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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2017)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Thursday, May 18, 2017 OTHER VIEWS 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 They’re coming to Umatilla County It may be arriving in fits and We’re glad they’ve made the starts, but after a long and unusually effort to invite the world at large to frigid winter, summer is nearly here. visit our town, and now we must be It’s just what Pendleton needs. ready to do our part. We can pick up an idea or two Tourism isn’t strictly a fair-weather this weekend when the Pendleton business, but around these parts the Underground Tours come alive. clear skies and warm nights are the Each year, the tour brings in perfect environment to welcome volunteer actors to play the parts of visitors from all over. Pendleton’s denizens Travel Oregon of yore throughout estimates that tourists spent $137 million in The eclipse is a the underground They Umatilla County in rare cosmic gift labyrinth. dress and playact the 2016 on things like hotels, restaurants, to Pendleton. characters and put on a show, which sells recreation and retail, out every year. which is enough to Keeping that approach in mind, support about 2,400 jobs and $1.5 businesses and citizens should million in local taxes. Much of that remember that we’re all part of the is centered in Pendleton. tourist experience. It doesn’t mean And the city is getting notice we all must dress in turn-of-the- statewide. At the 2016 Travel and century garb and pretend we’re still Tourism Industry Achievement living on the frontier to put on a Awards last week, Pat Beard of show for spectators, but it does mean Travel Pendleton took home the we are aware that first impressions Oregon Tourism Leadership Award and the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute are important. Every point of contact matters. We have the potential to in Mission took the Gene Leon Memorial Award, given to a tourism- turn one-time visitors, drawn by a big event, into regular guests. related activity that focuses on Businesses of course take on Oregon’s natural beauty and outdoor much of the point-of-contact burden recreation. but also have the most to gain. Building off these successes, this summer will see four massive events Adding summer hours and staying open on weekends is key to letting pass through the city, starting with the Pendleton Whisky Music Fest on tourists see everything the city has to offer. July 15, Pendleton Bike Week the The eclipse is a rare cosmic following weekend, the solar eclipse gift to Pendleton. There is nothing on August 21 and, of course, the otherwise remarkable about the Pendleton Round-Up on the second weekend, but we have the potential full week of September. to make new fans of travelers While the eclipse is a one-off passing through to get a perfect view happy coincidence and the of the phenomenon just to our south. Round-Up is a volunteer-driven Resources will be taxed in Grant and spectacle developed over more Baker counties, but as visitors come than a century, the music fest and back this way we can offer them motorcycle rally and other events, the Pendleton experience — which like Oktoberfest, are more recent creations by forward thinking locals. cannot be eclipsed. 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 Give churches freedom of speech, but why freedom from taxation? The Des Moines (Iowa) Register I t’s not clear what Lyndon Johnson was thinking in 1954. The then-U.S. senator introduced an amendment to a bill that prevented some tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from engaging in political campaign activity. Congress adopted it without debate. Lawmakers later strengthened the ban. Courts have upheld it. None of this means the statute makes sense. There is certainly a case to be made that free speech rights should not be tied to tax status for any organization. And Congress can certainly vote to change the law if it chooses. But President Donald Trump is still figuring out how this “branches of government” idea works. Last week he signed an executive order he said would free churches from restraints imposed by the law. Seeking to garner as much attention as possible, the signing was staged in the Rose Garden with activists, faith leaders and nuns. They were serenaded by a string quartet. The order will “prevent the Johnson Amendment from interfering with your First Amendment rights,” Trump declared. Well, no it won’t. The executive order does essentially nothing. In fact, groups preparing to sue over what they expected the document to contain said there was no need after they saw the final version. The American Civil Liberties Union called the order “an elaborate photo-op with no discernible policy outcome.” Even conservative groups recognized it as little more than a “gesture.” Then again, the amendment is little more than a gesture. It is essentially meaningless