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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, November 30, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor MARISSA WILLIAMS Regional Advertising Director MARCY ROSENBERG Circulation Manager JANNA HEIMGARTNER Business Office Manager MIKE JENSEN Production Manager OUR VIEW OTHER VIEWS Hermiston Farm Fair fires up Today is the opening day of up to this year. Or get an idea on just what presentations you’d like to sit the Hermiston Farm Fair, an early in on. Sure, lectures about root-knot Christmas present of sorts for area nemotodes, brown leaf spot, Russian farmers. thistle biology and the properties The four-day ag-stravaganza features cutting edge technology and of soil fumigants might not be everyone’s cup of tea. research, presented by But understanding experts from across the country and the Both insiders those issues are to the income world. The sheer and outsiders integral of area farmers and volume of expertise their ability to grow and information can find crops, raise a family, is sure to get area something run a business and be farmers thinking, good stewards of the and ultimately — interesting at land. Dozens attend hopefully — improve the annual each session, looking local yields and to find a nugget of economies. event. knowledge they can This year, for take home to make a the first time, the difference in their soil venerable farm fair will take place at the Eastern Oregon or bottom line. But it’s not just for insiders, Trade and Event Center. The center landowners or farm workers. was built for this type of event, and Laypeople might appreciate learning while the campus is not yet totally about what drones can do for finished, it already offers more farmers, the latest breakthrough space and flexibility than the fair is in honeybee breeding or what’s used to. It should make for a better happening to farm land values. event with more options for fair Whether you are an insider or an enthusiasts, and that is supported by outsider, there is plenty to enjoy at the enlarged schedule of events. the farm fair. Running through Dec. A special 8-page section is 2, it is an important support system included in today’s paper, which for Eastern Oregon agriculture — gives readers a guide to the event. Give it a look to understand what the the industry that makes the region tick. area’s cutting-edge farmers will be 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 The value of civil discourse is in serious decline The Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript W e as a society appear to be hurtling toward a place where civil discourse simply doesn’t exist. One of the most powerful, and dangerous, consequences of our continued reliance on social media as a form of communication is that we’re far too concerned with being right and not concerned enough with actually listening to, or reading, what others are saying and writing. As a country, we used to place more value on the importance of hearing someone out — no matter how much we disagreed with them — and learning about other points of view and on hearing ideas and opinions that were contrary to our own. Those in our community known for their wisdom got to that point because they listened to other people, truly heard what they had to say and learned from it. We don’t appear to care about that anymore as a society. The split second we hear or read something that offends us, we’re keyboard warriors dressing someone down because of how much they offended us. There is no time to think, to process what we’ve heard, to place it in context, to examine multiple sides of an issue, and then engage in an actual dialogue for the betterment of ourselves and the person we’re conversing with. The emphasis we place on winning an argument, on being correct, is juvenile. It’s not a mature way to think. And, as a result, we’re increasingly becoming a country that is afraid of dissension, afraid of new ideas and afraid of people who think differently than we do. The political gap that exists in our country thrives and is ever widened because we as a people don’t think the other side has anything valuable to say. There are some words and conversations that we as a community don’t need to tolerate, that we can make a stand against and say “that has no place here.” And that is important. There are some ideas that are so damaging we are far better denouncing them that listening to them. But those are few, and far between. We moved forward as a country because men and women with brave, bold, big ideas communicated them, and people listened and were moved to action. We’ve never advanced as a nation because we decided to drown out opposing viewpoints with a cacophony of politically-correct catchphrases. We obviously don’t have to agree with everything we hear. But we shouldn’t be as close-minded, either. 