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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Saturday, February 28, 2015 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor EO MEDIA GROUP East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com MIKE FORRESTER Pendleton Chairman of the Board STEVE FORRESTER Astoria President TOM BROWN Bigfork, Mont. Director KATHRYN B. BROWN Pendleton Secretary/Treasurer JEFF ROGERS Indianapolis, Ind. Director OUR VIEW Maxing out the minimum wage PLOOLRQVLQSUR¿W:HHPSOR\DERXW Our country has entered a 200 Oregonians, some of whom we dangerous time when the gulf between the rich and poor has grown pay below $15 an hour. Look up and down Main Street to nearly incalculable levels. The top in your town and you’ll see plenty 1 percent of the 1 percent are living LQUDUH¿HGDLUZKLOHWKHPLGGOHFODVV more like us. We’d love for the cashier at the bookstore and the struggles to keep their heads above baker down the way to be making water. more money, but neither could We’re certainly not here to make a dime if the begrudge anyone bookstore or the their wealth, but our We can all bakery can’t turn a government was designed to facilitate agree that we SUR¿W We are nervous the growth, safety want every U.S. about what raising and prosperity of the minimum its citizens. That worker to have wage would mean means all of us — a job that pays for our business not just those who and businesses are already safe and them enough prospered. like it. We’ve had to keep them Raising the economists and minimum wage has come and from needing activists been one way to tell us it’s been done allow the poor and before — and this government middle class to keep state did increase assistance SDFHZLWKLQÀDWLRQ the minimum wage and economic and hopefully by more than 42 growth. Yet between rewards good percent minimum wage has 1989 and 1991, been stagnant across work and loyalty from $3.35 an much of the nation hour to $4.75. In with higher since the 1990s 1950, it jumped 88 and what just a few because compensation. percent months ago seemed of Congressional an insane notion action. A jump — a minimum from roughly $9 to wage bump to $15 an hour — is $15 would be a 62 percent increase now being bandied about in serious spaced out over three years. policy circles. We’re not economists and don’t $W¿UVWEOXVKLWVHHPVOLNHD claim to know how all the tremors good way to move dollars from would reverberate through the corporate pockets into the pockets of economy after such a drastic jump the workers, who would have more in the minimum wage. And even money to spend on food and clothes economists who studied at the and house and home — even buy same universities see the matter more consumer goods that would differently. stimulate the economy. But what we can all agree on But there is fear too. How is that we want every U.S. worker many struggling, small businesses to have a job that pays at least would close because of a drastic enough to keep them from needing increase in labor costs? How many government assistance and hopefully entrepreneurs would be unable to rewards good work and loyalty get off the ground with such an with higher compensation and expensive barrier to operation? advancement. That’s a big part of the One such place at risk is this American dream. newspaper company, which dutifully We want wages to go up, and see VFUDSHVXSRXUELWRISUR¿WHDFK the growing disparity between the month, puts some of it away in case very rich and the rest of us as a real of a rainy day and uses the rest to problem. But we feel there’s more reward the risk and work of the negotiation and study that needs company’s owners. to be done before the government We’re no multinational issues a decree that could cripple conglomerate. We’re not making small businesses. 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 Converting the Ayatollahs O ver the past centuries, Western no limits on Iran’s ballistic missiles, diplomats have continually no resolution of Iran’s weaponizing projected pragmatism onto activities. Monitoring and enforcement their ideological opponents. They have would rely on an inspection regime often assumed that our enemies are that has been good, but leaky. driven by the same sort of national Meanwhile, the United States has interest calculations that motivate offended its erstwhile allies, like Israel, most regimes. They have assumed Saudi Arabia and Egypt, without David that economic interests would trump being sure that Iran is really willing to Brooks supplement them. There is a chance ideology and religion — that prudent Comment calculation and statecraft would trump that Iran’s regional rivals would feel megalomania. the need to have their own nuclear They assumed that the world programs and we would descend into a leaders before 1914 would not be stupid spiral of proliferation. enough to allow nationalist passion to plunge All of this might be defensible if Iran is them into a World War; that Hitler would not really willing to switch teams, if religion be crazy enough to start a second one; that and ideology played no role in the regime’s Islamic radicals could not thinking. But it could be really want to send their that Iran has been willing to region back into the 12th be an international pariah century; that Sunnis and for the past generation for a Shiites would never let their reason. It could be that Iran sectarian feud turn into a ¿QDQFHVWHUURULVWJURXSVDQG cataclysmic confrontation in destabilizes regimes like places like Iraq. Yemen’s and Morocco’s for The Obama a reason. It could be that administration is making Iran’s leaders really believe a similar projection today. what they say. It could be It is betting that Iran can that Iranian leaders are as turn into a fundamentally apocalyptically motivated, normal regime, which can paranoid and dogmatically be counted upon to put GDP anti-American as their over ideology and religion pronouncements suggest and do the pragmatic thing. they are. It could be that Iran The Iran nuclear will be as destabilizing and negotiations are not just hegemonically inclined as about centrifuges; they all its recent actions suggest. are about the future of the Iran may be especially Middle East. Through a radical if the whole region series of statements over JHWVIXUWKHULQÀDPHGE\ the last few years, President Sunni-Shia rivalry or Barack Obama has made it reasonably clear descends