East Oregonian : E.O., July 25, 2015, Image 4

Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 25, 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
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Pendleton
Secretary/Treasurer
JEFF ROGERS
Bigfork, Mont.
Director
Indianapolis, Ind.
Director
OUR VIEW
Cities of
brotherly love
The relationship between
+HUPLVWRQDQG3HQGOHWRQLVGLI¿FXOW
to describe.
Author Jess Walter recently
shared a poem on his podcast “A
Tiny Sense of Accomplishment”
about his hometown Spokane and
its relationship with cross-border
counterpart Coeur d’Alene, and the
DQDORJ\VHHPVWR¿WKHUH
Instead of sister cities, think
of Pendleton and Hermiston as
brothers, sitting across the dinner
table from one another.
Pendleton is the older brother and
has always enjoyed the spotlight.
)LUVWWRSOD\YDUVLW\IRRWEDOO¿UVW
WRJHWDGULYHU¶VOLFHQVH¿UVWWRJHW
a job. Friends and family all know
about his accomplishments.
But now Hermiston has hit a
JURZWKVSXUWDQGHYHQPDGH¿UVW
team all-state last season, and he
has been working hard for years
saving up some money and is about
ready to buy a really cool car. People
may still ask him “Hey, you’re
Pendleton’s brother, right?” but he’s
no longer darkened by the heavy
shadow.
:H¶OOOHW\RX¿OOLQWKHGHWDLOV
RIWKHPHWDSKRUVEXWVXI¿FHLW
to say the dining room dynamic
has changed in the last couple of
decades.
They’ve never been best buddies,
but we hope as they enter maturity
they’ll develop a strong and
EHQH¿FLDOUHODWLRQVKLS
The last month has seen some
high points for both towns and
we’re glad to see signs of mutual
admiration.
For instance, Hermiston’s
3-on-3 basketball tournament
entered its 10th year last weekend
and has become one of the
keystone Main Street events in
OTHER VIEWS
town. It came about from a small
group of hoops enthusiasts turning
their love of the game into a
marketable event.
Travel Pendleton event recruiter
Pat Beard has said he’d like to see
something similar in Pendleton. And
that’s perfect. That’s one brother
taking the other’s good idea and
running with it.
Pendleton, meanwhile, has
spent substantial time making its
downtown into a tourist destination.
Facades have been restored, helpful
signs have been erected, statues
have been installed — the difference
between mid-recession Pendleton
and today’s city is remarkable. The
hundreds of Harleys in town, and
their riders, are getting a look at a
city ready for visitors any day of the
year.
As Hermiston begins down the
same path in its urban renewal zone,
it would be wise to look over what
is working. And it seems to be doing
so, with welcome signs and facade
restoration at the top of the priority
list.
The biggest two events of the
year are yet to come, of course. The
Umatilla County Fair is early next
month in Hermiston, the last time it
will be in the downtown area before
moving up the hill to a sparkling
new EOTEC grounds next summer.
And the Pendleton Round-Up is
just around the corner, an event any
organizer could learn a lesson or two
from.
Our suggestion: go check out
your brother city before summer’s
over. See what they’re doing well,
what they’re trying to accomplish
and take those ideas back home.
There’s no reason a little sibling
rivalry should get in the way of
mutual admiration and cooperation.
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.
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.
The minimum wage muddle
O
nce upon a time there was
A study by Thomas MaCurdy of
a near consensus among
Stanford built on the fact that there are
economists that raising the
as many individuals in high-income
minimum wage was a bad idea.
families making the minimum wage
The market is really good at setting
(teenagers) as in low-income families.
prices on things, whether it is apples
MaCurdy found that the costs of raising
or labor. If you raise the price on a
the wage are passed on to consumers
worker, employers will hire fewer
in the form of higher prices. Minimum-
and you’ll end up hurting the people
wage workers often work at places
David
you meant to help.
