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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016 The Clintons’ secret language 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 HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Why won’t Brown lead on PERS? Public employees union owns the statehouse and its leaders ere are two numbers that should send shock waves through the state Capitol: 2021 and 33 percent. H By 2021, the Public Employee Retirement System burden on school districts and municipalities will become al- most one-third of their payrolls. In other words, a school district like Astoria will be devoting one-third of its payroll expense not to teachers, but to retirees. The practical outcome will be layoffs, fewer teachers. Those two numbers emerged from the Oregon Leadership Summit last December, as re- ported by Ted Sickinger of The Oregonian. Governing bodies such as school districts and city governments contribute to the PERS system. Steve Rodeman, executive director of PERS, told a panel of economists that gov- ernment contributions to PERS will rise by 20 percent in each of the next three budget cycles. Sickinger reported that, “John Tapogna, an economist with ECONorthwest, said leg- islators had designed an ‘un- usually exotic’ and expensive pension system. He called it a generational mistake, and said the state continues to deal with its aftermath.” At the Leadership Summit, Gov. Kate Brown said nothing about this storm on our horizon. Oregon is the only state that requires no contributions from employees to their pension fund. If a contribution were required — as is common in private sec- tor de¿ned contribution retire- ment plans — it would defray a signi¿cant future expense. When asked explicitly what Gov. Brown thinks of the con- cept of requiring employees to contribute, her press sec- retary gave us this statement: “Proposals to offset the sig- ni¿cant de¿cit will likely be discussed during the February short (legislative) session. Unfortunately, that’s a con- strained time frame to resolve such a complex policy issue, and the recent court decision that struck down signi¿cant el- ements of the prior effort to ad- dress PERS costs leaves policy- FYI: makers with few viable options that might result in meaningful savings. Needless to say, this is a pressing issue that will need to be considered as we prepare the budget for 2017-19.” Gov. Brown’s response is a disappointment, because it con- tains no leadership. She sounds more like a lawyer or a news anchor — stating the obvi- ous — than a governor. Where is Brown’s amazement that Oregon is the only state that requires no employee partici- pation in retirement funding? Where is her anger about the pending horror in which school districts and cities will be dec- imated to pay for a phantom workforce of retirees? Brown’s neutered response is a symptom of what sets Oregon apart. T he Wall Street Journal on Dec. 29 reported that in several states Democratic leaders were at odds with their traditional ally, organized la- bor, on pension reform. “The erosion of Democratic backing for conventional retirement benefits prized by teachers, firefighters and police offi- cers is a sign of how strained government budgets are as obligations for 24 million public workers and retirees continue to mount,” reported the Journal. But not in Oregon. And here’s why. We are a one-par- ty state. And increasingly the nominal Democratic party — embodied in the legislative majority and the current gover- nor — is the Public Employees Union Party. As Republican state Rep. Dennis Richardson told us in 2014, “The public employees union runs the state- house.” It is no secret that the gross receipts tax which the union will place on the November ballot is about bailing out PERS. That is what permits Gov. Brown to shun the mantle of leadership. Clippings from the press of the Paci¿c Northwest and the nation In Oregon, myth mixes with anger hen mythic histories sup- plant the complexities of the past, the results can be lethal. Equitable futures for Western pub- lic lands won’t be achieved when ideologues swagger in, brandishing guns and taking over federal build- ings. Rather, they develop from the hard work of collaboration, like the 2013 effort that brought together W the local community, tribes, con- servation groups and the state and federal governments to develop a new management plan for Mal- heur. These are the efforts that best respect the region’s history while pointing the way to a sustainable future. — Nancy Langston in The New York Times Why TeÀon Trump is so hard to attack eaders, this is no caricature — it’s Trump un¿ltered, alight- ing brieÀy on a topic, complicat- ed or trivial, before Àitting to the next. And it’s not as if Trump bol- sters his stump speech with policy R depth in proposals or interviews. If Obamacare is a disaster, what’s Trump’s replacement? If Common Core is dead, what’s his alternative? — Ruth Marcus in The Washington Post By FRANK BRUNI New York Times News Service emember the Gores? Al and Tip- per? R At the Democratic convention in 2000, they shared that hungry, happy kiss, and it was more than a meeting