Letters
2
WEÓNEsdAy, N ovemòer 1, 2000
Opinion
All signed letters to the editor should be 500 words or less anJ
considered for publication if submitted by I pm the Friday
publication. Letters to the Editor are subject to editing. We re.
right to not publish any letter.
Major differences in presidential electio
“Republicans buy Nader TV
ads” was one headline on the front
page of The Oregonian last Sat
urday. If there if any doubt in your
mind that a vote for Nader is a vote
for Bush, fnese ads, produced by
the Republican Leadership Coun
cil, might cause you to re-think
your choice of Nader, who ac
knowledges he cannot win the 2000
presidential election. The race in
Oregon is too close to call.
The headline to con
tinue the story was “Ads
show attack on Gore
while omitting (Nader’s)
criticisms of Bush,” such
as Nader’s statement that
Bush is “a big corpora
tion running for presi
dent disguised as a per
son.”
Give The Oregonian credit for
its straightforward headlines that
reveal the open, unapologetic dis
tortion of truth by the Republican
campaign. Last week, Oregon’s
largest daily newspaper gave
Bush its nod. I reacted as did Carl
Ehrman, of Lincoln City, who said,
“So.....we should vote for George
W. because he wasn’t as bad as
expected, right?”
I believe The Oregonian has
chosen stylé over substance. I be
lieve George W. is a good old boy
like other Republicans already in
Washington, D.C., the ones who
have kept out of sight during the
campaign and at the Republican
convention, lest the public be re-
waste of interest on debt? Bush
would bestow a $1.3 trillion tax cut
that would benefit the wealthiest
Americans. With all the tax ben
efits and loopholes available to
the rich, I just don’t buy that they
pay, proportionate to their real in
come, the most taxes.
During such unequalled pros
perity in America, is this not the
time to catch up with social ser-
ices, especially education,
that have been stalled
and sacrificed to get
the boom going?
Even business is
now paying the price
for all the cuts to
Sandy Lupo
education.
Opinion Editor
Bush’s environ
mental record in
ing too much of their income to Texas has been abysmal, and
the country, with tax loopholes and Houston has become the smoggi-
special interest lobbying and pork est large city in America during
barrel spending in Congress. It is Bush’s leadership. Gore exposed
the middle class that needs some that Bush “appointed a lobbyist
breaks. The parents struggling to from the chemical industry to en
send their kids to college would force the environmental laws in
receive tax credits under Gore’s Texas.” Isn’t that the proverbial
budget plan. The parents who can fox in the henhouse? Global warm
not afford private schools for their ing was stage center again this
children would benefit from Gore’s week, when a scientists’ report out
plan to spend $ 115 billion on edu of the United Nations concluded the
cation, as opposed to Bush’s $48 Earth would get hotter than pre
billion. Families who cannot afford dicted, with man-made pollution a
health insurance, or care for their major factor.
children and aging parents would
Bush tries to frame his differ
get help under Gore’s plan. Gore ences with Gore merely as a differ
would eliminate the national debt ence in philosophy. Indeed, Bush is
by 2012. Is there anyone who has for the rich getting richer, while the
not felt the insidiousness and poor get poorer. Bush declares the
minded that these are the national
leaders who were totally against a
Patients’ Bill of Rights six months
ago; lest the public be reminded
that these are the men who wish,
like George W., to continue the
practice of trickle-down econom
ics, which have widened the gap
between the rich and the poor, leav
ing most of the people behind.
Business and the rich are well
protected from contribut-
ReaAListen.ThinkJ
Write.
presidential race is
a matter of values.
Indeed, I value
that Gore has
spent 25 years in
public service,
while Bush has
spent five. I value
that Gore has stud
ied long and hard
to know the issues
while Bush relies
on scripted an
swers to any ques
tion. With so little
knowledge and
experience, I fear
Bush will be just a
pawn of the narrow minded, cold-
hearted special interest Republican
congress. If I must choose between
the insufferable and the insufficient
give me insufferable knowledge,
please, over insufficient diligence. I
value that Gore has been on the fore
front of environmental and technol
ogy issues. If Bush has increased
business productivity In Texas, it
has been at the cost of fairness to
the people and responsibility to the
Earth. His record there on educa
tion, health care and a woman’s
choice has been disgraceful.
I value that Gore would protect a
women’s right to choose. Like the
right to have money of their own
rather than be property, as they once
were in America; like the right to
vote, which finally gave women a
voice in this country; like the right
to birth control, which slowed the
deaths of women forced toi
child after child, or to turn to I
to abort a child who would a
wise be bom into poverty or al
and even prevented some lovl
marriages and abandonment I
the right to equal pay for m
work; the right to choice overPa
own bodies was a hard-won 0
of women in this country, andl
against any law that disadp
tages an entire class of peowr
not an entire class, I guess-vn
women would still have the pas
to choose. The next presidon
appointment to the US Supro
Court will determine soL
progressfor decades to coil
pray we do not choose Bush|U
regression.
Live, and choose by your ln
light, but read, listen, think, p
ptease vote.
I
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Halloween’s not over yet; Measures 8 and 93, trick or treat!
'la
TAM OLIVER
Feature Co-Editor
Two more Constitutional amend
ments might also come back to
haunt us.
