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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2019)
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 Baker City, Oregon 4A Write a letter news@bakercityherald.com EDITORIAL Food stamp cuts would hurt kids Once again the federal government is proposing to cut the number of Americans eligible for the Supple- mental Nutrition Assistance Program — food stamps — and once again, the implication is the system is somehow rife with error and even downright fraud. The numbers don’t bear that latter idea out. The nation’s fi rst food stamp program was put in place in 1939, toward the end of the Depression. The program ended in 1943, during World War II. The modern program went national in 1964, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society efforts that expanded the federal government’s role in social welfare programs. By 1976 some 18.5 million Ameri- cans received food stamps. That number increased to 27.5 million by 1994 and to 47.6 million by 2013, four years after the offi cial end of the Great Recession. Today, the number stands at fewer than 40 million Americans. The cuts proposed would reduce that number by about 9% nationally, and by about 15% in Oregon. That’s because Oregon qualifi es people for SNAP benefi ts automatically if they meet income require- ments and receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (welfare) benefi ts as well. While the cuts would save money, they’d do so at the expense of some of the estimated 37 million Americans, including children, who already are what’s known as food insecure, with limited or uncer- tain access to enough food to support a healthy life. Today, more than a decade after the beginning of the Great Recession, food insecurity in this country re- mains higher than it was before the recession began. As for fraud, the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls the cuts a way to “preserve the integrity of the program.” Yet if fraud is a measure of integrity, the depart- ment needn’t worry. Recipient fraud — intentional misuse of the benefi ts or lying about income to re- ceive them — is minimal, less than 1% of recipients. That’s down from earlier years, when, in the early 1970s, for example, it stood at about 2%. The drop is due in part to the shift to the current Electronic Benefi ts Transfer system that loads benefi ts onto an encoded card. Earlier attempts by the administration to cut SNAP benefi ts haven’t fared particularly well, and with good reason. Children, and the schools they at- tend, make up 44% of food stamp recipients. Cutting the program would be a double whammy for those kids, hitting them at school as well as at home. Your views Empathy for people who struggle with trailers As I read Jayson’s column of Friday Sept. 20th, “Trailer ownership has me backed into a corner,” besides laughing out loud, a great feeling of relief swept over me — I was not the only one af- fl icted with this strange disorder! I discovered early on that I was totally incapable of backing up even the tiniest trailer. A friend had watched me wrestle my canoe atop the rack of my pickup and decided I would be much happier, and more comfortable, if he loaned me his little motorized alumi- num fi shing boat for my next fi shing trip. Being totally unaware of my hid- den brain dysfunction I took him up on it. He graciously attached the boat and trailer to my never-before-used hitch. It was straightforward all the way to the boat ramp. Then came the backing up part. After 197 attempts, 37 minor heart attacks, 26 invented cuss words and another 48 attempts I calmly stepped out of my truck and unhooked the boat and trailer. I then looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing nobody I quickly pushed boat and trailer into the water, released the boat (and yes, for one person it is every bit as complicated as it sounds) and reattached the trailer to my truck. The reattaching thing made zero sense, something I didn’t realize until I was done fi shing. Peace to all. Mike Meyer Baker City PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PHONE CALL WITH UKRAINE’S PRESIDENT Investigation might be valid, but not impeachment inquiry When Donald Trump wins, he man- ages to lose. The day after he was amazingly nominated as the Republican candidate for president, he repeated his hallucina- tions about Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s father appearing in a photo with Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK’s assassin. On the day he was inaugurated president, he had his press secretary insist to report- ers he had the biggest inaugural crowd ever. Not close, even when protesters were counted and narcissism outpaced math. Then, after two years of a preten- tious, partisan, deceptive, phony, fi nally dismissed investigation of his allegedly colluding with Russia to win the 2016 election, he got on the phone with the president of Ukraine to make it sound to some that he was colluding on the 2020 election. Summoning her holy tone of voice, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that impeachment in- quiries would soon be underway. Trump had committed a crime, some were mistakenly saying, though in a sense he had. He was once more being himself. He told the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he would like a corruption investigation of Joe Biden as vice president threatening to keep a billion dollars in U.S. aid from the country if this guy did not fi re a pros- ecutor. The prosecutor had gone after a Ukrainian company employing Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who was making $50,000 a month and seemed to know nothing about what he was doing. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Baker City Herald. Columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the Baker City Herald. Letters to the editor • Letters are limited to 350 words; longer letters will be edited for length. Writers are limited to one letter every 15 days. • The writer must sign the letter and include an address and phone number (for verifi cation only). Letters that do not include this information cannot be published. • Letters will be edited for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. Mail: To the Editor, Baker City Herald, P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814 Email: news@bakercityherald.com JAY AMBROSE Goodies, however, could fl ow from his last name, the company’s owner may have fi gured. And if Trump could trot out a well-proven father-son conniv- ance, or even just Joe looking out for family money, this could very well aid his 2020 campaign against Joe to the tune of four more years. But the Constitution says you’ve got to have a crime to have an impeach- ment, and what Trump did is not a crime unless there was a quid pro quo, a threat of something bad if action was not forthcoming or a promise of something good if it was. A copy of the conversation shows no such thing, al- though Trump did delay deliverance of military aid, including Javelin missiles capable of taking out Russian tanks and transgressing the aversion to weaponry in the Obama days. Trump gave a couple of questionable reasons for the delay that did come to a quick end. An investigation of this matter might be warranted. But not impeachment inquiries and the kind of Democratic, teeth-baring ferocity that erases rea- sonable, responsible governmental efforts to fi x serious problems. The Mueller years were scandalous and disruptive and should not be repeated. But what we are already seeing, for in- stance, is abuse of a whistleblower law in which the whistleblower is mainly transmitting gossip. A purpose of the law was to keep bureaucrats from il- legally taking classifi ed information to the media, and yet this kind of leaking seems already to be telling us much of what we know. And, look, it also hurts when no one gets it that executive privilege is worth respect. Privacy on the phone and elsewhere is crucial for a president to do what he has to do. And it’s interesting to note that, when President Bill Clinton signed the law, he said presidents would still have the last say when such debate arose. Naturally enough, Democratic presidential candidates are cheering all of this on because, no matter what, these proceedings may further dirty the Trump name to the point they can feel better about their extreme, absurd, totalitarian, unaffordable programs having a chance to ruin America. They see the ruination possibilities differ- ently, of course, but this is a crazy time brought on in part by Trump’s crazi- ness, even though he has actually done a great deal for the economy and the human good. Even in areas where he is scary, such as the national debt, the Democrats are worse. If he escapes impeachment and wins re-election, he may still fi nd a way to lose, but the American people could still be much better off. Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may email him at speaktojay@aol.com. CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS President Donald Trump: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414; fax 202-456-2461; to send comments, go to www.whitehouse.gov/contact. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. offi ce: 313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753; fax 202-228-3997. Portland offi ce: One World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900. Pendleton offi ce: 310 S.E. Second St. Suite 105, Pendleton 97801; 541-278-1129; merkley.senate.gov. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce: 221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-228-2717. La Grande offi ce: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850; 541- 962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District): D.C. offi ce: 2182 Rayburn Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730; fax 202- 225-5774. La Grande offi ce: 1211 Washington Ave., La Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.house.gov. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov. Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.treasurer@ ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100, Salem OR 97301- 3896; 503-378-4000. Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum: Justice Building, Salem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400. Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents and information are available online at www.leg.state.or.us. State Sen. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario): Salem offi ce: 900 Court St. N.E., S-301, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. District offi ce: P.O. Box 1027, Ontario, OR 97914; 541-889-8866. State Rep. Lynn Findley (R-Vale): Salem offi ce: 900 Court St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep. LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box 650, Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-6541; fax 541-524-2049. City Council meets the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers. Mike Downing, Loran Joseph, Randy Schiewe, Lynette Perry, Arvid Andersen, Ken Gross and Doni Bruland. Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Fred Warner Jr., city manager; Ray Duman, police chief; John Clark, fi re chief; Michelle Owen, public works director. Baker County Commission: Baker County Courthouse 1995 3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-8200. Meets the fi rst and third Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark Bennett, Bruce Nichols. Baker County departments: 541-523-8200. Travis Ash, sheriff; Jeff Smith, roadmaster; Matt Shirtcliff, district attorney; Alice Durfl inger, county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby, county clerk; Kerry Savage, county assessor.
