FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2017
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Politics
Notice to Readers
There will be no January 5, 2018 issue of The Baker County
Press so that we can take a little break for our family
during what is typically one of the slowest news weeks
of the year. We’ll be back january 12 as usual with a
double issue. Thank you.
— Editorial —
It’s time to
free the
Hammonds
We were thinking about resolu-
tions and such during this, the end
of yet another year. What we’d like
to see is President Trump resolve
to pardon the Hammonds and right
a miscarriage of justice.
Right now we have a couple of
Harney County ranchers sitting
in prison essentially as domestic
terrorists for burning of few acres
of publicly-managed land while
acting as stewards for their own.
Their sentences are more severe
than those we often see for the per-
petrators of violent crimes—rape,
manslaughter, assault and battery
... and sometimes, yes, even mur-
der.
Since the Hammonds submitted
to custody, we have watched as
the USFS (United States Forest
Service) and the BLM (Bureau of
Land Management) let their own
burn projects get out of control, or
failed to correctly get the jump on
wildfires, allowing them to acci-
dentally cross onto private lands.
No compensation to the landown-
ers—ever. Certainly no criminal
charges pursued.
We have watched other landown-
ers right here in Baker County let
slashpile burning cross onto feder-
ally managed lands, resulting in an
expensive firefighting effort that
involved helicopter suppression ef-
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es will not be published. Word limit is 375
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Advertising and Opinion Page Dis-
claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest
forts. Not so much as a fine issued
there. Again, no criminal charges.
Theories abound as to why the
Hammonds were treated differ-
ently, but the fact remains—they
were. We believe it comes back to
that old adage about the nail that
sticks up highest gets hammered
down first.
And now we have a federal
whistleblower within the BLM
who released in his internal inves-
tigation report documenting gross
misconduct by that agency, includ-
ing targeting of the Bundy family,
a mistrial there, and corroboration
of the testimony of witnesses who
spoke out in favor of the Bundys
and/or the Hammonds.
We understand that the man
heading up the Bundy raid, and
several other raids like them, went
so far as to keep a kill list of U.S.
citizens he was proud of torment-
ing and even pushing to suicide in
at least one incident. He has since
been relieved of his position.
Allegations of corruption within
these land-management agencies is
not part of some conspiracy theory;
they’re proven facts.
We were told by our congress-
man’s staff that clemency paper-
work has already been handed to
the Executive Branch of our Fed-
eral government, and in the hands
of the President and Vice President.
We hope the President signs it and
puts an end to this ugly chapter.
These men have wives and
children at home without their
husbands and fathers, trying to
continue their family ranch opera-
tions on their own. They could use
a blessing.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
Opinions or Letters to the Editor express
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Copyright © 2014 -2017
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— Guest Opinion —
Tax reform
for Oregon
By Congressman Greg Walden
Pro-growth tax reform is on its way
to hardworking, middle-class Ameri-
cans. And it’s about time.
The biggest percentage of tax
reductions next year will go to those
earning between $20,000 and $50,000
a year. That’s according to the Joint
Committee on Taxation. An eastern
Oregon family earning the median
income of approximately $50,000 a
year will pay about $1,300 less next
year. Over the next eight years that’s
a savings of $10,400 for that family.
What does that mean across the
country? A typical American family of
four earning $73,000 a year, will see
a 58% reduction in their federal taxes.
That’s real relief.
Moreover, by nearly doubling
the standard deduction, even fewer
Oregonians will have to hire an ac-
countant to search the 73,954 pages of
the federal tax code only to discover
darn few of the special interest loop-
holes apply to them. We’re closing
the loopholes and making filing your
taxes as easy as filling out a postcard.
For those who choose to itemize
their taxes, I worked with my col-
leagues to maintain provisions im-
portant to Oregonians such as pre-
serving the ability to deduct medical
expenses, and a combination of both
property and state income taxes up
to $10,000—helpful in our high-tax
state. For students and teachers, I
also successfully fought to maintain
the deductions for student loans and
teaching expenses.
The IRS should have new tax with-
holding tables in employers’ hands
before February. Once that happens,
taxpayers will begin to see more going
into their pockets, and less going to
the Washington, D.C. bureaucracy.
