SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
4A
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EDITORIAL
Mask mandate
Signs are prominently posted outside the Baker County Court-
house stating that face masks are required inside.
Yet on Wednesday morning, Dec. 15, of the 30 or so people gath-
ered in a room in the Courthouse for a county commission meeting,
just a couple were wearing masks.
The three commissioners — Bill Harvey, Mark Bennett and
Bruce Nichols — were not.
A similar situation prevailed the night before at Baker City Hall,
although the audience there was smaller and a few more people
were wearing masks.
Neither Mayor Kerry McQuisten nor Councilors Shane Alder-
son, Joanna Dixon, Heather Sells, Jason Spriet and Johnny Wag-
goner Sr. was wearing a mask.
The lack of compliance with the statewide mask mandate for
indoor public spaces has been common throughout the fall in both
of these venues and others. Mask compliance at the Baker High
School gym has been spotty during basketball games.
Our elected offi cials should comply with the mask requirement,
and ask that their audiences do the same, so long as those signs are
posted.
To do otherwise is to imply that adherence to rules — any rule —
is optional.
A dramatic contrast to the aforementioned examples is the Bak-
er County Health Department, where staff and visitors — many of
whom are, wisely, there to get a COVID-19 vaccine — wear masks.
That said, it is reasonable to ask whether the mask mandate,
which Gov. Kate Brown imposed in August and which has been
challenged but not legally overturned, is justifi ed at this point in the
pandemic.
Masks, and particularly the disposable type that most people
wear, are hardly impermeable barriers. But they certainly don’t
hurt. And they can in some circumstances reduce the risk of trans-
mitting the virus. Students and staff in Baker schools wear masks,
and despite the somewhat confi ned conditions inside schools, there
have been relatively few cases, and no evidence that the virus has
spread in schools.
Yet even with the lackadaisical attitude toward mask wearing in
some settings, there is no evidence, based on Oregon Health Author-
ity data, that this has led to any outbreaks in Baker County. Case
numbers in the county have been trending down since October.
The pandemic is not over, to be sure. Three more county resi-
dents have died this month after testing positive. Vaccination
remains the best way to protect yourself — and, potentially, oth-
ers — both from infection and, even more so, from severe sickness.
And although 307 people received a booster dose during a three-day
drive-thru clinic earlier this week in Baker City, the county’s overall
vaccination remains poor, lower than all but four of Oregon’s 35
other counties.
Brown needs to carefully review the data, including taking into
consideration the low mask compliance in places such as Baker
County and the absence of a causal link to outbreaks in those
places. The statistics might well show that continuing the mask
mandate is no longer justifi ed as a measure to thwart the virus.
But for now, the blatant contradiction between what the signs
outside buildings state, and what’s actually going on inside some of
those buildings, is insulting to people who believe that one trait of a
responsible citizen is to comply with regulations that are not oner-
ous and have not been legally invalidated.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
OTHER VIEWS
Assessing the true debt
cost of ‘Build Back Bett er’
Editorial from The Detroit
News:
The true cost of President
Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better”
plan is emerging, and it isn’t
pretty. Nor is it fully paid for, as
the president and Democrats
contend.
The Congressional Budget
Offi ce last month issued a scoring
on the plan that concluded it
would add $367 billion to the fed-
eral budget defi cit over 10 years.
While certainly a lot of money,
it wasn’t horrible for a roughly $2
trillion spending package.
But then Republicans asked
for a redo. They wanted the
CBO to score the bill under the
assumption the myriad social
spending programs it contains
will require funding for the full
10-year life of the package.
The original scoring accepted
the Democratic gimmick of fund-
ing certain programs for only a
few years, and then assuming
they will sunset.
Republicans, using history as
their guide, contend the likeli-
hood of entitlement programs
going away is quite slim — it
almost never happens. So they
wanted the cost estimate to as-
sume the reality that taxpayers
will have to cover the costs for at
least a decade, and likely forever.
Using that more realistic as-
sessment, the CBO pegged the
amount of defi cit spending over
10 years at $3 trillion, and the
true cost of Build Back Better at
more than $5 trillion.
That should make the bill
a non-starter with any Demo-
crat who purports to be a fi scal
moderate.
Build Back Better would de-
stroy the budget, greatly expand
the national debt and, given
its newly defi ned size, fuel an
already soaring infl ation rate.
The White House quickly
dubbed the revised scoring as
“fake.” It contends the CBO did
not factor in revenue the ad-
ministration hopes to raise by
expanding the size and power of
the Internal Revenue Service so
it can crack down on fraud.
The CBO doesn’t include tax
enforcement schemes in its scor-
ings for good reason. They rarely
deliver the promised revenue.
Still, Biden says if the CBO’s
estimated shortfall materializes,
he’ll fi nd ways to cover it. But
without specifying exactly where
that money will come from, the
bill becomes too reckless to pass.
It’s almost absurd to think the
administration can come up with
an acceptable scheme to squeeze
another $3 trillion from the
wealthy and corporations after
pinching them for $2 trillion to
cover the original tab. If not, the
only revenue avenue would then
become the middle class.
