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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, January 27, 2016 OTHER VIEWS Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Shadow of Citizens United needs lifting don’t think that has an effect on It has been more than ¿ ve years politicians and policy, you’ve clearly since a 2010 Supreme Court ruling, not lived long in this now known world. Money talks colloquially as the and politicians are “Citizens United A million more apt than most decision,” lifted to give it a bullhorn. prohibitions on dollar-plus What to do about political spending donation to a it? by corporations and 7he clearest private citizens. politician or and simplest way, It spawned the political party is which has not had era of the super much traction in the 3ACs. 7hose not a gift. courts, is to limit political action It is a purchase. the size of cash committees have contributions to been able to spend political campaigns. unlimited amounts of money to campaign for candidates While that appears tied up for for federal of¿ ces, as long as they do another presidential term or two, OSPIRG presented some temporary not coordinate with a candidate or recommendations: campaign. ƒ Match small contributions with Some consider the ruling an expansion of liberty, an unshackling public funds, as is done in New York City. of regulation that has allowed the ƒ Institute a voucher program like free market to operate unfettered. Seattle, where every voter in the city We all have a First Amendment right to free expression, and how we is given four $25 vouchers that they can contribute to candidates of their spend our money is as much of an choosing. expression as anything else. 7hink ƒ Enhance and streamline about a red, convertible Porsche.) Oregon’s political tax credit. But others worry that unlimited But all of those theories just pump ¿ nancial donations have increased more public money into a system corruption, given the rich an that we’re trying to get money out oversized inÀ uence on federal of. Maybe it is more fair that way, elections, and made politicians less but it’s still just feeding the beast reliant on actually serving voters. with a more nutritious meal. 7he OSPIRG Foundation, an Newspapers are big supporters of Oregonbased organization that the First Amendment, and it takes works to protect consumers and a lot to convince us of the need for promote good government, recently restrictions of any kind. looked at how donations inÀ uenced But we accept libel and slander the 2014 election in the Beaver laws, and know you can’t get away State. with yelling “Fire” in a crowded 7hat year, OSPIRG found that movie theater. We limit things that small donors (those who gave less do overwhelming damage to public than $100) donated a total of $6.5 safety, to personal property and million. OSPIRG estimated the contributions came from as many as reputation, and to society. And runaway political spending 91,000 people. is doing overwhelming damage. 7he At the same time, approximately bene¿ t is only available to a select 1,000 organizations donated $5,000 few with the means to exploit it. or more, and their contributions A million dollarplus donation to totaled $64 million. Out of state a politician or a political party is not donors were responsible for about a gift. It is a purchase. If we don’t $44 million of that. want our politicians to be bought, In essence, big spenders had we must ¿ nd ways to limit political nearly 10 times the inÀ uence than donations. did the measly 99 percenters. If you 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 Stay sane America, please! are softening on 7rump because they n January of 2017 someone will think he is more electable than Cruz stand at the U.S. Capitol and are smoking something. According to deliver an Inaugural Address. 7his a Pew Research survey, a majority of is roughly the place where Abraham Americans think 7rump would make a Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight poor or terrible president. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan once Chuck 7odd ran through 7rump’s stood. I am going to spend every single favorableunfavorable ratings on day between now and then believing “Meet the Press” on Sunday: Among that neither Donald 7rump nor 7ed David Cruz nor Bernie Sanders will be Brooks independents, 7rump is negative 26 points; among women, negative 36; standing on that podium. One of them Comment among suburban voters, negative 24. could win the election, take the oath, Is the Republican Party really going give the speech and be riding down to nominate one of the most loathed men in Pennsylvania Avenue. I will still refuse to American public life? believe it. Fifth, America has never elected a candidate Yes, I know what the polling evidence is maximally extreme from the political center, telling us about 7rump, Sanders and Cruz, but the way Sanders and Cruz are. According to there are good reasons to cling to my disbelief. the Five7hirtyEight website, Cruz has the most First, these primary campaigns will not be conservative voting record settled in February. 7hey in the entire Congress. 7hat won’t be settled in March or takes some doing. April. Sometimes a candidate Sixth, sooner or later can sweep Iowa and New the candidates from the Hampshire and cruise to governing wing of their the nomination. But that parties will get their acts candidate has to be broadly together. Marco Rubio has acceptable to all parts of had a bad month, darkening the party. 7rump, Cruz and his tone and trying to sound Sanders are not. like a cutrate version of As Jay Cost writes 7rump and Cruz. in The Weekly Standard, Before too long Rubio “7his could mean a lengthy will realize his ¿ rst task is to nomination battle that rally the voters who detest or stretches all the way to the fear those men. 7hat means California primary in June.” running as an optimistic On the Republican side American nationalist with the early primaries and speci¿ c proposals to reform Washington and lift caucuses allocate delegates proportionally. Only 16.2 percent of the delegates overall come the working class. from winnertakeall states. 7hat means the If he can rally mainstream Republicans delegategetting war will be a slog. he’ll be at least tied with 7rump and Cruz 7he ¿ rst day when any candidate could rack in the polls. 