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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2015)
OPINION 6A T HE D AILY A STORIAN Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager SAMANTHA MCLAREN, Circulation Manager Purchased pols betray principles ‘T he rich get richer and the poor get poorer” isn’t in the U.S. Constitution, but too many members of Congress are acting like it is. As reported Tuesday by the Seattle Times, the U.S. House vot- ed this week to gut a law that tries to protect mobile-home buyers from predatory sales tactics and high-in- terest loans. Also Tuesday, the U.S. House Rules Committee took up H.R.1105, which will give a $269 billion, 10-year tax cut to the 5,500 wealthiest households in the country. The Times and the Center for Public Integrity have done a super job documenting some of the abus- es heaped on purchasers of mobile homes, some of the most vulnerable home buyers in the country. There certainly are responsible and ethi- cal sellers and lenders serving this market. But industry leader Clayton Homes, part of Berkshire Hathaway, an investment conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett, lends at unusually high rates that doom many buyers to a cycle of insur- mountable debt and repossession. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act insti- tuted steps like independent preloan counseling to keep borrowers from making mistakes — such as being misled into thinking they can quick- O\ UH¿QDQFH XQDIIRUGDEOH WUDLOHU loans to lower rates. Tuesday’s ac- tion by the House would scrap this, for example, by letting salespeo- ple double as loan counselors, and easing the interest-rate threshold at which greater protections kick in. Unsurprisingly, the Republican committee chairman who shepherd- ed this through was the single larg- est 2014 recipient of campaign con- tributions from Clayton employees. In our area, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., voted against gutting protections; U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., voted to scrap them. President Obama has promised to veto the measure if it also passes in the U.S. Senate. He certainly should do so. Meanwhile moving ahead to cut taxes on America’s wealthiest individuals and families, House Republicans planned a Wednesday vote to eliminate the last bits of the federal estate tax, which only applies to estates larger than $5.4 million. If this effort succeeds, the 318 richest estates each year — worth $50 mil- lion or more — will save an average of $20 million each that would other- wise go to help balancing the books in the nation that helped make them ULFKLQWKH¿UVWSODFH As noted by Washington Post writer Dana Milbank, “This is the ultimate perversion of the tea party movement, which began as a pop- ulist revolt in 2009 but has since been hijacked by wealthy and cor- porate interests. The estate tax has been part of American law in some form since 1797, according to the advocacy group Americans for Tax Fairness, a shield against the sort of permanent aristocracy our founders fought to rid themselves of.” In Will Rogers’ immortal words, it’s obviously still true “America has the best politicians money can buy.” CEDR should look at child care links I The link between day care and the economy is obvious n any economy, child care is es- sential. In rural Oregon that is especially so. For working couples, ¿QGLQJGD\FDUHFDQEHDPDNHRU break proposition. Edward Stratton’s Wednesday ar- ticle illustrated the high demand for child care in Clatsop County, as well as a number of start-ups that give families hope. But overall, demand for child care considerably outpaces supply. One of the biggest develop- ments in child care was the Astoria City Council’s 2011 decision to have the city Parks and Recreation Department manage the child care center at Gray School. It is known as Little Sprouts, and 50 to 60 A children use it per day. In its enlightened initiative, then-Mayor Willis Van Dusen and Astoria city councilors saw the link between child care the local econo- my. Without day care, two working parents can’t work. Little Sprouts, as well as Port of Play in the same building, have become two of the city’s major amenities for young families moving here. Organizations such as Clatsop Economic Development Resources (CEDR) would do well to look at the link between child care and our eco- nomic development. That connec- tion is real. A new, larger initiative could make a difference. We invented our own event, and it lasted newspaper in a small town and a rural county is asked to con- tribute to a broad array of causes. It is a treat to create something ourselves and contribute to that. Twenty-seven years ago, we ap- proached track coaches at Astoria and Seaside high schools with the concept of an invitational track meet. The idea would be to invite small high schools, as well as the large, and perhaps even a school from outside the county. The track coaches liked the idea and The Daily Astorian Invitational Track Meet was born. Through sun, ZLQGDQGUDLQLWKDVEHFRPHD¿[ ture of the spring athletic schedule. This year’s meet will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Astoria High School. Unlike sports such as baseball, football, basketball, soccer and volley- EDOOWKHHPSKDVLVLQWUDFNDQG¿HOGLV on individual performance as opposed to the team’s point count. That is espe- cially what we highlight at the Daily A Invitational. In fact, the