Brooks that disproportionately serve people
Then, in 1993, economists David
down the income scale. So raising the
Comment
Card and Alan Krueger looked at
minimum wage is like a regressive
fast-food restaurants in New Jersey
consumption tax paid for by the poor to
and Pennsylvania and found that raising the
subsidize the wages of workers who are often
minimum wage gave people more income
middle class.
without hurting employment. A series of
What we have, in sum, is a very
VWXGLHVLQ%ULWDLQEXWWUHVVHGWKHVH¿QGLQJV
complicated situation. If we do raise the
Today, raising the minimum wage is the
minimum wage a lot of people will clearly
central piece of the progressive economic
EHQH¿WDQGDORWRISHRSOHZLOOFOHDUO\EH
agenda. President Barack Obama and Hillary
hurt. The most objective and broadest bits of
Clinton champion it. Cities and states across
evidence provoke ambivalence. One survey
the country have been moving to raise
of economists by the University of Chicago
minimum wages to as high as $15 an hour —
found that 59 percent believed that a rise
including New York state just this week.
to $9 an hour would make it “noticeably
Some of my Democratic friends are
KDUGHU´IRUSRRUSHRSOHWR¿QGZRUN%XWD
arguing that forcing businesses to raise their
slight majority also thought the hike would
minimum wage will not only help low-wage
be worthwhile for those in jobs. A study by
ZRUNHUVLWZLOODFWXDOO\ERRVWSUR¿WVEHFDXVH WKH&RQJUHVVLRQDO%XGJHW2I¿FHIRXQGWKDW
companies will better retain workers. Some
a hike to $10.10 might lift 900,000 out of
economists have reported that there is no
poverty but cost roughly 500,000 jobs.
longer any evidence that raising wages will
My own guess is the economists will
cost jobs.
never be able to give us a dispositive answer
Unfortunately, that last claim is inaccurate.
about who is hurt or helped. Economists
There are in fact many studies on each side of
have their biases and reality is too granular.
the issue. David Neumark of the University
It depends on what region a worker is in,
of California, Irvine, and William Wascher
whether a particular job can be easily done
of the Federal Reserve have done their own
by a machine, what the mindset of his or her
studies and point to dozens of others showing
employer is.
VLJQL¿FDQWMREORVVHV
The best reasonable guess is that a gradual
Recently, Michael Wither and Jeffrey
hike in high-cost cities like Seattle or New
Clemens of the University of California, San
York will probably not produce massive
Diego, looked at data from the 2007 federal
dislocation. But raising the wage to $15 in
minimum-wage hike and found that it reduced rural New York will cause large disruptions
the national employment-to-population ratio
and job losses.
by 0.7 percentage points (which is actually a
The key intellectual upshot is that, despite
lot), and led to a 6-percentage-point decrease
what some people want you to believe, the
in the likelihood that a low-wage worker
laws of economic gravity have not been
would have a job.
suspended. You can’t impose costs on some
Because low-wage workers get less work
without trade-offs for others. You can’t
experience under a higher minimum-wage
intervene in the market without unintended
regime, they are less likely to transition to
consequences. And here’s a haunting fact
higher-wage jobs down the road. Wither and
that seems to make sense: Raising the
Clemens found that two years later, workers’
minimum wage will produce winners among
chances of making $1,500 a month was
job holders from all backgrounds, but it will
reduced by 5 percentage points.
disproportionately punish those with the
Many economists have pointed out that
lowest skills, who are least likely to be able to
DVDSRYHUW\¿JKWLQJPHDVXUHWKHPLQLPXP
justify higher employment costs.
wage is horribly targeted. A 2010 study by
Ŷ
Joseph Sabia and Richard Burkhauser found
David Brooks’s column on the Op-Ed page
that only 11.3 percent of workers who would
of The New York Times started in September
EHQH¿WIURPUDLVLQJWKHZDJHWRDQKRXU 2003. He has been a senior editor at The
would come from poor households. An earlier Weekly Standard, a contributing editor at
Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly, and he is
study by Sabia found that single mothers’
currently a commentator on “The Newshour
employment dropped 6 percent for every 10
with Jim Lehrer.”
percent increase in the minimum wage.