House Democrats enthusiasti-
cally approved Build Back Better
on a straight party-line vote
before seeing the revised defi cit
numbers. The new information
should be cause for a re-vote
that puts Democrats on record of
where they stand on approving
$3 trillion in unfunded spending.
It certainly should bolster
Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of
West Virginia and Kyrsten Sine-
ma of Arizona in their reluctance
to put Build Back Better over the
top in the Senate.
Democrats attempted to
deceive the American people into
accepting this huge step toward
socialism with the big lie that it’s
“free” because it wouldn’t add to
the defi cit.
That was never true, and it’s
even less so now.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Joe Biden: The White
House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-
1111; to send comments, go to www.
whitehouse.gov.
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. Baker
City offi ce, 1705 Main St., Suite 504,
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. Cliff Bentz (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.
A snow-sculpted tree invokes Christmas spirit
I had been searching in vain for
the Christmas spirit but my quest
ended in the instant I saw the tree,
glistening in the glow of a street-
light in the last hour before dawn.
I think it’s a maple.
But the species is of no matter.
What drew my eyes, and
touched my heart, was the sight of
the leafl ess branches, frosted with
a sheen of snow.
Against the backdrop of black
sky, the soft diffused light from the
streetlamp transformed the tree
into sculpture.
At that moment, on the morn-
ing of Dec. 14 during my one-mile
“commute” to work, the impending
holiday fi nally felt real.
That tree, festooned with the
fi rst real snow of the season, had
accomplished what the preced-
ing two weeks, despite Christmas
carols on my car radio and egg
nog enriching my morning coffee,
couldn’t quite manage.
Such is the power of snow.
I had been waiting, with no
small amount of frustration, for its
arrival, hoping that it might invigo-
rate the seasonal spirit.
A few days earlier, with com-
puter models portending potential
accumulation in town, I watched
for several hours, with escalating
annoyance, as the desultory fl ur-
ries failed to coalesce into the sort
of shower needed to begin gracing
the ground with white.
Late in the afternoon I drove for
a dozen miles to take a hike in the
hills near Phillips Reservoir, where
fat fl akes were falling in profusion,
coating the windward faces of the
ponderosas with a fl uffy two inches.
The wintry scene there in the
woods was appropriate for Christ-
mas, certainly.
But even as I trudged through
the snow, the soft fl akes tickling
my eyelashes when they landed, I
couldn’t quite muster that emotion,
that feeling unique to this special
season.
One evening I thought it would
happen, when Bruce Springsteen’s
incomparable live version of “Santa
Claus Is Coming To Town” was
JAYSON
JACOBY
fi nally played on the radio while I
was driving home.
(I especially like the bells, and
Clarence Clemons’ sax solo, and
Bruce’s giggling toward the end.)
But then I glanced at the
instrument panel and saw that the
outside temperature was 45, the
product of a balmy south wind.
I struggle to think of Christmas
unless the air is cold enough to
make me wince slightly when I
step outside, surrendering the arti-
fi cial climate of a car or a building.
There was an surfeit of spirit
during the Harvest Christian
Academy’s Christmas program on
Sunday, Dec. 12. I went to watch
my grandson, Brysen Weitz, who is
4, sing with his preschool class-
mates. The school’s older students
also performed a variety of songs
and skits, all delivered with the
enthusiasm peculiar to youth.
I had an equally fi ne time eight
days earlier, during the Chamber
of Commerce’s Christmas parade
and tree-lighting ceremony on the
evening of Dec. 4. I was especially
gratifi ed to see people gather on
Main Street to watch the illumi-
nated fl oats roll past, so many
smiles, so much laughter. The ex-
citement, no doubt inspired by the
return of this beloved event after
its cancellation in 2020, seemed
to me as palpable as the warmth
from the Baker Lions Club’s burn
barrels.
Yet the toasty air surround-
ing those receptacles, the fl ames
fl ickering brightly, also seemed
superfl uous on a mild night that
felt more like Halloween than
Christmas.
Even as I reveled in the lights
and the joviality, I missed the fa-
miliar crunch of boots stomping on
snow, regretted that I didn’t need
to don my stocking cap, or to pull
the zipper on my coat to the top to
keep drafts from slipping their icy
fi ngers around my neck and slink-
ing down my spine.
I don’t mean to suggest, rather
Grinch-like, that Christmas ought
not to come unless there’s snow.
This most magical season is not
defi ned by the presence of frozen
precipitation, any more than it is
by the cynical ministrations of the
marketers.
Whether the ground is white or
bare, the squeal of a child as she
peels back the wrapping paper is
the purest sort of delight.
And whether the air outside is
frigid or temperate, the familiar
strains of the great holy carols
always stir the soul with their
themes of peace and goodwill, of
family and faith.
Yet I can’t help but feel beholden
to the Currier & Ives version of
Christmas. For me, snow, which
can transform ordinary sights into
majestic ones, also lends to this
season an extra dollop of joy.
Jayson Jacoby is editor of the
Baker City Herald.