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SAMANTHA MCLAREN, Circulation Manager
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2015
Zombies of the 2016 election
By PAUL KRUGMAN
New York Times News Service
L
ast week, a zombie went to
New Hampshire and staked
its claim to the Republican pres-
idential nomination.
Well, OK, it was actually Gov.
Chris Christie of New Jersey. But it’s
pretty much the same thing.
You see, Christie gave a speech in
which he tried to position himself as
a tough-minded
¿VFDO UHDOLVW ,Q
fact, however,
his supposedly
tough-minded
policy idea was
a classic zom-
bie — an idea
that should have
died long ago in
the face of ev-
idence that un-
Paul
dermines its ba-
Krugman
ne of the less apparent shortcomings of the third John sic premise, but
Kitzhaber administration was the vacancy of the Northwest somehow just keeps shambling along.
But let us not be too harsh on
Oregon seat on the Fish and Wildlife Commission. It sat empty Christie. A deep attachment to
for more than two years. Gov. Kate Brown ended that last week long-refuted ideas seems to be re-
quired of all prominent Republicans.
with the appointment of Bruce Buckmaster of Astoria.
:KRHYHU¿QDOO\JHWVWKHQRPLQDWLRQ
Gubernatorial appointments to QHW ¿VKLQJ KH KDG SUHVFULEHG IRU for 2016 will have multiple zombies
state boards and commissions aren’t FRPPHUFLDO¿VKHUPHQZDVQRWUH- as his running mates.
Start with Christie, who thought he
the genteel affairs they were in the sulting in less impact on nonhatch-
was
being smart and brave by propos-
HUDRIJRYHUQRUV0DUN+DW¿HOGDQG ery salmon than the gillnets they
ing that we raise the age of eligibility
7RP 0F&DOO 6HQDWH FRQ¿UPDWLRQ are intended to replace. Killing for both Social Security and Medicare
puts these volunteers into a spotlight. fewer naturally spawning salmon to 69. Doesn’t this make sense now
And appointments to some com- not only speeds recovery of endan- that Americans are living longer?
No, it doesn’t. This whole line of
missions, notably Fish and Wildlife, gered runs, but also extends sport
have become contentious because of and commercial seasons that are argument should have died in 2007,
when the Social Security Adminis-
the issues that board confronts.
abruptly ended when a set number tration issued a report showing that
Some resource choices are akin of “wild” salmon are estimated to almost all the rise in life expectancy
to religious issues. That is, parti- have been inadvertently killed.
KDV WDNHQ SODFH DPRQJ WKH DIÀXHQW
sans on either side are reluctant to
Kitzhaber said he was open to The bottom half of workers, who are
compromise.
“adaptive management,” which in precisely the Americans who rely on
That describes the virtue of this case conceivably might mean Social Security most, have seen their
life expectancy at age 65 rise only a
Buckmaster’s appointment. As the acknowledging that carefully de- bit more than a year since the 1970s.
former co-owner of Bio-Oregon, signed gillnet seasons are not the Furthermore, while lawyers and pol-
he became acquainted with all as- “walls of death” opponents portray iticians may consider working into
SHFWV RI WKH ¿VK UHVRXUFH RI WKH them to be. But at a minimum, the their late 60s no hardship, things look
Columbia River. He knows this ¿VKFRPPLVVLRQDQGLWVVWDIIPXVW somewhat different to ordinary work-
ers, many of whom still have to per-
is a complex system, not given to examine all options with an open form manual labor.
simple answers. While some in the mind, providing a viable path for-
And while raising the retirement
VSRUWV¿VKLQJLQGXVWU\KDYHODEHOHG ward for gillnetters who represent age would impose a great deal of hard-
ship, it would save remarkably little
Buckmaster as the enemy, alleging a proud tradition on the river.
that he will side with the gillnet
Fish and wildlife management money. In fact, a 2013 report from the
¿VKLQJ FRPPXQLW\ LW¶V LPSRUW- demands well-informed and nu- &RQJUHVVLRQDO %XGJHW 2I¿FH IRXQG
that raising the Medicare age would
ant to note that he is a passionate anced responses to ever-changing save almost no money at all.
