Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 20, 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
Independent investigations
will keep railroads safe
There was a time in America
Board did not investigate, because
there were no injuries or fatalities.
when railroads were a sovereign
Union Paciic conducted its own
power — close to being a fourth
investigation and identiied loose
branch of government.
In the 19th century, thanks to their links between rails and ties as the
enormous land grants and economic cause of the crash.
Wyden offered a colorful
clout, they had the power to make
observation about the UP
some communities boom or bust.
investigation. Having
They held plenty of
investigate
sway in Washington,
“Colonel railroads
their own accidents is
D.C., too.
“Colonel Sanders
Even today, railroads
Sanders like
guarding the chicken
pull plenty of might
the senator said.
down their tracks, and
guarding coop,”
And we all know how
can wield similar power
within the industries and
the chicken that turns out for the
chickens.
economies that rely on
them.
coop.” America’s freight
In the wake of June’s — Sen. Ron Wyden, railroad network
is essential to our
oil train derailment at
On having railroads
economy, especially
Mosier, it is encouraging
investigate their own here in Eastern Oregon.
to see Oregon U.S. Sens.
accidents Union Paciic employs
Ron Wyden and Jeff
many locals, and the
Merkley try to hold the
cost of many goods and services
railroads accountable. The senators
is set by how cheaply it can be
last week introduced legislation
transported to market.
that would call for mandatory,
But we don’t allow boat or
independent investigations of oil
car or plane companies to lead
train derailments.
investigations of their crashes, so
The Mandate Oil Spill
why would we allow it when the
Investigations and Emergency
offending vehicle is a train? They
Rules (MOSIER) Act of 2016 calls
should be held to the same standards,
on the National Transportation
so as a nation we can be sure that
Safety Board to investigate oil
railways are as safe as possible.
train derailments and gives the
Railroads remain a great
Federal Railroad Administration the
inluencer on community health and
authority to put a moratorium on
welfare in our region. Holding them
oil trains until the investigations are
to high standards and requiring them
complete.
to own up to and ix their mistakes is
Following the Mosier accident,
good for them and for us.
the National Transportation Safety
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
Unclear, massive mandate would
bloat Oregon state government
The Oregonian
f the secretary of state’s ofice really
wants voters to understand how a
massive corporate tax proposal on
the November ballot would affect state
spending, it should add this sobering
sentence to the voters’ pamphlet
description for Initiative Petition 28:
“The measure states that all revenue
generated by the tax increase ‘shall’
go to education, health care and senior
services; however, current and future
Legislatures may choose to spend it in
any way they see it.”
Unfortunately, the current description
for the measure,
which would levy
a 2.5 percent gross-
receipts tax on certain
corporations with
more than $25 million
annually in Oregon
sales, is not so clear.
As The Oregonian/
OregonLive’s Hillary
Borrud reported,
the draft inancial
estimate statement for IP 28 states the
expected $3 billion annually in revenue
from the tax “will require increased
expenditures by the state in the areas of
public early childhood and kindergarten
through grade 12 education, health
care and senior services, but the exact
amount and the speciic uses within
the three identiied programs cannot be
determined.”
The problem with that statement,
however, is that the Legislature isn’t
required to spend more money in just
those three areas. IP 28 proposes a
change in state law — not a change
in the state Constitution — and the
Legislature regularly revises such laws
by passing new legislation and deciding
where to appropriate state funds. That’s
their job, after all. There’s no immunity
for laws brought about by voter-
approved initiatives.
As Legislative Counsel Dexter
Johnson told The Oregonian/
OregonLive editorial board, “when
through the initiative process, a law
is passed, the Legislature or voters in
the future are free to change that.” His
nonpartisan ofice, which does not take
a position on initiatives, provides legal
services to the Legislature.
The campaign behind IP 28
acknowledges lawmakers’ authority
to change the law. But spokeswoman
Katherine Driessen told the editorial
board that “considering the billions of
dollars of need in our critical services,
we believe the Legislature won’t do
that.”
I
But you don’t have to look far to see
government oficials already plotting
how they would use such a big increase
in revenue. Gov. Kate Brown already
revealed the squishiness of any such
spending directives when she released
her “corporate tax implementation plan”
last month, outlining how she would
want to target spending if voters pass the
measure. Not surprisingly, the plan calls
for action in areas beyond education,
health care and senior services.
For example, she includes proposals
to increase assistance and tax credits
for low-income families, as well as
providing incentives for businesses to
invest. They may be
worthy programs to
mitigate the expected
negative effects of
the gross-receipts tax,
but they don’t fall
within the education,
health-care or senior-
services areas that
the measure dictates.
When asked about
the inconsistency,
Brown’s spokeswoman said new tax
money would free up other general
fund revenue to pay for such needs.
But even that conlicts with the ballot
measure, which calls for new revenue to
be appropriated in addition to existing
funding for those areas.
Certainly, voters could reasonably
believe that some of that extra $3 billion
a year would go to education, health-
care and senior services. Considering the
size of the proposed tax increase would
supersize the budget — general fund
spending currently amounts to roughly
$9 billion a year — voters might be ine
with lawmakers’ carving off some of
those funds for non education, health-
care and senior-service programs.
But voters should also weigh the
cost at which that extra revenue will
come. An analysis by the nonpartisan
Legislative Revenue Ofice inds that the
tax will act as a consumption tax passed
on to all Oregonians, with low-income
families disproportionately feeling the
burden of such increases. The ofice also
concludes the tax will likely dampen
the state’s employment and economic
growth.
There are so many problems
with the tax that even Brown, in her
“implementation plan,” acknowledges
the need for legislative ixes if voters
pass it. But that circular path only
underscores the conclusion that voters
should come to in voting against
the measure. Setting tax policy is
a responsibility best handled by
legislators.
Setting tax
policy is a
responsibility
best handled by
legislators.
Trump getting even Trumpier
oes anybody else have the
as Pence lattered him. It was like
sense that Donald Trump is
watching a guy lose interest in a
slipping off the rails? His
wedding when the bride appears.
speeches have always had a rambling,
The structure of his mental
free association quality, but a couple of
perambulations also seems to have
the recent ones have, as the Republican
changed. Formerly, as I said, his
political consultant Mike Murphy put
speeches had a random, free-form
it, passed from the category of rant to
quality. But on Saturday his remarks
the category of full on “drunk wedding
had a distinct through line, anchored
David
toast.”
Brooks by the talking points his campaign had
written down on pieces of paper. But
Trump’s verbal style has always
Comment
Trump could not keep his attention
been distinct. He doesn’t really
focused on this through line — since
speak in sentences or paragraphs.
the subject was someone else — so every
His speeches are punctuated by ive- or
30 seconds or so he would shoot off on a
six-word jabs that are sort of strung together
resentment-illed bragging loop.
by connections that can only be understood
If you had to do a rough diagram of the
through chaos theory: “They want the wall …
Trump remarks it would be something like
I dominated with the evangelicals … I won in
this: Pence … I was right about Iraq … Pence
a landslide … We can’t be the stupid people
… Hillary Clinton is a
anymore.”
crooked liar … I was right
Occasionally Trump will
about “Brexit” … Pence
attempt a sentence longer
… Hillary Clintons ads are
than eight words, but no
illed with lies … We’re
matter what subject he starts
going to bring back the
the sentence with, by the
coal industry … Christians
end he has been pulled over
love me … Pence … I talk
to the subject of himself.
to statisticians … Pence is
Here’s an example from the
good looking … My hotel in
Mike Pence announcement
Washington is really coming
speech: “So one of the
along fantastically … Pence.
primary reasons I chose
Donald Trump is in his
Mike was I looked at
moment of greatest triumph,
Indiana, and I won Indiana
but he seems more resentful
big.” There’s sort of a
and embattled than ever.
gravitational narcissistic
Most political conventions
pull that takes command
are happy coronations, but
whenever he attempts to
this one may come to feel
utter a compound thought.
like the Alamo of aggrieved
Trump has also always
counterattacks.
been a little engine fueled
It’s hard to know exactly what is going
by wounded pride. For example, writing
on in that brain, but science lends a clue.
in BuzzFeed, McKay Coppins recalls the
Psychologists wonder if narcissists are deined
fusillade of abuse he received from Trump
by extremely high self-esteem or by extremely
after writing an unlattering proile (he called
low self-esteem that they are trying to mask.
