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-
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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
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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,
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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,
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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-
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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-
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“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-
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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
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Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005.
Phone: 503-326-2901. Fax 503-326-
5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D):
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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-
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R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-
543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria
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• 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.