VSRUWV¿VKHUPDQKLPVHOI$QGKH¶V natural conditions. These choices
But Christie — like Jeb Bush, who
been a hard-headed businessman are now further complicated by an quickly echoed his proposal — evi-
who’s had to make choices.
expanding human population in dently knows none of this. The zom-
The Fish and Wildlife WKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW DQG FKDQJ- bie ideas have eaten his brain.
And there are plenty of other zom-
Commission deals with more than es in the ocean and climate. Smart bies out there. Consider, for example,
lower Columbia salmon, but that is pragmatism is demanded, not idea- WKH]RPEL¿FDWLRQRIWKHGHEDWHRYHU
RQH RI LWV ODUJHVW SLHFHV RI XQ¿Q- logical rigidity. Buckmaster has the health reform.
Before the Affordable Care Act
ished business. Late in his re-elec- perspective to help the commission
tion campaign, Gov. Kitzhaber re- achieve the right balance of aspira-
sponded to evidence that the seine tion and reality.
Pragmatism needed,
not religious rigidity
O
Bruce Buckmaster is a good
choice for Fish and Wildlife
Tyson Trish/The Record of Bergen County via AP
Governor Chris Christie hosts his 136th New Jersey Town Hall Meeting
at the Essex County College Public Safety Academy in Cedar Grove,
N.J. Thursday.
went fully into effect, conservatives 2003 was unimpressive even before
made a series of dire predictions LW HQGHG LQ ¿QDQFLDO FULVLV .DQVDV
about what would happen when it whose governor promised a “real
did. It would actually reduce the live experiment” that would prove
number of Americans with health in- supply-side doctrine right, has failed
surance; it would lead to “rate shock,” even to match the growth of neigh-
as premiums soared; it would cost the boring states.
In the world of Republican poli-
government far more than projected,
DQGEORZXSWKHGH¿FLWLWZRXOGEHD tics, however, voodoo’s grip has nev-
er been stronger. Would-be presiden-
huge job-destroyer.
In reality, the act has produced a tial candidates must audition in front
dramatic drop in the number of unin- of prominent supply-siders to prove
sured adults; premiums have grown their fealty to failed doctrine. Tax
much more slowly than in the years proposals like Marco Rubio’s would
create a giant hole
before reform; the
in the budget, then
law’s cost is com-
claim that this hole
ing in well below
One of the
ZRXOG EH ¿OOHG
projections; and
by a miraculous
WKH¿UVW\HDU developments
economic
up-
of full implemen-
of this
surge. Supply-side
tation, also had the
economics,
it’s
best job growth election cycle
now clear, is the
since 1999.
ultimate zombie:
So how has
has been
no amount of evi-
this changed the
the return
dence or logic can
discourse? On the
kill it.
right, not at all. As
of voodoo
So why has
far as I can tell,
the
Republican
every prominent
economics.
Party experienced
Republican talks
a zombie apoc-
about Obamacare
as if all the predicted disasters have, alypse? One reason, surely, is the
fact that most Republican politicians
in fact, come to pass.
Finally, one of the interesting po- represent states or districts that will
litical developments of this election never, ever vote for a Democrat, so
cycle has been the triumphant return the only thing they fear is a challenge
of voodoo economics, the “sup- from the far right. Another is the need
ply-side” claim that tax cuts for the to tell Big Money what it wants to
rich stimulate the economy so much hear: a candidate saying anything re-
alistic about Obamacare or tax cuts
that they pay for themselves.
In the real world, this doctrine won’t survive the Sheldon Adelson/
has an unblemished record of failure. Koch brothers primary.
Whatever the reasons, the result is
'HVSLWH FRQ¿GHQW ULJKWZLQJ SUHGLF-
tions of doom, neither the Clinton tax clear. Pundits will try to pretend that
increase of 1993 nor the Obama tax we’re having a serious policy debate,
increase of 2013 killed the economy but, as far as issues go, 2016 is al-
(far from it), while the “Bush boom” ready set up to be the election of the
that followed the tax cuts of 2001 and living dead.
