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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
MARISSA WILLIAMS
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Circulation Manager
JANNA HEIMGARTNER
Business Office Manager
MIKE JENSEN
Production Manager
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OUR VIEW
OTHER VIEWS
New life in the center
philosophy that people of different
ver the past few decades, party
parties can rally around.
loyalty has been the defining
That’s in the realm of ideas. In the
feature of national politics.
realm of organization there’s also a
Especially in the House but even in
flurry of activity. David Burstein’s
the Senate, members deferred to their
group, Run for America, is recruiting a
party leaders. Congress as a whole
new generation of political candidates.
deferred to the presidency. Members
The most active centrist
of the president’s own party acted as
organization, No Labels, began six
David
his foot soldiers. Members of the other
Brooks years ago in opposition to polarized,
party acted as his opposition.
cutthroat politics. The problem with
Comment
But Donald Trump’s victory
the group back then was that there
smashes all that. He is hostile to the
was no future to a political movement
Republican establishment. His proposals cut
whose first name is “No.” You have to be for
across orthodox partisan lines.
something.
As Bill Kristol told me, the coming
But under the leadership of its undeterrable
Congress may not look like the recent
co-founder, Nancy Jacobson, No Labels has
Congresses, when party-line voting was
evolved. It created a package of reform ideas
the rule. A vote on an
to make Congress and the
infrastructure bill may look
executive branch work
very different from a vote
together. It created an active
on health care or education
congressional caucus, called
or foreign policy. This
the Problem Solvers Caucus,
may be a Congress with
which now has 80 members,
many caucuses — floating
divided roughly evenly
coalitions rather than just
between both parties.
follow-the-leader obedience.
It has been building
Meanwhile, as
grass-roots activities, which
Christopher DeMuth wrote recently in The
have so far engaged one million people. It
Wall Street Journal, committee chairmen
created a “super PAC” so that members of
may reassert authority against the executive
Congress who vote as centrists can get some
branch. Trump’s authoritarian style represents
political protection. It recently published a
an assault on the traditional separation of
policy playbook with 60 proposals to create
powers. He may end up energizing all those
jobs, reform the tax code, balance the budget
constitutional forms and practices he stands
and secure entitlement programs.
against.
Going forward, moderates face four big
What’s about to happen in Washington
challenges. First, deepen a positive national
may be a little like the end of the Cold War — vision that is not merely a positioning
bipolarity gives way to multipolarity. A system between left and right. Second, elevate a
dominated by two party-line powers gives
new generation of political leaders so the
way to a system with a lot of different power
movement is not just a retread of retired
centers. Instead of just R’s and D’s, there will
establishment types.
be a Trump-dominated populist nationalism,
Third, build a mass movement of actual
a more libertarian Freedom Caucus, a Bernie
voters, not just financiers and think-tank
Sanders/Elizabeth Warren progressive caucus, johnnies. Fourth, have the courage to stand
a Chuck Schumer/Nancy Pelosi Democratic
together as a swing legislative caucus, when
old guard.
the pressure from the party leaderships
The most important caucus formation will
becomes intense.
be in the ideological center. There’s a lot of
It’s an uphill climb, but this is a fertile
room between the alt-right and the alt-left,
moment. The Trump/Sanders era is going to
between Trumpian authoritarianism and
create new opposition blocs, filled with people
Sanders socialism.
who never thought they would be working
Until now, people in that space have
together.
been slow to create donor networks, slow to
Moreover, the future of this country is not
form think tanks, slow to build coalitions of
going to be found in protecting jobs that are
moderate legislators. But suddenly there’s a
long gone or in catering to the fears of aging
flurry of activity between the extremes.
whites. There is a raging need for a movement
For example, Bill Kristol and Bill Galston
that embraces economic dynamism, global
have worked in the White Houses of different
engagement and social support — that is
parties and had voted for the opposite
part Milton Friedman on economic policy,
presidential candidates in every election
Ronald Reagan on foreign policy and Franklin
for four decades. But Donald Trump has
Roosevelt on welfare policy.
reminded them how much they agree on the
The new center will probably start as a
fundamentals.
legislative caucus with members of both
The two Bills have now issued a joint
parties. Where it goes from there is anybody’s
statement calling for “a New Center.” It’s a
guess.
defense of the basic institutions and practices
■
of our constitutional order, which now seem
David Brooks became a New York Times
under assault. It’s an attempt to learn from
Op-Ed columnist in 2003. He is currently a
the election results and craft a governing
commentator on PBS.
O
Anna Reed /Statesman-Journal via AP
Oregon’s Gov. Kate Brown speaks about her proposed 2017-2019 budget at
the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Thursday.
The hole in
Brown’s budget
There is a gaping hole in Gov.
being discussed would invite three
Kate Brown’s proposed budget,
constituencies to participate in a
released last Thursday. Brown’s
solution: public sector employers,
financial road map for Oregon has
PERS members and Oregon
nothing to say about the Public
taxpayers. It is a realistic coalition of
Employees Retirement System
shared sacrifice.
(PERS) and its burgeoning costs to
The greatest political advances
local governments
in history have
occurred when a
and school districts.
A financial
To propose a
leader goes against
his or her native
financial plan for
plan for
values to break new
Oregon and omit
Oregon cannot ground. President
PERS is a bit like
Richard Nixon, the
offering a battle
omit PERS.
arch anti-Communist,
strategy and leaving
opened diplomacy
out ammunition costs.
