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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Tuesday, August 13, 2019 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner ANDREW CUTLER Editor WYATT HAUPT JR. News Editor JADE McDOWELL Hermiston Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW State should prepare for economic downturn now R ep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, should get kudos for a realis- tic review of the state’s eco- nomic future. Smith met with the East Oregonian editorial board last week and said during the wide-ranging interview that the state must prepare for an eco- nomic downturn. And an economic downturn is going to happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow or next year, but periods of stagnation are a real- ity in a capitalist system. The nation’s economy has been on an economic upswing for quite a while now and so has the state. Nothing lasts forever, though, and while Smith wasn’t raising alarms, he was pointing out the obvious and that should be good news for area voters. Smith sits at a key legislative apex, as a senior member of the revenue committee, and understands more than most where taxpayer money is spent and for what. That means when he talks about caution — not alarm — voters should pay attention. Smith’s message was a simple one: If the state does not prepare prop- erly, when a downturn does occur it Statesman Journal Photo/Anna Reed Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, met with the East Oregonian editorial board last week and during a wide-ranging interview said the state must prepare for an economic downturn. will translate into cuts to other critical services. The Oregon Health Authority is a good example, said Smith. If a sudden downturn occurs the state-wide health care subsidy may be forced to pull money from other services — such as public safety — to remain solvent. Smith said one way to solve the problem would be to change Oregon’s kicker law but admitted voters prob- ably are not going to support such a move. Smith said he was certain that the state should “set aside excess reve- nue” but conceded voters — espe- cially now — do not trust lawmakers. A perception does exist among the body politic that any excess revenue set aside would be “robbed” and used for spur-of-the-moment crises instead of what it was originally designed for. Yet lawmakers must shoulder a fair share of the responsibility for that dis- trust. Frankly, it isn’t a good sign for our democracy and gets in the way of important policy decisions — such as setting aside more revenue for an emergency — that is needed. That means lawmakers are going to have to do a better job in the future of reassuring voters. And creating policies — such as the failed climate change law that died during the last session — only to shove them down the throat of voters isn’t a good first step in that direction. Smith was right on to point out a future devoid of rainbows and good feelings. The reality is there will be another economic downturn and right now, in terms of savings, it doesn’t look like the state will be prepared. OTHER VIEWS Mental health support doesn’t advance the guns-and-racism narrative I Voters should have final say on death penalty Albany Democrat-Herald G ov. Kate Brown last week signed a bill that narrows Oregon’s use of the death penalty by limiting the crimes that qualify for capital punishment. The bill likely won’t make that much dif- ference in Oregon, a state that has not exe- cuted a prisoner since 1997 and doesn’t seem poised to do so anytime soon. Brown has maintained a moratorium on capital pun- ishment that was first put into place by Gov. John Kitzhaber. The bill was crafted in such a way that the issue didn’t have to be referred to voters. In that regard, it represents a missed oppor- tunity. Voters should have gotten the chance to weigh in, not just on this issue, but on the larger question: Should Oregon continue to keep capital punishment on the books? The bill Brown signed carefully skates around that question; in fact, it was crafted to do that. Previously, the death sentence in Oregon could be applied to cases of aggra- vated murder, which includes crimes such as killing on-duty police officers or slayings committed during a rape or robbery. Now, those crimes will receive sentences of life without the possibility of parole. The death penalty in Oregon now can only be applied in four types of crimes: kill- ings motivated by terrorism, murders of children 14 years or younger, killings by an incarcerated person who’s serving a previous aggravated murder sentence, and premedi- tated killings of police or corrections officers. