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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2017)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Saturday, May 13, 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 EO MEDIA GROUP East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com OUR VIEW Beating back the recession in rural Oregon The Great Recession was a The Port of Morrow is leading that growth, with good paying jobs that decade ago, yet many rural areas of are helping prop up the Boardman Oregon are still feeling the sting. and Hermiston economies, from And even worse, demographics retail to housing developments. It’s and a changing global economy may mean that things will get worse the kind of economic engine that gives all rural areas something to before they get better. aspire to, though These are at least few are blessed to two takeaways from be on a rail line the “Employment 17 of Oregon’s and surrounded by Landscape of Rural 23 rural counties an interstate and Oregon” study navigable released this month have fewer jobs gigantic river. by the Oregon now than before Still, the port’s Employment successes have Department. the recession helped Morrow The report points out that 17 hit in 2008 — County become strongest rural of Oregon’s 23 Morrow County the economy in the rural counties have state. fewer jobs now than is the lone We cannot say as before the recession standout with a much for elsewhere hit in 2008. And the rural environs, most of the jobs that fast-expanding in from the forests of have returned pay economy. southwest Oregon lower wages than to the rangelands those that left. of the southeast. All the while, rural Oregon populations continue to The declining timber industry is age, with the number of rural youths one clear culprit, but so too is a lack of infrastructure, according to the in the midst of decades of decline. report. As is the fact that many rural And this at the same time that the economies are heavily dependent on Portland metro area and much of one industry — they are not diverse, the Willamette Valley have grown leaving them vulnerable to economic by leaps and bounds, its economy shocks and recessions. humming and expanding with The clearest takeaway from the abandon. report is the need in rural Oregon for The difference between urban economic diversity — to continue and rural economies is just another to support our traditional industries example of the country being while taking entrepreneurial risks pulled in different directions, with and branching out into others. That succeeding factions barreling ahead diversity brings diverse people, while others fall farther behind. Still, we don’t want to thump you who can help reverse the trend of an aging and declining rural population, with only bad news, because the restoring solid funding levels to rural report certainly wasn’t full of just schools in the process. that. Still, we wouldn’t want to live Our swath of Eastern Oregon anywhere else. is doing much better than in more Perhaps Portland is booming rural locales around the state like now, but we know every boom Grant, Gilliam, Lake, Malheur and is followed eventually by a bust. Wallowa counties. Luckily rural Oregon isn’t riding And Morrow County is outright that roller coaster. Still, we need to exploding, with job growth there get our economies on track with new outpacing nearly every county in investment and new ideas. the state — even the urban ones. 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 Who will save the republic? Y ou have seen them on high, was closed to the American press. We scurrying with great urgency needed Tass, which is to Vladimir Putin between columns of marble, the what Fox News is to Trump, to provide clicks of Armani-heeled favor seekers official documentation for that meeting. never far behind. You have heard them The Trump White House makes in the past few days, saying they are gangsters look more civilized, and “troubled” or “disappointed” about the organized. With Trump, as with most latest assault on democracy from the outsize characters in fiction or real life, White House. Timothy character drives action. He’s a lifelong They know enough history to get charlatan, a con man, a habitué of Egan this: Donald Trump is the first president bankruptcy courts. He thinks this will Comment in history whose campaign has come blow over — everything always does. under federal investigation for collusion He’s off to Europe soon, the rogue with a hostile foreign power. And now the man out. And that photo with Pope Francis person heading that investigation, the FBI will surely make people forget the chaos back director, has been fired. home. We’re looking for a few But the truth will come good men and women in out. The journalism of the Congress to understand the past few days — those gravity of this debasement. labeled Enemies of the We don’t need more parsing People by Trump now about the bad “optics” or doing the people’s work, as “timing” of Trump firing the envisioned by the founders man who could have ended — has been extraordinary. his presidency. We need It’s obvious that Trump a Republican in power to fired James Comey because call it what it is: a bungled he was getting closer to the attempt to obstruct justice. truth of what happened with And the tragic part is Russian manipulation of that Trump is likely to the American election. His succeed, at least in the short term. The person advisers say an enraged Trump screamed at the he chooses for FBI director will never assemble television when this story would not go away. a prosecutable case of treason that leads to the “Russia, Russia, Russia,” Kellyanne Conway doorstep of this White House. said, sounding like a “Brady Bunch” brat The courts can do only so much. They complaining about “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” can block orders that violate the Constitution. Trump’s assertion that Comey told him But they can’t be real-time truth seekers in a three times he wasn’t under investigation has moment of real urgency. As for Ivanka Trump, yet to be backed up and looks like another the supposed sane person in an insane White bogus Trump claim, if not a violation of Justice House, she has only so many whispers into Department protocol. Daddy’s ear that will be listened to. So, we turn to a handful of people Thus, it falls to a half-dozen or so in Trump’s own party to do something Republicans to heed the words of a man whose courageous — to do the job they were sworn statue they pass every day in the Capitol. “Even to do. Trump was at 38 percent approval in if you’re on the right track,” said Will