October 31, 2001
Page A4
Opinion
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Ortbururr
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views
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P
u b l is h e r
Charles H. W ashington
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E d i t o i
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
u s in e s s
M
anager
G ary A nn Taylor
C o n g ressm a n E a rl B lu m e n ­
auer, D -O re. issu e d th e fo ll o w ­
ing sta te m e n t on H .R. 3090, the
E c o n o m ic S e c u rity a n d R e c o v ­
e ry A ct, w hich w a s d e b a te d la st
w e ek on the H o u se flo o r :
T he eco n o m ic stim u lu s p a c k ­
age b ro u g h t to th e H o u se flo o r
tod ay is an em b arra ssm e n t. It
is 5 0 p erc en t larg er th an the
stim u lu s that the P re sid en t an d
th e T re asu ry S ecretary ask ed
for. It is a series o f tax cu ts an d
big refu n d ch e c k s to c o rp o ra ­
tio n s that w ill be p aid fo r w ith
d o lla rs fro m the S o cia l S ecu rity
T ru st F und. It is not p aid fo r
o v e r tim e, but ad d s to th e fed ­
era l d efic it fo r y ea rs to com e.
T h e R e p u b lic a n le ad e rsh ip
h a s u s e d th e o c c a s i o n o f
A m e ric a ’s p re s e n t e c o n o m ic
e m e rg en c y to le ad a sta m p e d e
to w ard th e p u b lic tro u g h . E v-
*
A handful o f
America s largest
corporations will
receive refund
checks totaling
nearly $6 billion o f
business taxes paid
since 1986.
1
ery p et tax cu t o n lo b b y is ts’
w ish lists fo u n d its w ay in to th is
bill, w h ich h as n o th in g to d o
w ith ec o n o m ic stim u lu s b u t a
g rea t d ea l to d o w ith u n ju st
en ric h m en t.
A h an d fu l o f A m e ric a ’s la rg ­
e st c o rp o ra tio n s w ill re c e iv e
Supporting Our American Troops
refu n d ch e c k s to ta lin g nearly
$6 b illio n o f b u sin ess ta x e s paid
since 1986. T h ere is ab so lu tely
no assu ra n ce th at th o se tax d o l­
lars w ill be in v e ste d in jo b c re ­
ation o r o th e r ec o n o m ic gro w th .
By co n tra st, the D em o c ratic
altern ativ e p ro v id es th e b u lk o f
its tax re lie f to in d iv id u als and
fam ilies th at are lik ely to sp en d
th eir ta x sa v in g s o n h o u se h o ld
needs, ad d in g to e c o n o m ic a c ­
tivity an d p ro v id in g a true stim u ­
lus. It e x ten d s h ealth ca re and
o th e r b en e fits to la id -o ff w o rk ­
ers. It in c lu d es real in v e stm e n ts
in A m e ric a ’s c o m m u n itie s and
secu rity . M o st im p o rta n tly , it
m ain tain s fiscal resp o n sib ility
by p ay in g fo r its e lf o v e r tim e —
sim ply by d elay in g th e B ush
A d m in is tr a tio n ta x c u t f o r
h o u s e h o ld s e a rn in g o v e r
$ 3 5 0 ,0 0 0 p e r year.
Assr. P ublisher
M ichael Leighton
C o pt
E d it o r
Joy R am os
C r e a t iv e
D ir e c t o r
P aul N eufeldt
4 7 4 7 N E M a rtin L u th e r t in g ,
Jr. B lvd.
P o rtla n d , O P 9 7 2 1 1
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Fax 5 0 3 - 2 8 8 - 0 0 1 5
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P ostmaster :
Stein Demands Rate Hike Rollback
Dear C hair H em m ingw ay,
I strongly urge you and your
fellow Public Utility Commission to
take imm ediate steps to roll back
the PGE electricity rate increase
that went intoeffect on Oct. l.I t has
becom e obvious how devastating
the im pact o f this increase is for
large and small Oregon businesses
and potentially for seniors and low
income Oregonians.
A t a tim e w h en o u r sta te
econom y is already in a recession,
this rate increase is one m ore nail
in the coffin for m any businesses.
O regonians on fixed incom es and
families faced with unemployment
w ill be particularly hard hit.
A great deal has changed since
you approved the m ost recent PGE
rate hike in late A ugust. These
changes include:
• T he Sept. 11 tragedy and the
dire effect o f the tragedy on the
national and O regon econom y;
• R ecognition that O regon is in
the m idst o f a recession;
• D ow nsizing and plant closures
by O regon businesses already
h u rt by the d o w n tu rn in the
econom y. F reightliner’s Oct. 12
announcem ent o f a plant closure
involving the layoff o f 381 w ork­
ers is a case in point;
• A m arked decrease in w hole­
sale electricity prices, from $600
per m egawatt hour to as low as $25
per m egaw att hour.
