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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.