7hen he can counter their up a big winnertakeall delegate harvest is American decline narrative, with one of his March 15, an eternity from now. More than half own: 7his country is failing because it got too the delegates will be allocated after that date. narcissistic, became too much like a reality Second, Cruz and 7rump will go after each 79 show. Americans lost the ability to work other with increasing ferocity over the next constructively to get things done. many weeks or months. 7here is a decent Finally, eventually the electorate is going chance, given their personalities, that they will to realize that in an age of dysfunctional make each other maximally unattractive and go government, effective leadership capacity is down in each other’s death embrace. the threshold issue. 7hat means being able to 7hird, the 7rump and Sanders turnout listen to others, surround yourself with people problems are real. 7rump is doing very well smarter than you, gather a governing majority among people who haven’t voted in the past and above all have an actual implementation four elections. It’s possible he has energized strategy. Not 7rump, Cruz or Sanders has any them so much they will actually caucus and remote chance of turning his ideas, such as they vote, but you wouldn’t want to bet your are, into actual laws. goldplated faucets on it. People who don’t vote In every recent presidential election U.S. generally don’t vote. voters have selected the candidate with the Sanders is drawing support from nonvoters, most secure pair of hands. 7hey’ve elected the too. Sanders is up in some polls overall, but person who would be a stable presence and he trails big time among people in Iowa who companion for the next four years. I believe caucused in 2008 and among those who are they’re going to do that again. And if they’re de¿ nitely registered to vote. not, please allow me a few more months of It’s quite possible that the big story denial. postIowa will be how badly these two Ŷ underperformed. David Brooks became a New York Times Fourth, establishment Republicans who Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. I The candidate has to be broadly acceptable to all parts of the party. Trump, Cruz and Sanders are not. Who pays for Malheur standoff? The (Bend) Bulletin Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday in a press conference that she will ask the Legislature next month to come up with money to reimburse Harney County for the expense of having militants ensconced on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Lawmakers must do just that. 7he occupation, which began Jan. 2, has been an expensive proposition. In the early days, the county’s chief executive of¿ cer, Judge Steve Grasty, put the price tag at about $70,000 per day. Wednesday, Brown said the county’s ongoing expenses were running about $100,000 per week. Either way, it’s money Harney County doesn’t have. 7he county is the state’s largest ² more than 10,000 miles square — and its sheriff’s department has an annual budget of $2.289 million. By contrast, Deschutes County is only about 3,000 miles square, and the sheriff’s of¿ ce has a budget of some $44.6 million. Just about 7,000 people live in Harney County, only slightly more than live in the city of Madras. 7he task of providing law enforcement for a gaggle of visitors ranging from Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel to journalists to occupation sympathizers has stretched the small sheriff’s department beyond its limit, so much so that law enforcement of¿ cers from around the state have been helping out when they are able. And, while Grasty has said he will bill the occupiers’ leaders for the county’s costs, that’s a move unlikely to result in a paid bill. 7here’s some logic to sending that bill to the federal government, to be sure. 7he wildlife refuge is owned by the federal government, and federal of¿ cers are in charge of how occupiers are being dealt with — or not dealt with. 7he occupation’s cost, in other words, is not something the county can control. But asking Uncle Sam to pay the bill is not the same as getting a check in the mail, and unless and until there’s certainty that the check is on the way, the state must step in. 7hat means lawmakers, who will convene in Salem beginning Feb. 1, must act to take up the slack. The occupation, which began Jan. 2, has been an expensive proposition . YOUR VIEWS Water on Mars will provide a boon to Earth Now that water has been found on Mars, there’s no reason to leave it there. Here come hinged rockets full of water, trunk to tail, in sweet tandem day by day. Swimming pools, rejoice. Wash your car with elegant Mars2O! Deserts will bloom. Forests with rejoice. Global warming will succumb to fuller oceans. And fatter clouds. Water is heavy, so if the payload is in overload we simply dehydrate the water. D.G. Reese Echo Repeal, not reform, is only option for Measure 11 Barb Dickerson has made the people believe that reforming Oregon Measure 11 by handing it to the judge to make decisions in sentencing will reform Measure 11. In fact it does not change Measure 11 guidelines the judge would also have to follow. Look at the Hammonds ² they have to ¿ nish their sentences, based on mandatory minimum sentences. Reform will not release anyone who is sentenced under Measure 11. Measure 11 is meant for ¿ rsttime offenders. 7he district attorney charges the defendant with more than one Measure 11 offense, so the bargaining tool is on the table for a sure conviction. In my opinion the DA extorts human life, telling the defendant, “If you take this plea you get less time,” or the state will give the defendant more time if it goes to trial. In fear of the many threats the DA gives the defense, the defendant takes a plea. 7he inmates should follow and exhaust appeals. Bring allegations against court ethics violations. 7his includes defense attorneys, district attorneys, judges and police. Measure 11 looks like a form of human traf¿ cking. Abolishing Oregon Measure 11 is a start to reforming the Oregon justice system and stopping some of the corruption in the justice system. Measure 11 was a ballot initiative. But lawmakers add laws that affect Measure 11 in a negative manner without the consent of the voters. Measure 11 needs to be put back on the ballot to be abolished. We need education for the public to understand how Measure 11 can affect the public and their loved ones. Measure 11 has put away innocent people. We have to stand together and get involved to make a make a change in the justice system. Cynthia Lester Pendleton 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.