Mar-a-Lago a “nice, if slightly dated, hotel”).
The current consensus seems to be that they
Trump was so inlamed he tweeted
are marked by unstable self-esteem. Their
retaliation at Coppins several times a day and
self-conidence can be both high and fragile,
at odd hours, calling him a “dishonest slob”
so they perceive ego threat all around.
and “true garbage with no credibility.” The
Maybe as Trump has gotten more
attacks went on impressively for over two
successful his estimation of what sort of
years, which must rank Coppins in the top
adoration he deserves has increased while the
100,000 on the list of people Donald Trump
outside criticism has gotten more pronounced.
resents.
Over the past few weeks these longstanding This combination is bound to leave his ego
threat sensors permanently inlamed. So even
Trump patterns have gone into hyperdrive.
This is a unique moment in American political if Candidate Trump is told to make a normal
political point, Inner Boy Trump will hijack
history in which the mental stability of one of
the microphone for another bout of resentful
the major party nominees is the dominating
boasting.
subject of conversation.
Suddenly the global climate favors a Trump
Everybody is telling Trump to ratchet
candidacy. Some forms of disorder — like
it down and be more sober, but at a rally
a inancial crisis — send voters for the calm
near Cincinnati this month and in his Pence
supple thinker. But other forms of disorder —
announcement speech on Saturday, Trump
blood in the streets — send them scurrying for
launched his verbal rocket ship straight
the brutal strongman.
through the stratosphere, and it landed
If the string of horriic events continues,
somewhere on the dark side of Planet Debbie.
Trump could win the presidency. And he could
The Pence announcement was truly the
win it even though he has less and less control
strangest vice-presidential unveiling in recent
over himself.
political history. Ricocheting around the
■
verbal wilds for more than twice as long as the
David Brooks became a New York Times
man he was introducing, Trump even refused
Op-Ed columnist in September 2003.
to remain onstage and gaze on admiringly
D
Trump could
not keep his
attention
focused, so
every 30
seconds or so he
would shoot off
on a resentment-
illed bragging
loop.
YOUR VIEWS
Black Lives Matter, right-wing
groups have lots in common
Consider the predominantly black
protesters of Black Lives Matter, who are
currently protesting racial proiling conducted
by police departments nationwide, and the
predominantly white protesters of Citizens
for Constitutional Freedom, the group who
occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
in Harney County, protesting what they
perceived as an overreaching government.
Both groups have motivated law
enforcement to call for the suspension of core
American rights. Both have organized protests
that included armed demonstrators. This raises
the question: Are BLM and CCF more alike
than either cares to admit? Do either of these
groups hold the answer to the problem that
they set out to solve?
If that question was a headline, the answer
is most likely a resounding no. But since
real life is more complex than any headline,
Betteridge’s law of headlines does not apply.
Or does it? Betteridge based his law on the
idea that a headline ending in a question mark
most likely was the product of a journalist
who was lazy, seeking to transform mundane
news into a national controversy.
To be clear, every one of the police-
involved shootings that BLM has protested
is a tragedy. The spirit of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 would strip federal funding from
every police department that was found to
be practicing racial proiling. The Hammond
arson case, which prompted the formation of
CCF and the occupation of the wildlife refuge,
was a travesty of justice. It is doubtful that the
imprisonment of cowboys in Oregon was the
spirit of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act of 1996, yet the cowboys are
sitting in prison today.
It’s easy to call BLM racist, because they
focus on the racial proiling of non-white
citizens. CCF is easily cast as racist, since they
were predominantly white Christian males
who had an afinity for irearms.
Is either group inherently racist? Probably
not, but only when the majority of the voting
population calls for changes in the current
system is the government compelled to
provide those changes to its citizens. It is
necessary to vote!
Many in the 18-24-year-old age
demographic support BLM, but only 58.5
percent of them vote. Many in the age 75+
demographic historically believed that the
civil rights movement was too radical, and
76.6 percent of them vote. What does this tell
you?
James Tibbets
Pendleton
LETTERS POLICY
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or email editor@eastoregonian.com.