In a nutshell, the PERS challenge with what was then called Red
China. President Lyndon Johnson, a
is about an unfunded actuarial
Southerner, passed landmark Civil
liability of more than $20 billion.
Rights legislation.
To close that gap, school districts
For there to be a breakthrough
and local governments will face
and a remedy on PERS, a similar act
extraordinary budget strains. For
some school districts, the new PERS of courage must come from Oregon
payroll burden will mean dismissing Democratic leaders, because they
teachers in order to pay the
are most beholden to the public
retirement liability of those retired
employees unions.
from the profession.
Gov. John Kitzhaber did that in
In Umatilla County, for example,
2013. Kitzhaber proposed PERS
reforms, which the Legislature
Gov. Brown’s budget calls for
enacted. Elements of that package
closing the state crime lab in
were subsequently thrown out by the
Pendleton, costing local jobs and
Oregon Supreme Court.
detrimentally affecting the local
Gov. Kate Brown seems to lack
justice system. It would hold the line
the courage to take up that fight and
for BMCC and local school district
win new ground. Leadership on
— which is a feat — but it still
PERS must come from someone or
leaves them well below the funding
some group in the statehouse. To
levels where they need to be.
Once more Gov. Brown has failed ask local governments and school
districts to strip services because
us. Fortunately there are legislators
of a flawed pension system is
who are willing to think about
solutions that will pass constitutional unacceptable, yet it is the current
muster.
predicament that looks to only get
The proposal most actively
worse in the future.
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.
Going forward,
moderates
face four big
challenges.
OTHER VIEWS
Push politics aside — it’s time to stand up for the public good
Portland Tribune
G
ov. Kate Brown, whose
tenure was extended by
two years in the election,
must convene talks now among the
key parties: unions, the business
associations and leaders of both
parties to address the shortfall
legislators will face when they
convene in January, and also work
toward a more permanent solution.
Post-election days are filled with
second guessing. If Bud Pierce
hadn’t stumbled over a question
at the Portland City Club, would
he have come closer to unseating
Gov. Kate Brown? If Chris Telfer
hadn’t run as an Independent,
would Republican Jeff Gudman,
not Democrat Tobias Read, be our
next treasurer?
Here’s the one that haunts us:
What if a political contest hadn’t
happened at all?
Let’s imagine for a moment that
all the emotion, energy and money
— $44 million and still counting
— that went into campaigns for
and against Measure 97, instead,
had been spent in a different way.
What if public employee unions
that so passionately supported
Measure 97 and business groups
that so effectively opposed it had,
instead, done the harder work?
What if rather than distorting each
others’ positions, they collaborated
on an equitable revenue and
spending plan? And instead of
questioning each others’ motives,
what if they had instead joined
forces to educate Oregon voters to
the wisdom of their proposal?
Is it possible that Oregonians
could have broken the decades-
long stalemate over how to
adequately fund state government?
We think so. But instead, Oregon is
back where it started.
The most urgent problem
is the $1.4 billion state budget
shortfall for the 2017-19 biennium.
The longer-range challenge
requires identifying ways to
fund government services —
particularly education — at a
level that actually allows for
improvement, not just an
unsatisfactory status quo.
Throughout this divisive
campaign, we have been clear we
agree with Measure 97 supporters’
argument that Oregon needs to
change its tax system and increase
state revenue.
But we have argued just as
loudly that Measure 97 was a
poorly designed proposal that
overreached the revenue needs. It
was an inequitable tax, based not
on sound policy but on favorable
polling showing support for the
fairy tale that when businesses are
taxed they will magically shelter
their customers from the expense.
During the campaign,
supporters of Measure 97
essentially argued that everything
had been tried and their 2.5 percent
gross-receipts tax was the only
answer. With Measure 97 off the
table, however, they must face the
hard reality that other solutions
must be developed.
Likewise, the business groups
opposed to Measure 97 need to
understand this was a wake-up call.
Rather than take a victory lap, they
need to come to the table and be
prepared to compromise.
The idea that there are no
other options is both incorrect
and unacceptable. Here are some
possibilities:
• Crafting a much smaller, fairer
and intelligently designed gross
receipts tax, as proposed by state
Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton.
• Adjusting the property tax
caps of the 1990s.
• Doing away with the personal
kicker.
• Taking another run at reining
in the expanding cost of PERS.
• Reducing state spending in
other areas to increase spending on
public schools.
• Proposing a truly progressive
sales tax.
• Revisiting other revenue
proposals, including a carbon tax.
We already can hear the howls
of protest: Voters will never give
up their kicker, reconsider the
property tax caps or approve a sales
tax, no matter how progressive.
But it’s important to remember
two things: There are lots of ideas
out there besides these, and some
of the state’s brightest minds just
spent massive amounts of money
fighting each other. Just think
what could have happened if they
were working toward a common
outcome.
Gov. Kate Brown must convene
talks among the key parties. Their
task is to address the shortfall
legislators will face when they
convene in January, and also work
toward a more permanent solution.
Furthermore, taxpayers must
recognize there is no free ride
when it comes to solving the state’s
budget woes. As Measure 97’s
opponents correctly demonstrated,
a tax aimed solely at the
boogeyman of big business won’t
leave everyone else unscathed.
The big challenges confronting
Oregon have yet to be resolved.
No one has time to gloat or hold
grudges.
Fortunately, the solutions lie in
Salem, where there’s a history of
cooperation when stakes are high.
We believe Oregon is still a
place where government can work.
But it will require that unions,
the business lobby and the
Democrats and Republicans to put
aside bruised feelings and consider
what is best for all of Oregon.