Obama’s Nixon doctrine: anointing Iran
State auditor holds
EHQH¿WIRU2UHJRQ W
ally important is whether
focus was to get the Viet-
sanctions can be reimposed
namese to take over that
war from us. But the doc-
if Iran cheats. And it doesn’t
trine evolved and was gen-
stop there. The Wall Street
eralized to deputize various
ASHINGTON — In Journal reports that Obama
smaller powers to police
is
offering
Tehran
a
$30
bil-
December,
President
their regions on our behalf.
lion to $50 billion signing
Obama said that he wished to see bonus (drawn from frozen
In the Persian Gulf, our
Iran ultimately become a “very Iranian assets) — around 10
principal proxy was Iran.
The only problem with
percent
of
Iranian
GDP.
successful regional power.”
Obama’s
version of the Nix-
•
Syria:
After
insisting
for
Charles
His wish — a nightmare for the
hat happens when the person stops at the Department of Justice and
on
doctrine
is that Iran today
years that President Bashar
Krauthammer
Western-oriented Arab states — is be- al-Assad of Syria “step
responsible for rooting out a Fortune 500 company.”
is not the Westernized, secu-
waste and fraud in state and local
Kelley, a Tacoma Democrat, coming a reality. Consider:
aside,” the U.S. has adopted a hands- lar, pro-American regional power it was
governments may be a crook? Our pleaded not guilty to the charges and
*XOIRI$GHQ,UDQVHQGVDÀRWLO- off policy toward a regime described by under the shah. It is radical, clerical, ra-
QHLJKERUWRWKHQRUWKLVDERXWWR¿QG vowed to clear his name. And despite la of warships and weapons-carrying our own secretary of state as an Iranian bidly anti-imperialist, deeply anti-West-
ern. The regime’s ultimate — and
out.
calls from Gov. Jay Inslee, politi- freighters to reinforce the rebels in Ye- puppet.
men — a noncontiguous, non-Persian,
• Iraq: Iran’s Quds Force Command- openly declared — strategic purpose is
Last week, a federal grand jury cal leaders of both parties and most nonthreatening (to Iran) Arabian state
er Qassem Suleimani, director of Shiite WRGULYHWKH$PHULFDQLQ¿GHOIURPWKH
indicted Washington’s state auditor Washington newspapers, the 50-year- — asserting its new status as regional militias that killed hundreds of Ameri- region and either subordinate or anni-
on 10 felony counts involving his old refuses to resign. And that’s where bully and arbiter. The Obama adminis- cans during the Iraq War and were ul- hilate America’s Middle Eastern allies.
Which has those allies in an under-
tration sends an aircraft carrier group, timately defeated by the 2007-08 U.S.
private business practices. The in- the political intrigue begins.
standable
panic. Can an American presi-
apparently
to
prevent
this
gross
breach
surge,
operates
freely
throughout
Iraq
dictment claims Troy Kelley devised
Kelley said he intends to take a
dent
really
believe that appeasing Iran —
of
the
U.N.
weapons
embargo
on
Ye-
ÀDXQWLQJ
KLV
FRXQWU\¶V
GRPLQDQFH
,Q
schemes to defraud title companies leave of absence starting May 1 to
men. Instead, the administration an- March, he was directing the same Iraqi territorially, economically, militarily and
and their borrowers of nearly $3 mil- SXUVXHKLVOHJDO¿JKW7KDWPRYHDO- nounces that it has no intention of doing militias, this time against the Islamic by conferring nuclear legitimacy — will
lion from 2006 to 2008. Kelly also is lows Kelley to continue to collect his anything. Meanwhile, it exerts pressure State — with the help of U.S. air cover. moderate its behavior and ideology, ad-
charged with failing to pay $1 million state paycheck of $116,950.
on Saudi Arabia to halt its air war over
This is the new Middle East. Its stra- herence to which despite all odds is now
in income taxes for those years by un-
Washington’s travails offer a Yemen and agree to negotiate a political tegic reality is clear to everyone: Iran yielding undreamed of success?
