FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion
— Letters to the Editor —
My take on Harney County
To the Editor:
Based on my personal observation from
my visit to the Harney County Resource
Center on January 18, 2016, there seems
to be a disparity between what I’ve been
reading in The Oregonian and what I
witnessed firsthand.
Setting aside the actual argument of
“how” these occupiers are furthering their
message, we were welcomed and greeted
with coffee, lunch, conversation, and total
transparency to every question I asked. It
was obvious that there had been no visible
vandalism or theft.
The buildings were clean, their dona-
tions were organized and documented,
their volunteers were in high spirits and
everyone seemed to be carrying on with
purpose and organization. I saw how
some of the buildings that had been left by
the previous employees had allowed them
to be overrun with vermin and neglect,
and how the current occupiers had cleaned
them up and restored them to respectable
levels of maintenance. Overall, in spite
of the “terror” of the current occupants’
actions, I never once felt remotely similar
to how I am treated in government facili-
ties in an apathetic manner as just another
number to be dealt with (local DMV, For-
est Service ranger stations, BLM office,
etc).
And for all I’ve read about how the fed-
eral government would have dropped the
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Opinions submitted as Guest Opinions or Letters to
heavy hammer of violence and mayhem
on these “terrorists” had they been folks of
color, imagine my surprise when I spoke
with several African-American volunteers
who were working, cleaning, and busy
with security details to further a peaceful
message about government overreach.
Back in Burns, I felt no sense of any
threat from the III%s or from the refuge
occupants.
From the locals I conversed with, I got
the impression that those at the refuge in
fact posed no threat of violence to the resi-
dents of Burns whatsoever.
While I noticed FBI personnel and lo-
cal law enforcement in various places in
town, I didn’t particularly feel threatened
by them either, although they were the
only militarized presence I noticed.
Overall, it was a positive experience in
my attempt at trying to understand why
these Americans at the refuge have taken
such drastic measures that are sure to alter
the course of the rest of their lives.
Jake Brown
Halfway
Thank you
To the Editor:
The Baker County Press—wow what a
newspaper! Sure was glad to read it and
pass it around. Makes my paper sound
like a Sunday school party and everyone
has a bad heart.
Betty Otley
Burns
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— Guest Opinion —
Session
preview
By Sen. Ted Ferrioli
As I recall, Oregonians were sold on the
idea of annual meetings with the promise
that the “short” session would focus on
balancing the budget, making small legis-
lative “fixes,” often referred to as “house-
keeping measures,” and responding to
emergencies that need immediate attention
from the Legislature.
I’m sorry to report that the “short
session” has become little more than a
setting for the Majority Party to pursue
an over-reaching agenda of tax increases,
regulation, and ideological issues dear to
the Progressives who rule Portland and to
a great extent, the rest of Oregon.
Democrats have proposed an increase in
the minimum wage from the current level
of $9.25 to as much as $15.00 per hour in
the Metro area, and $13.50 elsewhere in
Oregon. This proposal comes on the heels
of mandatory paid sick leave, and together
they threaten to raise overheads to such a
degree that the result will likely be layoffs
and business closures across the state.
The minimum wage increase will fall
particularly hard on rural communities
close to Idaho and Nevada, which have
much lower labor costs and much more
robust economies. The Governor, Speaker,
and Senate President favor this proposal,
leaving House and Senate Republicans
opposed to the plan and fighting for the
survival of small business in Oregon.
Democrats are also proposing a “Cap
and Trade” mandate that will raise energy
costs for everyone including businesses
and families, disproportionately hitting the
poor, elderly, school districts and those on
fixed incomes.
This concept puts the state government
in charge of the fuel and energy costs,
unfairly benefits alternative energy sup-
pliers at the expense of consumers and
traditional energy businesses, all with
little or no measurable effects on carbon
emissions, reduction of global warming or
reducing the size of Oregon’s miniscule
carbon footprint.
In addition to these anti-business mea-
sures, Democrats are proposing a mandate
for affordable housing that will force
construction contractors to build a certain
amount of below-cost housing units for
people of limited means, to be paid for by
higher costs passed on to more traditional
home buyers.
Democrats also propose to modify
constitutional, voter-approved limitations
on property taxes by changing the system
from one based on assessed valuation
to a system based on floating real mar-
ket value.
The changes
would also
allow local
governments
to increase
the maximum
constitutional
caps through
a voter-
Submitted Photo
approved
Sen. Ferrioli repre-
local option
sents Senate District
levy. These
30, which includes
changes will
Baker County.
raise local
property
taxes and further increase the cost of
housing for Oregon families and fixed-
income seniors.
