Wednesday, June 16, 2021
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
A new way
to learn
about
politics
O
regon’s political life bursts
with conflict. But the state
will be in trouble if the
political life is not anchored in a
way that serves and represents all
the people who live here.
The state is an intricate mix of
strong, rural, conservative traditions
in many areas and what seems to be
a growing dominance of a more pro-
gressive movement. National polit-
ical events can also transfigure the
local.
We probably all are guilty of fall-
ing into comfortable patterns of
what we read or follow about Ore-
gon politics. And maybe we don’t
seek out enough views that chal-
lenge our own.
We urge you to check out a
new podcast called “The Ore-
gon Bridge.” It’s put out by Ben
Bowman and Alex Titus. They are
friends. They often disagree. Bow-
man is a progressive, serves on the
Tigard-Tualatin School Board and
ran for state Senate. Titus is a con-
servative and worked as an adviser
in the Trump administration.
Every two weeks or so they have
been interviewing someone new, pri-
marily in Oregon’s political scene.
They interviewed state Rep. Wlns-
vey Campos, D-Aloha, a progres-
sive endorsed by Bernie Sanders in
one episode. In the next they inter-
viewed Alex Skarlatos, the conser-
vative who came about as close as
anyone has to defeating Rep. Peter
DeFazio. You may remember Skar-
latos as the soldier, who with oth-
ers, helped to stop a gunman on a
train to Paris. They also interviewed
Kevin Frazier, a law student from
Oregon who submits columns to EO
Media Group. Frazier hosts a blog,
called The Oregon Way, which is a
forum for political commentary.
The podcast isn’t political mud
wrestling. It’s not people yelling at
each other. They are thoughtful dis-
cussions. If you are looking for a
way to enhance and broaden your
understanding of Oregon politics,
check out The Oregon Bridge. You
can find it on Apple Podcasts and
many other places.
LETTER to the EDITOR
American capitalism
at work
The American capitalistic system
is based on the theory of supply and
demand. When there is not enough prod-
uct to supply the number of people who
want and can afford it, the prices increase.
When there is more product than peo-
ple want or can afford, prices go down.
Supposedly, this creates a balance which
benefits both consumers and producers.
According to the theory, there is no need
for the government to be involved in this
system.
Because of a global pandemic, pro-
duction has been low. Workers were fur-
loughed, laid off, or unable to work
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of
the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the
Wallowa County Chieftain.
LETTERS: The Wallowa County Chieftain 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 pub-
lished. Unsigned letters will not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO: editor@wallowa.com, or via mail to
Wallowa County Chieftain, 209 NW 1st St. Enterprise,
OR 97828
because of disease. The economy tanked
and not enough goods were produced to
keep businesses going.
The government, in order to prevent
a serious economic depression, provided
subsidies for furloughed, laid-off or dis-
abled workers to keep the people from
doing without their basic needs. While
receiving assistance to meet their needs,
families survived and the economy began
to show the possibility of improving.
To the surprise of many capitalists,
unemployed workers are not eager to
return to work for the low wage sala-
ries they were barely surviving on before
the pandemic. Apparently, the potential
employees are reluctant to go back to the
low paying jobs. They are unwilling to
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
USPS No. 665-100
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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VOLUME 134
accept jobs producing goods they cannot
afford to buy.
Now our American capitalists con-
clude that government must become
involved. Because they are not get-
ting their workers back, employers are
demanding that the government stop pay-
ing subsidies to help families survive.
CEOs and business owners want the gov-
ernment to force workers back to work
for less than sustaining wages.
So my question is, if capitalism works
for pricing goods, why is it not useful for
paying workers to produce the goods?
Could not the economic theory of supply
and demand apply here?
Evelyn Swart
Joseph
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Designer, Andy Nicolais, anicolais@eomediagroup.com
• • •
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