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PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 10, 2019 Opinion Why I support Chuck Lee pitbulls is a key step for ending all violence, which is why it’s im- portant to resolve the problem by educating people. For clarifi cation, the term, “pitbull,” actual- ly classifi es four dog breeds, but the original breed is the American Pit- bull Terrier. To start off, the main cause of pit- bull abuse is the dog owner. The im- portant thing to look at is why own- ers abuse their pitbulls. A main cause of animal abuse is if the owners are violent towards people, such as do- mestic abusers and criminals. People also abuse their pitbulls because they want to entertain themselves and gain money. This happens through the horrible culture of dog-fi ghting. It still happens currently, but it’s un- der the radar. Another component of the prob- lem is the history of the dog breeds. It’s well known that pitbulls have a bad reputation and are labeled as ag- gressive. The label built mainly came from the dog-fi ghting culture, where people treat them with unimaginable cruelty in order to make them fi ght better. This perception affects the way people look at the dogs. So, how can we change this? To help solve pitbull abuse, one solution would be teaching about the prob- lem. This includes public visuals, such as PSAs and speeches. By taking this action, it’ll raise awareness and inspire people to assist the dogs for freedom. To bring this back together, pit- bull abuse should be resolved by ed- ucating society about the problem, revealing that these dogs want to be loved just like anyone. Rosemarie Rojas Keizer letters To the Editor: I am supporting Chuck Lee for Salem/Keizer School Board Zone 6 I have known Chuck for over 25 years and have seen his com- mitment to education fi rst hand. Over the years, we have worked on various projects and committees where I was fortunate to watch and learn from him. His knowledge and connections within our district have made him an asset and keeps stability on our school board. Back when Chuck was a Keizer City Councilor, he encouraged me to continue my community work and consider taking a more active role in city matters. When I was fi eld director for Keizer Little League and Chuck was president of Blanchet Catholic School, he was a helpful re- source on several fi eld projects. I can never forget that. In 2013, Chuck and wife Krina Lee were honored at the First Cit- izen Banquet with the “Education Award” for their years of service to education in our district. As founder and president of the Career and Technical Education Center, he reached out to me to participate on the Advisory Board bringing a diversity of opinions to a nationally renowned school. I encourage you to vote for a person who has a 35-year record of accomplishments to go with his in- tegrity. I encourage you to vote for Chuck Lee. Roland Herrera Keizer A better way to board airplanes To the Editor: We all know that boarding air- planes takes way too much time. The typical system creates a blockage in the aisle, causing a line in the jet bridge. One of the main reasons for this is people bringing carry-ons. Because the airlines are charging for checked bags, more passengers are bringing carry on bags with them. With this in mind, it seems obvious. The more people trying to stow their bags in the overhead bin, the more time it would take to completely board the aircraft. The effects of the time it takes to board a plane is turn time between revenue fl ight. The longer it takes for airlines to board passengers, the lon- ger it takes before the plane can take- off, reach its destination, and repeat the process. Airlines continue to use this sys- tem because of the benefi ts they can offer. These can include early board- ing access, frequent fl yer rewards, and credit cards. A faster boarding system is one that was developed by Jason Stef- fen, an astrophysicist. His method is boarding the window seats on every other row for one side, then the oth- er. Then fi ll in the other sides win- dow seats and continue to board in a similar fashion. This is simply a stag- gered way of boarding outside-in. Boarding planes takes way too much time and could be solved. By changing the order in which passen- gers board, it will create less distur- bance during the process and thus take less time. Ian Baseler Keizer By nature pitbulls are not a danger To the Editor: Ending abusive behavior towards Ocean pollution To the Editor: Ocean pollution has rapidly in- creased in the past years, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Associa- tion states, “The majority of pollut- ants going into the ocean come from activities on land. Natural processes and human activities along the coast- lines and far inland affect the health of our ocean. One of the biggest sources is called non-point source pollution, which occurs as a result of runoff. Non-point source pollution includes many small sources, like sep- tic tanks, cars, trucks, and boats, plus larger sources, such as farms, livestock ranches and timber harvest areas. Pollution that comes from a single source, like an oil or chemical spill, is known as point source pollution. Of- ten these events have large impacts, but fortunately, they occur less often. Discharge from faulty or damaged factories or water treatment systems is also considered point source pol- lution. There are damages: sea crea- tures dying, loss of habitat, islands in the ocean getting polluted, lastly, unhealthy water. Based off of my life when living on the islands, I’ve al- ready seen and felt the major effects ocean pollution has caused. One obstacle that will stand in the way of starting is trying to per- suade people to helping clean. Sec- ond, there will be the need of having money to buy ships for hauling trash. It’s better to start now before it’s too big to handle, according to research, the garbage in the pacifi c is twice the size of Texas. The world needs to see what’s happening to the ocean/how everyone can help make a change. Aron Jessy Salem Share your opinion Submit a letter to the editor, or a guest column by noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 Phone: 503.390.1051 • www.keizertimes.com MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $35 in Marion County, $43 outside Marion County, $55 outside Oregon ASSOCIATE EDITOR Matt Rawlings news@keizertimes.com COMMUNITY REPORTER PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Hunter Bomar reporter@keizertimes.com Publication No: USPS 679-430 ADVERTISING POSTMASTER Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com Send address changes to: PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com LEGAL NOTICES EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon legals@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Leah Stevens billing@keizertimes.com RECEPTION Lori Beyeler INTERN Lauren Murphy facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes The $2 trillion infrastructure trap By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer emerged from the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump. They announced that Trump and congressional Democrats had agreed to spend $2 trillion on a big infrastructure package. It’s amazing how chummy partisans can be when they doubt they