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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 2016)
VIEWPOINTS Saturday, June 4, 2016 Quick takes — Merrilyn Ferebee This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. If migrant workers want to come and work seasonal jobs, ine, but provide for yourself by yourself. Why should they be given room and board and the average working person has to scrape by paycheck to paycheck? — Sarah Baker Smith As long as we aren’t paying for it I say good for them. — Rob Skaggs That’s going to take a lot of money. Do organic farms make that much. I wonder if they will get incentive money from govern- ment? — Dan Armstrong Personally did ield work just across the Columbia River in Paterson. They pay for housing on site in those ields and bus them into town. They treat them very well. — Royce Taft One of the great lessons of the Twitter age is that much can be summed up in just a few words. Here are some of this week’s takes. Tweet yours @Tim_Trainor or email editor@eastoregonian. com, and keep them to 140 characters. Page 5A If gambling is a problem, who is responsible? Boardman farm housing As it should be! Orchardists in Hood River Valley always provided cabins for their workers. East Oregonian By JOHN A. CHARLES, JR. Cascade Policy Institute G overnor Kate Brown opposes a plan by the Coquille Indian Tribe to build a casino in Medford. In her public statement, the governor said she opposes the addition of any more casinos because “even a single additional casino is likely to lead to signiicant efforts to expand gaming across Oregon to the detriment of the public welfare.” Her concern for the public welfare is touching, but if one simply “follows the money” associated with the state’s own gambling franchise — the Oregon Lottery — it’s clear that the governor has little regard for the health of Oregon citizens. The Oregon Lottery is a state-run monopoly using a network of 3,939 retailers to offer players a wide choice of games, including Scratch-its, Keno, Powerball, Win for Life, Mega Millions, Lucky Lines and Pick 4. In addition, the lottery has approximately 11,925 video lottery terminals deployed throughout the state. These terminals accounted for 71.5 percent of total sales in 2015 and are highly addictive. According to the Oregon Health Authority, roughly 90 percent of problem gambling in Oregon is associated with Lottery video machines. In 2015, Oregon earned $1.2 billion from the state lottery. In January, Powerball mania resulted in record sales of $36 million in one week. An Oregon Lottery spokesman said: “Any time sales go up, that’s a good thing for our beneiciaries.” Who are these beneiciaries? By law, 57 percent of net lottery revenues support public education. Activities loosely deined as “economic development” get 27 percent. State parks and salmon enhancement programs split 15 percent of revenues. Those activities account for 99 percent of all lottery funds. The last 1 percent gets allocated for problem gambling. The state estimates that 81,800 adults and 4,000 adolescents have a gambling addiction. If Governor Brown was so interested in the “public welfare,” she would be advocating for an increase in the percent of lottery funds dedicated to the 86,000 problem gamblers. This would at least give her some moral high ground to stand on before criticizing a casino proposed by the Coquille Tribe. But despite total control of the legislative process by the Democratic Party, the governor has not made this a priority. Oregon’s misuse of tobacco tax money is even more egregious. Oregon was one of 44 states that sued the tobacco industry in the mid-1990s regarding the health care costs associated with smoking. As a result of a Master Settlement Agreement with the four largest tobacco manufacturers, each state was to receive payments every year from 1998 through 2025. According to the plaintiffs, MSA money was supposed to be used for tobacco prevention activities and health care subsidies necessary to treat smoking illnesses, but that was not a formal part of the agreement. Thus, each state was free to use the funds in whatever way its state legislature approved. In Oregon, total MSA funds received since 1998 equal $1.26 billion—yet only 0.8 percent of the money has been used for tobacco prevention activities. The governor’s hypocrisy associated with the use of tobacco and gambling proits is embarrassing. She should clean up her own house before she starts lecturing any of the Tribes about their casino expansion plans. ■ John A. Charles, Jr. is president and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization. This article originally appeared in The Coos Bay World. The governor should clean up her own house before lecturing Tribes about casino expansion plans You gotta ight for your right (to save water) A fter lacrosse with that. But when practice you act like you’ve where you never seen a shower ran for 15 minutes before, then I steam. straight in the baking If everyone took a hot sun you take a three minute shower ten-minute shower. or turned the faucet Then you leave the off after they wet faucet on while you Nicholas their toothbrush, we brush your teeth. Purswell could save billions of You might not gallons of water. If Comment think much of this, you haven’t already but around the world, heard me … you there is some kid that just need to save water! died because of dehydration. Maybe saving water is as When you waste water, easy as turning the water off you’re not only wasting it when you brush your teeth. for your family, but you’re It even could be tightening harming the world. So, now a pipe so it doesn’t leak. It that I’ve shown how this really doesn’t matter! affects the whole world, I You, in some way, just can show you how to save have to save water. If you water. think “People will ind water When somehow,” you take a well, here are ten-minute some more shower, facts about it’s really, that. There are really, really actually 738 unnecessary! million people Every time I that don’t have get done with pure and clean a sweaty/ drinking water. Gatorade And if smelling this doesn’t practice I just shock you take a three- enough, every minute shower. 