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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Thursday, August 20, 2015 OTHER VIEWS Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON Advertising Director TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Enjoy an interesting race while it lasts Who is going to lead our country Republicans unite around? in little more than a year? That’s not as easy a question to More than 500 people have answer. registered with the Federal Election Donald Trump leads the polls Commission for the job, right now, suggesting including a cat named a total rewrite of the Limberbutt McCubbins, Constitution to solve a student registered as immigration, and insulting “Sydneys Voluptuous plenty of ethnic groups and Buttocks” and, most an entire gender along the recently, an Iowa man that way. But if the presidential goes by the name Deez campaign season is a Nuts. Oh, and there’s also circus, why not have a a Democrat named Hillary clown? Trump is clearly the Clinton Clinton and a Republican candidate to ¿ll that role, named Donald Trump and and it’s great for comedians more than a dozen other and anarchists that he stay well-backed GOPers. in the race for as long as The horses are out of possible. the gate, and as of yet none The rest are jockeying have pulled back on the for position. Jeb Bush has reins — not even furry Mr. the big money and the big McCubbins. So who is name, but has yet to push going to win this derby? to the fore. Ted Cruz has Trump Hillary Clinton, the been overshadowed by the presumptive Democratic Donald. Rand Paul still nominee for the better might have the best hair. part of a decade, has been John Kasich has become unsurprisingly dogged by the likable favorite of scandal. moderates. Scott Walker That has left an opening and Marco Rubio have on the left, ¿lled by every chance to carry the Vermont Independent and GOP torch. Chris Christie Socialist Bernie Sanders, and Ben Carson and Rick who has been electrifying Perry and Carly Fiorina and Bush his growing crowds. There Mike Huckabee are just is even the low rumble prolonging the inevitable. that Joe Biden is still Although it’s not considering the job. There inevitable, perhaps the most are another handful of likely outcome — Clinton Democrats who have yet to v. Bush again for all the ¿nd their footing. marbles — would be so It looks, still, that Hillary dynastic and monarchical is in good shape. She as to be anti-American. has a war chest no other What a disappointment Sander Democrat can touch and that would be after such a an experience — eight strange and fun and wild years as First Lady, four as (and way too early) start to Secretary of State — that the campaign. no presidential candidate Since that matchup has ever had, though the looms large on the former didn’t help her horizon, we recommend much in 2004. Still, she enjoying the wildness and defeats any of the top unpredictability of the Republicans handily in current horse race. Because head-to-head battles. That, McCubbins pretty soon, we may be as much as anything, will down to two candidates unite the Democratic establishment who are too well polished and too around her. So who will the well known to surprise us. 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 Tighter rules for Oregon lobbyists The (Medford) Mail-Tribune Despite all the focus on ethics in government during the 2015 legislative session, one key element of the lawmaking process got little attention: lobbying. A report released last week by the Sunlight Foundation, an open- government group, gives Oregon an F grade for its rules governing lobbyists and what they must disclose. Lobbyists play an important role in the Legislature, advocating for their clients and for and against bills, and in many cases educating busy legislators about the details of often complex legislation. There is nothing wrong with that — as long as the public knows who is doing the lobbying, for whom they are working and how much they are spending. The Sunlight Foundation report says Oregon is one of four states with the most lenient rules for what lobbyists must disclose. Lobbyists must register in Oregon, but they need not report the causes they are advocating or their positions on speci¿c bills, as many other states require. When it comes to money, Oregon allows lobbyists to spend up to $50 per year on any individual legislator before reporting any expenditures. That means a lobbyist can buy meals, drinks or small gifts for lawmakers without disclosing it as long as it doesn’t reach the threshold. Other states have a threshold of zero, or set it very low, such as $5. The biggest lack of disclosure, however, doesn’t directly involve lawmakers. It’s the amount of money lobbyists spend lobbying other lobbyists. If that sounds confusing, it’s really not. When a lobbyist is trying to build support for a particular bill, or organize opposition to one, it’s helpful to enlist other lobbyists in the effort — a coalition of industries, for example, to oppose new requirements on employers. And because lobbyists aren’t public of¿cials, there is no limit on how much can be spent to inÀuence them. What’s more, lobbyists have been speci¿cally exempt from reporting these expenses since 2013, and a bill passed this year extends that exemption for two more years. Gov. Kate Brown signed it on Wednesday. The bill originally would have made the exemption permanent, but Ron Bersin, executive director of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, urged lawmakers to amend it to include only the two-year extension, because a new online reporting system for lobbyists is due to be ¿nished in 2016, making the reporting easier and muting opposition on those grounds. Bersin noted that industries, organizations and other interests reported spending a total of $26 million on lobbyists in 2014, but the lobbyists themselves reported spending only $92,000 on people they lobbied. That huge difference would shed a great deal of light on who is spending what to inÀuence Oregon government. The Sunlight Foundation report says Oregon is one of four states with the most lenient rules for what lobbyists must disclose. Jeb Bush’s slog: The tortoise and the hair I n politics, the smallest things often the most adult. But at that ¿rst debate, turn out to be the most telling Kasich stole even that superlative from ones, and so it is with the man who him. was supposed to be the Republican What’s left? He’s raised the front-runner, who once inspired such most money, some of which he’ll rapture among party elders and whose use for television ads much sooner entrance into the presidential race they than anyone had anticipated. He’ll yearned and clamored for. try to buy the oomph