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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2015)
FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015 4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS Opinion / Politics — Editorial — Why Trump is getting noticed We’re opening this editorial with a disclaimer that it isn’t an endorsement of Donald Trump for President. We’re many months and a long, introspective path away for choosing our favorite presidential candidate. But we do find it interesting that Donald Trump has climbed to the top of the dogpile of 18,659 or so GOP contenders. Will he remain there? Who knows. However, immediately the political opinion pieces came out stating that Trump, by way of his very candidacy, is destroying the Republican Party. We think the old-establishment RINOs (Republicans in Name Only, a.k.a. Democrats Lite) are doing a darn fine job of that all on their own. Voters put them into office to combat the spread of progressive socialism, but find all too often that they cave whenever an issue isn’t politically safe or expedient to handle. Meanwhile, the base of the party has shifted right of center like never before, and that majority base is sick to death of politi- cal correctness. Donald Trump is anything but politi- cally correct. In fact, he addresses interview questions with all the tact of a rabid gorilla. We kind of enjoy that about him. We desperately need candidates who don’t let contemporaries or media tell them how to speak and how to think. We need brutally refreshing honesty, whether we agree with the view being expressed or not. Political correctness is simply an in- direct way to strip Americans of their first amendment rights while allow- ing most citizens to remain blissfully unaware those rights are even being erased. Progressives censure which subjects are okay to discuss and which aren’t. They curtail the use of nouns or verbs that might contain “micro-aggres- sions” and offend. They limit which opinions can be spoken aloud by attacking the speaker with words like “bigot” or “racist” or “homophobe” until one becomes afraid to speak at all. The cultural shift this created was subtle at first. Now—not so much. Weakness and victimhood are re- warded more and more often, whereas strength of thought and independence are ridiculed. In a nation filled with red-blooded patriots, this shift has worn thin. Instead of panicking and attempting to control Trump, Republicans need to take a look at what’s making him so appealing and take a page out of his playbook. This week Kid Rock, also not a pillar of polish and politeness, gave a succinct “kiss my ass” (his direct quote) response when labeled a bigot and told to perform a less offensive concert tour by race-baiting sleaze Al Sharpton. Fans cheered. New fans came on board. Music sales went up. We think American voters are hun- gry for in-your-face truth and honesty. We’re looking to elect the alpha dog in that pile to the point that even a self- absorbed billionaire is looking mighty tempting in comparison to the politi- cians as usual who populate D.C. —The Baker County Press Editorial Board — Letters to the Editor — Warm climate called “optimum” for a reason To the Editor: Some of our local pundits continue to quote St. Al Gore as if his words were Gospel. But they’re not. Consider: The ultimate test for a scientific theory is how well it matches the real world. If it does, then fine. If not, then it’s time to toss that theory and try something differ- ent. The Theory of Catastrophic Climate Change utterly fails that test with reality. The theory says that unless global warming is reversed, there will be horren- dous consequences. Among other things, the Statue of Liberty will have to learn how to dog paddle. Since there have been times in human history when the world’s climate was significantly warmer than it is now, let’s see how much the theory match- es what actually happened back then. One of these warm periods, the Medieval Climactic Optimum, is well documented in European history. It lasted from around AD 700 to 1200. Its most significant effect was to enlarge the Northern Temperate Zone, pushing it several hundred miles to the north. Norwegian farmers success- fully settled Greenland; England had a thriving wine industry; Leif Erikson found wild grapes growing on the northern tip of Newfoundland. Noticeably missing are all of the cataclysms foretold by St. Gore. Rather than being a threat to human existence, the 500-year-long warm period was quite beneficial to mankind. Climate change apologists like to say that the science is settled; their theory is real. The climate of the Earth has warmed in the past century, that’s true. But its con- tinued warming will not be harmful. Stud- ies of the Medieval Climactic Optimum and other warm periods in human history have established this. But St. Gore and his crew won’t admit that their theory doesn’t hold water; many of them are getting rich off of the climate change issue and they don’t want to derail the gravy train. I’ve posted this question to our local pundits before; if the results of climate change are so disastrous, then why are the warmest periods in human history called climactic optimums? The question has never been answered. Pete Sundin Baker City Ferrioli says $300 million set for schools Salem, OR - Senate Republicans are praising the inclusion of $300 mil- lion in bonding for schools in Oregon following their request earlier in the ses- sion for school bonding in the same amount. “After Democrats woe- fully underfunded K-12 education earlier this session, we’re encour- aged that they agreed with our call to allocate $300 million in bonds for Oregon schools,” said Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day). “Senate Republicans have long advocated for funding our schools first, and today we were able to give them a boost in funding that gives Oregon safer schools and additional resources in the classroom.” $300 million in bonds for schools will be divided be- Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker County Press reserves the right not to pub- lish letters containing factual falsehoods or incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or detracting from specific for-profit business- es may not be published. Word limit is 375 words per letter. Letters are limited to one every other week per author. Letters should be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty- Press.com. Advertising and Opinion Page