of lips. It was a window, or so we thought, into a partnership of enduring passion and inextinguish- able tenderness. They’re separated now. Have been for more than ¿ve years. And the Ed- wardses? John and Elizabeth? He resembled a Ken doll. She didn’t take af- Frank ter Barbie. That Bruni endeared them to voters — endeared him to voters. Only later did we learn about his dou- ble life, the furious ¿ghts and the co- pious tears. We know nothing of other peo- ple’s marriages. Nothing at all. So why do we pretend otherwise? Why do we make so many assump- tions and judgments? And why, every election cycle, do we treat candidates’ spouses and unions as the keys to their charac- ters? We can’t trust what’s paraded in front of us any more than we can take what journalists and opponents dig up as the essential truth. A person’s inti- mate life isn’t readily fathomed, and on the inside tends not to look any- thing like it does on the outside. Bill Clinton hit the campaign trail this week. That brought back memo- ries, or rather Donald Trump hauled those memories to the surface, and we were reminded anew of all that Bill and Hillary have been through (and have put us through): the in¿delities, the intern, the lies, the smears. We were also reminded of Hil- lary’s role in defending him. How did that square with her claim to be a champion of women? It’s fair to ask. But the fascination with the Clin- tons as a couple goes beyond that question, beyond those scandals, to the belief in many quarters that we can divine something essential about each of them by the fact that they teamed up and stayed together. According to her fans, it’s a mea- sure of her understanding that people are broken, of her capacity for for- giveness, of her belief in commit- Jim Cole/AP Photo Former President Bill Clinton waves to a cheering crowd as he arrives during a campaign stop for his wife, Democratic presidential candi- date Hillary Clinton, Monday, in Nashua, N.H. ments. According to her foes, it re- mercial suggest, they’re just equally veals a thirst for power that redeems meticulous about the script on which any heartbreak and transcends all hu- they’re collaborating, equally intent miliation. on a triumphant denouement. It could be proof of both — or nei- I’m less and less interested in ther. The answer isn’t gettable. Talk guessing, because I’m more and with six different people who know more aware of how compartmental- the Clintons well and you hear six dif- ized people are, of how Àawed and ferent appraisals of their bond, each fruitless it is to extrapolate from one presented with unalloyed con¿dence. chamber of their lives to another. The I’ve been told that they light up stingiest spouse and parent can be the around each other as they light up greatest boss, and vice versa. Some- around no one else. one who’s selÀess and I’ve been told that principled in one con- We know text is sometimes the there’s no extraordi- nary spark there, just opposite in another, as nothing a storehouse of shared if there’s only so much memories, an accretion to go around. of other goodness of endurable disap- And no chamber pointments, a daughter, people’s resists exploration and a granddaughter and a explanation like that of marriages. a marriage or compara- friendship. I’ve been told that relationship. Nothing ble We’re they’re really business certain that associates, intricately we have it ¿gured out at all. involved in each other’s — who musters the lives because they’re most patience, who jointly invested in the perpetuation of makes the greatest sacri¿ces, who’s their political relevance. pure, who’s sullied — until it falls I’ve been told that they talk more apart. Then we gape at the pieces, be- than anyone would imagine. I’ve cause none are recognizable. been told that they talk less. We’re certain that social climbing In New Hampshire on Monday, or religious devotion is a couple’s when he described his ¿rst encoun- glue, when what matters more is the ters with her some 45 years ago, he secret language of goofy endearments called her “the most amazing person” that they speak. Or the unremarkable and said, “Everything she touched, daily rituals that they’ve grown to she made better.” relish. Or the tempo of his speech. Or Maybe that was a deeply felt trib- the timbre of her laugh. ute. Maybe just a great line. And when we come to our sweep- Heidi Cruz will also be in New ing conclusions, we’re not perceiving Hampshire this week. She’s a busy but projecting, and we’re using cou- evangelist for Ted, half of a couple ples to cling to our idealism or vali- who present themselves as perfect. date our cynicism. It’s a foolish game Perhaps. under any circumstances. It’s a dan- Or perhaps, as the cringe-worthy gerous one en route to the election of outtakes from a Cruz campaign com- a president. Up with extremism in 2020 carbon tax, a value-added negative income tax to en- sure a government-guaran- consumption tax (except on teed income Àoor for every groceries and other neces- sities), a tax on bullets and rom its very inception, Donald American. In an age when machines are gobbling a tax on all sugary drinks Trump’s campaign for presi- low-skilled