Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, October 23, 2015
OTHER VIEWS
Bush, Rubio squabble while
Trump runs away with it
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
ne odd thing about the
the ¿fth-place and sixth-place
Republican presidential race
candidates in the polls in Iowa, or,
is that the strong front-runner,
looked at another way, between the
Donald Trump, isn’t fundraising.
fourth-place and ¿fth-place candidates
Soliciting contributions takes a
in New Hampshire, or between the
huge amount of the time for most
fourth-place and sixth-place candidates
candidates, and the quarterly reports of
in South Carolina, all according to the
how much they have raised and how
RealClearPolitics average of polls.
much cash they have on hand become
The ¿rst-place candidate in all those
Byron
carefully watched measures of their
races
is the guy who isn’t fundraising
York
campaigns’ viability. None of that
—
Trump.
And these days, Trump is
Comment
applies to Trump.
looking stronger and stronger.
So the new fundraising
He ¿rst took the lead
reports for the third quarter
in the RCP national poll
that have been the talk of
average on July 20, meaning
the political world for the
he has spent a full three
last few days have an odd
months at the top. And
also-ran feel to them.
Trump is far ahead of the
Of the candidates who
two squabbling candidates,
are raising money, the
Bush and Rubio, in the early
winner is Ben Carson, who
voting states:
collected $20 million in the
(1) In Iowa, Trump is up
third quarter. After Carson is
by 17 over Bush and 18 over
Jeb Bush, who raised $13.4
Rubio, according to the most
million; Ted Cruz, with $12.2
recent poll, by The Wall
million, Carly Fiorina, with
Street Journal.
$6.8 million; and Marco
(2) In New Hampshire,
Rubio, with $5.7 million.
Trump is up by 10 over
(The rest raised less than
Bush and 11 over Rubio,
that.)
according to the Journal.
When Bush announced his total recently,
(3) In South Carolina, Trump is up by 25
his campaign immediately started a spat
over Rubio and 30 over Bush in a brand-new
with Rubio over who had the better quarter.
CNN poll.
In an email memo accompanying the Bush
(4) In Nevada, Trump is up by 31 over
announcement, campaign manager Danny
Rubio and 32 over Bush, according to CNN.
Both the Bush and the Rubio campaigns
Diaz noted that Bush’s total was “double what
are motivated by an unshakeable conviction
Sen. Rubio and Carly Fiorina raised in the
that Trump will eventually decline. That
same time.”
conviction is shared by most political insiders.
Six minutes later, the Rubio campaign
Perhaps it is correct, although each day forces
sent out an email boasting that it ¿nished
those insiders to adjust their estimate of how
the quarter “with more money in the bank
long Trump can stay aloft.
than Jeb Bush for President and most other
In the meantime, the would-be front-
campaigns.” It’s true. Rubio reported having
runners, Jeb and Marco, are reduced to
$10,975,988.78 in ready cash — yes, he
bragging about Àying commercial and taking
included the pennies — while Bush had
UberX. Their donors will apparently be
$10,271,229.
pleased.
For those concerned that Bush had blown
But it won’t solve Bush’s and Rubio’s
too much of his money on a bloated staff and
problem. At the moment, Trump is leading
private planes, Diaz noted that Bush’s big
because he seems big and they seem small.
expenditures were “substantial investments
More voters believe Trump will be a stronger
in data and grassroots operations across the
leader than either Bush or Rubio. Trump’s
February and March states, as well as paid
put-downs of both men — that Bush is “low
advertising in New Hampshire.”
energy” and that Rubio is a “little boy” — are
For his part, Rubio stressed frugality.
outrageous but effective ways of reinforcing
“The campaign bought of¿ce furniture from
voter concerns that Bush doesn’t have the
Craigslist, took over 300 UberX rides, and
drive to be president and Rubio doesn’t have
traveled on budget airlines including Frontier,
the maturity.
Southwest, Jet Blue and Spirit,” the Rubio
There’s still time for those perceptions to
note said.
change. But for the moment, Bush and Rubio
It’s all intended to reassure nervous donors
are ¿ghting over who has the resources to stay
that their money is being well spent. And
alive until Trump begins to fade — if that ever
Rubio has gone further, with leaks that he
happens.
might soon receive big money from mega-
Ŷ
donor Sheldon Adelson and some top New
Byron York is chief political correspondent
York contributors.
for The Washington Examiner.
The Bush-Rubio dustup is a ¿ght between
O
OUR VIEW
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A hyperbolic banner claiming that potholes are terrorists and promoting
the gas tax on the November ballot sits in the yard of a home on Southeast
Court Avenue and Ninth Street on Monday in Pendleton.
Tip of the hat;
kick in the pants
A kick in the pants to the strange sign that reads “Potholes are
terrorists” located at Southeast Court and Ninth Street in Pendleton.
It’s a ridiculous message, and one that has turned off a lot more people
than it has turned on to the cause. Equating road degradation to the real-life
monsters that destroy buildings, kill innocent
people and decapitate their prisoners is
preposterous. Whether it’s supposed to be a
joke is unclear, but if so it’s not funny.
The pro gas-tax PAC said they are not
af¿liated with the sign, but it’s another
example of a lack of consistent messaging
that has plagued this hurried campaign. Add
in the disastrous timing of trying to require
residents to foot another tax — while at the
same time turning down money given freely
in marijuana taxes — and you’ve got a recipe
for big trouble at the ballot box in a few weeks.
And who will suffer from the inability to make that strong case for the gas
tax? Pendleton’s streets and Pendletonians who drive them.
