Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
JENNINE PERKINSON
Advertising Director
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Don’t shoot
the messenger
No sooner had retiring Postmaster
General Patrick Donohoe completed
his farewell speech Tuesday than
critics sharpened their knives.
His negative comments about
powerful postal unions battling senior
managers’ attempts to introduce
crosshairs. But too little emphasis
is placed on the true cost for rural
customers of delayed mail caused by
such actions.
Newspapers like ours, of course,
rely on the mail for timely, reliable
delivery to readers of many of our
publications. The
rules drew the most
National Newspaper
headlines. But
The post office Association’s
looking deeper, the
John
should remain a president,
40-year veteran
Edgecombe, Jr., of
made points worthy
core American Nebraska, makes
of study if we are
a solid case for
institution
going to save one
Congress to better
of America’s key
monitor the impact
institutions.
of postal cutbacks
There is no question that the
on rural areas.
Internet and email mean the days of
the old-time mail service monopoly
seniors without Internet, lower
income residents, rural folks without
Parcel Service perform a creditable
good Internet service and people who
job shipping packages by ground
don’t necessarily trust the Internet —
and air, charging what the market
the mail is a necessity,” he wrote in a
will bear. Businesses like Amazon
recent column.
Edgecombe noted that the
thinking to serve customers.
the service in October for not
government departments mentioned
properly analyzing the impacts of
plant closures. The postal service
a nationwide postal service still
leadership said it would do so — but
needed? We believe the answer is
only after its slower service standards
“yes” — but only if the agency is
went into effect.
allowed to move with the times.
“In other words,” Edgecombe wrote,
Donohoe pulled no punches. In
“it will consider whether it can reach its
goals after it has lowered them.”
rules and pricing, he said the agency
That’s the wrong approach.
needs to review its pension promises,
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff
plus its employee and retiree health
Merkley have lobbied hard to protect
care commitments.
endangered rural mail services. But it
is time for a bipartisan Congressional
it is self-sustaining — it does have
Congressional oversight. We believe
that oversight must consider the
impact of any proposed cutbacks in
nation’s 59 million rural residents.
Closing or consolidating 80
regional sorting plants may save
money by cutting jobs — Pendleton
and Bend facilities are in the
core government function.
Creative thinking will combine
Donohoe suggests a 10- or 15-year
plan. This needs to accommodate
changes in technology and society,
never losing sight of the agency’s
mission to connect the nation from
reasonably priced manner.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher
Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
OTHER VIEWS
Legislators need straight
approach on ‘joint’ committee
Corvallis Gazette-Times, Jan. 5
One of the key challenges facing the
2015 Oregon Legislature when it gets
the rules to implement Measure 91, the
initiative that legalized the recreational
use of marijuana.
Already, the Legislature has struggled
committee that will be charged with
the heavy lifting. As one legislator told
us, the panel originally was called the
“Joint Committee on Marijuana,” until
someone took a long look at the name.
Then the suggestion was made just to
call it the “Joint Committee,” which
would have been somewhat accurate
but still bears the whiff of a Cheech &
Chong routine.
That idea eventually gave way to the
be the “Joint Committee on Measure 91
Implementation,” which still doesn’t get
rid of the “joint” part, but seems suitably
cloaked in bureaucratic phrasing to get
the job done.
Even though Measure 91 was
remarkably detailed, the committee
still has plenty of challenges ahead of
it. Sen. Ginny Burdick, the Portland
Democrat who is one of the two chairs
of the committee, suggested in a
meeting with The Oregonian editorial
board that most voters weren’t familiar
with the intricacies of the measure —
but generally supported the idea of
legalization.
The upshot, Burdick said, is that
legislators have some room to maneuver,
as long as they honor the overall will of
voters.
That’s probably correct — even
though it does leave plenty of room for
to endure heavy lobbying from cities and
sale of marijuana, even though Measure
91 is reasonably clear that only the state
OTHER VIEWS
For the love of carbon
I
t should come as no surprise that
Republican Senate is an attempt
to push President Barack Obama into
approving the Keystone XL pipeline,
which would carry oil from Canadian
tar sands. After all, debts must be paid,
and the oil and gas industry — which
gave 87 percent of its 2014 campaign
Paul
Krugman
2011 by threatening to push America
into default — its best estimate was
900,000. And that’s only part of the
total loss.
Needless to say, the guilty parties
here will never admit that they
were wrong. But if you look at their
behavior closely, you see clear signs
that they don’t really believe in their
own doctrine.
be rewarded for its support.
