Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
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
Where there’s a ways,
there’s a means
Last week Hermiston hosted the
Family Networks, the local drug task
force, Oregon Cultural Trust, K-12
powerful Joint Ways and Means
Committee, which is responsible for and higher education, noxious weed
crafting budget policy for the state of control, mental health and addiction
Oregon.
services, and numerous community-
specific projects.
These are the kinds of meetings
that happen throughout the
Some of those are programs we
legislative session, in corridors all
report on all the time, others fly
throughout the
under the radar
capitol.
and affect few
That every
We should remain Oregonians.
But that does
two years such
suspicious of
not diminish
a committee
effect
ventures forth
new government the
Eastern Oregon
into the wilds of
Developmental
Eastern Oregon
programs or
Disabilities
is news in and of
regulations, but
Resources has on
itself. That more
who have
than 200 citizens
work to understand citizens
a loved one who
took time out of
their Friday night
is disabled.
the benefits.
to speak in front
Sometimes
of the committee
we can feel
removed from the state government,
makes it front page worthy.
The people who testified in
the halls of power and the pockets
that receive the most dollars.
front of the committee weren’t
But the opposite is true, too. We
the stereotypes that might come
can be removed from the effects
to mind when Eastern Oregonians
government has in our lives. We
imagine someone begging, asking
can be removed from our friends
and demanding of government.
and neighbors who rely on those
These were not your purple-haired,
programs. We can vilify and dismiss
genderless and jobless protesters
dollars in a spreadsheet and forget
asking government for handouts.
about the real-world value it has.
These were law enforcement
That doesn’t mean we should
officials. 4-H members. Nurses.
Farmers. Students. Teachers. Parents lose our suspicion over a new
government program or regulation,
of disabled children. Each of them
or forget to do our due diligence
rely on a state program that will
likely be under legislative cross-hairs about how our tax dollars are being
this session, as the body tries to deal spent. But it does mean that when
we look at a gargantuan budget —
with a $1.8 billion budget deficit.
such as the state of Oregon’s — and
Each spoke in support of a state
wonder where in the world billions
government program that matters
of dollars are going, we must
to them, including the Oregon
understand that some of it is making
State Police crime lab in Pendleton,
the lives of our friends and neighbors
the Oregon Health Plan, Eastern
easier. And yes, improving our own
Oregon Developmental Disabilities
lives, too.
Resources, Oregon Consortium of
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
Sound the alarm about
higher education funding
The (Yamhill Valley) News-Register
O
regon’s dominant Democrats
have been sounding the alarm
about the future of K-12 school
funding since Nov. 8.
On that day, their widely ballyhooed
revenue plan died at the hands of voters,
who saw it for what it was — an attempt
to pick consumer pockets by slapping a
thinly disguised sales
tax on Oregon’s largest
and most successful
enterprises. They had
no Plan B, and the
rebuff left them with
a nearly $2 billion
deficit to fill.
But what of K-12’s
elder stepchild,
Oregon’s chronically
underfunded state
college system?
Hardly a whimper,
even from ground zero in Portland,
Eugene and Corvallis.
It’s not hard to discern the reason.
The union representing K-12 teachers
provides the money and manpower that
propels Democrats into office, but it has
no counterpart at the collegiate level.
Unfortunately, it’s not hard to discern
the result either.
The University of Oregon responded
earlier this week by announcing a 10.6
percent tuition hike, serving to add $965
to the annual tab, and other state schools
have little choice but to follow suit.
What’s more, incoming freshmen face
the prospect of having to absorb similar
hikes every year of a four- or five-year
tenure, on top of soaring costs for room,
board, books, transportation and other
necessities.
We are thus serving to saddle
an entire generation with almost
insurmountable student loan burdens.
An infusion of new state funding
is desperately needed, but so far
this century, we have been heading
inexorably the other direction.
Adjusted for inflation, the decline
now exceeds 50 percent. And taking
up the slack falls largely to tuition,
which has risen a
compensating 43
percent.
Tuition now
accounts for 66.9
percent of state system
support, compared
to 21.4 percent for
legislative funding and
11.7 for gifts, grants
and other sources. If
the disparity grows
much larger, we’ll
have erased the only
meaningful distinction between private
and public institutions.
State bond support for campus
construction has also become
increasingly restrictive, to the point it
is severely hampering development of
a branch campus to serve fast-growing
Central Oregon. We have not been
able to provide the K-12 system with
everything we would like, but it’s gotten
Cadillac treatment compared to its
college counterpart, which is equally
vital to preparing the next generation
for successful entry into an increasingly
demanding workforce.
The seven campuses are seeking a
$100 million boost in the backsliding
allocation recommended by Gov. Kate
Brown, and that seems eminently
reasonable from here.
We are saddling
an entire
generation with
insurmountable
student loan
burdens.
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.
OTHER VIEWS
NATO to U.S.:
Yes sir, Mr. Trump
C
andidate Donald Trump set off
our allies to keep their word and to do
a furious controversy when he
more in our common defense, and the
said NATO countries should
president expects real progress by the
pay their “fair share” of mutual
end of 2017. ... It is time for actions,
defense costs and, later, that the treaty
not words.”
organization was “obsolete” because
Just in case anyone missed the
not enough of its efforts were directed
message, Pence encouraged the NATO
against radical Islamic terrorism.
countries that don’t spend two percent
On Monday, Vice President Mike
on defense to accelerate their plans
Byron
Pence took the Trump message to
to get there. “And if you don’t have a
York
NATO headquarters in Brussels.
plan,” Pence said, “get one.”
