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PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 2, 2017 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM Trump fl exes U.S. muscle By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS President Donald Trump may fi nd Washington a hostile home lurking with political foes who want payback for his harsh rhetoric on the campaign trail. Funny thing, though: On his fi rst foreign trip as president, the one-time isolationist found for- giveness and bonhomie from leaders and nations he trolled during the 2016 campaign. In Saudi Arabia, King Salman bin Abdul- Aziz Al Saud Salman rolled out a red carpet for Trump and hosted meetings with Muslim and Arab lead- ers. In Israel, Trump had positive talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Vati- can described Trump’s audience with Pope Francis as “cordial.” He accused the Saudis of blowing up the World Trade Center. He sup- ported a “total and complete shut- down” on allowing Muslims to enter the United States. Abbas and the Saudi royal family are Muslims. As a candi- date, Trump tweeted that the pontiff was “disgraceful” for questioning his faith. In Washington, there’s no getting over 2016. Democrats in Congress are loath to appear publicly with Trump. Party leaders don’t want to be seen working with his administration. Af- ter spending the last eight years de- nouncing Republican obstructionism, they’ve come up with a new word— “resistance”—for the same behavior, which they now fi nd laudable. They’re can’t and won’t get over 2016, while the Saudi King, Palestin- ian leader and Catholic Pope can. Then again, Saudi Arabia and Israel were pretty peeved at President Barack Obama’s role in passing the nuclear deal with Iran. Middle Eastern leaders did not appreciate Barack Obama’s role in easing Egyptian Presi- dent Hosni Mubarak out of power. They appreciate that Trump’s “America First” rhetoric means not pushing Middle Eastern leaders to the breaking point. As Trump put it when he spoke to Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh, “We are not here to lecture. We are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partner- ship—based on shared interests and values—to pursue a better future for us all.” The pope had the least to lose from taking on Trump and the least to win from reaching out to the president. The pontiff sees immigration as a moral issue, and he was not afraid to say so last year. “I honestly don’t think Francis gives a hoot about the benefi t” of a visit, ob- served Austin Ruse, Catholic author and president of C-Fam, a family re- search institute, as well as a member of Trump’s council of Catholic advisers. At a dedication for a memorial of 9/11 and NATO’s Article 5, which guarantees mutual defense, Trump hectored member nations for fail- ing to contribute their “fair share” of NATO’s defense. That lecture at least could not be considered a surprise. Yet then, after fanning expecta- other views What would I do? By LYNDON ZAITZ Most people would like to think of themselves as the type of person who come to the aid of the fellow man, even step into harm’s way, if necessary. On Friday, May 26, on a MAX train at the Holly- wood Transit Cen- ter in Portland, three men—strangers to each other— fell victims to their own good inten- tions. The three men confronted a man who was verbally abusing two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab. Ricky John Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, were killed. Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, was injured. These men saw what was hap- pening and stepped in to help the young women against the threats of the man. Did they think about their own safety? Did they know that the raving, long-haired man had a knife? Did they consider the possibility of a weapon? In my mind these three men are real heroes, a word that is thrown around too much. The three men jumped into ac- tion to protect the two young women; they saw something and did something. It would seem to be more than a fair fi ght, three men against one man. But when the ele- ment of a close-at-hand weapon is added to the mix, the balance of an altercation can shift. Too often people will turn away from such scenes, suspecting it is nothing more than the ravings of a person with mental health issues. “Don’t get involved” are words that too easily become the default posi- tion. In the world in which we now live, it will be harder for most people to not get involved when another person is in distress or under attack. There is safety in numbers. The out- come of a one-on-one fi ght against the perpetrator of evil can go either way. When a group of people band together to stop harassment, assault or threats, the good guys win. It does not have to be a life-or-death situation for people to do what is right. The time to think some- one else’s suffering is not our problem is long gone. You can say that Oregon isn’t faced with the kind of terrorism other places in the world face, but there is no other name for what happened on that MAX train. A terrorist doesn’t have to be from a certain part of the globe or practice a certain religion. Society suffers from terrorism every day, whether it is a schoolchild that is mercilessly bullied in person and via a social website, or, a woman (or a