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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2019)
4A FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019 The Observer OUR VIEW No good reason for appeal The La Grande City Council had little choice in deciding Wednesday night to allow the Union County Warming Station to open. Oregon’s land use laws meant the council could consider only certain criteria in deciding to uphold or deny the appeal on the station’s conditional use permit. Even that was a bit confusing. Supporting the appeal meant opposing the opening of the station. Denying the appeal meant wanting it to open. The city planning commission already unani- mously voted to allow the station the conditional use of the building at 2008 Third St. to house the home- less and others in need during cold winter nights. Finding reason to overturn the vote from the city’s own commission would be a high bar. And appeal supporters could not make a suffi cient enough case for the shelter having serious adverse effects on the neighborhood. Thus the 7-0 vote to deny had the look of the inevitable. But this is where walking the line of public policy intersects with helping people who need help and need it now. And Al Adelsberger, the man who fi led the appeal to the council, should not appeal the coun- cil’s decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Adelsberger and other appeal supporters admit- ted during the course of the public hearing that La Grande needs to do something to help the homeless. They just do not agree a downtown shelter is it. But it is. If you gash your hand wide open on a kitchen knife, you grab a cloth, towel or something to help stop the bleeding. And then you go to the hospital’s emergency room for help. The shelter serves as that stop gap for people without a home. Dwight Johnson, who oversees the warming station in Pendleton, put it this way: “Our mission is to keep them from freezing to death.” Shelter supporters are working to do just that here in La Grande. But that does not stop anyone from working on the bigger picture Adelsberger pointed out the commu- nity needs, including transitional housing and more vocational training. Mayor Steve Clements stepped up and admitted he and the rest of the city council should have long ago taken leadership roles inn this pressing issue. He promised to get involved and work toward a more comprehensive solution. Adelsberger and others passionate about this should take Clements up on his commitment. Adels- berger obviously knows how to organize support for a cause, and he carries enough clout to hold the mayor and the rest of the council accountable if they don’t come through. He and others should apply their skills to help make the warming station and the programs it offers the best they can be. They should work it out here, at the local level, and not waste more time with an appeal to the state. OTHER VIEWS Trump should veto greedy Green Act I n a mad dash to expand all their favorite “green” cash grabs before the end of the year, House Democrats have published their most bloated smash and grab yet. They call it the Green Act, but a bet- ter name might be the Greed Act. The bill extends wind and solar subsidies — which we’ve been promised for decades would be temporary — for yet another fi ve years. In an effort to gain support from farm states, it revives the biodiesel credit. Most outrageously, the Green Act cancels the phase-out of the electric vehicle subsidies by tripling the per- manufacturer cap. It also ignores rampant fraud and creates a new subsidy for used electric vehicles, despite the fact the original rationale — dependence on foreign oil — is now completely obsolete. Because no green cash grab would be compete without lavishing taxpayer dollars on the campus left, the bill includes an eye-popping $5 billion in grants for university “environmental justice” programs. Shameless. With Nancy Pelosi fi rmly in control, the Green Act could well pass the House, either by itself or more likely as part of a larger year-end package. So the real fi ght looks likely to be in the Senate, where Minority Leader Chuck Schumer can be expected to go to the mat for the electric vehicles subsidies, if not the whole package. In fact, he recently proposed an electric-vehicles- subsidies-meets-cash-for-clunkers on steroids concept that would pay to scrap every internal combustion vehicle in the country in the most brazen dis- play of wealth destruction via central planning ever attempted outside of the Communist Bloc. So he can be expect- ed, at a minimum, to push hard for the House language on electric vehicles. That language would triple the cap on subsidies of $200,000 per manufacturer — which has already Subscription rates per month: By carrier...............................................$11.80 By mail, all other U.S. .............................. $15 A division of SYNDICATED COLUMNIST LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Observer welcomes letters to the editor. Letters are limited to 350 words and must be signed and carry the author’s address and phone number (for verifi cation purposes only). We edit letters for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We will not publish poetry, consumer complaints against businesses or personal attacks against private individuals. Thank- you letters are discouraged. Letter writers are limited to one letter every two weeks. Email your letters to news@ lagrandeobserver.com or mail them to La Grande Observer, 1406 5th St., La Grande, Ore., 97850. MY VOICE My Voice columns should be 500 words. Submissions should include a portrait-type photograph of the author. Authors also should include their full name, age, occupation and relevant organizational memberships. We edit submissions for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We reject those published elsewhere. Send columns to La Grande Observer, 1406 5th St., La Grande, Ore., 97850, fax them to 541-963- 7804 or email them to pwright@ lagrandeobserver.com. tax breaks. But if it does, President Trump should make clear that he’ll have his veto pen ready. Phil Kerpen is the president of American Commitment and the author of “Democracy Denied.” Kerpen can be reached at phil@ americancommitment.org. STAFF Phone: SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE Stopped account balances less than $5 will be refunded upon request. Write to us been reached by Tesla and GM, who of course have unleashed armies of lobbyists to keep the taxpayer lar- gesse fl owing. A token cut in the credit amount from $7,500 to $7,000 would be meaningless, thanks to a new credit of up to $2,500 for used electric vehicles. This program is an almost pure tax break for the rich, and those rich are well represented by their Democratic representatives and senators. Especial- ly from California, which gets nearly half of all the subsidies dollars, and New York, which ranks second. The Pacifi c Research Institute looked at IRS data and found that more than half of the electric car buyers claiming the credit make more than $200,000 per year and nearly 80% make more than $100,000. Just 1% make $50,000 or less. Worse, a signifi cant number of the predominantly wealthy people claim- ing the credit are doing so fraudulently. The Treasury Inspector General found in a new report that 16,510 tax returns claiming “potentially erroneous” electric vehicle tax credits, totaling $73.8 mil- lion. The IRS doesn’t check VINs, and it looks like credits have been allowed for ineligible vehicles. It also appears there is a particular problem with leased vehicles, in which the leasing company claims the credit and builds it into the lease payment, but then the lessee claims the credit a second time, effectively doubling the subsidy. The simplest way to end the fraud would be to let the program phase out as scheduled. But Congress looks at rampant fraud and instead wants to expand the program. Unreal. Nothing in the Green Act deserves to see the light of day in the Senate, espe- cially the expansion of electric vehicle SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50 You can save up to 34% off the single-copy price with home delivery. Call 541-963-3161 to subscribe. PHIL KERPEN 541-963-3161 An independent newspaper founded in 1896 Toll free (Oregon): 1-800-422-3110 (USPS 299-260) Fax: 541-963-7804 Email: The Observer reserves the right to adjust subscription news@lagrandeobserver.com rates by giving prepaid and mail subscribers 30 days Website: notice. Periodicals postage paid at La Grande, Oregon www.lagrandeobserver.com 97850. Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays Street address: 1406 Fifth St., La Grande (except Dec. 25) by EO Media Group, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260) POSTMASTER COPYRIGHT © 2019 THE OBSERVER Send address changes to: The Observer retains ownership and copyright The Observer, 1406 Fifth St., protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising La Grande, OR 97850 copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may Periodicals postage paid at: not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. La Grande, Oregon 97850 Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti Classifieds ........................................ Devi Mathson Regional circulation director ....................Kelli Craft Home delivery advisor.................Amanda Fredrick Editor .....................................................Phil Wright Customer service rep ......................... 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