A late surge and change in tactics is necessary for a successful November
3 — although it may already be too little too late.
Tip of the hat to Jeb Bush’s idea to move the Department of the
Interior headquarters to the West.
This part of the country is home to 90 percent of the nation’s federally
owned land, so it would make sense that many of the people making
decisions about those lands were located nearby.
Bush didn’t say where he would locate the headquarters, but mentioned
Denver, Salt Lake City or Reno. May
we recommend Heppner, Boardman or
Hermiston? Certainly those cities are at the
fore of some of the West’s most important
land and resources issues moving forward.
And we’d love to see the property market
and building boom that comes with all those
high-paying federal jobs.
Certainly, in 1776 Washington, D.C., was
square in the middle of this new country
of ours. It isn’t now. We don’t imagine the
White House will move anytime soon —
though it would be much safer in Lebanon,
Kansas, the geographic center of the contiguous United States.
But we do think breaking the Beltway would be a good thing for the
country. As transportation becomes faster and cheaper, and teleconferencing
smarter and more useful, we don’t see why nearly all of our federal agencies
should be bunched up behind a bubble in one corner of the country.
Let some breathe out here in the West — especially the Department of the
Interior.
The first place
candidate is
the guy who
isn’t fundraising
—Trump. And
these days, he is
looking stronger
and stronger.
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.
YOUR VIEWS
Byrnes Oil a local
company, unfairly
targeted by gas tax
I would like to clarify a bit of
information that was stated in a
recent letter to the editor by Mr.
O’Rourke.
First of all, Byrnes Oil Co. had
its start in Pilot Rock in 1963, then
began operations in Pendleton in
1984. Currently two of the owners
have Pilot Rock addresses and one
has a Pendleton address. Byrnes
Oil also donates on a regular
basis to the OPA PAC Fund. The
3, ¿gure you refer to is for
the 2015 calendar year. We do
not tell the OFA how to disperse
our contributions. Like many
industries, unions, public interests,
etc., the OFA has many issues
that they lobby for and against to
protect their members. No different
than any other organization.
The fuel dealers and the OFA
are not against any city trying to
improve the livability for their
citizens. We are just opposed to
the avenue of revenue that is being
proposed. The OFA worked with
the Oregon Legislature to support
the last state of Oregon fuel tax
increase from 24 to 30 cents per
gallon. We would support another
reasonable state fuel tax increase,
which is fair and equitable for all
fuel dealers in the state of Oregon.
Contrary to many public
opinions, we do not “pass this tax
along” to the consumer. This tax
will come directly out of dealers’
gross pro¿t. This is not like a
lodging tax when you see the
rate posted for a night’s stay. The
lodging taxes are added on after
the advertised rate. We do not have
that luxury with a local fuel tax.
If any city in the state of Oregon
needs more funds for streets, they
and their constituents should be
lobbying the state to increase the
state fuel tax, not attacking locally
owned businesses. If Pendleton
needs extra funding to ¿x its
streets, why are Hermiston, La
Grande, Baker City, Ontario and
Milton-Freewater not doing the
same thing?
Sam Byrnes
Byrnes Oil
Pendleton
If spending money goes
to tax, business suffers
This just in: “Let’s skip
that drink.” Pendleton City
Councilman John Brenne advises
taxpayers to stop drinking beer
and coffee, and will personally
¿nance city street repairs with this
generous contribution. Taverns
and coffeehouses predict severe
¿nancial impact, may face closure.
Juan Valdez forced to sell burro.
Eagles Lodge, “No comment.”
This also raises serious doubts as
to the viability of a second annual
Oktoberfest Pendleton.
Gas tax update: Rex
Morehouse’s claim that gas prices
will rise once voting is complete,
pass or fail. Claim was “simply
not true” states mayor and some
council members. I guess we’ll just
have to wait on that one.
Provided by on-scene reporter.
3HRSOHFDQ¶W¿JXUHRXW
‘whom,’ so trash it
out of usage long ago, so now most
of us think that Juliet is asking
Romeo where he is.
Now consider these sentence
portions (the four quotations from
newpapers appeared within in the
last week):
“Whomever truly cares about
…” (letter to the East Oregonian).
“Kurdish militants, who Turkey
considers a primary enemy …”
(NY Times). “Who are you going to
vote for?” (widely used). “Whom
shall I say is calling?” (common
usage when I was a boy). “which
will be paid for by whomever
owns the house next” (EO). “
seven eyewitnesses whom Gowdy
says were never questioned …”
(Oregonian).
In every case where “whom”
is used in these examples, proper
English language rules call for
“who”; and in every case where
Language changes. In Europe,
the word “corn” has always meant
what we Americans call “grain,”
but we long ago changed the
meaning of “corn” to refer to what
people in Britain call “maize.” And
we invented a new word to replace
the British “torch” ² Àashlight.
Shakespeare could have Juliet
ask Romeo, “Wherefore art thou
Romeo?” but “wherefore” dropped
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.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
“who” is used, proper English
language rules call for “whom.”
These examples, however, are not
in any way unusual and might have
been found in various newspapers
and other print media anywhere
in the United States. Almost no
one knows how to use “who”
and “whom” any more. Frankly,
I doubt that very many English
teachers in this country today could
tell me why each of the examples
above is incorrect English.
So we should just drop whom.
Nobody knows when to use it,
and when we try to use it, we
get it wrong. Take it out of the
dictionary, embrace the present
situation, have a wake for “whom”
if you wish, but go boldly into the
whom-less future.
Whom, we hardly knew ye.
Jack T. Sanders
Pendleton
LETTERS POLICY