man) who is the victim of domes- tic violence that can happen at any time. It is unwise for a lone person to inject themselves into a dangerous situation. Yet, we should solicit assis- tance from bystanders when some- one else is in trouble. We hope that the tragic events of last week in Portland is an iso- lated incident, but we can’t be sure, so we must always be alert to dan- ger around us, especially when the most vulernable in our society is its victim. I would like to think I am the kind of person who will step for- ward to protect someone. After the MAX train stabbings I’ll be more aware of my surroundings and not be afraid to take a call for the help of a stranger. When we band together to help, we are no longer strangers but brothers and sisters in a civilized society. on my mind (Lyndon Zaitz is publisher of the Keizertimes.) tions that he would endorse Article 5 explicitly, Trump failed to do so. For some reason, Trump chose to treat NATO like a freeloader, even though the alliance is sending NATO troops to Iraq and likely will increase troop levels in Afghanistan. It is instructive to consider the re- action of NATO leaders. They didn’t return his criticism with cute sound bites like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. After the mini-summit, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told report- ers Trump “strongly stated his commit- ment” to NATO and “it’s not possible to be committed to NATO without being committed to Article 5.” That week, national security ad- viser H.R. McMaster told reporters that “of course” Trump supports the key NATO provision, for what that is worth. The takeaway from Trump ‘s trip is that America is the superpower. With Obama and his magical thinking gone, and a president willing to fl ex some muscle in his place, Europe is respond- ing. Trump’s refusal to join the rest of the G7 on climate change Saturday was met with willingness to keep try- ing to bring him on board. Before the trip, foreign-policy gray- beard Robert Gates, secretary of de- fense under President George W. Bush and Obama, said on “Face the Nation” that American foreign policy needs “disruption.” As Trump arrives back in his home in Washington, he can tell his critics the world agrees. (Creators Syndicate) A wealthy nation’s health problem By GENE H. McINTYRE There are 435 representatives in the U.S. House, each representing close to 733,000 of their fellow Americans. This number is derived from the U.S. popu- lation number of 318.9 million by the 2010 census. The roles and duties of each member of Congress are under- stood to include representa- tion, legislation, and constit- uent service and education as well as political and electoral activities. This writer expects his representative and all the others to come to grips with the dimensions of their role by developing a law- ful approach to their tasks, demonstrat- ing fi delity to those who send them. What’s happened most recently in the U.S. House of Representatives, however, does not embrace the ex- pected standard. Take the example of House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Repub- lican from Wisconsin. He was gleeful the other day with the GOP health plan because it’s “us keeping our prom- ises.” Yet, his statement is only partially true as, while he and his fellow Re- publicans did pass a regressive health care bill, one has to question how well he’s representing his constituents since it’s anticipated that at least 23 million Americans will fi nd it fi nan- cially impossible to afford the premi- ums, expected to rise by 850 percent. Then, too, Ryan, Trump and a ma- jority of GOP representatives now fi nd themselves in an awkward place. They made all kinds of specifi c guarantees tied to their health care legislation and then proceeded to break most of them without explanation which could and should make their back- home visits before and during 2018 campaign successes no walk in the public park. Here’s a con- densed overview of what they’ve done: fi rst, made promises; second, broke promises; and third, hide the fact they made the promises in the fi rst place. Sadly, Oregon’s 2nd District representative, Greg Walden, gleefully joined that GOP chorus. In each representative’s case, there are Americans from every level of the economic ladder, most poor to most wealthy. Without help from the federal government in the form of Medicaid and other federal assistance programs, millions of these people can- not afford health insurance and will only seek medical help, if it’s available at all within accessible distance, from emergency care. What gets to this writer the most is that we are a comparatively wealthy nation that could take much better care guest column of all our people than we do and that an inordinate amount of everything goes to a small percentage of the popu- lation seldom needing more than what they’ve already got: This being most disgusting in the fact that while the U.S. House-passed bill makes deep cuts to the needy, the bill coincidentally pro- vides millions of dollars in tax relief to the wealthy. The Republican members of the U.S. House thereby defeat the principles of democracy by serving the few and sending the country evermore close to times and circumstances of the late 1800s, when only the wealthy could afford the American Dream— and medical