Opinion
A4
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
OUR VIEW
Voter turnout
was surprising
but welcome
regon’s voter turnout exceeded expecta-
tions during the recent gubernatorial pri-
mary and that should be good news to
all voters.
However, we need to do better.
More than 1 million ballots were cast in the
recent primary elections and that shows we, as
a state, do care about what our political future
will look like, but more voters still need to get
involved in every one of the state’s elections.
Democracy is an institution ideally suited for
good governance but it can only do so, can only
function at its highest level, if those who live
under that democracy participate.
Participation in elections — especially off -year
presidential contests — never shows a steady line
of progress but instead dips and climbs depending
on the year, the generation or the major issues of
the time.
We as Americans tend to get involved in pol-
itics during critical periods of our history and
then slowly fade into the background when there
doesn’t appear to be a crucial problem to solve or
to overcome.
There are probably a host of reasons why
voter participation dips and rises, and any one of
them could go a long way in explaining the lack
of involvement. The advent of social media —
where we become more and more isolated into
our political silos — certainly hasn’t helped, but
all of our woes cannot be laid at the feet of tech-
nological advances.
Regardless of the current state of technology,
every voter holds a sacred responsibility to
become involved with democracy during an
election.
The franchise to vote is a hard-earned privilege
bestowed upon us by the sacrifi ce of countless
others in our confl icts that trace back more than
200 years. To ignore the benefi ts of that franchise
is to subtly disregard the price so many in our
armed forces paid for us to continue to practice
democracy.
One vote does matter. So do thousands. One
vote can also make a diff erence.
More people voting in the gubernatorial pri-
maries than expected is excellent news for our
democracy at every level. Let’s just hope such
commitment to democracy continues.
O
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the
opinion of The Observer editorial
board. Other columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
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OTHER VIEWS
Current private health
insurance system fails us
I am grateful to The Observer
for its June 23 editorial outlining the
benefi ts of the plan being proposed
by the Joint Task Force on Universal
Health Care. The plan would provide
expanded benefi ts, better care and
lower overall costs for the majority
of Oregonians. It would also provide
freedom from medical debt and bank-
ruptcy for all Oregonians.
In an article published in the May
5 edition of The Observer, we learned
that Oregonians’ personal spending
for health care rose by 34% from
2013 to 2019, a rate higher than the
national average. Nearly a quarter of
the average Oregon family’s spending
was going toward health care costs.
These high costs jeopardize the fi nan-
cial stability of Oregonians and pre-
vent people, even those with pri-
vate health insurance, from seeking
needed care.
The June 23 editorial states that a
state governing board having over-
sight of a universal health care plan
may not be welcome by individuals
who do not like the idea of the gov-
ernment taking over a service pro-
vided by the private sector. I would
assert that the private health insur-
ance industry has never had the best
interest of the insured as its pri-
mary focus. The primary goal of pri-
vate health insurance companies is
to make a profi t and that is accom-
plished by charging ever-increasing
premiums, deductibles and co-pays as
well as denying care to the insured.
A universal health care system
ensures that all Oregonians will have
access to medical care when needed.
The ability to choose my own health
care provider, and freedom from
the constraints imposed by a private
insurance company determining what
care I receive and where I receive it,
often at odds with my medical pro-
vider, are freedoms I look forward to.
I will gladly pay reasonable taxes
to support a universal health care plan
as opposed to paying exorbitant pre-
miums, deductibles and copays that
often lead to crushing debt. No one’s
fi nancial well-being should be put
at risk because of illness or injury.
The current private health insurance
system is failing us. Now is the time
to institute universal health care.
Anna Maria Dill
La Grande
21-inch rule no longer
protects big old trees
Mark Webb’s harsh rebuttal of Rob
Klavins’ essay on forest xollabora-
tives certainly proves one of Klavins’
points: The collaboratives are quick
to crush any dissent.
I was a member of the Wal-
lowa-Whitman Collaborative (now
the Northern Blues Forest Collabora-
tive) but left after realizing decisions
were biased toward extraction rather
than responsible forest management.
I attended a Wallowa-Whitman
briefi ng on the proposed Mor-
gan-Nesbit project and viewed pro-
posed cuts. This is nominally a resto-
ration project, but the examples I was
shown included aggressive logging
of big old trees in previously uncut
backcountry forests.
The 21-inch “Eastside Screens”
rule no longer protects big trees, con-
trary to what Webb says, because the
rule was weakened and changed from
a standard to an unenforceable guide-
line. Furthermore, logging projects
of 16,000 acres (recently in the Fre-
mont-Winema NF) are happening as
Categorical Exclusions that sidestep
Environmental Impact Statements
and signifi cant environmental review.
Labeling big trees as hazards has
become a consistent tactic in justi-
fying a return to logging big timber.
Huge ponderosa, hundreds of years
old, were cut along the Imnaha River
under this rubric and others. Go
count the rings.
This tactic was used on the Big
Mosquito project where big trees near
the lift cable route and landing were
cut down after being labeled haz-
ardous. Cable lifts are planned else-
where in the Big Mosquito cut. If they
don’t try to stop it, the collaboratives
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Universal health care
wouldn’t wipe out
private insurance
The Observer, June 23, 2022, Our
View “Being up-front about cost of
universal health care” declared that
much of the private health care insur-
ance industry in Oregon and jobs
associated with it would likely be
wiped out as a result of the Oregon
Universal Health Plan.
My fact checking does not support
this statement. In fact, the June 2022
Oregon Joint Task Force’s Universal
Health Plan Proposal (fi nd the link
at www.oregon.gov/oha/HPA/HP/
Pages/Task-Force-Universal-Health-
Care.aspx) includes a section on pri-
vate health care insurance, including:
• Insurers would have a more lim-
ited role than in the current system.
• Insurers would be able to off er
extra insurance to cover benefi ts or
services not off ered by the Universal
Health Plan. This could include cer-
tain prescription drugs or long-term
care.
• The Universal Health Plan might
also contract with third parties, such
as private insurance carriers, to help
with administration.
Given the work to date, I trust
implementation of the Universal
Health Plan will include the issue of
the health care insurance industry.
Cheryl Simpson
La Grande
STAFF
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are complicit.
I believe there is a public con-
sensus that big old trees be con-
served, for environmental and ethical
reasons. The Forest Service skirts this
consensus by disingenuous labeling
and collaborative support. Perhaps in
Big Mosquito saving big trees should
have priority over extraction. If the
logging can’t be done without cut-
ting old growth, those units should be
dropped.
Forest collaboratives are enabling
the Forest Service to log old-growth
timber.
Wally Sykes
Joseph
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