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. The law is not retroactive and will not apply to the 30 people on Oregon’s death row. It seems obvious that lawmakers were looking for a way to avoid asking the broader question about whether the state should fol- low the example of other states and do away with capital punishment. But we don’t under- stand their reluctance, unless lawmakers thought that Oregonians were likely to reject any attempt to ban the death penalty. We’re not so sure that’s the case, consider- ing Oregonians’ long and twisty history with the death penalty. Capital punishment was outlawed by Oregon voters in 1914, and then reenacted in 1978. Three years later, the state Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional, a ruling that paved the way for a 1984 initiative in which voters reaf- firmed capital punishment. Since then, the topic rarely has been revis- ited in Oregon, and the gubernatorial mor- atoriums have had the effect of sweeping the debate about capital punishment under the rug. It would have been an easy matter to refer the measure, Senate Bill 1013, to the state’s voters. Or death penalty opponents could have moved to place the broader ques- tion on a statewide ballot. That last option still is available to legis- lators — or, for that matter, to any group of citizens with the interest, time and money required to place an initiative on the state- wide ballot. But surely there is a lawmaker willing to take a stab at referring the big question to voters; certainly, the discussion that would result is long overdue. t’s been a week since 31 people were Unfortunately, talking about expand- ing mental health support doesn’t advance murdered in two mass shootings the guns-and-racism narrative deployed to within 24 hours. Despite numerous make this a partisan issue. Some people differences between the two horrific inci- dents in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, want to get all the political mileage they there was a crucial common denominator can out of racism/xenophobia/anti-GOP — hysterical public reaction. theories on the causes of gun violence, A few public officials offered tepid plat- and do so at the expense of the full truth. itudes of thoughts and prayers, but then a When you speak the truth, people come tipping point on gun violence debates was after you. reached. Dry kindling was collected over Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Cha- put knows all about that. In his recent col- the last few weeks, as the president crit- umn on CatholicPhilly.com, he observed: icized the congressional “Squad,” then Baltimore, and then Elijah Cum- “I buried some of the young mings. But the weekend massa- Columbine victims 20 years ago. cres lit the raging bonfire, and I sat with their families, watched them weep, listened to their anger, politicians and pundits came and saw the human wreckage that running with their own cans of gun violence leaves behind. The kerosene. experience taught me that assault I watched Beto O’Rourke rage rifles are not a birthright, and against Trump the White Suprem- acist, waving his arms like a the Second Amendment is not a CHRISTINE makeshift windmill from a dinner Golden Calf. I support thorough FLOWERS theater production of “Man of La background checks and more COMMENT Mancha.” I listened to cable news restrictive access to guns for any- one seeking to purchase them. “journalists” like Nicolle Wallace “But it also taught me that only a fool on MSNBC, who claimed that the presi- dent wanted to “exterminate” Latinos (she can believe that ‘gun control’ will solve later apologized). I read as Reza Aslan, a the problem of mass violence. The peo- ple using the guns in these loathsome former contributor to CNN, tweeted to the incidents are moral agents with twisted president’s adviser Kellyanne Conway that hearts. she was the “depraved evil” that should be “And the twisting is done by the cul- “eradicated.” These are just a few exam- ples of the cultural meltdown. ture of sexual anarchy, personal excess, Whenever someone tried to raise the political hatreds, intellectual dishon- esty, and perverted freedoms that we’ve valid issue of mental health, they were systematically created over the past silenced with this mantra: The problem half-century.” is guns and racism, racism and guns. Chaput’s comments didn’t sit well with Or, as an educated attorney emailed me, some critics, who took the words “only mentally ill people hurt themselves, not a fool can believe that gun control will others. solve the problem of mass violence” out Fair. But if the attorney were from this of context to paint Chaput as tone-deaf area, she might also remember Sylvia See- grist and the Springfield Mall shooting, and heartless. But the point of his com- ments was that the real problem in soci- one that — stuck in traffic — I missed by ety is a complete abandonment of clear a mere half hour. In 1985, Seegrist, who moral standards, and our increasing dis- was diagnosed with paranoid schizophre- nia, stormed the suburban mall and killed respect for human life. Guns are a part of three shoppers with a semiautomatic rifle. that conversation. So is racism. So is men- tal illness. So, for that matter, are abor- It is important to note that people with tion, euthanasia, the over-sexualization of serious mental illness only commit an esti- mated 3% of violent crimes, and the vast children, family breakdown, and all of the things Chaput mentions. majority aren’t violent. Still, mental health But it’s so much easier and effective interventions could have made a differ- ence for people like Seegrist and Adam to just keep chanting the mantra — guns and racism, racism and guns — that Lanza, the shooter who killed 26 people caters to those who find their moral pole- at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Yale stars on Twitter. medical experts had recommended that ——— Lanza receive extensive psychiatric treat- ment for anxiety and other issues, which Christine Flowers is a syndicated free- he resisted. lance columnist. 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. 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 the editor to editor@eastoregonian.com, or via mail to Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
