social Security gives them ownership in our country and economy. With personal retire ment accounts diversified in stocks and bonds, financial markets will thus experience a great increase in supply, resulting in a lower price and economic growth. Economic growth will increase wages, employment and general tax revenues that can be used to help meet much of our inherited fi nancial obligations to retirees. Common sense, history and empiri cal evidence from other nations tell us that by leveraging the far greater re turns generated through investment, we can return Social Security to finan cial soundness. Money that is simply taken from one person and given to an other does not generate additional wealth. Throughout history, our econ omy has, without exception, yielded a positive average return greater than that currently earned in the intergener ational wealth redistribution system in place today. We must take Social Security seri ously and stop the trend of shifting re sponsibility to future generations. More effective and reliable means of financing a national Social Security system have been developed, imple mented and proven successful else where. It is time for us to adopt these principles. For the United States to continue to be one of the world’s great nations, we must make the nec essary adjustments to procure Social Security as an effective compulsory savings program. Jonathan Osborne wrote his senior thesis on Social Security. ■ In my opinion Columnists decide to play it SAIF on Measure 38 Chuck Slothower — NO Measure 38 is a particularly repulsive ballot measure. It’s funded by Liberty Northwest Insurance, a subsidiary of the Boston-based, multi-billion dollar insurance giant Liberty Mutual. Liber ty Northwest has tried for years to get the Oregon legislature to limit SAIF; it hasn’t succeeded and so decided to bother voters with an initiative to abol ish it. While doctrinaire free marketeers might like the idea of getting govern ment out of the insurance industry, SAIF’s existence hardly prevents Liber ty Northwest from competing in Ore gon as it is. Liberty Northwest is Ore gon’s second-largest provider of work ers’ compensation insurance, behind SAIF. Abolishing SAIF would effectively SAIF, page 3A OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to tetters@daityemerald.com or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300. Electronic submissions are preferred. Letters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should include phone numbef and address fortification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, g-ammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald. ■ Editorial Costs of 37 too high for Oregonians Measure 37 — No Measure 37 is a repackaging of Measure 7, which passed in 2000 but was thrown out by the Oregon Supreme Court on a constitutional techni cality. This version would amend Oregon statutes to say government must compensate property owners to enforce land use restrictions that lower property value. There are times when the government acts ar bitrarily and unfairly toward property owners. But no amount of property rights horror stories can make this measure seem like a good idea, since the huge costs are not worth the marginal benefits. First, the measure will obligate various govern ment agencies to pay between a total of $64 mil lion to $344 million per year with no proposed source for funding these obligations, according to a non-partisan estimate of financial impact. Even more disturbing is the philosophy behind Measure 37. While there are abuses of the sys tem, land use restrictions by and large exist to benefit all of us. Vote no on Measure 37. Measure 38 — Yes It’s time for SAIF to go. Measure 38 would eliminate SAIF, the para governmental insurance corporation that current ly has a state-sanctioned monopoly on workers compensation insurance in Oregon. Throughout its illustrious career, SAIF has been rife with corruption. Those who still believe SAIF has their best interests at heart are living in a fan tasy world. It may cost the state money to get rid of SAIF, but a few million bucks is a small price to pay to take a step toward kicking state-sanctioned priva teers out of Oregon. Screw us once, shame on you. Engage in a consistent, sustained pattern of screwing us while we continue to sit back and take your promises self-reform at face value, shame on us. Vote yes on Measure 38. EDITORIAL BOARD Jennifer Sudick Editor in Chief David Jagemauth Editorial Editor Steven R. Neuman Managing Editor Gabe Bradley Freelance Editor ONLINE POLL THIS WEEK’S RESULTS Do you support Oregon Measure 33, which would allow access to medical marijuana through government-run dispensaries? 29.2% Yes - Medical marijuana patients need safer and more convenient access to this medicine. 31.3% Yes - But why not take it one step further and legalize marijuana for everyone? 27.1 % No - The current access patients have, through licensed civilian caregivers and personal supplies, is working fine. 12.5% No - Marijuana is a dangerous drug and should be illegal for both medical and recreational use. 0.0% Undecided. Total out of 48 votes. Look for next weeks poll in Monday's issue.
