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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 2017)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2017 editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager OUR VIEW We are not filled with hope about session I f the Oregon Legislature intends to served as vice chairs. pass tax and spending reforms in Their collaborative success might 2019, the work should have begun provide a guide for handling reve- months ago. nue and budget reform, which is why That was the message from vet- the summit’s organizers asked them to eran legislators at the recent Oregon speak. Yet the lawmakers warned that Leadership Summit. It echoed what financial reform would be far more com- Gov. Kate Brown and legislative leaders plicated, difficult and potentially divi- said in June — in the 2019 Legislature, sive than the state’s transportation pack- focus on structural budget and tax age, far-reaching as it was. reforms. Three approaches were key to the Yet Brown told the Leadership transportation plan: Summit this month that she wanted to First, the four legislators operated as achieve such reforms a bipartisan leadership a year earlier — in the team, instead of the Oregonians 2018 Legislature. She Democrats controlling know little about said her staff was work- the outcome. The four ing on “options to solve trusted and respected the governor’s the structural deficit each other, even when and legislative issues Oregon faces, not they disagreed, some- just for the short term times vehemently. leaders’ plans for but for the long term.” That team approach genuine tax and Still, we wait. With recognized politi- that 35-day legisla- spending reforms. cal practicality — the majority Democrats tive session starting in We are not filled would need minority February, Brown has yet with hope. Republican votes for to show her hand. passage. Widespread Which reinforces bipartisan support also why four veteran legis- would deter critics from trying to over- lators — Democrats and Republicans — were skeptical about the state soon being turn the transportation plan through a voter referendum. able to make progress on tax and spend- That approach also reflected the lead- ing reforms. ership quartet’s commitment to a trans- The four lawmakers steered the mas- portation plan that would overcome sive transportation-finance plan through ideological and geographical differences. this year’s Legislature. The Democrats Maybe it’s noteworthy that three of the — Springfield Sen. Lee Beyer and Coos four came from rural regions — none Bay Rep. Caddy McKeown — chaired represented the Portland metro area, and the special transportation committee. none was considered an ideologue. The Republicans — Dallas Sen. Brian Second, the negotiations involved Boquist and Ontario Rep. Cliff Bentz — AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus Gov. Kate Brown has yet to show her land on tax and spending reforms for the upcom- ing legislative session. months of work — or years, if you count past iterations of transportation plans. Third, everyone had a say. Scores of individuals and interest groups from throughout Oregon participated in work groups. They could not reasonably claim they had not been heard. In contrast, the 2018 Legislature is only weeks away and Oregonians know little about the governor’s and legislative leaders’ plans for genuine tax and spend- ing reforms. We are not filled with hope. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Real heroes As we end this roller coaster year, I’m looking for heroes to emulate. But I’m trou- bled by our careless, often-irresponsible use of that word, “hero.” I believe we’ve trivi- alized, cheapened, and overused the word “hero,” and stretched the meaning to include anyone caught in harm’s way. Truth is — victims find themselves in harm’s way; heroes put themselves in harm’s way. Think about genuine heroes, like World War I Sgt. Alvin York, wand World War II 1st Lt. Audie Murphy, and unlikely hero Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who at great risk helped save the lives of 1,100 Jews. Those heroes articulated our aspira- tions, exemplifying courage, selflessness, and grace. True heroes are role models for others, committing brave deeds and selfless acts, choosing to sacrifice to benefit or save oth- ers. The small-town doctor who charges $5 a visit may be beloved, but he’s not necessar- ily a hero. Of course I admire and respect people who commit courageous acts. They deserve to be called gallant, intrepid, noble and valor- ous. But the real heroes of 9/11 weren’t those ordinary citizens who displayed two flags on their vehicles or wore New York Fire Depart- ment hats. Patriotic, perhaps. Heroic, no. The real 9/11 heroes were those courageous first responders who knew full well the likelihood of perishing in the inferno. I don’t know about you, but that’s what “hero” means to me. ROBERT BRAKE Ocean Park, Washington Failing the people o institution is failing the people more than the House of Representatives; rep- resentatives in name only. The House has become a second Senate, beholding to the powerful and elite. The House was meant to amplify the voices of ordinary voters; make them dan- gerous to ignore. Do our endless wars, and a vastly unpopular tax reform, give evidence of a government afraid to ignore its people? Initially, two means were used to ensure representatives were agents of their voters: small districts and short terms of office. We still have two-year terms, but the vast increase in district sizes, from 10,000 to 710,000, has diluted representation to nothing. Americans know of first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights, but few know they were actually the latter of 12 proposed amend- ments, approved and sent out for ratification, by the first U.S. Congress, Sept. 25, 1789. The second proposed amendment of the 12 didn’t complete its ratification until 1992 (the 27th Amendment); an over 200-year journey. This leaves only the first of the 12, waiting to, N again, be propelled into the light of the peo- ple’s minds for debate and consideration. Article the First, known now as the Con- gressional Apportionment Amendment, describes the methodology for increasing the number of representatives as the population grows. The First Congress expected both the population and the number of representatives to grow, and defined an equitable way for that to occur. Without this amendment, population growth undermines the people in their own institutions. They grow weaker as their num- bers increase. One person cannot represent 710,000 people. At 48, I’ve never had a meaningful exchange with my representatives; to do so would be to rob someone else of theirs. “Thank you for calling, the message box is now full.” M. A. “SASHA” MILLER Astoria Theft forgiven o the person or persons who felt it neces- sary to steal two star showers off the lawn of a retired couple in Hammond on Friday, Dec. 15: We thank you for leaving the third T one. We hope that you enjoy them, unless someone decides to steal them out of your front yard. If you needed one or two of these so much that you had to steal them, we would have gladly given one to you. God loves you, and we forgive you. Merry Christmas. DENISE DAVIS Hammond Adopt a pet hile volunteering at the Clatsop County Animal Shelter, I met a dog named, Bodie. He is a hound, and runs as fast as any greyhound I’ve seen. When I first took him out for a walk, we stopped in the pvlay area, where we take the leashes off the dogs, and let them chase tennis balls and run free. There is a nearly 6-foot tall fence around it to keep the dogs from getting out. I took Bodie’s leash off, and went to grab a blue tennis ball chucker. I turned around and saw Bodie sitting at the foot of the fence facing up at the top corner. Before I could take another step, he jumped to the top of that fence with his front W feet hooking over it, kicked and pulled his hind legs over it, landed on the ground and started sprinting towards the street. He ran to the first car he could find, and stopped to get attention from the people inside while we came to round him up. That dog wanted to be free. There are a lot of great dogs at the Clat- sop County Animal Shelter who would love a good home, attention, kids to play with, and a yard or sidewalk to become their new exer- cise location. What a good Christmas it would be for one of these dogs to have a family. Come to the Clatsop County Animal Shelter and adopt a pet today. CHAD JOHNSON Gearhart Robin Hood? have one sentence in regard to the Robin Hood story in “We are heading in the right direction as a nation” (The Daily Astorian, Dec. 13): Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly — the “No Spin Zone” — get it? JEFFREY CAMPBELL Astoria I