Measure 8 has a unique way of
delivering its knockout punch, as
can be expected from the people who,
in 1990, gave us Ballot Measure 5.
This is the measure that created a
lot of work for our legislators after it
passed. It’s also the one that spent
a lot of our tax dollars because itwas
so poorly written that no one could
figure out how to implement it. This
is the one that had to be “fixed” sev
eral times over the years to get it to
work. Since it was a Constitutional
amendment, every fix had to be voted
on.
Anyway, Measure 8 works by re
stricting the amount of money the
state can spend in its entire biennial
budget to 15percent of the income
Oregonians made in the last two
years. In other words, no matter
what the rate of inflation is, the state
of Oregon is not going to keep up
withit
And the insidious part of the mea
sure is that even though the amount
the state government spends in-
cludes money from the federal gov
ernment, money from the upcoming
tobacco settlement, federal univer
sity grants for research, state fees
and investments, Measure 8 figures
the amount of all state spending on
the income of Oregonians. So what
might look like a small cut in the bud
get is much larger. It would cut state
funding by almost 20%, about 4.8
billion dollars in the 2001 -2003 bien
nium.
Additionally, it doesn’t spell out
which services will receive the deep
est cuts. It doesn’t cut income taxes.
It does, however, put Oregon in the
position of having to turn away hun
dreds of millions of federal dollars
without reducing federal taxes.
There is already a law in place
that limits the amount of growth of
appropriations for the General Fund
to the income of Oregonians in the
preceding biennium. Measure 8
isn’t necessary, and it isn’t good for
Oregonians. Vote no on 8.
Measure 93, yet another Consti
tutional amendment, requires voter
approval for most new or raised tax
fees on both state and local levels.
If it passes, it is estimated that
the general election ¿November
2002 will cost the state an additional
8.6 million dollars. After that, the
cost of additional general elections
is estimated to be an additional 26.4
million dollars after adjusting for in
flation. In addition, total costs to
local governments for the general
elections are estimated to be 26.4
million dollars. Each year after that
it’s estimated that local governments
will spendatotal sum of 13.2 million
after adjusting for inflation.
For all this money, Oregonians will
be given the privilege of voting on
fees for dog obedience classes, quilt
ing classes and using the local swim
ming pool. Oregonians will be able
to determine how much to charge to
be a ginseng dealer, to dispose of a
dead animal and to slaughter poul
try and rabbits. If you think your
Voter Pamphlet was big this year, just
wait.
But there’s even more, as there
should be for so much money. Or
egonians can also look forward to
having to vote again on already ap
proved school and library levies if
they were approved after Dec. 6,
1998. Taxes and fee increases greater
than 3 % that occurred after Dec. 6,
1998 will also have to go before the
voters. If they don’t pass, everyone
that paid them is entitled to a refund.
Editor-in-Chief:
There’s no mention of where the
money will come from to carry this
out.
Legislation like this will do little
to encourage voter turnout. It’s go
ing to be rough enough this elec
tion forthose who believe in under
standing what they are voting on.
This measure will spend your money
on elections and your time on is
sues that you either don’t care about
or issues of which you have no
knowledge
Finally, the really scary part of
this issue is that it eliminates ma
jority rule. Even if the rest of the
measure were peachy-keen, which
it isn’t, this one aspect is enough to
make you vote no. If it passes, all
measures to be voted on under this
measure will have to have the same
Toni Krummenacker,
YPOP Instructor
Jim Spickelmier
Staff:
Amanda Gosser
Chris Lundgren
Corinne Rupp
Dana Palmer
Elena Boryska
Jenny Chavez
Liesl Muggli
Matt Shempert
Michael Choe
Shannon Recabaren
Wes Fawcett
Tam Oliver
A & E Editor:
Mandy Good
*
Sandy Lupo
Sports Editor:
Jason Lingel
News Editor
Steve Nielsen
Secretary:
MikePollbck
JoAnne Gale
Advisor:
Business Manager:
Scott Creson (x2578)
I
I
gram (YPOP), "didn't fit" in a traditional high school. Actually they II
fit in a traditional high school, but most of them have CHOSEN NO1 ir]
continue in a traditional high school setting and they sought outic
alternative program like ours to fit their needs.
I
Web Master:
Photo Editor:
allow this to happen. Please vote*
1
on Measure 93.
b
That was a nice article that you wrote on the cooking class. I have ji
one tiny problem: you commented that I said that the girls in our pl
Maggie Jirasek
Copy/Opinion Editor:
groups to take over the decisijlj
making. Oregonians simply cal
To the Print,
Feature Co-Editor:
sprin/i f jl, rnt-ht with lor.
7 election next week vote for Hi
sure 93, then all measures in that
ture (and the ones within the ar
two years that are in question)®
raise taxes, fees or charges moreta
three percent, will have to reel
75 percentof the vote to pass. I
Essentially, this can produl
situation where 25 percent ofl
voters can tell the other 75 perl0
what to do. By eliminating mal
ity rule, the playing field will bel
wide-open for special intel
Letter to the Editor
Diana Scrivner (x2447)
Feature Co-Editor:
percentage of votes as Measuilq
wins by to be passed. For exanll
if 75 percent of the voters in the ii
Linda Vogt (x2310)
ir
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