Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2016)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ DECEMBER 14, 2016 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion LETTERS Ponderous Bureaucracy In a deeply polarized nation where public confidence in governmental institutions is as low as negative campaigning was high, many people are worried about a rush by the winners to fulfill promises that, on the surface, are per- ceived by many to be fundamentally threaten- ing. Traditionally, we look to the Founders’ genius in devising a government of three branches whose constitutional interplay of pow- ers and duties provides the checks and balances designed to protect against arbitrary or unre- L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor concerning issues affect- ing the Florence area and Lane County. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters should be limited to about 300 words and must include the writer’s full name, address and phone number for verification. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaran- teed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous and anonymous letters or poetry will not be published. All submissions become the proper- ty of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com USPS# 497-660 strained exercise of power. But, when all three branches are dominated by a single goal, checks and balances can be lost in the excitement of dominance. An informal fourth branch, the news media protected by the First Amendment, has served as an impediment to callous governmental over- reach. But, facing systemic and competitive changes in journalism, it failed to effectively alert the electorate to the flood of misinforma- tion awash in our politicking. An extra-constitutional fifth branch, the bureaucracy, is seldom seen in positive terms. This professional secretariat is the part of gov- ernment that implements the promises of the winners. Its public image is one of red tape, obstruction and slow down. Nevertheless, it makes possible the function- ing of huge, complex and unique organizations like State, Defense, HHS, and Homeland Security even when they are headed by novices with no government experience. The bureaucracy’s structure, mirroring its duties and responsibilities, sets the pace of gov- erning to ensure predictability and organization- al stability through predetermined decision- making criteria. The Founders never envisioned today’s pon- derous bureaucracy. Still, they would find it consistent with their constitutional design to slow the process of pol- icy change. Some 230 years later, with radical proposals by one-party rulership in the offing, this fifth-branch governor on governing is the last brake on unrestrained exercise of authority feared by the Founders. The bureaucracy — who would have thought? Arnold Buchman Florence Lovely afternoon One of the highlights of the Christmas season this year has been a delightful afternoon of pure Great concern Let me say that I have never been an enthusi- astic supporter of Hillary Clinton, and I believe she lost because she was a deeply flawed candi- date. I did vote for her as the lesser of two evils in my opinion. Supporters of the President-elect ask me why I can’t give him a chance and the reasons are many. To begin with, he lied as a candidate and con- tinues to lie as President-elect. He claimed to save 1,100 jobs at Carrier in Indiana when, in reality, only 730 jobs were saved — and they were saved by the taxpayers of Indiana, at a cost of $7 million in tax incentives. Why should I believe he will change to a truth teller after the inauguration? His proposed cabinet appointees cause me great concern. He claims to be the candidate of working people, yet he has named the Goldman Sachs CEO and other billionaires to his cabinet. If you believe these folks have your best inter- ests at heart, think again. His Department of Treasury nominee, Steve Mnuchin, made his billions aggressively fore- closing on people’s homes during the housing crisis in 2008 and ’09; Betsy DeVos, Department of Education nominee, has said she doesn’t believe in public schools; Andrew Puzder, the nominee for Department of Labor, is against setting a federal minimum wage and supports robots replacing humans in minimum wage jobs; Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, said to be in consideration for Secretary of State, has been a friend of Putin since the early ’90s. Speaking of Putin, it seems our President- elect admires dictators and strongmen as lead- ers, even so far as to discredit 17 intelligence agencies that have agreed that Russia hacked the DNC and attempted to interfere in our elec- tions. It’s not that I believe the outcome would have been any different. But the fact that they tried is scary enough. Putin is not a friend to Democracy; he is a thug. We must ask what the President-elect’s finan- cial investments or obligations are with Russia. Unfortunaetly, we will never know because he refuses to show his tax returns. Other cabinet appointees are concerning as well. Tom Price, Department of Human Services nominee, has advocated for privatizing Medicare. Privatization is the final step to ending it alto- gether. Personally, I don’t want anyone touch- ing my Medicare. Tom Pruitt, nominee for head of the EPA, says he doesn’t believe the science behind cli- mate change. The President-elect has merely emboldened the far right white nationalists with his rhetoric and with the appointment of former Breitbart editor, Steve Bannon, sending the message that these neo-Nazi types are safe to attack, blame and discriminate against LGBT, Muslims, blacks, Latinos and other minority groups under his leadership. Personally, I say “no” hate in my America. For the sake of our country, I hope I am wrong about what I see happening. But, so far, the President-elect has given me no sign that I can expect anything but chaos during his presi- dency. Marybeth Marenco Florence Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News Publisher, ext. 327 General Manager, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Advertising Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $71; 10-weeks subscription, $18; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $94; 10-weeks subscription, $24; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $120; Out of United States — 1-year subscription, $200; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: www.TheSiuslawNews.com WHERE TO WRITE Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. John Bartlett Jenna Bartlett Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry lovely Christmas music with the Community Chorus, Bell Choir, Florence Nightingales and Siuslaw Middle School choir And of course, led by director Jennifer Weier, accompanied by Rhianna Haines. The Presbyterian Church was almost over- whelmed by the attendance, but came through by accommodating all the people wanting to attend. Thank you all and Merry Christmas! David Johnsen Florence Pres. Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213 www.whitehouse.gov Gov. Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. Salem, OR 97301-4047 Governor’s Citizens’ Rep. Message Line 503-378-4582 www.oregon.gov/gov U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 541-431-0229 www.wyden.senate.gov FAX: 503-986-1080 Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997 541-465-6750 State Rep. Caddy McKeown (Dist. 9) 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1409 Email: rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.) 2134 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603 541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732 www.defazio.house.gov State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5) 900 Court St. NE - S-417 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 West Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich 125 E. Eighth St. Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-4203 FAX: 541-682-4616 Email: Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us