YOUR VIEWS
GMOs safe?
Mr. Tolleson, in a recent letter to
the editor, supported the Safe and
Accurate Food Labeling Act (HR
1599) as an inexpensive means to
solve the food labeling crisis. There
are a couple of problems I would
like to point out.
•The act is totally voluntary.
This means we have to trust the
corporations making most of our
food to do the right thing. Right.
Like they did for trans fats that has
turned out to be carcinogenic and
a heart attack waiting to happen.
The FDA is currently banning
these trans fats but food companies
have been given a 3 year phase-out
despite the damage they cause and
the fact that trans fats have been
known to cause health problems
for years and are already banned in
many countries.
•Mr. Tolleson states, “Every
PDMRUVFLHQWL¿FERG\DQG
regulatory agency in the world
has reviewed the research about
GMOs and declared they are
safe.” Most of the studies have
been by Monsanto and other
producers of GMOs. Others have
been prevented from researching
due to patent laws and proprietary
practices and ingredients rules
that have protected GMOs from
scrutiny. However, it has recently
been stated in a paper that GMO
soy contains formaldehyde, a
carcinogen and agent used in
embalming.
The following quote was taken
from the Organic Consumers
Association newsletter: “The
study, led by Dr. V.A. Shiva
Ayyadurai, Ph.D., an MIT-trained
systems biologist, utilizes his
latest invention, CytoSolve, a 21st
century systems biology method
to integrate 6,497 in vitro and
in vivolaboratory experiments,
IURPVFLHQWL¿FLQVWLWXWLRQV
across 23 countries, to discover
the accumulation of formaldehyde,
a known carcinogen, and a
dramatic depletion of glutathione,
an anti-oxidant necessary for
FHOOXODUGHWR[L¿FDWLRQLQ*02
soy, indicating that formaldehyde
and glutathione are likely critical
criteria for distinguishing the GMO
from its non-GMO counterpart.”
The depletion of glutathione
is as critical as the presence of
formaldehyde. The problem
is two-fold: The food plant is
prevented from taking up vital
nutrients so fewer nutrients
are available when you eat the
plant, and you are prevented
from processing part of what is
left for your body by the lack of
glutathione. The nutrients are
responsible for detoxifying your
cells.
HR 1599 is nothing more than
an attempt to do an end run around
local entities who want to know
what is in their food, referring it to
the federal level where “voluntary”
labeling is being preached and
both the House and Senate have
been bought with corporate cash.
The bottom line, it seems, is more
important than the health of the
consumer.
Ira L. White
Retired USDA food inspector and
director of “Food and Water Watch”
for KBLU
Pendleton
Communities that care
Our society is all too often
rocked by tragic public shootings
apparently caused by deranged
individuals. Thankfully, however,
more the norm is the everyday
acts of kindness and generosity
of people helping people, often
without any fanfare.
It was indeed a treat to read
about the painting of the Bullocks’
Pendleton house that a complete
stranger, Josh Cyganik, instigated.
After he asked for volunteers via
Facebook it is astounding the
people who responded, along with
the donations of paint and other
materials as well as cold drinks
for that hot day. It was indeed
“miracles at work” as expressed by
Benjamin Olsen, who came all the
way from Camas, Washington, to
help.
Rolling on paint isn’t the most
GLI¿FXOWSDUW,FDQLPDJLQHWKH
hours spent scraping that peeling
paint, sanding, priming and
pounding in nails or repairing a
broken board. What a generous
act of kindness, so typical of
many people who go out of their
way to help others. So often these
acts go unnoticed except by the
recipient. Thank goodness we live
in communities where people care
about one another.
Merlyn Robinson
Heppner