4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| JANUARY 12, 2019
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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Letters to the Editor policy
LETTERS
Need help before
Collard Road collapses
My wife and I own a home that
the recent wash out on Collard Lake
Road affects. Once these washouts
start they just don’t stop — they get
worse, especially with the rainy sea-
son upon us. This crisis will only get
worse. It is not just an inconvenience
but could result in loss of life.
Can you imagine a car going over
the side of the ravine with children in
it?
Lane County Commissioner Jay
Bozievich, through his office, has de-
cided the road does not need repair
and is not the county's responsibility
as long as an emergency vehicle can
navigate past the danger.
How out of touch with the situation
that is; not every driver has the train-
ing our first responders have.
I would go visit him in person.
However, I am working in Kuwait
supporting our military and our al-
lies.
I have your back and I need Com-
missioner Bozieich to have my wife’s
and all the residents of the Collard
Lake community.
Please call the commissioner or
write. We need the community’s help.
—Alex Orobey
Florence
Not singling out Trump
In response to Mr. Tony Cavarno’s
letter of Jan. 9 (“Sour Grapes, Plain
and Simple”) regarding my letter of
Jan. 5 (“We Are Becoming Danger-
ously Malleable”), I would point out
that I did not single out Mr. Trump,
but also indicated that the fervent
supporters of his predecessor were
just as adamant about his qualities.
Nor did I mean to suggest that
everyone who is politically active is
blind to criticism, but the reality is
that true believers do abound in large
numbers on both sides of the isle.
—Jimmie Zinn
Florence
Lots of different walls
Seems like Trump’s Wall has been
back on the burner once again as he
tries to convince us of the need for
one. Th ere have been all kinds of
walls in history.
Th ere is the Great Wall of China
which is 13,171 miles long and which
did not deter invaders coming from
another direction.
Th en we have Walmart and Wal-
greens, which are not really walls.
Th ere is the West Bank Barrier (Wall)
which is much like a volleyball court
with the Palestinians on one side and
the Israelis on the other side — and
the wall being the net.
Instead of lobbing a ball over the
net they lob rockets which brings us
to the 91-mile Berlin Wall, which was
a separation of states; good versus
evil; until it came tumbling down.
Now we come to Trump’s Wall.
Th e border between Mexico and
USA is 1,954 miles long. Presently
there are 700 miles of a hodgepodge
of fencing consisting of wire mesh,
chain link, post and rail with some to
keep vehicles out and some to keep
livestock from crossing.
Now if you do not include the 700
miles of fence, which is not really a
wall, there only a few hundred miles
of actual steel/concrete wall current-
ly in place. Trump’s request for $5.7
billion to build an unneeded con-
crete fence is a small portion of what
a complete wall would cost, which
would be more like $80 billion (which
would possibly double due to govern-
ment overrides.)
I forgot the Jerusalem Wailing Wall.
Because the Wall will not be built,
one portion of Trump’s wall could be
designated as his own wailing wall.
—Win Jolley
Florence
With all due respect
I promised myself I would try and
stay away from voicing my political
opinions in 2019. Well, that didn’t last
long.
With all due respect to Mr. Cavar-
no, I don’t think it matters how many
presidents one has lived through to
see the writing on Th e Wall (No pun
intended).
I’m 68, I’ll let you fi gure out how
many presidents I’ve lived through,
but I didn’t pay attention to any pres-
ident until I was old enough to vote
— except of course, the assassination
of JFK.
All presidents, by the very fact that
they are supposed to be representing
all Americans, are open to criticism.
Seems to me that Mr. Trump is seen
and heard on video in his meeting
with “Nancy” and “Chuck” that he
“would be proud to shut down the
government” if he didn’t get his wall.
He would not blame the Demo-
crats; he would own it. Well, it’s just
another one of Mr. Trump’s many,
many, many lies.
Quite frankly, I don’t understand
how any Trump supporter — ardent
or not — can believe or trust any-
thing he says. Google-Fact Checking
Trump’s speech on Jan. 8, his so called
“facts” are as misleading as the day is
long.
Th ere are far better ways to spend
$5.7 billion to keep our country safe
from drugs, human traffi ckers, etc.
We do need comprehensive immi-
gration reform and at the same time
we can put the government back
to work. Trump says this is a crisis
of both heart and spirit. If he really
cared, he would put the hundreds of
thousands of people back to work im-
mediately.
But I believe his pride is much larg-
er than his heart and truly has no ca-
pacity to relate to the problems and
misery he is causing the furloughed
government workers.
My son works for the State De-
partment’s Foreign Service and he
and his family currently live in Pre-
toria, South Africa. He is considered
Essential Personnel and has to work
without pay. How does Mr. Trump’s
holding federal employees hostage
help anyone?
Sour grapes?
I think not.
—Gail Katz Hanson
Florence
Never called for
open boarders
Regarding Tony Cavarno's letter
("Sour Grapes, Plain and Simple,"
Jan. 9), I have frequently heard Re-
publicans claim that Clinton, Obama,
Schumer and Pelosi approved a wall
in the past and now oppose it simply
because the current administration
wants it.
Th e facts, which do not support
that claim, are as follows: In 2006, the
Secure Fence Act authorized building
a fence (not a wall) along 700 miles of
border. Clinton, Obama (then a sena-
tor), Schumer and Pelosi all voted for
that bill. By 2015, 654 miles of that
fence were completed.
Th e appropriations bill passed at
the end of last year and rejected by
the president provided $1.3 billion
for fencing and other types of bor-
der security and stipulated that funds
could be used to repair and improve
the existing fencing built under the
2006 act.
Th erefore, Schumer and Pelosi's
2018 proposal for funding is com-
pletely consistent with their vote for
border fencing in 2006. What they
oppose is wasting billions of taxpayer
dollars on a wall that will not improve
border security. Contrary to the pres-
ident's claims, most drugs enter the
U.S. through legal ports of entry; the
majority of suspected terrorists that
have been apprehended have been
caught at airports.
I am also tired of hearing that
"Democrats want open borders." I'm
a Democrat and I don't want open
borders. I challenge anyone to cite a
Democrat who has called for open
borders. Schumer and Pelosi have
never called for open borders, and
have repeatedly said they want strong
border security — but they want it to
be eff ective and humane.
If there is any inconsistency, it is
on the part of the president, who said
Mexico would pay for the wall. Now
he wants to pay for his ineff ective wall
with our tax dollars.
Why aren’t his supporters calling
him on that?
—Donna Mlinek
Florence
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WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
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
Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 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
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
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
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McK-
eown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
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