into greater and greater Islamic how he envisions that future. State-style fanaticism. He seeks to wean Iran away from the Do we really want a nuclear-capable Iran in radicalism of the revolution and bind it into the midst of all that? the international economic and diplomatic If the Iranian leaders believe what they system. By reaching an agreement on nukes say, then U.S. policy should be exactly the and lifting the sanctions, Iran would re-emerge opposite of the one now being pursued. as America’s natural partner in the region. It Instead of embracing and enriching Iran, has an educated middle class that is interested sanctions should be toughened to further in prosperity and is not terribly anti-American. isolate and weaken it. Instead of accepting Global integration would strengthen a nuclear capacity, eliminating that capacity Iranian moderates and reinforce democratic should be restored as the centerpiece of tendencies. U.S. policy. Instead of a condominium with Once enmeshed in the global system, Iran Iran that offends traditional allies like Saudi would work to tame Hezbollah and Hamas Arabia, Egypt and Israel, the U.S. should DQGZRXOGFRRSHUDWHWR¿QGVROXWLRQVLQ*D]D build a regional strategy around strengthening Iraq and Syria. There would be a more stable relations with those historic pillars. balance of power between the major powers. It’s hard to know what’s going on in the In exchange for good global citizenship, Iran souls of Iran’s leadership class, but a giant bet ZRXOGEHULFKHUDQGPRUHLQÀXHQWLDO is being placed on one interpretation. March To pursue this détente, Obama has to have could be a ruinous month for the Middle East. a nuclear agreement. He has made a series of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel VWXQQLQJVDFUL¿FHVLQRUGHUWRJHWLW,Q could weaken U.S.-Israeli relations, especially the president vowed that he would not permit on the Democratic left. The world might Iran to maintain a nuclear program. Six U.N. accept an Iranian nuclear capacity. Efforts Security Council resolutions buttressed that designed to palliate a rogue regime may end principle. But, if reports of the proposed deal up enriching and emboldening it. are correct, Obama has abandoned this policy. Ŷ Under the reported framework, Iran would David Brooks became a New York Times have thousands of centrifuges. All restrictions Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. He has on its nuclear program would be temporary been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, and would be phased out over a decade or a contributing editor at Newsweek and the so. According to some reports, there will be Atlantic Monthly. Obama is betting that Iran can turn into a fundamentally normal regime, which can be counted upon to put GDP over ideology and religion and do the pragmatic thing. YOUR VIEWS Hermiston charter rewrite is power grab I would like to respond to Mayor Drotzmann’s commentary about Hermiston charter’s being carefully drafted. The mayor and manager have one issue that is a burr in their saddle. They want to have the city council pick who would be our municipal judge. As you all know well, this has been the citizens’ constitutional right since the beginning. The mayor, manager and one vocal councilman favor this. The mayor states in the article that the change in the charter is an attempt to align Hermiston with the rest of the state. Does the data from the League of Oregon Cities say that this is the best way to go? They did not say, but as citizens, it is for us to make that determination, not people who do not live here. Just because ZHDUHRQHRIWKHODVW¿YHLQWKH state doesn’t make us wrong. In addition, this can leave the door wide open to crony-ism, and I feel that they already have a friend in mind for the position. The mayor states that the city will have more control over budgeting and management. I think the public will have more control over the position and remove them by the next election. Let’s look at past appointments of the city council. We just got past an ugly scene with our past chief of police. He was arrogant DQGDEXVLYHWRKLVRI¿FHUVDQGZH lost many good people because of him. The past police chief targeted particular businesses and harassed the owners. What did the city do? Nothing for eight years. Then they started an investigation. What was the result? A hefty severance package for a badly appointed police chief. Let’s look at the city council’s next appointment. The council appointed George Anderson. What in his time on city council did Mr. Anderson do? Well, he consistently went and wrote articles about Doug Primmer and John Kirwan when they were running for city council and set a bad taste on the council with his statements against the candidates. The city was hapless in their past management of these appointed positions and should not be given complete control and take away our constitutional rights to vote the judge in. When few people get great power, corruption is not far behind. Perry W. Hawkins Hermiston Humanity is a frog in a slow-boiling pot I always thought that was a funny story, the one about the boiling frog — put a frog in boiling water, he’ll jump out, but if you put him in cold water that is slowly heated, he will be cooked to death. And scientists have shown this to be true. That poor, foolish frog! Ooh, wait a minute, that sounds familiar. Scientists tell us that planet is warming, that the result will be catastrophic. Feel the heat? So long salmon, birds, water ... our children’s future. Of course, Greg Walden could turn down the burner. It’s as simple as people speaking up — demanding he take action, like introducing a bill that charges a carbon fee at its source and passing the revenue to us (see citizensclimatelobby.org). But that froggy feeling is good — the warmth is so soothing. I can’t be bothered, it’s too complicated, Greg’s my friend, it’s a big conspiracy ... bubble, bubble. Requa statuettes could quell the controversy It came to me this morning reading the East Oregonian that Requa statuettes might help quell that fuss. Statuettes similar to those made for the bucking horse statue at the Round-Up Grounds might let anyone have their own statue to put anywhere they want. They could also be great fundraiser. Richard Winter Echo Lawrence Jones Hood River 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 resi- dence 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.