Rogers, Gallup’s tracking poll Thursday and 36 percent Oklahoma’s gift to American gab, “you’ll get in a Quinnipiac survey — both historic lows run over if you just sit there.” at this stage in a modern presidency. These As it is, they’re getting run over. Things that numbers may stiffen the spines of some never happened before now happen with such Republicans in Congress. regularity that the numbing and the dumbing The Irish Undertaker, Paul Ryan, is a down can make a rational human inert. Trump lost cause — and increasingly looks like a is a tutorial in Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s bystander to the multiple-car wreck happening observation about “defining deviancy before him. The Senate leader, Mitch downward.” Here is a man who doesn’t share McConnell — whose wife, don’t forget, is in basic democratic values, who uttered nearly Trump’s Cabinet — is also sitting this one out. 500 lies or misleading statements in his first Call out the names: Sens. John McCain three months in office, and it has all become and Jeff Flake, Richard Burr and Bob Corker, mere background — the screen saver of this Ben Sasse and Lisa Murkowski. They have presidency. committees and investigators at their disposal. The civilized world was recently appalled at Their party impeached Bill Clinton for lying Trump’s outreach to tyrants from North Korea, about sex. The least they can do is demand the Philippines and Turkey. This week, we find some accountability of a man whose entire out that the family of the president’s son-in-law, presidency is a lie. Jared Kushner, offered Chinese business ■ owners a path to U. S. citizenship if they Timothy Egan, a New York Times invested in a Kushner property. And a White contributing op-ed writer, covers the House visit of Russian political operatives environment, the American West and politics. The Trump White House makes gangsters look more civilized, and organized. YOUR VIEWS Walden lost voter because of stance on health care bill Good day to you, Rep. Greg Walden. Many congratulations on your work to “repeal and replace” Obamacare — I know it has been a significant goal for you. But I’m a bit thick about some of these complex issues and I don’t understand a few of the provisions, so I’m wondering if you could clarify a couple of things? One is that I understand that as you repeal Obamacare there really isn’t a plan to replace it — just a very quick outline of a different approach. Isn’t there more to health care for all Americans than a quickie outline, and before you eliminate one plan shouldn’t you have another one ready to go? This seems to me to be like eliminating your car before you get another and then you can’t go to work, and I’d call that poor management. And what about the tens of millions of Americans who will end up with no health care at all or health care that is much more expensive and/or has less coverage? From what I’ve read, seniors and poorer people are really going to end up on the short end of this stick, especially in rural areas. A lot of your district, especially here in Eastern Oregon, is very rural and there are lots of old folks. So how does this repeal serve them? And why are so many doctor and hospital groups so opposed? Is it because poor people and old people are taking such a hit? Or because it will create so much chaos in the health care system? Did you know that Medicaid is a really, really important program for a lot of people not only in your district but all across America? And when you eliminate so much from the Medicaid program that a whole lot of people, including your constituents in your district, get really, really hurt? I’ve always thought in terms of separating “needs” and “wants.” I understand part of this bill that you all have passed has given huge tax breaks to the billionaires and multi-millionaires. I’m sure you’ve made big points with the Billionaire in Chief, Rep. Walden, but not with me. I voted for you the election before last but not again — ain’t no way. So for a second time, congratulations on reaching your goal — and good luck to us all who might be forced to live with it unless the Senate wakes up and smells the coffee. Andrew A. Clark Pendleton Legislature can bring dentists to rural patients Our Legislature is facing many challenges during this year’s session. One issue that is a top priority for many is access to health care, including professional dental care. A recent study found that the number of dentists in Oregon is not lacking now, nor will it be in the future. But many Oregonians living in more isolated areas still have less access to the providers they need to take care of their teeth. As important as oral health care is to one’s overall health, this should be a top priority for our elected officials this year. One reason some dental school graduates choose to work in a more populated area over opening a practice in a rural, underserved community is debt. When considering where to practice after dental school, many graduates, who have debt loads of $300,000 or more, choose the option that ensures they can more quickly pay off their student loans, in a metropolitan area. However, those who choose those areas never get to experience the benefits of working with and living in a smaller community. Having grown up in La Grande, I knew I wanted to practice in a rural area. There is a rich quality of life in smaller communities, and the need for more dentists in some of these areas is significant. Even though it can be more challenging to cover the costs of operating a practice in a rural town, the benefits of living in a community such as La Grande make it well worth it. As dentists navigate the many challenges of practicing in rural Oregon, including lack of oral health education, geography and patients’ abilities to pay, they are much like the pioneers who settled in these areas hundreds of years ago. Our elected officials can help to ensure that this pioneer spirit will continue in the rural, under-served areas of Oregon. One way to foster this is to support loan forgiveness opportunities provided through Scholars for a Healthy Oregon, and the Oregon Medicaid Primary Care Loan Repayment and Forgiveness programs. Rural practitioner tax credits also help get more dentists to the patients who need them. As lawmakers continue the debate on health care access in the Legislature this year, it is vital that we find ways to ensure that every Oregonian has access to a professional dentist regardless of race, income or geographic location. James McMahan, DMD La Grande 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 managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