Comment
But why is this environmentally
of military spending. When it comes
troubling project an urgent priority in
to possible cuts in defense contracts,
a time of plunging world oil prices? Well, the
politicians who loudly proclaim that every
party line, from people like Mitch McConnell, dollar the government spends comes at
the new Senate majority leader, is that it’s all
about jobs. And it’s true: Building Keystone
begin talking about all the jobs that will be
destroyed. They even begin talking about
In fact, it might replace almost 5 percent of the the multiplier effect, as reduced spending
jobs America has lost because of destructive
by defense workers leads to job losses in
cuts in federal spending, which were in
other industries. This is the phenomenon
turn the direct result of
former Rep. Barney Frank
Republican blackmail over
dubbed “weaponized
the debt ceiling.
Keynesianism.”
Oh, and don’t tell
And the argument
me that the cases are
being made for Keystone
completely different. You
XL is very similar; call it
can’t consistently claim that
“carbonized Keynesianism.”
pipeline spending creates
Yes, approving the pipeline
jobs while government
would mobilize some
spending doesn’t.
money that would otherwise
Let’s back up for
have sat idle, and in so
a minute and discuss
doing create some jobs
economic principles.
— 42,000 during the construction phase,
For more than seven years — ever since
according to the most widely cited estimate.
the Bush-era housing and debt bubbles
(Once completed, the pipeline would employ
only a few dozen workers.) But government
inadequate demand. Total spending just hasn’t spending on roads, bridges and schools would
been enough to fully employ the nation’s
do the same thing.
resources. In such an environment, anything
And the job gains from the pipeline
that increases spending creates jobs. And if
would, as I said, be only a tiny fraction —
private spending is depressed, a temporary
less than 5 percent — of the job losses from
rise in public spending can and should take
sequestration, which in turn are only part of
its place. That’s why a great majority of
the damage done by spending cuts in general.
economists believe that the Obama stimulus
If McConnell and company really believe
did, in fact, reduce the unemployment rate
that we need more spending to create jobs,
compared with what it would have been
why not support a push to upgrade America’s
without that stimulus.
crumbling infrastructure?
From the beginning, however, Republican
So what should be done about Keystone
leaders have held the opposite view, insisting
XL? If you believe that it would be
that we should slash public spending in the
environmentally damaging — which I do
face of high unemployment. And they’ve
— then you should be against it, and you
gotten their way: The years after 2010, when
should ignore the claims about job creation.
Republicans took control of the House, were
The numbers being thrown around are tiny
marked by an unprecedented decline in real
compared with the country’s overall work
government spending per capita, which
force. And in any case, the jobs argument for
leveled off only in 2014.
the pipeline is basically a sick joke coming
The evidence overwhelmingly indicates
from people who have done all they can
to destroy American jobs — and are now
economy is destructive; if the economic news
employing the very arguments they used to
has been better lately, it’s probably in part
ridicule government job programs to justify a
because of the fact that federal, state and local big giveaway to their friends in the fossil fuel
industry.
And spending cuts have, in particular, cost a
lot of jobs. When the Congressional Budget
Paul Krugman joined The New York Times
in 1999 as a columnist on the Op-Ed Page
lost because of the sequester — the big cuts in and continues as professor of Economics and
International Affairs at Princeton University.
Building
Keystone XL
could slightly
increase U.S.
employment.
the more likely it is that black-market pot
will be a cheaper alternative.)
The joint committee does have one
big advantage: Legislators already have
labored to create a structure that governs
the distribution of medical marijuana.
That process didn’t go perfectly, but the
structure is up and running, and we can’t
see any reason why legislators wouldn’t
take a careful look at combining the
recreational and medical markets. Why
invent this particular wheel twice?
In fact, many of the medical
marijuana dispensaries that already have
jumped through the state’s regulatory
hoops and opened their shops have
their businesses to include recreational
marijuana.
That’s not to say it will all be smooth
sailing for the panel. But taking a careful
look at combining the marketplaces will
give its members a head start at working
through the myriad other details that
need to be settled.
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public
issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website.
The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns
about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of
private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include
the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not
be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Managing
Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email
editor@eastoregonian.com.
YOUR VIEWS
Civil, nonviolent people
an overwhelming majority
What an inspiration it was this Sunday
to see the people in Paris and France join
together to say, “Je Suis Charlie!” This was
a spontaneous people’s march — people of
different faiths and ethnic backgrounds, the
“silent majority” — more than 2.5 million
people who came out on the street to show
their unity. People like us.
It was a wonderful image, a vision to hold
on to — all people working together in peace,
standing for freedom with respect for others.
Even though we may not see each other out
on the street, I believe, the majority of us
share this vision. That it will live on in our
imagination in the coming years.
Lawrence Jones
Hood River