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OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 5, 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
Federal law makes
hemp a risky crop
We’ve been following the
are no federal production loans for
hemp. Using water from federal
progress of Washington state’s
projects to grow it could also be
nascent hemp industry. The state
problematic.
recently licensed its first growers,
and a crop has been planted.
As long as states regulate hemp,
it appears the Department of
Hemp and marijuana, both
cannabis plants with decidedly
Justice will turn a blind eye to its
different properties and followings,
cultivation. It’s covered under the
are legally joined at the hip. States
“Cole memo,” the policy adopted by
that have moved to legitimize pot
the Obama administration in 2013
have also
to suspend
moved to allow
most cannabis
commercial
enforcement
hemp
if states that
production.
legalize the
We’ve never
stuff agree
to strict
been bullish on
regulatory
hemp.
measures.
It’s not
But this
that we don’t
legal cover is
appreciate its
Courtesy of Richard A. Howard, USDA NRCS
provisional at
potential. After
best. The Cole
all, you can go
memo
any
into most any store
We wouldn’t bet force of lacks
law, and can
and see something
on a crop that be set aside in favor
made out of hemp,
of the statute at any
hemp oil or hemp
is only viable
time.
seed. Consumers
as long as the
The current
are enthusiastic, and
administration has
the crop has gotten
administration not made a definitive
ample positive press.
And farmers in
decided not to pronouncement,
there were
the Northwest who
enforce the law. but
indications just
are planting hemp
last week that a
are finding a ready
change is possible
market.
concerning marijuana.
We have no moral objection to
Given the mercurial nature of all
hemp. Hemp is to marijuana what
things Trump, we wouldn’t put a bet
a poppyseed muffin is to heroin.
on a crop that is only viable as long
Hemp contains very low amounts
as the administration decides not to
of THC, the chemical that produces
enforce the law.
the high in marijuana. While it is
There are efforts being pressed
possible to boost the THC in hemp,
we’ve read nothing that suggests this by members of the congressional
delegations of states that have
is a real problem.
legalized recreational and medical
That it remains illegal under
federal law is our only problem with marijuana to change the law and
decriminalize cannabis. We are
hemp. It’s a pretty big problem.
having trouble embracing legal
Despite state laws that “legalize”
marijuana. But we don’t see
marijuana and hemp, cannabis of
any reason why hemp should be
all stripes remains illegal under the
classified as a controlled substance.
federal controlled substances act.
Until there’s a change in federal
That means there are problems with
law, hemp remains a risky bet. The
depositing the profits from hemp
into federally regulated banks. There law should be changed.
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
Internet access
crucial for rural areas
The Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star
M
ore than 80 years ago, President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
issued an executive order called
the Rural Electrification and Telephone
Service Act of 1936. It provided federal
loans to bring utilities to expensive-
to-serve and hard-to-
reach rural areas.
One of the act’s
chief proponents was a
senator from Nebraska
named George Norris,
who recognized
the importance
of electricity and
phone service to the
economic and social
well-being of rural
communities. Without
service, rural America
couldn’t compete in a
changing world.
Well, the ensuing
eight decades have
brought more changes.
Broadband internet and cell service are
today’s equivalent to electricity and
phone. The hurdles to bringing faster
internet to rural America are almost
identical to the ones in the 1930 —
expense and logistics. The solutions
will require equal creativity and, most
likely, a little federal oomph. And rural
residents stand to benefit if this gets
figured out sooner rather than later.
President Trump’s recent pledge
to ford the digital divide as part of an
infrastructure plan is heartening, but
it’s certainly not a straight line from
a president’s lips to a county farmer’s
laptop. Ultimately it will require action
on lots of governmental levels and
partnerships with providers.
The need, however, is
unquestionable. And it’s a need that
should be felt by all Americans, not just
those who want to stream a two hour
movie in something close to two hours.
All Americans have a vested interest in
a thriving rural lifestyle. Some want a
place to go home to.
Some want a place of
peace. Some simply
want affordable food,
made possible by
farmers and ranchers
having access to
better technology.
And all will benefit by
creating more places
in the state where
innovation and new
business ideas can
take root.
The Journal Star’s
Nick Bergin talked
with rural residents
who need access
to faster internet
for work. And
what parent hasn’t wanted to simply
download a movie and plop the kids in
front of it for a couple hour break. Slow
internet seeps into so many aspects of
life that many of us take our relatively
reliable and speedier service for granted.
Solutions in rural areas, Bergin found,
are expensive or nonexistent.