attention when needed. Meanwhile, the 100-member U.S. Senate has a mere handful Republican senators, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell working on their version of TrumpCare. The cynic here does not see promise for a Senate bill that serves all Americans when the support- ers are 16 highly conservative, older, white men (with no female senators included) who have a reputation for putting GOP ideology and big-money contributors before nation and citizens. Hence, from the U.S. Senate a bill is believed on its way that will be with- out provisions for the nation’s middle class and poor. (Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.) Don’t best against tax and health reform Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY ADVERTISING Publication No: USPS 679-430 Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: PRODUCTION MANAGER Andrew Jackson Keizertimes Circulation graphics@keizertimes.com 142 Chemawa Road N. LEGAL NOTICES Keizer, OR 97303 legals@keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Laurie Painter billing@keizertimes.com Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon RECEPTION Lori Beyeler facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes By LAWRENCE KUDLOW If the smart money folks on Wall Street think a special counsel to over- see the Russian probes spells defeat for business tax cuts, they’re leaning well over their skis. While there’s never 100 percent probability in forecasting political risk, it seems the likelihood of health care reform by the summer and tax reform by year’s end (or early 2018) is quite high. Paradoxically, special counsel Robert Muel- ler will provide cover for President Trump, as it will take him many months to complete his investigation. The leaks are going to dry up. By law, information on the probe must be protected. So, what- ever the outcome, Trump will have months without the attack headlines in which to sell his tax-cut plan. And Trump still has the back- ing of his core base, which is at least 40 percent of the electorate. These disenchanted voters may not agree with everything he says. But they still strongly believe Trump is their best chance to drain the swamp—to overturn the Beltway elites, to deliver border security, to improve trade deals and to cut taxes and regulations to deliver the full-fl edged deeply rooted sustainable prosperity we haven’t seen in 20 years. Warts and all, Trump and his po- lices is still their vote. (He needs to go out there and rally these folks.) And all this talk of impeachment based on obstruction of justice is just Democratic political pap. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who is no partisan, calls it “an awfully thin soup.” Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe told Congress there’s been no interference in the FBI’s investigations and no re- quest for additional funding. And if Comey did write a memo about obstruction of justice, he is le- gally obligated to report it to the highest levels of the Justice Department. Failure to do so could invoke crim- inal charges. Yet behind all this mess, House Speaker Paul Ryan keeps telling people that Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time. He’s right. And that opens the door for taxes. House Ways and Means Com- mittee chair Kevin Brady just began expert tax hearings. After the recess, Brady will likely convene a markup session. Rep. Peter Roskam, who chairs the congressional tax policy subcom- mittee, said last week, “I’m of the view that 2017 is the year.” He thinks tax reform is easier than replacing Obamacare. So, following a markup, Ways and Means can report out a bill. And be- cause prosperity is America’s No. 1 issue, it will pass the fl oor relatively easily. And that will put pressure on the Senate to get moving. It’s likely that a tax cut working group will again convene to hash guest opinion out important details. The border- adjusted tax, or BAT, will have to go. But the very core of the tax bill is a simple three steps: a deep corporate tax-rate cut, immediate expensing for new equipment of all kinds and the repatriation of offshore cash. This is the tonic that will restore capital for- mation, productivity, real wages and growth. Both Senate and House leaders have to understand how fl exible rec- onciliation is. It can be nearly any- thing you want it to be. The key player is Senate President Mike Pence, who can overrule the parliamentarian. Congressional leaders should heed the words of Treasury Secretary Ste- ven Mnuchin, who has become the administration’s leading spokesperson for economic growth and lower tax rates. He told the Senate Banking Committee last week, “What I have said repeatedly is that any plan we put forward we believe should be paid for with economic growth.” He is estimating a 3 percent growth rate by 2021. I suspect it will arrive faster. And the difference be- tween growth of less than 2 percent from the Congressional Budget Of- fi ce and 3 percent growth is well over $3 trillion in additional revenue. It’s the mother of all pay-fors. And lowering marginal tax rates across the board, especially on large and small businesses, will foster the mother of all prosperities -- the one for which middle-class Americans in all those red counties that voted for Trump have been yearning. (Creators Syndicate)