will actually have to get anything done—oth- er than set a trap for the other side. Schumer confessed Democrats were ready to come in with a lower number, but Trump was gung-ho on $2 tril. And why not? The chances are next to nil they will pass actual legis- lation before the 2020 election. In the meantime, as they prepare to blame the other side for a failure to fi x crum- bling roads and bridges, they can leave the impression in the public mind that a trillion here and a trillion there is just loose change. Adie Tomer of the Brookings Insti- tution was taken aback by Washington biggies throwing out such a huge sum as if it’s not a complete sea change. He noted, “What they unwittingly an- nounced today is another New Deal, like FDR’s New Deal. That’s how big this would be.” While they’re talking about a 10- year spending plan, that’s a huge chunk of change. And if Washington solons don’t come up with a way to pay for it—standard operating proce- dure in this town—the notion could add to the $22 trillion national debt. As it is, according to the Commit- tee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “A child born in the United States today will immediately inherit almost $50,000” in IOUs. Schumer also told reporters that in three weeks, Trump would de- tail how he plans to fund the package. Given the president’s reluctance to make the public pay for his high-rise schemes, that sure sounds like a setup for failure. Democrats want Trump to shave back the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to pay for big projects. The likeli- hood of Trump taking back some of his own tax cuts is only slightly more likely than Trump admitting he’s ever been wrong about something. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called a peel-back of the tax cut a “nonstarter.” But even if he hadn’t, the GOP Senate is not going to raise taxes. A hike in the gas tax could help pay for the package, but it can’t fund the many things that Democrats defi ne as “infrastructure”—broadband in ev- ery American home, more money for housing, more spending on renewable other voices energy and fi ghting climate change. No wonder White House counselor Kellyanne Conway warned Demo- crats not to push through a version of the Green New Deal under the guise of infrastructure. But Democrats declared that re- newable energy projects that address climate change must be part of the infrastructure package. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told VICE News, “Without a clean-energy emphasis, it’s a nonstarter.” They undercut their purpose by putting the need to spend on water infrastructure in the same bucket as paying for broadband. If everything is a priority, nothing is priority. Also, it would be nice to see Wash- ington spend on maintaining deteri- orating buildings and bridges rather than building high-ticket edifi ces and railways. Then there’s the far-left rump of House Democrats that wants to fo- cus on impeaching Trump rather than working with him in any way. Pelosi told reporters, “We cannot ignore the needs of the American people.” She shouldn’t sell short the far-left members of her caucus who hate Trump so much they are prepared to oppose big government spending. In short, both parties are likely to sabotage any deal, then blame the oth- er guy for not working hard for the hardworking taxpayer. (Creators Syndicate) Can Americans ever be united against foes? A daily question returns to this writer’s mind: What would it take to unite the American people as we ap- proach the third decade of the 21st century? Most Americans were united in a common effort to defeat the Japan and Nazi Germany after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Yet, even a day before that ‘day of infamy,’ there were prominent leaders in the U.S., including Henry Ford and Charles Lindberg, who favored working with Hitler. Nowadays and into the foreseeable future, the Russian Federation ap- pears as the biggest threat. One would think it wiser for the Russians to work with the U.S. as we out- perform the Russians in every possible compar- ison and stand stronger by military might. Nevertheless, relations with Russia have always been tenuous and diffi cult from the 1917 founding of the USSR as a “Godless communist state” down through the tumultuous allied relationship to defeat Nazi Germany and Russian “help” to bring down the Empire of Japan after it was all but de- feated. Almost immediately after WWII, the Cold War got underway and per- sisted through to the late 1980s. Ul- timately the USSR lost the Cold War and was dissolved. Afterward there was a hint of promise that the U.S. and the newly-named Russian Federation might work for the common good of both nations. It was soon clear that such cooperation was not to be. A rebellious crowd of Russians led by Vladimir Putin, a former KGB se- cret police enforcer and that nation’s wealthy oligarchs who, like jihadists, hate America and all the West and view the North Atlantic Treaty Or- ganization as a threat to their security and, of greatest importance to them, a check against their world domination and subjugation. Hence, the movers and shakers in Russia have now ded- icated themselves to subverting and destroying all democracies with a plan, implemented daily, under Putin’s dic- tatorial direction. Now we have President Donald Trump and family members, led at times by son-in-law and special ad- visor, Jared Kushner (he who’s been denied an FBI clearance) has delivered another big lie among the thousands delivered by President Trump, Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric over the past two years. In his remarks at a Time magazine function, Kushner downplayed the signifi cance of Russian interference in the 2016 election, remarking, “I think the (Mueller-led) investigations and all of the speculation has had a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple of (Rus- sian) Facebook ads.” Even though heavily redacted and misrepresented by Attorney General William Barr, we are now well aware that a wide-ranging Russian opera- tion included, but was not limited to, hacking Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional gene h. mcintyre Campaign Committee, the Repub- lican National Committee, probing state voter databases for weaknesses and stealing hundreds of voters’ per- sonal information. Also, Putin is be- hind spreading propaganda aimed at enhancing division and depressing the vote through fake accounts on social media, staging rallies in Florida, Penn- sylvania, and New York, and setting up multiple meetings with members of the Trump campaign in a criminal- ly-underhanded effort to elect Donald Trump. We Americans accept or ignore the shenanigans of Jared Kushner and the Trump family at our greatest peril. They have unabashedly proven they work to acquire personal wealth and power at America’s expense. Having witnessed and enjoyed the enhanced unity that developed and was sustained during the Kennedy and Reagan ad- ministrations, we now witness the sowing of discord, strife and disunity by the Trump administration. Mean- while, the Trumps have shown us that, instead of unifying us, they apparently labor hardest at building a mega-prof- iting hotel in Putin’s Moscow with a penthouse for the autocrat. (Gene H. McIntyre shares his opin- ion regularly in the Keizertimes.)
