Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2005)
TO THE EDITOR garbage anyway.” I was shocked, and told her there are sev- eral companies who would be more than glad to pick up their refuse with little or no effort on their part. Her response was, “Oh, we don’t do anything like that.” I am chagrined that an establishment right here in our own community could be that non-caring, even glib about ignoring the fact that we need to care for our precious environment! I may just be spending a little more time in my own kitchen in the coming days and months for my burritos. Norma McKenzie Eugene racy. These include making the clerk, who in- terprets the House rules, a partisan office; changing the rules so that changes to House rules could be approved by a simple major- ity rather than by a two-thirds majority; and stopped allowing motions to bring a bill bot- tled in committee to the House floor. All of these withstood through 150 years of poli- tics in Oregon. Minnis changed that. She also pulled the House out of the joint Ways and Means Committee, which meant the two branches would no longer work to- gether on the budget. To me, a leader is someone who works with others, who compromises, who does things for the good of all, not the few. Minnis did not act as a leader this session. Instead, she acted the part of a monarch. A monarch doesn’t compromise, does not lis- ten to others, and makes decisions based on what is good for close supporters — not the greater population. This description of a monarch fits Minnis to a “T” this session. Oregon is steadily slipping to the bottom of the nation on all fronts — education, health care, hunger, and more. Minnis hasn’t done anything to help stop that slip — it’s only gotten worse. Jenni Simonis Gresham SOME OF THE PEOPLE … Here is a headline I’ve been waiting for: A Texas grand jury on Wednesday (9/28) charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign fi- nance scheme, an indictment that will force him to step down as House majority leader. This does indeed prove the adage from Abraham Lincoln: You can fool all the peo- ple some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Once again, one of the extreme right wing neo-cons who has been spreading vile rumors aplenty about anyone who opposes his nut-case ideas and behavior is now being TAX THE POOR George Beres (9/15 Viewpoint) pro- posed some heavy taxes on the rich to fi- nance the county. While we both can agree that the county has an insatiable appetite for income, there is a flaw in his plan. A 10-20 percent additional tax on a few dozen peo- ple would lead to their exit from our county and perhaps the state. Worse yet, this same group likely provide huge support for our arts and causes. Like all the tax the rich schemes, it is envy-based and often results in lower overall taxes. Here is an unusual al- ternative: Tax the poor and the PERS re- tirees. First, there are far more poor and PERS retirees here than you can shake a stick at, so there are ample targets. Second, they are less likely to move away and if they did, they would miss the unique Eugene am- biance and would come back. Third, there are an awful lot of PERS people knocking down $4,000 plus per month for life, better than twice what the top earners will ever get from Social Security, so they can afford an extra contribution to our community. I guess the point here is this: It isn’t right to single out a group for punishment, espe- cially if they are doing nothing to deserve it. There is nothing progressive or liberal in punishing the innocent, and all clear think- ing people should stop the divisive and de- structive tactics. Beres and others should focus their attention instead on our govern- ment. This county and the state have ample money, they just need to spend it differently. David Z. Pokvitis Springfield GAME PLAYING Gov. Kulongoski calling for the con- struction of new oil refineries is like the fox calling for the building of more hen houses, after all the hens have been eaten by the fox’s political friends. Next, Kulongoski will be calling for the construction of more nuclear plants. Will the flip-flopping of the governor never cease? Could it have anything to do with his decision to run for a second term and desire to ride the new guilty conscience wave of the PC crowd in trying to make up for their past intransigence on the matter? Tony Valeri Eugene MINNIS THE MENACE The biggest reason why I want to defeat Minnis is because she has been a roadblock to democracy in this state. The state Senate passed numerous bills with bi-partisan sup- port on which Minnis refused a vote. She broke with long standing tradition numer- ous times to set up roadblocks to democ- OCTOBER 6, 2005 7