Comment
And after all the controversy and
To which NATO quickly acceded.
complaining, NATO’s response could
“I fully support what has been
be boiled down to a single sentence: Yes sir,
underlined by President Trump and by Vice
Mr. Trump.
President Pence today, the importance of
News reports from Pence’s
burden sharing,” Stoltenberg
news conference with
said. “I expect all allies to
NATO Secretary General
make good on the promise that
Jens Stoltenberg focused on
we made in 2014 to increase
Pence’s effort to “reassure”
defense spending and to make
nervous NATO officials that
sure to have a fairer burden of
the U.S. will stand behind its
sharing.”
treaty commitments. “It is my
On the issue of terrorism,
privilege here at the NATO
Stoltenberg said yes again.
headquarters to express the
First, he noted that NATO is
strong support of President
helping train security forces
Trump and the United States
in Afghanistan and Iraq and
of America for NATO and
is contributing surveillance
our transatlantic alliance,”
planes to the fight against the
Pence said. “I can say with
Islamic State. Then he added
confidence, America will do
— Jens Stoltenberg, what Pence wanted to hear:
our part.”
NATO Secretary General “But we agree that the alliance
But at least as newsworthy
can, and should do more, in
was what happened next.
the fight against terrorism.”
Pence dropped the hammer of Trump’s
It’s hard to overstate the near-hysteria
demands, and NATO quickly went along.
that met Trump’s “fair share” and “obsolete”
“Europe’s defense requires Europe’s
comments. But the fact is, burden sharing
commitment as much as ours,” Pence said.
is an old idea, and a non-controversial one.
He reminded the group that in 2014 all 28
Modernizing NATO’s approach in the age of
members of NATO promised to try to spend
the Islamic State is also eminently reasonable.
two percent of their GDP on defense by 2024. And now NATO, facing the reality of a Trump
Only four countries, in addition to the U.S.,
presidency, has little choice but to go along.
are now meeting that standard. As a candidate,
The bottom line is that Donald Trump
Trump repeatedly called for NATO to pay
moved the NATO debate. After much fretting,
more, Pence noted.
and complaining, and denouncing, NATO did
And now Trump is president. “So let me
the simplest thing: It went along.
say again what I said this last weekend in
■
Munich,” Pence said. “The president of the
Byron York is chief political correspondent
United States and the American people expect for The Washington Examiner.
“I expect all
allies to make
good on the
promises we
made in 2014
to ... have a
fairer burden
of sharing.”
YOUR VIEWS
Hard to get a bottle deposit
anywhere in Pendleton
I read your story about collecting 10 cents
on cans and bottles you only paid a 5-cent
deposit on.
What a joke. I can’t even get stores in
Pendleton to take cans that I have bought at
their business. I thought there was a bottle bill
in Oregon.
David Kosey
Pendleton
Waste of time to protest
against America’s laws
A day without immigrants? What a farce.
Everyone in the United States of America is
here as the result of immigration except for
American Indians and Eskimos.
I don’t know of anyone who has a problem
with legal immigration. It is illegal immigration
and unsafe immigration that are cause for
concern and are the reasons for legal action by
our president to stop them.
The president has the full legal right to
do an executive order as he did regarding
travel from seven ISIS-filled countries that,
by the way, the former president identified.
The Washington State judge who started
proceedings against the executive order
on travel has no legal leg to stand on, only
emotions and opinions.
Obviously President Trump has the right
to direct the agencies in the executive branch
to enforce the existing immigration laws, as
he has done. I realize many people aren’t used
to the rule of law, as our prior president didn’t
enforce it consistently. Also, many countries
don’t have the rule of law. Instead they have
the rule of the bullies.
I realize that many wealthy organizations
and individuals have skewed our laws here and
there to their advantage. However, the rule of
law is as good as it gets for imperfect humanity.
The rule of law is the best chance for a level
playing field and safety for all. Enforcing the
law is not being a bully. The anarchy and other
protests against lawful efforts serve only to
undermine everyone’s wellbeing.
President Trump needs to be supported
in his recent legal actions, which are for the
stability and safety of our country. That’s for
everyone in the country, even those who so
ignorantly fight against the actions.
You protesters all waste time and the
nation’s energy, and the East Oregonian wastes
front page space, on ridiculous immigration
protests. How about instead putting forth time
and effort and newspaper space on improving
the nation’s immigrant guest worker programs?
That’s what will really make a difference,
especially for Eastern Oregon.
Garnet Olson
Pendleton
Time to overhaul government,
justice system is now
These are very interesting times. A time
of change. Now is the time to drain Oregon’s
swamp.
Our public employees retirement systems
must be changed and all of the public
employees need to join Social Security with
the rest of us. Why should they be able to retire
14 years earlier than us with higher retirement
amounts?
It’s time to abandoned the statewide land
use planning laws and return the planning
to the local levels. This process has failed us
miserably.
It’s time to completely overhaul our justice
system. Honesty must be demanded in our
courts. Incarceration rates must be reduced.
The Bar must become a balanced board with
private citizens listening to the complaints.
Attorneys must be required to disclose
whom they truly represent and prove their
employment agreements. Our court system an
embarrassment to civilization. Talk to or write
your legislators now.
Kalvin B. Garton
Pendleton