Opinion
A4
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
OUR VIEW
Swift
decision
will help
A
n investigation regarding allegations
of racism during a high school football
playoff game in early November needs to
be wrapped up as soon as possible.
Most readers are probably already aware of the
episode that blew up after the La Grande playoff
game against Gladstone on Nov. 5. La Grande
won the game, 34-12, but on Nov. 11 a player and
parent from the Gladstone football team com-
mented in The Oregonian and made assertions
of racial slurs being delivered by members of the
Tiger football team throughout the entire contest.
Near the end of the game, a verbal dispute
between the Gladstone sideline and players on the
fi eld also erupted.
The accusations kicked off an investigation by
the Oregon School Activities Association, which
includes an independent investigator. La Grande
Superintendent George Mendoza fully cooperated
with the probe. Mendoza said recently the OSAA
is working toward a fi nal decision on the matter.
OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber said the
independent investigator is closing in on the fi nal
touches of the investigation.
While there should be no rush to judgment,
the sooner the investigation can be closed and a
fi nal report issued, the better. That’s because, in
the meantime, both the Gladstone and La Grande
school districts will linger in a kind of limbo.
Alongside them will be parents and players.
If it is confi rmed that racial slurs of any kind
were made during the game, then punishment
should be swift and eff ective and send a clear
message that such behavior will not be tolerated.
There isn’t any wiggle room on the issue. There
should be absolute certainty that racial slurs will
not be tolerated.
Yet accusations are not proof. They are simply
that — accusations. Sifting through the smoke on
this particular brushup is clearly a diffi cult task,
but a fi nal answer will be the fi rst step toward put-
ting the incident behind both school districts and
their respective communities.
School offi cials and the OSAA have a duty to
investigate as far as they can to determine if there
is any validity to the allegations of racist language
and behavior.
A decision reached through methodical and
careful investigation will help both communities.
EDITORIALS
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opinion of The Observer editorial
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cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
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YOUR VIEWS
Build Back Better bill is
cruelly mislabeled
Using the opening gambit of
excessive wasteful spending in our
nation — supposedly $8.5 billion
for political campaigns in 2020, and
another $13.9 billion for Super Bowl
bucks — Union County Progressive
Lois Barry laments misguided pri-
orities, how lacking is our society
compared to forward-looking torch-
bearers like Norway and Lithu-
ania (Nov. 4, 2021, The Observer,
“Who’s keeping track of the
spending?”).
Then her focus turns to Sen. Joe
Manchin, West Virginia, suppos-
edly the chief benefi ciary of big oil
and gas donations. (Also, one of
two Democratic senators who are
resisting passing an enormous new
green social spending bill cruelly
mislabeled as Build Back Better.)
Oil and gas. Let’s see, just one year
ago, under Trump, the United States
was energy independent. Then with
the stroke of a pen, Biden, with
the support of millionaire senators
Wyden and Merkley, started the
attack on our most vital industries.
Tens of thousands of well-paying
blue-collar jobs were eliminated
within weeks. Weeks.
Predictably, the cost of gas began
to rise — it’s now more than 50%
higher than a year ago. Every family
that drives to work, to school, to
grocery stores feels the pain of that
infl ation. And every railroad and
every trucking concern, for which
we rely on for essentials every day,
the cost of their diesel fuel has
exploded. Not surprisingly, toilet
paper, appliances, school clothes,
meat, milk and heating oil, if even
available, have shot up in price. And
this is only the beginning.
Still, Oregon’s two senators have
not spoken out with one word of
concern as this cruelest of all taxes
has put the screws to family bud-
gets, and to fi xed-income seniors
all across Oregon. But if BBB is
passed with the votes of Wyden and
Merkley, we can expect our present
pain of infl ation to morph into a
budget-eating monster on steroids.
Rather than condemn Sen. Joe
Manchin, I salute him (and Sen.
Kristin Sinema) for doing basic
math, and for standing up for their
constituents and for the entire citi-
zenry of our nation.
Lyle Schwarz
La Grande
Republicans only now care
about the national debt
Well, here we are again: a battle
over the debt ceiling and funding
to keep the federal government
operating that will bring us to the
brink of a government shutdown,
or over the edge into a full-blown
catastrophe. After four years of
profl igate spending and tax breaks
for extremely wealthy individ-
uals and big corporations, suddenly
Republicans are horrifi ed by the size
of the national debt. Here are some
facts, as outlined in a Pro Publica
piece recently:
The national debt rose by almost
$7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in
offi ce. That’s nearly twice as much
as what Americans owe on student
loans, car loans, credit cards and
every other type of debt other than
mortgages. Candidate Trump prom-
ised to pay down the national debt
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in eight years. Instead, he presided
over a 40% rise in just four years.
The growth in the annual defi cit
under Trump ranks as the third-big-
gest increase, relative to the size of
the economy, of any U.S. presiden-
tial administration, according to
a calculation by Eugene Steuerle,
co-founder of the Urban-Brook-
ings Tax Policy Center. Two other
presidents, George W. Bush and
Abraham Lincoln, had larger
growth rates, both due to war
spending. Trump? He just shoveled
money out of our pockets (by “our”
we mean residents of this county)
into the pockets of hedge fund man-
agers, CEOs of fi nancial institutions
and insurance companies.
Arguing over the debt limit leg-
islation will bring Medicare pay-
ments, Social Security payments
and infrastructure spending to a
grinding halt. Of course, that’s their
objective. Here’s the thing: If the
Republicans retake Congress in
2022, be prepared for whiplash as
these same spending hawks pass
bills cutting taxes even more for
those least in need. It won’t help the
national debt any, but it will sure
gut the Build Back Better Act, with
good things like protection for fam-
ilies with children, aff ordable day
care, help with their hearing for
Medicare recipients, paid family
leave, and addressing the climate
needs (many times greater than the
help included in the Build Back
Better Act, but it’s a beginning).
So have at it, newly-minted defi cit
hawks. Just keep fi ddling while
the USA — and the entire earth
— burns.
Dan and Jan Blair
Joseph
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