Iran went into the nuclear negotia-
rising, assisted,
der-reporting his income.
cautionary tale for Oregonians who settlement involv-
ing Iran.
astonishingly, by tions heavily sanctioned, isolated inter-
The indictment does not accuse would like an elected state auditor.
• Russia: After
the United States. QDWLRQDOO\KHPRUUKDJLQJ¿QDQFLDOO\²
After 17
Kelley of criminal activity involving his But our current system of having the D ¿YH\HDU VXV-
Obama’s ini- and this was even before the collapse
duties as state auditor. However, Acting 6HFUHWDU\RI6WDWH¶VRI¿FHKDQGOHWKLV pension, Russia
months
tial Middle East of oil prices. After 17 months of serial
announces the sale
strategy was sim- American concessions, the Iranian
U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said UHVSRQVLELOLW\LVÀDZHG
of serial
ply withdrawal. economy is growing again, its forces
Kelley “spun a web of lies” in a cov-
Oregon is the only state where the of advanced sur-
face-to-air
missiles
He would enter and proxies are on the march through
American
er-up during his tenure as state auditor. secretary of state is responsible for au-
to Iran, which will
history as the the Arab Middle East and it is on the
It’s a stunning downfall for the diting public spending. With Oregon render its nucle-
ultimate peace YHUJHRIKDYLQJLWVQXFOHDUGH¿DQFHUH-
concessions,
VWDWH¶VWRS¿VFDOZDWFKGRJThe News spending more than $40 billion each ar facilities nearly
president, usher- warded and legitimized.
the Iranian
Tribune of Tacoma describes the man: year, the audit function should be sep- invulnerable to at-
The Saudis are resisting being bro-
ing in a new era in
ken
to Iranian dominance. They have
tack.
Obama’s
re-
which
“the
tide
of
“In the span of six years, Troy Kelley arate and independent.
economy
is
resumed
their war in Yemen. They are
action?
Criticism,
war
is
receding.”
rose from political obscurity to state-
An elected auditor would report
threats, sanctions? growing again.
The subsequent resisting being forced into Yemen nego-
ZLGHRI¿FHFDSWXULQJDVHULHVRIVWDWH directly to the citizens and be charged
No. A pat on the
vacuum having tiations with Iran, a country that is, in
House campaign victories on his way with representing the sole interest back for Vladimir
EHHQ¿OOHGXQIRU- the words of the Saudi ambassador to
to winning election as Washington’s of the public. Washington state has Putin: “I’m, frankly, surprised that (the tunately and predictably, by various en- the U.S., “part of the problem, not part
emies, adversaries and irredeemables, of the solution.”
auditor. … He projected a spit-pol- GHPRQVWUDWHG WKLV SXEOLF EHQH¿W IRU embargo) held this long.”
Obama appears undeterred. He’s de-
• Iran: Week before last, Obama Obama lighted upon a new idea: We
ished image that sold well politically: more than a century.
WHUPLQHGWRPDNHKLV,UDQ¿UVWLQYHUWHG
pre-emptively
caved
on
the
long-stand-
don’t
just
withdraw,
we
hand
the
baton.
a dedicated family man who served
Voters may select a bad apple like
Nixon Doctrine a reality. Our friends in
ing U.S. condition that there be no im- To Iran.
his country, a successful lawyer Troy Kelley. But voters, not career mediate sanctions relief in any Iranian
Obama may not even be aware that the region, who for decades have relied
and businessman eager to lead. … politicians, should determine the per- nuclear deal. He casually dismissed he is recapitulating the Nixon doctrine, on us to protect them from Iran, look on
Boosted by a sterling résumé, with son best suited to restore that trust.
this red line, declaring that what is re- but with a fatal twist. Nixon’s main astonished.
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
Washington Post Writers Group
W
Despite scandal, Washington
state’s model holds up