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 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. Trump: Be ‘Big Marco’ or set his own path? R epublican economic policy are mixed, variously nodding to doesn’t have a good recent track the party establishment, wealthy record. The last two Republican businesspeople and white nationalists. presidents left office deeply unpopular, They offer little indication of a thanks to recessions. Ronald Reagan’s conservative, working-class agenda to record was much better but still not as match his rhetoric. good as Bill Clinton’s. Yet there are still two reasons to All told, economic growth under wonder if he will take steps away from Democratic presidents over the last traditional Republican economics. David First, not only has he suggested he half-century has been 25 percent faster Leonhardt would, but some of his advisers, like than under Republicans. Private-sector Comment job growth has been more than twice Stephen Moore, have said so explicitly. as fast. Republicans even have a Moore recently told congressional worse record running up the deficit. (These Republicans that, as The Hill phrased it, they comparisons hold no matter when precisely “should no longer think of themselves as you start the clock on a president’s legacy.) belonging to the conservative party of Ronald Of course, presidents don’t deserve Reagan,” but instead “to Trump’s populist full credit or blame for the economy’s working-class party.” That party, Moore performance. But they do bear some explained, would need new positions on trade, responsibility. The notion that Republican immigration and infrastructure. presidents have been better economic stewards The second reason is that the outlines than Democrats but fallen victim to a terribly of a conservative, working-class agenda unfair mix of luck and timing is about as do exist, scattered among think tanks and sensible as it sounds. publications. I’m skeptical that these ideas There are reasons that the modern version would do more good than, say, the Obama of Republican economics hasn’t worked economic proposals that Congress has refused so well. It takes the powerful ideas behind to pass. But the reformist conservative agenda market-based capitalism to an extreme, where is a vastly more serious attempt to address they often stop working. working-class stagnation than another trickle- Cutting taxes for the affluent — who have down tax cut. received both the largest pretax raises in recent Reihan Salam of National Review decades and the largest tax has called for sharply cuts — doesn’t stimulate reducing low-skilled legal growth much anymore. immigration (and increasing Allowing corporate America high-skilled immigration) to write its own regulations to reduce the competition creates more problems than for working-class jobs. it solves. You may recall Avik Roy, president of the that the recent housing crisis Foundation for Research wasn’t so great for GDP on Equal Opportunity, growth. advocates an overhaul of This reality creates Obamacare that doesn’t a fascinating choice for require throwing millions Donald Trump. He won the of people off health presidency by trashing both insurance. Michael Strain political parties. He defied of the American Enterprise Republican orthodoxy Institute is full of ideas and praised government to encourage work: less programs. He memorably occupational licensing, a dismissed his primary opponents as lower payroll tax, more apprenticeships, a “low-energy” Jeb, Lyin’ Ted and Little Marco. disability system that no longer incentivizes Doing so allowed him to win a landslide idleness. of white working-class voters frustrated These proposals try to use a market-based with their own lives, the country’s direction philosophy to help working-class families and both parties. These voters, by no means — which is quite different from the recent libertarians, saw Trump as flawed yet willing Republican emphasis on comforting the to fight for them. comfortable. Presidents may not be able to Now that he’s won, he has to decide directly control the economy’s growth rate, whether his differences with the Republican but they do have enormous influence on which establishment are more stylistic than groups benefit most from government policy. substantive. On the issues with the biggest For now, these issues remain obscured by Trump’s fondness for sideshows and his impact on working-class lives, he will need sordid promotion of the family business. to choose between pursuing the policies of a Those distractions won’t disappear when traditional Republican president and creating he becomes president. No doubt, he’ll often something new. In effect, he’ll have to decide whether he is going to be his own president or describe his policies however he feels like describing them. a bigger version of Little Marco. But something will change soon: He will So far, some kind of standard need to begin making real decisions, with Republicanism looks more likely. Trump doesn’t seem to enjoy policy detail and may clear consequences for the people whose votes defer to Congress. His tax plan is classic elected him. Lyin’ tweets won’t pay their bills. trickle-down economics, with a modest ■ middle-class tax cut that would probably lift David Leonhardt is an op-ed columnist for growth temporarily. His early appointments The New York Times. Trump has to decide whether his differences with the Republican establishment are more stylistic than substantive.