because it is not enforced. Some religious leaders have intentionally flouted the provision in law, trying to draw attention to themselves annually on “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” They tell their congregation which political candidates to support and face no consequences from the Internal Revenue Service. “We record our sermons, as have many several thousands of pastors, and then send their sermons to the IRS in hopes of provoking a lawsuit. But we have not been successful,” a California pastor told CNN last year. The IRS could take action. It could revoke the preferential tax status of churches. But it doesn’t. After being starved by Congress for several years, it doesn’t have the staff. It also likely doesn’t have the stomach for the certain political backlash. And the IRS may not even know some churches exist, as they are not required to apply for tax-exempt status and are generally not required to file annual forms with the agency. A 2014 report from the Government Accountability Office noted budget cuts at the IRS have led to “a steady decrease in the number of charitable organizations examined.” In 2011, the examination rate was 0.81 percent; in 2013, it fell to 0.71 percent, lower than the examination rate for other types of taxpayers, including individuals and corporations. Translation: Pretty much anyone can open a “church,” avoid taxation and engage in political activities with no fear of repercussions. And with pressure from the president to leave these entities alone, the IRS is even less likely to scrutinize them. The question Trump should be asking: Why are churches exempt from taxation in the first place? That could spur the larger conversation this country needs to have about reforming the entire, antiquated federal statute on tax-exempt status. Use of the exemption has run amok. About 1.6 million organizations, including about 400,000 religious entities, do not pay taxes. That drives up the federal deficit, hurts local governments and forces the rest of us to pay more to compensate. Among the activities our additional tax contributions support: politicking pastors who proudly and loudly violate federal law. Washington policymakers should ensure everyone has freedom of speech, but revisit who gets freedom from taxation. On Capitol Hill, growing frustration with FBI secrecy about Russia probe C alls for a special prosecutor to statement. investigate the Russia-Trump “I very much appreciate what affair have multiplied in the you’ve said,” Feinstein said to Grassley. days since President Trump fired “And it’s very accurate ...” FBI director James Comey. Almost A short time later, a Republican aide invariably, Democrats and others explained that Grassley was deeply concerned by last week’s events. calling for a prosecutor say such a step “We’ve seen an uptick in speculation is needed to “get to the bottom” of the matter. about what has or hasn’t happened,” the Byron Yet there is still uncertainty among aide said, “and what has or has not been York the public about whether anything lies found — and that’s not helpful if it is Comment at the bottom of the Russia-Trump speculation not based on anything other controversy. Is there a crime down than rumor or anything factual.” there? No one seems to know. The reason is Now, others on Capitol Hill are expressing simple: The FBI, which has been investigating similar concerns. “It’s hard to do oversight, alleged ties between Trump campaign figures especially on counter-intelligence matters, with and Russia for ten months, won’t say. so little information,” said a Senate Republican To question after question; not just from the Sunday. “That’s been true for months.” press, but from lawmakers with a constitutional “There is a counter-intelligence responsibility to oversee the investigation focused on FBI, the Justice Department, Russia, but the media and and the intelligence agencies the Democrats conflate that — answers have been withheld with there being a criminal on the grounds that they are investigation focused on classified, or the subject of an Trump,” added a House ongoing investigation, or both. Republican. “The FBI has fed “I can’t answer that,” into this by being coy.” said Comey on many, many “Coy” is an understatement. occasions during oversight The result of the dozens of hearings on the Russia affair. questions left unanswered by “My answer would Comey, Yates, Clapper, and require me to reveal classified others is that the public — and, information, and so I can’t to a lesser extent, lawmakers answer that,” said former acting themselves — don’t know the attorney general Sally Yates in basics of the Russia-Trump the same setting. matter. “I can’t comment on that,” said former But what to do? Classified information intelligence chief James Clapper. is still classified information. Ongoing Now, as the Russia-Trump controversy investigations are conducted in secrecy (except, festers, there are signs of growing impatience of course, for leaks). How