Right now it may not seem that
access to faster internet is a matter of
life and death like electricity is. But
electricity may have seemed more
luxury than necessity in the 1930s. If
we want a thriving rural lifestyle in
America, we need to take steps now,
creative ones, to fix this digital divide.
OTHER VIEWS
When GOP saw the troubled
future of Obamacare repeal
W
hy are Republicans on
They’ve come up with a different way
Capitol Hill having so
to provide subsidies, but regardless of
much trouble repealing
name, they are trying to reduce those
and replacing Obamacare? There are
subsidies and make them available
reasons all over the place: subsidies,
to fewer people. They are trying to
tax credits, tax cuts, Medicaid,
cut back on the subsidized benefits
essential health benefits, and many
insurance companies are required to
others. But there is one fundamental
provide to customers. They are trying
obstacle to getting rid of Obamacare,
to reduce the predicted number of
Byron
and it is very simple: Once the
people on Medicaid. They are trying to
York
government starts giving away, it can’t
take back, not give. And it is proving
Comment
take back.
very, very hard.
Go back to October 2013, when
Other Republicans said similar
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was leading
things during the defunding battle back in
an effort to defund Obamacare. It was an
2013. Sen. Mike Lee said, “Before this law
impossible goal; the GOP was in the minority
kicks in in full force on January 1, 2014,
in the Senate and a Democrat
we have one last shot.” Sen.
was in the White House. Under
Marco Rubio said, “This is
those circumstances, defunding
our last chance and our last
President Obama’s signature
best chance to do something
achievement simply wasn’t
about this.” Sen. David Vitter
going to happen. Establishment
said, “Once (Obamacare) gets
Republicans were angry at
into law and starts to put down
Cruz for raising the hopes of
roots, it’s going to be difficult
the party’s base before certain
to disrupt.”
disappointment.
And now it is.
But there was one sense in
What the 2013 fight
which Cruz was right — and
showed, and what the current
the words he spoke four years
fight is showing again, is
ago are resonating today in
that the Republicans’ actual
the GOP’s struggle to repeal,
last chance to get rid of
or, more accurately, rewrite
Obamacare was the 2012
Obamacare.
election. That was before
Cruz based the defund effort
the health care law went
on his contention that once
into effect, before it touched
Obamacare was fully in place
millions of American lives,
— Ted Cruz,
and subsidies began to flow —
and when it could still be
Campaigning against
that was scheduled to begin on
repealed without great
Obamacare in 2013
January 1, 2014 — there would
disruption. But when Barack
be no stopping it.
Obama won re-election and
“The Obama strategy, I believe, is that
could safeguard (and prop up) Obamacare
on January 1, subsidies kick in,” Cruz told
through its early years, the Republican chance
a meeting of the Kingwood, Texas tea party
to repeal was gone.
in August 2013. “And his strategy is very
Now Republicans are fighting among
simple: He knows that in modern times no
themselves over a bill that would make
major entitlement has ever gone into effect
substantial changes in Obamacare but leave
and been unwound. Never been done. His
the structure of the law intact. And several
strategy is to get as many Americans as
GOP lawmakers — enough to scuttle any
possible hooked on the subsidies, addicted to
final agreement — are still afraid of cuts in
the sugar.”
subsidies, in coverage, and in the Medicaid
“I think if we’re going to stop Obamacare,
expansion.
we have to do it now,” Cruz continued. “If we
Maybe Republicans will succeed. But
get to January 1, this thing is here forever.”
whatever they do, it won’t resemble the
Of course Republicans did not defund
root-and-branch repeal they attempted when
Obamacare — there was never any chance
Obama was president — when they knew
he would veto any repeal effort that got to
they could — and the subsidies began. And
his desk. The Republican effort that passes
now, exactly as Cruz (and others) predicted,
Congress today will be a much-scaled-back
the entitlement program is proving extremely
measure that could more accurately be called
difficult to repeal.
an Obamacare fix.
That is because, as Obama and the
It all shows that Cruz was right back
Democrats who passed it knew, Republicans
in 2013. Once Obamacare’s subsidies and
trying to repeal Obamacare would be taking
benefits began to flow, he reminded us, “this
back something the government had already
thing is here forever.”
given to millions of Americans. Once the
■
giving started, Cruz knew, there’s no taking
back.
Byron York is chief political correspondent
And that’s where Republicans are now.
for The Washington Examiner.
“(Obama’s)
strategy is to
get as many
Americans
as possible
hooked on the
subsidies,
addicted to
the sugar.”
Slow internet
seeps into so
many aspects
of life that
many of us take
our relatively
reliable and
speedier service
for granted.
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words 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. Send letters to
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.