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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2013)
Opinion Privatize Oregon Liquor Sales “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor I n 2011 Washington state priva- tized liquor sales after a record-setting $20 million- campaign. Now as the grocery industry looks to repeat that suc- cess, we can expect a liquor privatization initiative to hit the Oregon ballot in 2014. Backers hope they can expand into the profitable liquor market by taking spirits sales out of the hands of the Oregon Liquor Com- mission. We don’t have any objection to the idea in principle. Stores already sell wine and beer. Why F ROM THE P UBLISHER Bernie Foster should- n’t they sell bourbon or vodka? We can see no good reason for the state to have a monopoly on selling spirits. What voters should not support, H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor B RUCE P OINSETTE Reporter What do you think? D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers Post your comment on articles in The Skan- ner News at www.theskanner.com however, is a repeat of the Washington fee hikes that saw the cost of spirits rise sharply after the initiative passed. Despite promises that increased competition would lower prices, the exact opposite has hap- pened. A visit to Stateline Liquor at Janzten Beach last week found that almost every car in the parking lot had Washington plates. Why? Spirits now cost far more in Wash- ington than they did when the Liquor Commission managed the stores. The initiative added a 10 percent distribution fee, and 17 percent retail fee. That’s in addition to any markups the grocers add inde- pendently. Taxes stayed the same. Lobbyists for the grocers and wholesalers say competition will eventually bring costs down. So far it hasn’t happened. Wholesalers increased their Make sure their proposal includes a steady stream of income for alcohol education and treatment prices as soon as the law passed. And because the initiative allowed for bulk markdowns on wine and spirits, the new law also puts small, local wineries and distillers at a disadvantage. Bottom Line: Liquor costs are likely to rise no matter what. But if Oregon retailers want the state to get out of the liquor business, they should make sure their proposal includes a steady stream of income for alcohol education and treat- ment. What Do You Think? Republicans Losing the Debate on Debt T The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2013 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds he Republican push to reduce the federal deficit solely through spending cuts is based on mythology rather than fact. That was clearly demon- strated by a series of reports issued recently by the non-partisan Cen- ter on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). In a report issued Oct. 28, CBPP stated, “As a new budget confer- ence committee seeks agreement on spending and tax priorities for the next decade, some policymak- ers and commentators who believe that future deficit reduction must come solely from spending cuts will likely repeat the claim that the federal government is exploding in size. The data do not support such a claim. “To be sure, total federal spend- ing as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) rose considerably in 2008 and 2009 and remained high in 2010 and 2011, in part because GDP was unusually low due to the Great Recession and its aftermath. But spending dropped significantly in 2012 as a share of GDP and, as the latest Congres- sional Budget Office (CBO) data indicates, this downward trend is expected to continue over the next five years.” The report, titled “Size and Reach of Federal Government Are Not Exploding,” notes that those backing deep cuts in social pro- grams neglect the real reasons for increased federal spending. “While total federal spending will rise modestly as a percent of GDP during the latter part of the decade under a continuation of current policies, that is mostly because of a marked increase in interest payments,” the report stat- ed. “In particular, as the economy recovers, interest rates will also rise, simultaneously increasing the interest we must pay on any given amount of debt.” The study also found, “Under a continuation of current policies, total federal spending – including interest – will drop from 24.1 per- Page 4 The Portland Skanner November 6, 2013 As I noted in this space last week, more than 90 percent of so- T HE C URRY called entitlement benefits go to the elderly, disabled or working R EPORT households. Furthermore, as the Center on Budget and Policy Pri- George E. orities observed, increased Curry spending on safety net programs because of the recession is both appropriate and temporary. “Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections show that fed- cent of GDP in 2011 and 22.8 per- eral spending on low-income cent in 2012 to 21.5 percent in programs other than health care 2013, before starting to rise in the has started to decline and will fall middle of the coming decade, substantially as a percent of gross climbing back up to 22.7 percent domestic product (GDP) as the by 2023. At least three-fourths of economy recovers. By the end of the increase between mid-decade the decade, it will fall below its At least three-fourths of the increase between mid-decade and 2023 will come from higher interest payments on the national debt and 2023, however, will come from higher interest payments on the debt. Interest payments are not a federal program, and increases in interest costs do not themselves average level as a percent of GDP over the prior 40 years, from 1973 to 2012. Since these programs are not rising as a percent of GDP, they do not contribute to our long- term fiscal problems,” CBPP said It’s important to know why costs will rise rather than using it as an excuse to cut social programs represent an expansion of the gov- ernment’s activities or reach. It should also be noted that interest costs rise when taxes are cut, because the tax cuts add to deficits and debt just as spending increas- es do.” in a report titled, “Low-Income Programs Are Not Driving the Nation’s Long-Term Fiscal Prob- lem.” I am not suggesting there are not some serious financial questions facing the nation. The rising cost of Medicaid is among those con- cerns. But it’s important to know why costs will rise rather than using it as an excuse to cut social programs. “To be sure, Medicaid is project- ed to rise significantly in cost, relative to GDP, for several rea- sons,” said the report on low-income programs. “To begin with, costs throughout the U.S. health care system – in both the public and private sectors – have been growing faster than GDP for several decades. Medicaid isn’t the cause of this systemwide cost growth; over the past decade, in fact, per-beneficiary costs have risen more slowly in Medicaid than under private insurance, a trend expected to continue over the next ten years.” It also noted, “A second reason that Medicaid costs will rise faster than GDP is the aging of the pop- ulation. Older people have much higher average health care costs than younger people. Elderly and disabled beneficiaries account for 24 percent of Medicaid beneficiar- ies but 64 percent of program costs. As the population ages, the number and share of Medicaid beneficiaries who are elderly will increase, raising program costs. “Another reason that Medicaid costs will continue to rise signifi- cantly is the continued erosion of employer-based health coverage. Over time, the share of low- income people able to get coverage through their (or their families’) employers has fallen, so more of them have turned to Med- icaid for coverage.” Yes, the federal government needs to pay close attention to future spending and revenue. But not because spending is out of control or the safety net is bank- rupting the country. George E. Curry, former editor- in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Associa- tion News Service.