can Congress pry with the secrecy. Some lawmakers — among information out of the agencies? them the Republican chairman and the “Congress can always coerce the FBI,” said Democratic ranking member of the Senate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in an Judiciary Committee — are pushing the FBI email exchange Sunday. “Power of the purse. and other agencies involved to let Congress Change the law.” know what they are doing. In particular, “Senators can make it an issue in the lawmakers want to see evidence — if there confirmation process for a new FBI director,” is any — to show why the investigation is the House Republican quoted earlier said. focusing not just on Russian misdeeds — Maybe so. Right now, though, it appears there’s no doubt there are plenty of those to that bipartisan pressure, like that coming investigate — but on Trump campaign figures, from Grassley and Feinstein, might help get and possibly on the president himself. information out. Does all of the information the On Friday, Judiciary Committee chairman FBI and other agencies have classified actually Charles Grassley and ranking Democrat need to be classified? Can nothing more be Dianne Feinstein sent a letter to FBI acting made public? Republicans and Democrats in director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney the House and Senate could push hard on those General Rod Rosenstein demanding briefings questions. on the latest in the Russia investigation. The In addition, Grassley and Feinstein last paragraph of the letter indicated that the want the FBI to brief every member of the senators’ patience is running thin. “Please Judiciary Committee, not just the chairman contact (staff) by 5:00 p.m. today to schedule and ranking member. Just as a practical the briefings,” Grassley and Feinstein wrote. matter — multiplying the number of people “Thank you for your immediate attention to on the committee who know the facts by 10 these important matters.” — that will certainly make it more likely that Not by tomorrow, not by Monday, not by information will get out. the end of the week. Grassley and Feinstein If nothing changes, the country could be wanted a response by 5:00 p.m. on the day of facing months and months of accusations the letter. Given that the power of both parties without voters knowing their basis in fact — or is behind the request, they will most likely get lack of basis in fact. Meanwhile, the FBI and what they want. other agencies could remain “coy” while The day before, on Thursday, Grassley Democrats seek to create the impression in and Feinstein made news when they the public’s mind that Trump and his aides strongly suggested that Comey told them colluded with Russia to throw the 2016 President Trump is not under investigation election. If the Trump team did that, the public in the Russia matter. In a public committee needs to know. If they didn’t, the public needs meeting, Grassley said that when Trump to know that, too. Soon. said recently he had been informed he is not ■ under investigation, “Sen. Feinstein and I Byron York is chief political correspondent heard nothing that contradicted the president’s for The Washington Examiner. As the Russia-Trump controversy festers, there are signs of growing impatience with secrecy. YOUR VIEWS Hermiston still needs some sprucing up In the 19 years I’ve lived in Hermiston I have to give credit to the city for making great strides in making our community a place that people would be proud to call home. However, the continued lack of concern by some local businesses along [Highway] 395 concerning their outside appearance is disturbing. I, for one, will not bring my patronage nor encourage anyone I know to do so, to a place of business that hasn’t the good business sense to know that outside appearance is akin to making a very important first impression for the customer to feel comfortable enough to walk in the door. This is especially true when it comes to a restaurant. I can only imagine what your kitchen looks like if you care so little about what the customer first sees when driving into your establishments. Pull some weeds, buy some Roundup, mow the lawn! It doesn’t take that much of an effort to bring in more business and to add to the aesthetics of our growing city. David Gracia Hermiston Department of Corrections should release inmate early I am asking that the Department of Corrections finally show some compassion for an inmate. There is an inmate that was transfered to another prison/jail as he is getting out in two weeks. I am asking that this man, Ed Barlow, be released early as his father has to have a quadruple bypass as soon as possible. He needs to be with his mother and father at this time. The Department of Corrections and the law very rarely show compassion or feelings to the inmates, but this man is due to get out June 2 and his father must have this surgery soon. Come on DOC, show us that you have a heart somewhere. Barbara Dickerson Milton-Freewater