jobs, we’ll need — with offsets for the low- dent has been life imitating Twitter. both. est-income earners. His candidacy is built on Twitter • Common Core educa- We need a tax system bursts and insults that touch hot but- tion standards as the law of that shrinks what we don’t want — carbon, sugar and tons, momentarily salve anxieties and the land, to raise education bullets — and incentivizes Thomas L. put a ¿st through the face of political benchmarks across the coun- try, so high school gradu- what we need. If we slash Friedman correctness, but without any credible ates meet the higher skill corporate taxes, many more programs for implementation. levels that good jobs will increasingly companies will want to locate here, and Where Trump has been a true inno- demand. But those higher standards the ones domiciled here will have the vator is in his willingness to rhetorically should be phased in with funding to incentive to bring home foreign pro¿ts combine positions from the isolationist enable every teacher to have the pro- and plow them into research and new right, the far right, the center right and fessional development time to learn the business lines. the center left. If I were running for new curriculum those standards require • An independent commission ap- president, I’d approach politics in the and to buy the materials needed to teach pointed to review Dodd-Frank and Sar- same way: not as a liberal, a conserva- it. banes-Oxley to determine which, if any, • Controlling low-skilled immigra- of their provisions are needlessly mak- tive, a libertarian or a centrist. tion while removing all limits on H-1B ing it harder for entrepreneurs to raise I’d run as an extremist. The agenda that could actually make visas for foreign high-skilled knowl- capital or start businesses. We need to America great again would combine edge workers and doubling the research be sure we’re preventing recklessness the best ideas of the extreme left and funding for our national labs and insti- — not risk-taking. the extreme right. This year is probably tutes of health to drive basic research. • Copy Britain: Strictly limit nation- too soon for such a radical platform, Nothing would spin off more new good al political campaign spending and the but by 2020 — after more extreme jobs and industries than that combina- length of the campaign to a period of a weather, after machines replace more tion. few months. It makes it much harder for • New accelerated tax incentives and billionaires to buy candidates. middle-class jobs, after more mass shootings and after much more glob- elimination of all regulatory barriers to • Increased military spending and al disorder — voters will realize that rapidly scale up deployment of super- ensuring that our intelligence services fast bandwidth for both have all the legally monitored latitude our stale left-right parties wire line and wireless they need to confront today’s cyberen- can’t produce the needed I’d run networks to ensure that abled terrorists — because if there’s one answers for our postin- next-generation Internet more 9/11, many voters will be ready dustrial era. Accelerations as an services are developed in to throw out all civil liberties. And with in Moore’s law, the mar- ket and climate change extremist. America. And borrowing the world cleaving into zones of “or- $100 billion at today’s der” and “disorder,” we’ll need to proj- are transforming the super-low government ect more power to protect the former workplace, the environ- ment and nation-states, leaving people interest rates to upgrade our ports, air- and stabilize the latter. ports and grids and to create jobs. feeling insecure and unmoored. In sum, our slow growth, inequality • Bans on the manufacture and sale and national security challenges require It’s time for a true nonpartisan ex- tremist, one whose platform combines of all semiautomatic and other mili- radical solutions: strengthening safety tary-style guns and government offers nets, curbing the bad environmental the following: • A single-payer universal health to buy back any riÀe or pistol in circu- and health behaviors that are bankrupt- care system. If it can work for Canada, lation. It won’t solve the problem, but ing us and paying for it all by sharply Australia and Sweden and provide gen- Australia proved that such programs incentivizing risk-taking, innovation, erally better health outcomes at lower can help reduce gun deaths. investment and hiring. • To pay for all this, a phased-in in- prices, it can work for us, and get U.S. That calls for a nonpartisan extrem- companies out of the health care busi- novation and tax agenda that incentiv- ist for president who’s ready to go far izes startups and hiring. That means: left and far right — simultaneously. ness. • Expansion of the earned-income Slash all corporate taxes, income tax- That’s my 2020 vision, and in four tax credit to top-up wages for low-in- es, personal deductions and corporate years the country just might be ready come workers and introduction of a subsidies and replace them with a for it. By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN New York Times News Service F