coaches name outstanding girl and boy athletes in UXQQLQJDQG¿HOGHYHQWV You will be delighted with what you see. If the past is a guide, there will be memorable performances. THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015 The lost language of privacy tional. Putting a camera the harsh glare of public RQ DQ RI¿FHU PHDQV VKH judgment. There has to be is less likely to cut you a place where you can be some slack, less likely to ike a lot of people, I’ve free to develop ideas and not write that ticket, or convictions away from come to believe that it to bend the regulations a the pressure to conform. would be a good idea to put There has to be a spot little as a sign of mutual body-mounted cameras on po- where you are only your- care. Putting a camera on VHOI DQG FDQ GH¿ QH \RXU OLFHRI¿FHUV,QRZEHOLHYHWKLV WKH SROLFH RI¿FHU PHDQV self. for several reasons. that authority resides less Privacy is important David First, there have been too many to families and friend- in the wisdom and integri- Brooks FDVHV LQ ZKLFK SROLFH RI¿FHUV KDYH ships because there has to W\RIWKHRI¿FHUDQGPRUH abused their authority and then cov- be a zone where you can in the videotape. During a be fully known. There has to be a trial, if a crime isn’t captured on the ered it up. private space where you can share tape, it will be presumed to never Second, it seems probable that your doubts and secrets and expose have happened. cops would be less likely to abuse your weaknesses with the expecta- Cop-cams will insult families. their authority if they were being tion that you will still be loved and It’s worth pointing out that less than tracked. 20 percent of police calls involve forgiven and supported. Third, human memory is an un- Privacy is important for com- felonies, and less than 1 percent of reliable faculty. We might be able to munities because there has to be a police-citizen contacts involve po- reduce the number of wrongful con- space where people with common lice use of force. Most of the time victions and acquittals if we have affiliations can develop bonds of cops are mediating disputes, help- cameras recording more events. affection and trust. There has to be ing those in distress, dealing with I’ve come to this conclusion, but a boundary between us and them. the mentally ill or going into some I haven’t come to it happily. And, as Within that boundary, you look out home where someone is having a the debate over cop-cams has un- for each other; you rally to sup- PHOWGRZQ :KHQ D SROLFH RI¿FHU folded, I’ve been surprised by how port each other; you cut each other comes into your home wearing a many people don’t see the downside some slack; you share fierce com- camera, he’s trampling on the priva- cy that makes a home a home. He’s to this policy. Most people don’t mon loyalties. even seem to All these con- recording people on what could be recognize the centric circles of the worst day of their lives and in- Cop-cams damage these privacy depend hibiting their ability to lean on the cameras will on some level of RI¿FHUIRUFDUHDQGVXSSRUW strike a blow Cop-cams insult individual do both to po- shrouding. They dignity because the embarrassing lice-civilian depend on some for truth, but relations and level of secrecy and things recorded by them will in- to privacy. As awareness of the evitably get swapped around. The they strike a the debate has distinction between videos of the naked crime victim, blow against unfolded, it’s the inner privileged the berserk drunk, the screaming become clear space and the out- maniac will inevitably get posted relationships. that more and er exposed space. online — as they are already. With more people They depend on the each leak, culture gets a little coars- have lost even understanding that er. The rules designed to keep the the language what happens be- videos out of public view will inev- itably be eroded and bent. of privacy and an understanding of tween us stays between us. So, yes, on balance, cop-cams are why privacy is important. Cop-cams chip away at that. The Let’s start with the basics. cameras will undermine communal a good idea. But, as a journalist, I Privacy is important to the de- bonds. Putting a camera on some- can tell you that when I put a note- velopment of full individuals be- one is a sign that you don’t trust him book or a camera between me and cause there has to be an interior or that he doesn’t trust you. When a my subjects, I am creating distance zone within each person that other SROLFH RI¿FHU LV ZHDULQJ D FDPHUD between me and them. Cop-cams people don’t see. There has to be a WKH FRQWDFW EHWZHHQ DQ RI¿FHU DQG strike a blow for truth, but they strike zone where half-formed thoughts a civilian is less likely to be like a blow against relationships. Society and delicate emotions can grow and intimate friendship and more like- will be more open and transparent evolve, without being exposed to ly to be oppositional and transac- but less humane and trusting. By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service L My father’s secret for a winning life leader, ever vigilant, ever the tracks, then won a full indulgent. Their birthdays scholarship to college. But are the sturdiest part of his ¿UVWKHKDGWRSHUVXDGHKLV memory. He never fails to TLANTIC CITY, N.J. — parents that four years in send a gift. New Hampshire at a place Dad had a twinkle in his A generous man from called Dartmouth could be eye. the start, he has some- DVEHQH¿FLDODVDQDSSUHQ “Wait until you see this trick,” he ticeship in a trade. how grown even more told me. “This secret. You’re guaran- generous still, not just He married a grade- with items of measurable teed to make money. I’ll show you school sweetheart and Frank value but with those of stayed married to her when we sit down at a table.” Bruni immeasurable worth, like through business school, A blackjack table, he meant. a sequence of better jobs his time. His gestures. His emotions. Dad loves blackjack, especially and a succession of big- +H KDV ¿JXUHG RXW ZKDW PDNHV with my three siblings and me, ger homes until she died at 61, just and we’ll circle a casino floor for months shy of his retirement and of him happiest, and it’s doing the little an hour just to find a dealer with what were supposed to be their gold- bit that he can to nudge the people enough empty seats for three or en years. He eventually learned how he loves toward their own content- four or all five of us, so that we can to work the dishwasher, but never ment. It’s letting us know how much have our own little cabal. how to go more than a few minutes he wants us to get there. It’s being obvious about all of that and, in the He inducted us into the game de- without pining for her. cades ago, in Vegas, and we contin- It’s the phase of his life since my process, bringing a smile to our lips, ued to play over the years, because PRWKHUWKDW,¿QGPRVWFRPSHOOLQJ a twinkle to our eyes. Here’s what happened, on this it was another excuse because it’s a tribute and another way to to what people are milestone birthday of his, when we spend time together: capable of on the in- ¿QDOO\IRXQGWKHULJKWEODFNMDFNWD It’s funny our ritual, our refuge. side, not the outside. ble and fanned out around him and it how Before last week- They can open was time for his trick: He asked each of us — his kids, end, we hadn’t played up, soften up and in a long while. But modest his step up. When Mom our life mates — to stretch out for his 80th birthday, desires can was around, my fa- a hand. And into every palm he he got to choose the ther’s assigned role pressed two crisp hundred-dollar agenda for a week- in the family was as bills, so that our initial bets would be, given end out of town. He the stern disciplinar- be on him and we would start out what a picked blackjack. ian — he played the ahead of the game. “See?” he said. “You’re already a And he picked At- warden, so that Mom grand life lantic City, because it could be our friend winner.” That was it — his secret for was closer than Vegas and he was nev- he’s lived. — and good enough. er forced to notice blackjack, which is really his secret It’s funny how our hurts or attend to for life, and has nothing, obviously, modest his desires can be, given them, to provide succor and counsel to do with the money, which we’re blessed enough not to need too keen- what a grand life he’s lived. He’s the in matters of the heart. American dream incarnate, all pluck Then he had to, because he was ly and he’s blessed enough not to and luck and ferociously hard work the only parent left. He held my sis- miss too badly. It has to do with his eagerness, in and sweetly savored payoff. ter’s hand through her divorce. He He grew up outside New York made sure to tell me and my partner this late stage of life, to make sure City, the oldest child of relatively that our place in the family was the that we understand our primacy in his thoughts and his jubilation in poor immigrants from southern Italy. same as any other couple’s. English was his second language. And his nine grandchildren, only our presence. It has to with his ex- He managed to be elected presi- two of whom my mother lived to pansiveness. I pray I learn from his secret. I dent of his high school over the blond meet, came to know him as their quarterback from the right side of most fervent and forgiving cheer- hope to steal it. By FRANK BRUNI New York Times News Service A Where to write • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing- ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225- 0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District RI¿FH 6: 0LOOLNDQ :D\ Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-326-2901. Fax 503-326- 5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/ • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): +DUW 6HQDWH 2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ Washington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753. Web: www.merkley. senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@ state.or.us • State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Sa- lem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986- 1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@ VWDWHRUXV'LVWULFWRI¿FH32%R[ 928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www. leg.state.or.us/ boone/ • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone: 503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john- son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy- MRKQVRQFRP'LVWULFW2I¿FH32%R[ R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503- 543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria RI¿FHSKRQH • Port of Astoria: Executive Di- rector, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Email: admin@portofastoria.com • Clatsop County Board of Commissioners: c/o County Man- ager, 800 Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-325- 1000.