that he can’t They not only got their wish, they organically generate. Frank got it with punctuation: Jeb! That’s Oomph is what that big speech last Bruni Jeb Bush’s logo, and the exclamation week — in which he blamed Hillary Comment point is the tell. None of the other Rodham Clinton for the rise of the Republican presidential candidates has Islamic State — was largely about. He anything like it. None of the Democrats either. was Àexing his audacity and independence, It’s a declaration of passion that only someone showing that his surname wouldn’t cow him worried about a de¿cit of it would issue. from going after a Democratic rival on any Methinks thou doth exclaim too much. matter, including Iraq. It took gall to edit his Before Bush announced his candidacy, older brother out of the diatribe. It took guts to talk of his vulnerabilities focused largely on go with a diatribe in the ¿rst place. certain positions — his defense of Common Did it help? Polls suggest not. A CNN/ORC Core educational standards, his advocacy for survey that was released Tuesday showed that immigration reform — that were anathema to he doesn’t fare nearly as well as Trump when many voters in the Republican primaries. He Republican voters are asked whom they trust was sure to catch Àak. most on the economy, on immigration and on But catching ¿re is his bigger problem. battling Islamic extremists. He can’t do it. In a bloated ¿eld of bellicose He runs afoul of the moment. Voters right candidates, he’s a whisper, a blur, starved of now are more enamored of outsiders than momentum, bereft of urgency and apt to make usual, as the traction of not just Trump but news because he stumbles, not because he also two other Republican candidates who soars. Can he soar? Or even sprint? have never held elective of¿ce — Ben Carson “I’m the tortoise in the race,” he told a and Carly Fiorina — demonstrates. group of voters in Florida not long ago. “But Voters have had enough of protocol I’m a joyful tortoise.” and pieties. Thus Trump thrives in a party And Donald Trump’s a demented that he constantly browbeats and shows no peacock and I’m a crotchety hippo. Reverse real loyalty toward, while Bernie Sanders anthropomorphism is a fun game, but if you’re Àourishes among Democrats though he has playing it in the service of selling yourself, repeatedly railed against them and doesn’t best not to summon a sluggish creature with a technically identify as one. muted affect and an impenetrable shell. For some alienated voters, supporting Republicans should have seen this turtle either of these two insurgents is the same coming. In some sense they did. Bush’s fans as raising a middle ¿nger to establishment and backers praised him as a thoughtful politicians and to politics as usual, and tactful, “policy wonk” and conceded that he wasn’t tasteful Bush can never be a middle ¿nger. any dynamo at the lectern or on the trail. More like a pinkie. But they downgraded the importance of The pinkie may prevail. In the Bush camp dynamism, maybe because they didn’t expect there’s a theory, or perhaps an anxiety-quelling so much competition, including Trump. (It’s fantasy, that the Trump mania and the “the race between the tortoise and the bad related craziness will bene¿t Bush, who can hair,” cracked Jay Leno last week.) They methodically build support and incrementally couldn’t envision the way in which 16 rivals lengthen his stride while the glare and heat are would rob Bush of clear distinction and on others. de¿nition. Trump burns out, the ¿eld eventually Sure, he speaks Spanish and has a winnows and Bush is saved by a superlative Mexican-born wife, but Marco Rubio also after all. He’s the most durable candidate. speaks Spanish and has two Cuban-born It’s a plausible scenario. But it’s hardly parents. Sure, he was twice elected governor a joyful one. And there’s only one way to of a state that’s not reliably red, but so were punctuate it — with a question mark. Scott Walker, Chris Christie and John Kasich. Ŷ He’s not the most eloquent or the most Frank Bruni has been an Op-Ed inspiring, so his backers began to pitch him as columnist for The New York Times since 2011. YOUR VIEWS ‘Naysayers’ are right about Pendleton city council Ron Gavette recently wrote a letter focusing on the naysayers of Pendleton. He mentioned Rex Morehouse. Mr. Morehouse recently wrote, “On another matter, it seems as some on the city council do not want input from anyone, except someone who agrees with them at council meetings. Council President Neil Brown and Councilman Al Plute want me to go to the city staff before talking to the council.” Mr. Plute recently pleaded innocent in an editorial in the East Oregonian. If only the city council had followed his advice, there would be no street repair issue. Keep in mind that Mr. Plute’s successful renovation of the old Temple Hotel was the result of urban renewal money. Few communities in the U.S. are as generous as Pendleton in providing ¿nancial assistance to wealthy downtown property owners. Mr. Gavette stated that I was also a “naysayer.” I have attended city council meetings and spoken during the time slot before the actual business meeting. The effectiveness of this process is about as fruitful as talking in front of a mirror because the words of the public have no bearing on their decisions. The two issues that have been the most prominent over the last few months are medical marijuana dispensaries and street repair. The Round-Up is a month away, which means that there will be a Àurry of activity with city workers busily repairing streets used by tourists who will be oblivious to the town’s street repair crisis. The question that no one asks is who bene¿ts from the decision of no medical marijuana dispensaries in Pendleton? The answer is the main supplier of drugs on the black market. The Pendleton City Council is oblivious to the term “strategic planning.” The key goal that the Pendleton city management ignores is ¿scal stability and accountability. Until that happens, the city will be treading water and eventually drown in debt. Increasing fees and taxes will cause people to leave Pendleton. Jerry Cronin Pendleton Federal spending on safety net a worthwhile use of funds The discussions in Washington, D.C., should be focused on how they’re going to spend our money. The “safety net” is a good investment and it’s time to stop treating the people using it like second class citizens. We need to have the agenda of this country generated from someplace other than Fox News talking points. LETTERS POLICY Patrick Delaney Hermiston 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. 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. Send letters to 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.