I also urge you to review the
recent rate increases granted P a­
cific P ow er and N orthw est N atu­
ral Gas. Last w inter N orthw est
Natural Gas disconnected approxi­
mately 2500custom ers per month.
T hat num ber is likely to be much
higher this w inter w ith the rate
increases. 1 look forw ard to hear­
ing o f decisive action taken by the
commission.
Sincerely,
Beverly Stein
Candidate for Governor
T he president o f the U nited
States and our co u n try ’s co m ­
m ander-in-chief has deployed
A m erican soldiers, airm en, sail­
ors and M arines into m ilitary
com bat against arm ed religious
fanatics w ho intentionally m ur­
dered thousand o f innocent c i­
vilians in N ew Y ork, W ashing­
ton, D.C. and Pennsylvania.
T hese m ilitary volunteers are
A m erica’s finest young men and
women. Some o f them may com e
hom e seriously w ounded or in
flag-draped steel coffins. They
are going because o f their sense
o f duty to both th eir country and
their individual branch o f ser­
vice. M ost know the risks in­
volved. T hey ask nothing from
those o f us sitting com fortably
at hom e, nothing but o u r unw a­
vering, steadfast support d u r­
ing the entire duration o f this
m ilitary cam paign, for how ever
long it takes to prevail
L et us all rem em ber that they
are defending our individual free­
dom s an d w orld d em ocracy.
H aving fought in the V ietnam
W ar, I can vividly recall how the
liberal m edia and public sen ti­
m ent turned negative tow ards
the w ar effort and unfairly stig­
m atized the servicem en w ho
fought in it.
It is absolutely vital to their
successful m ission that once we
com m it our fighting m en into
arm ed m ilitary conflict that we,
as A m ericans, show o u r stead­
fast resolve and support here at
home.
W ar is n ever pretty, nor can it
be fought by dropping ordnance
troni25,000feet. The military lead­
ers w ho com m and these co u ra­
geous m en and w om en should
not be ham stru n g by arcane
governm ental functionary rules
o f engagem ent, as w as often the
case during V ietnam .
Let o u r troops find the fanati­
cal perpetrators, kill them and
com e hom e to a proud country
and its very grateful citizens.
D, Krueger
Napa, Calif.
Tax Gasoline in War on Terrorism
By David Matthews
It w ould be com pletely inap­
propriate for m e to criticize Bush
and his leadership during this tim e
o f crisis if I could not offer a better
solution to the terrorist threat in
A m erica. So, I have a solution:
A m erica needs to im m ediately
im plem ent a $2.00 to $3.00 per
gallon “w ar” tax on gasoline.
K eep in mind, the terrorist J ihad
on A m erica com es directly and
exclusively from the o il fields o f
the M iddle East. In addition, this
(N ew W ar) is not a 90-day war;
this is the New Reality. If a $2.00 to
$3.00 per gallon “w ar tax” is im m e­
diately im plem ented, here is w hat
w ill happen and w hy it will defeat
terrorism at the w ellhead:
G asoline consum ption w ould
dram atically decrease as b u si­
nesses and consum ers becom e
m ore conservative in their dem and
for gasoline. T his w ould cause
A m erica to also go into a signifi­
cant econom ic slow dow n. The
resu ltin g eco n o m ic slo w d o w n
w ould also cu t dem and for g aso ­
line. T he effect w ould be to dra­
m atically reduce o u r need to im ­
port oil, and w ould force the price
at the w ellhead dow n. A s a result,
the prim ary source o f funding for
terrorism w ould be cut o ff at the
knees. A m erica’s oil vulnerability
in the Middle East would be greatly
reduced. A m erica w ould be m uch
less at the m ercy o f M iddle East
“deal m akers" and less likely to
sell out to allies to get tem porary
su p p o rt fro m h o stile n atio n s.
Soon, the terrorist organizations
w ould be defeated the sam e w ay
the form er Soviet U nion was: it
w ould drive them into bankruptcy.
(If this isn ’t done, the terrorists
w ill force A m erica into b ank­
ruptcy.)
O u r ow n deliberate slow ing
dow n o f the econom y is the best
defense against this effort. O ur
current attem pts to “grow the
eco n o m y ” n o w is ex actly the
w rong thing to do at this tim e.
A m erica’s insatiable consum p­
tion o f w orld resources is far in
excess o f the rest o f the w orld on
a per capita basis. If the entire
w orld w ere to consum e at the rate
that A m erica does, it w ould co l­
lapse instantly.
Im posing a $2.00 to $3.00 per
gallon “w ar tax" on gasoline would
alm ost certainly be unpopular and
result in political suicide. But, it is
also the right solution, perhaps
the only solution, to the M iddle
East terrorist threat w e face today,
and w ill face for m any years to
come.
D ave M atthew s is the ed ito r o f
O pinion Point, a w eb-based p u b ­
lication. H e can be reached a t
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