Dis- claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest tween seismic retrofitting ($175 million) and bond- ing for school districts’ capital projects ($125 million). The bonding projects will be considered Friday afternoon when the Joint Ways & Means Subcom- mittee on Capital Construction meets to consider bonding projects for the next biennium. Opinions or Letters to the Editor express the opinions of their authors, and have not been authored by and are not necessarily the opinions of The Baker County Press, any of our staff, management, independent contractors or affiliates. Advertisements placed by political groups, candidates, businesses, etc., are printed as a paid service, which does not constitute an endorsement of or fulfillment obligation by this newspaper for the products or services advertised. Walden optimistic as Resilient Federal Forest Act moves to Senate • CONGRESSMAN HOLDS MEDIA CALL TO ADDRESS ACT BY BRIAN ADDISON Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com In a media conference call this week, U.S. Rep- resentative Greg Walden (R-Oregon) called his proposed House Bill 2647 Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 a “game changer” for Oregon’s rural communities. HB 2647 calls for chang- es to wildfire management by opening up disaster relief funding and puts in place measures to expedite timber harvest projects. The proposed legislation also favors the formation of collaborative groups bringing interested parties together to make decisions on public land projects. The bill has passed the U.S. House with strong support and now moves to consideration by the U.S. Senate. “Among the strong provisions in this bill are streamlining planning, re- ducing frivolous lawsuits, and speeding up the pace of forest management,” said Walden addressing his fellow legislators. The cost of fighting wild- fire last year in Oregon and Washington tallied about $461 million. The cost for fire-season this year already exceeds $17 mil- lion as the Corner Creek Fire near Dayville reached about 29,000 acres. “As we speak here today on the House floor, brave firefighters are still try- ing to contain the Corner Creek fire, which has al- ready burned 29,000 acres of forestland near Dayville, Oregon, in my dis- trict-29,000 acres already burned. And unfortunately, this fire season in the west has only just begun,” con- tinued Walden. Wildfire suppression costs exceeding budgeted funds during intense fire seasons require “fire- borrowing” by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management shifting funds from other programs. The shifting of funds de- pletes the coffers of other budgeted management accounts. Under the Resilient Federal Forests Act the practice of fire-borrowing would end with the cre- ation of an account within the Disaster Relief Fund specifically for wildfires. Walden estimates that northeastern Oregon has lost about 4,700 jobs and witnessed the closure of 19 mills. The bill calls for expedit- ed timber harvest projects by simplifying the federal agency process for approv- ing projects. Projects de- veloped through the collab- orative process would be expedited through the envi- ronmental review process only requiring an Action or No Action alternative from federal land managers. “For national forests in eastern Oregon, this legis- lation repeals the prohibi- tion on harvesting trees over 21 inches in diam- eter,” Walden said. “This flawed one-size-fits-all rule illustrates, I think, just how broken the Federal forest management has become. So it greatly limit’s the flexibility forest managers have to do what is right for the health and ecosystem of the forests to make them more resilient, more fire tolerant.” HR 2647 builds upon the 2003 Healthy Forest Resto- ration Act, builds upon the collaborative process, deals with the lodge pole pine die-offs, and allows forest restoration efforts, Walden explained during a recent conference call just before taking the bill forward in the U.S. House of Repre- sentatives. “We have to get back to active forest management,” he said. “We should be able to get this done.” Walden responds to Obama Administration’s new Iran deal U.S. Rep. Greg Walden issued the following state- ment after the Obama Administration announced it had reached a nuclear deal with Iran: “The regime in Iran exports terror around the globe, threatens the secu- rity of the United States and our ally Israel, and continues to relentlessly pursue the world’s worst weapons. It seems that the Obama Administration has decided to reward that bad behavior with permanent benefits in exchange for a temporary delay in their nuclear program. This is unacceptable for our safety and security. “The deal would give Iran billions in sanctions relief—money that could be used to finance more terror and weapons devel- opment that threatens our safety. “And it would remove restrictions on Iran’s mis- sile and weapons pro- grams, allowing them to continue work on intercon- tinental ballistic missiles that could hit the United States. “While Congress must carefully review the details of this agreement, I will do — Contact Us — The Baker County Press PO Box 567 Baker City, Ore. 97814 Open Monday-Thursday for calls 9 AM - 4 PM Open 24/7 for emails Office location: TBA Phone: 541.519.0572 TheBakerCountyPress.com Kerry McQuisten, Publisher Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com David Conn, Advertising and Sales David@TheBakerCountyPress.com Published weekly every Friday. Subscription rates per year are $29.95 all areas, e-mail delivery. $39.95 print issue, home delivery, Baker City city limits only. $49.95 print issue, mail delivery, outside Baker City city limits only. Payment in advance. A division of Black Lyon Publishing, LLC Copyright © 2014 Submitted Photo. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden. all I can to stop a bad deal that threatens the safety of our troops, our allies, and the American people.” YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS President Barack Obama 202.456.1414 202.456.2461 fax Whitehouse.gov/contact US Sen. Jeff Merkley 503.326.3386 503.326.2900 fax Merkley.Senate.gov US Sen. Ron Wyden 541.962.7691 Wyden.Senate.gov US Rep. Greg Walden 541.624.2400 541.624.2402 fax Walden.House.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown 503.378.3111 Governor.Oregon.gov State Rep. Cliff Bentz 503.986.1460 State Sen. Ted Ferrioli 541.490.6528 Baker County Commissioners Bill Harvey; Mark Bennett; Tim Kerns 541.523.8200 541.523.8201