21 seconds, a So why not child dies from you do it too? dehydration. A three-minute And think about shower is really that statistic like helpful. And this: It would if you want take three and to save extra a half hours water, while to eliminate you’re washing the whole the Old Spice out of your population of Desert View hair, you can brush your Elementary School. That’s teeth at the same time. about two episodes of Even the source “Game of Thrones” or “The “Conserving Water, One Walking Dead.” Drop at a Time” states the So next time you just let fact: “Did you know that as the faucet drip, drip, drip and an American you likely use drip, you’re hurting children between 80 to 100 gallons around the world. of water each day? Every The world is fragile, like single day. Yes, that’s more a lower, and when you stop than 29,000 gallons each watering this lower, what year. And the mind-boggling happens? It wilts and dies. part? The largest household That’s what you’re doing use of water is lushing when you cut the world from the toilet. We are literally water. So next time you lushing one of the earth’s decide to wash your hair for most precious resources the fourth time, remember down the toilet.” the world. You heard the author, If there is anything 80 to 100 gallons each to learn from this, it’s to day. If a corrupt country save water. And if you or third-world country had don’t, you can remember that much water per person, all those people who are that kid I said who died in unfortunately suffering the beginning would still be around the world. alive. ■ So now I’ve scared you. Nicholas Purswell is a While you’re still quivering ifth grader at Desert View I’ll show you how these Elementary in Hermiston. death by dehydration beasts He was among three winners do this. of an essay contest about When you waste water water, sponsored by Altrusa you can do these two things: International of Hermiston. a) waste it without even Other winners were knowing it or b) waste it Mischa Meyer and with no dignity and for no Elizabeth Doherty. You reason at all. When you do can ind their essays online these things you really need at eastoregonian.com. to remember that ultimately Honorable mention awards you’re simply wasting water. went to Stephanie Booher, I mean, if you just take all Leyton Lind and Emma you need, then I’m cool Martin. The world is fragile, like a lower, and when you stop watering this lower what happens? It wilts and dies. Tightwad Trump explodes D Trump said. onald Trump has a The money was turned simple reason for his over to a veterans’ charity long delay in explaining about, um, a week ago. what happened to the money We have heard a lot from he raised for veterans’ charities: Trump about his passion for He didn’t want any publicity. veterans lately. It’s an intense “Because I wanted to make interest that goes back at least this out of the goodness of ... a year. Before that, his my heart,” he told a news Gail major involvement with the conference in which he Collins military appeared to be getting castigated reporters for forcing Comment a deferment for “a foot thing” him to provide details. when he was eligible for the Of all conceivable draft during the war in Vietnam. explanations, “too self-effacing” It is not unusual for presidential ranks somewhere below “temporarily kidnapped by space aliens.” Let’s look candidates to have avoided military elsewhere. The best possibilities seem service. Bill Clinton did. Bernie Sanders did. Most of Congress to be: did. Dick Cheney got himself ive A) Cheapness. deferments — and, OK, when it came B) Tendency to make things up. to Dick Cheney we took offense. C) Dificulty in getting a But in general, we’ve gotten used to disorganized, minimally qualiied, nonveterans as the political norm. perpetually short-handed staff to keep One of the very few major track of the cash. American politicians who did serve, Obviously, we’re going for all under ire, is John McCain, and one three. of the irst things Trump did in his The story so far: Trump was race for president was to make fun supposed to do a Republican primary of McCain’s years as a prisoner of debate in January on Fox News, a war. (“I like people who weren’t network with which he was feuding. captured.”) He also portrayed himself So he staged his own counter-event, as a guy who had done way, way more a much-publicized fundraiser for to help veterans than John McCain, veterans’ charities. The highlight was a claim that was ... oh Lord, let’s not an announcement that the veterans even go there. were getting $6 million, including a The donations to Trump’s January $1 million donation from the Donald fundraiser were supposed to be himself. distributed through the Donald J. Time passed. And he wouldn’t say Trump Foundation, which had been where the money went. around for years without previously People, I know you’re tired of making veterans a priority, or even an hearing Donald Trump stories, but afterthought. did you want the reporters to just We will not bother to point out drop the subject? Trump certainly did. that Trump himself did not have a Particularly when it came to his own history of being a big donor to the personal million-dollar contribution, Trump Foundation. In fact, Trump which did not actually materialize never seemed to give much money until the news media, particularly to anybody. This appears to be one of The Washington Post, started asking the most tightisted billionaires since questions. Many questions. Which Scrooge McDuck. went unanswered. Unless he’s not a billionaire at all. “Oh, I’m totally accountable, but If Trump ever releases his tax records I didn’t want to have credit for it,” Governor Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, OR 97301-4047 503-378-4582 and it turns out that he’s only worth, say, $755,000, he’ll deserve a big apology from those of us who thought he was a self-centered rich guy with zero interest in sharing his wealth with the less fortunate. Honestly, I will be the irst to raise my hand. But about the veterans. Trump brings up his commitment to our ighting men and women all the time now. Really, the only person he talks about more than the American soldier is Bobby Knight, the former basketball coach who is famous for roughing up his players and endorsing Trump for president. On Memorial Day weekend, Trump spoke to a gathering of veterans and bikers in Washington, and managed to both drop Bobby Knight’s name and complain about the small crowd. “I thought this would be like Dr. Martin Luther King, where the people will be lined up from here all the way to the Washington Monument,” he said. On Tuesday, Trump said he was just joking. Let’s accept that at face value and agree that he simply made a humorous remark in which he compared himself to a slain civil rights leader. He also insisted the media was conspiring to undercount the attendance: “So instead of saying Trump made a speech in front of a packed crowd they said Trump was disappointed.” Have we ever had a president who referred to himself in the third person? The answer, as a number of readers have been kind enough to point out is — yes! We had Richard Nixon. See if that makes you feel any better. ■ Gail Collins joined The New York Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board and later as an Op-Ed columnist. In 2001 she became the irst woman ever appointed editor of the Times’s editorial page. CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES Senator Representatives Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. NE, S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@state. or.us Greg Barreto, Dis- trict 58 900 Court St. NE, H-38 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1458 Rep.GregBarreto@state. or.us Greg Smith, District 57 900 Court St. NE, H-482 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1457 Rep.GregSmith@state. or.us