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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2013)
Page 8 a'*!' ^lortlanb (©bseruer_______________ March 20.2013 New Prices S Effective May 1,2010 Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG $45.00 A sm all d istance/travel charge m ay be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: I small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With O ther Services): $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs: $25.00Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly. $40.00Minimum Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With Other Services)’. $5.00 ^9 ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 Big Government can be Beautiful Smart policies are the solution D onald K aul I have a q u e s tion: If this is the g re a te s t c o u n try in the w orld, w hy do w e k eep acting so d um b? by I suppose the sequestration o f the federal budget isn ’t as dum b as d elib erately go in g over the fiscal cliff, but it’s plenty dum b. Just as the eco n o m y w as sh o w in g signs o f clim b in g out o f the hole it’s been in fo r fo u r years, along co m e the R e p ublicans to stom p on its fingers. T he best you can say is that it w o n ’t be as quick a dem ise as a trip o v e r th e c liff — it’s m o re like w aterboarding. Som e people will hardly notice it at first — the ex cep tions being the poor, the young, the sick, and furloughed governm ent w orkers — but it w ill eventually send unem p lo y m en t back up and tax rev en u e dow n. A nd, cu rio u sly enough, it w ill do v irtu ally n o th in g to ad d ress o u r long-term b u dget deficit. A nd th a t’s w hat all o f this b ro uhaha is su p po sed to be about. T he good new s is that M itt R o m ney will now be able to afford M uzak fo r his car elevator. W hich ap p ar ently pleases R epublicans ju s t fine. So long as taxes d o n ’t go up, e v ery thing is good. C o n serv ativ es in gen eral, and R epublicans in p articular, w orship at the altar o f sm all g overnm ent. A governm ent that governs least g o v erns best, they say. O h, and g o v ern m ent isn’t the solution, it’s part o f the problem . T hey're w rong. W e are a large, w ealthy country, hom e to scores o f giant m u ltin a tional corporations. W e live in a global econom y. W hat m akes you think w e can get by w ith a sm all g o v ern m en t? Big governm ent, far from being a terrible thing, is a necessity if w e're to com pete in the global m ark et place and take care o f o u r resp o n si bilities at hom e. W ithout big governm ent, w ho w ill protect the public from the rapa cious instincts o f capitalistic forces? W ho will w ork to m ake o u r air clean, o u r w ater pure, and o u r d ru g s safe? W ho w ill try to see that the average w o rk in g stiff gets a fair shake? I'll save y ou the tro u b le o f trying to th in k o f an an sw er — it's nobody. It's not as th o u g h w e h av en 't tried sm all governm ent laissez-faire cap italism before. T he industrial rev o lu tio n o f the 19th cen tu ry w as the very m odel fo r it. C om panies did pretty m u ch as they pleased. T he result: co m p an y tow ns that en fo rced a form o f serfdom on their w orkers, child labor, open and som e tim es brutal discrim in atio n against w o m en , A frican -A m erican s, and o th e r ethnic m inorities. W e had frau d u len tly prom oted unsafe drug supplies, unchecked pollution, and hellish w orking conditions in m ines and factories — all in the nam e o f m aking a buck for the privileged few. T hat's y o u r sm all governm ent. W e slow ly craw led out from u n d er that o ppressive system through gov ern m en t action fueled by the progressive m ovem ent o f the early 20th century, the N ew D eal o f the 1930s, and many vibrant social m ove all-against-all society? C ount m e out. Y ou'll n otice that I'm blam ing R ep u b lican s e x clu siv e ly fo r this m ess w e ’re in. T h at's b ecau se it's all their fault. T here are those w ho claim that R ep u b lican s and D em ocrats share equal blam e, o r th at President B arack O b am a has refu sed to co m prom ise. D on't believe it. O b am a w ore ou t tw o sets o f tro u sers during his first term going on his knees to C ongress an d p leading fo r cooperation. H e go t none. R ep u b lican s are still p laying that gam e. T hey think they can solve our d eficit problem s by cu tting g o v ern m ent alone. T hey can't. T hat's the path E urope has taken. H ow 's that w orking out for them an yw ay? I d o n 't w an t to so u n d as th o u g h big g o v e rn m e n t is th e a n sw e r to e v e ry p ro b le m o r th a t it's an u n a d u lte ra te d g o o d . It's n o t. It too c an be o p p re s siv e , w a ste fu l, and stu p id . Y ou h a v e to w a tch it lik e a haw k. But the solution to bad g o v ern m ent isn't sm all g overnm ent. It’s sm art governm ent. m ents. A nd now R epublicans w ant to take us back to that H obbesian, OtherWords columnist Donald Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.