In addition to providing historic and
meaningful individual tax relief to
Oregon families, this measure is also
designed to rekindle job growth. Few
in Congress were job creators. My
wife and I spent more than 20 years as
small business owners in the Colum-
bia Gorge. I can tell you from first-
hand experience of growing a business
and meeting a payroll, passage of this
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will help small
businesses, family farms and ranches,
and those contractors with a truck and
backhoe expand and grow.
Oregon’s breweries and wineries get
substantial relief from the beer and
wine excise taxes thanks to Repub-
lican Senate provisions I fought to
include in the final bill. These sav-
ings will our let our craft brewers and
Submitted Photo
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River)
represents Oregon’s 2nd Congres-
sional District, which includes 20
counties in central, southern and
eastern Oregon.
winemakers reinvest more money
locally in their businesses and our
communities.
Globally, we’ll finally see American-
based companies bring money home
and invest it here, rather than look
for ways to shelter earnings over-
seas. America had one of the highest
corporate tax rates in the industrial-
ized world, resulting in lost jobs and
American companies moving abroad.
That all changes under this legislation.
Our plan makes the American
economy more competitive, which
will lead to more job growth and eco-
nomic expansion. We’re finally giving
American companies a better place to
do business.
A spokesman for Intel, one of Or-
egon biggest employers, told the Or-
egonian newspaper that these changes
“ can help level the playing field for
U.S. manufacturers and make us more
competitive in today’s global econo-
my. The bill should also spur further
investment in American manufactur-
ing and (research and development).”
These tax reforms are boosting
confidence in our economy. Last
month, the National Federation of
Independent Business confidence
index hit an all-time high. Mean-
while, in the fourth quarter, optimism
among manufactures also reached a
new high. While the stock market will
ebb and flow, a 5,000-point gain in the
last year is both historic and welcome
news to those with savings and retire-
ment accounts, especially after the last
eight years of slow growth.
Many factors affect the strength of
the economy, including an available
and trained workforce, international
incidents and more. Congress and the
President need to focus on rebuilding
America’s infrastructure next. But
after waiting 31 years for real tax re-
form, finally we have a law that brings
tax savings to hard working Ameri-
cans and makes us competitive again
overseas.
Age to purchase
tobacco raised to 21
Oregon will soon start
enforcing a new law that
raised the required mini-
mum age to legally buy or
obtain tobacco products
from 18 to 21.
SB 754, known as Tobac-
co 21, has been in effect
since Gov. Kate Brown
signed it into law Aug. 9,
2017, with enforcement
and fines beginning Jan. 1,
2018.
Oregon is the fifth state
to increase the age to
purchase tobacco, after
California, Hawaii, Maine
and New Jersey.
Under the new law,
retailers can no longer sell
tobacco products or inhal-
ant delivery systems, such
as a pipe or vaporizing
device, to people younger
than 21. Violations of the
law are punishable by a
fine of $50 for employees,
$250 for store managers
and $500 for store owners;
for managers and owners,
the fines double by the
third offense.
OHA's Public Health
Division is authorized
to enforce the minimum
age of tobacco sales law
and coordinates with the
Oregon State Policy to
conduct state-sponsored
compliance inspections.
Katrina Hedberg, MD,
Oregon's state health of-
ficer and epidemiologist
based at the Oregon Health
Authority Public Health
Division, said raising the
minimum age for buy-
ing tobacco products and
inhalant delivery systems
is proven to reduce youth
initiation of tobacco use.
She noted nine of 10 adults
report they started smoking
before they were 19, and
nearly 100 percent start
before age 26.
"The earlier kids start
using tobacco, the more at
risk they are for becom-
ing addicted to tobacco
and developing chronic
diseases such as heart dis-
ease, asthma and cancer,"
Hedberg said.
Help is available for
anyone in Oregon ready to
quit tobacco. Call Oregon's
toll-free Quit Line at
800-QUIT-NOW (800-
784-8669) or visit www.
quitnow.net.
People who see a retailer
selling tobacco products or
inhalant delivery systems
to someone younger than
21 can report the violation
with the business name,
address and other informa-
tion to Tobacco.Inspec-
tions@state.or.us.
Learn more about Tobacco
21 at www.HealthOregon.
org/tobaccoretailsales.