Democrats are also working on a pro-
posal that would remove an individual’s
right to buy firearms based on a report
that they pose a “danger to themselves
or others.” The report can be anonymous
and will not be checked for validity or
accuracy. A 30 day “hold” will be put on
the accused so they would fail firearms
background checks. The accused will not
be notified of the hold, and would only
learn of the restriction if they tried to
purchase a firearm. The “hold” could only
be removed upon the report of a medical
professional refuting the allegations, or by
a court order lifting the “hold.” However,
a new report could be filed every 30 days.
Oregon has many pressing problems
like the unfunded PERS obligations.
PERS premiums will increase by as much
as 30 percent in 2016-17.
The Oregon Health Plan added more
than 250,000 new enrollees since its
inception, and health care costs are still
spiraling out of control with no plan for
sustaining vital programs.
Our schools have become a laughing-
stock with some of the worst attendance
and lowest graduation rates in the Nation.
Against a backdrop of plunging stock
market values, stagnation in major
economic sectors and disruptions in our
global shipping infrastructure, the Gov-
ernor has granted generous pay increases
to state employees and will likely support
massive tax increases to cover burgeoning
state expenses.
Worst of all, the “short session” will
provide little or no opportunity for citizens
to personally engage in issues as public
hearings will be limited largely to “invited
testimony” and in most cases, held with
a one hour notice before action on bills,
most of which will have an “emergency
clause” that prevents a citizen referral to
voters.
I don’t believe most Oregonians
envisioned this type of governance when
they approved annual session and I don’t
believe they support the way public partic-
ipation is being squelched.
— Guest Opinion —
Trump’s poll
numbers
show that
voters are
tired of same
ol’ thing
By Anne Marie Gurney
Special to The Baker County Press
To be clear, this isn’t an endorse-
ment of Donald Trump in his bid to
be president.
The organization that pays my
salary doesn’t endorse, work for,
or otherwise support candidates for
any elective office.
And even if we did, it’s hard to
see The Donald getting much love
from The Freedom Foundation.
Still, his inexplicable—to
some—popularity with enough
voters to make candidates of both
parties nervous is worth analyzing
because of what it tells us about
ourselves as Americans and our fes-
tering disaffection with the political
process.
Back in 1980, you may recall,
the chattering class and the leftists
it represents were similarly dismis-
sive of Ronald Reagan. After all,
the smart money said, he was too
conservative, too old, and just too
dumb to be president.
All he did was win two landslide
elections, end the Cold War and
usher in the longest-lasting eco-
nomic expansion in American his-
tory. Now who looks “dumb?”
Donald Trump is no Ronald Rea-
gan, heaven knows, but both strike
a chord with the electorate precisely
because neither had any use for
carefully triangulated, deliberately
vague talking points calculated to
offend absolutely no one.
Where most candidates are
consumed with tomorrow’s track-
ing polls and terrified of angering
potential donors, Reagan always
spoke his mind and let the chips fall
where they may.
In his own way, so does Trump, and
voters are responding.
Up to a point, it almost doesn’t
matter what you stand for … as
long as you do it in a firm and
forceful way. If Reagan proved
Submitted Photo
Anne Marie Gurney is Oregon co-
ordinator for the Freedom Founda-
tion, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think
tank that promotes free markets and
limited, accountable government in
the Pacific Northwest.
that to his doubters 35 years ago,
Trump’s current momentum pro-
vides even more conclusive evi-
dence, given that he arguably stands
for much less.
The same phenomenon is even
more obvious in the other party,
where Bernie Sanders – an avowed
Socialist – is nonetheless giving es-
tablishment Democrat Hilary Clin-
ton all she can handle and more.
Is it because his ideas make more
sense than hers? Are you serious?
In point of fact, both would be an
unqualified disaster for this country.
The difference is, Sanders isn’t
trying to fool anyone about who he
is, while Hilary can’t help herself.
Deceit is in her DNA.
Sanders is no Reagan either, by
the way. While he and Trump may
share The Gipper’s penchant for
plain talk, neither is anywhere near
as likeable.
More importantly, it’s one thing
to have firm convictions and enun-
ciate them unapologetically. But it
also helps if those principles have
a track record of success in the real
world, as Reagan’s unquestionably
did.
At the end of the day, no one is
saying Trump or Sanders will even
earn their party’s nomination, let
alone win the presidency in No-
vember. Or that they should.
The moral of the story is that
modern voters are so tired of weasel
words and so starved for real lead-
ership that two men who otherwise
couldn’t come within sniffing dis-
tance of the White House are con-
founding the “experts” and running
ahead of the projections simply by
speaking their minds.
Just imagine how presidential
someone with actual qualifications
for the job would look by doing the
same.
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202.456.1414
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503.378.3111
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