A4 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022
BAKER CITY
Opinion
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Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
Progress on
beef industry
problems?
C
attle ranchers have been talking about the
issues for several years. But few things at-
tract attention as strongly as dollars and cents.
And with retail beef prices rising by 21%
over the past year, according to the U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture, plenty of consumers’
eyes have been widened.
And now, it appears, the Biden administra-
tion has been roused as well.
Federal offi cials announced recently that $1
billion from the 2021 American Rescue Plan
Act would be diverted to try to deal with prob-
lems in the meat processing industry and to
encourage the construction of smaller, regional
packing plants.
Th is is precisely what many ranchers, includ-
ing Curtis Martin of North Powder, and Matt
McElligott, who lives between Haines and North
Powder, have been advocating for. McElligott is
president-elect of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso-
ciation, and Martin is a past president.
Both ranchers said that with four companies
controlling about 85% of meat processing in the
U.S., ranchers have little clout in setting prices
for their product. And because building smaller
meatpacking plants is both expensive and com-
plex due to regulations, breaking that logjam is
diffi cult.
Expanding processing not only could benefi t
ranchers fi nancially, but it would give consum-
ers more choices — including one that Martin
said he hears oft en from people, which is the
option of buying packaged beef raised, almost
literally, in their own backyards.
Th e situation likely won’t be improved rap-
idly. But the Biden administration’s recognition
that problems exist is a welcome initial step.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
OTHER VIEWS
River Democracy Act: We’re
still waiting to see the maps
Matt
McElligott
S
ome things from 2021 are still lin-
gering in 2022, like the River De-
mocracy Act that Senators Wyden
and Merkley are pushing. They are try-
ing to amend the Wild and Scenic Riv-
ers Act of 1968.
For several months I’ve been follow-
ing this issue and still there are no an-
swers to many revolving questions. Like
why are some of the designated streams
not streams at all, but dry washes? Why
are the stream buffers increased from
a quarter a mile to half a mile? The Act
has pages of coordinates of the streams,
rivers, and dry gulches to be protected,
but not one map.
In May 2021, the Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association asked for the maps and then
they asked again in November. As of
this writing, we still don’t have the maps
from Wyden’s office. I know of two
counties in Eastern Oregon that have at
their own expense, hired an engineering
firm to map the coordinates in the Act
in order to have a visual map of the af-
fected streams. These visual maps give
the county a picture of how this Act will
impact them. It is unconscionable that
any county government should have to
spend money from its general fund to
map these streams when information
should be available upon request from
Senator Wyden or Merkley. Yet, they
continue to ignore the requests. How
will this affect livestock grazing and
other natural resource users?
This Act talks a lot about fire resiliency
but supplies no details as to how locking
up 3.1 million acres of federal land will
reduce threat of fire to land, lumber, and
lives. What will the longterm economic
effect of this bill have on rural Oregon?
Wyden and his team expound on the
great benefits of tourism and the dollars
spent on recreation. “Money will flow like
Mana from the Gods to rural Oregon.”
That’s the well-polished sales pitch and
talking points pounded into their heads
at staff meetings.
When hikers, bikers and ATVers visit
rural Oregon most of them bring their
own tents, campers, or RV’s. They fill
their coolers and gas tanks at home and
don’t spend much in the small towns
they drive through. Wyden’s bill has a
$30 million price tag. Not just for the
first year but every year ... forever! Only
$5 million of that is earmarked, what is
the other $25 million for? They haven’t
answered that one either.
The original intent of the Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act was to preserve cer-
tain rivers with “outstanding, natural,
cultural, and recreational values in a
free-flowing condition.” This Act as pre-
sented is a vast departure from the orig-
inal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. If this
act passes into law, it will set grave prec-
edent that will enable law makers to cir-
cumvent protocol and procedures. Our
Senators were elected to represent all
Oregonians, not a select demographic.
Please take the time to look up SB
192. If you don’t like what you see, if
you don’t want another 4,700 miles of
streams and 3.1 million acres of Oregon
locked up, reach out to Oregon’s sena-
tors, and let them know.
• Sen. Ron Wyden: 202-224-5244
• Sen. Jeff Merkley: 202-224-3753
Matt McElligott, who has a cattle
ranch between Haines and North
Powder, is president-elect of the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association.
OTHER VIEWS
Reflecting on Biden’s first year in office
Editorial from The Baltimore Sun:
One year into Joe Biden’s first term as
president, it’s safe to say that the Dem-
ocrat’s performance has not met lofty
expectations. His average approval rat-
ing, at 49% according to Gallup, is better
than Republican Donald Trump’s was
at this point, but that’s not saying much.
Trump’s 38% was the lowest first-year ap-
proval rating of any president post World
War II, and all other presidents since
then — except Biden — have averaged
57% or higher.
Of course, those presidents didn’t start
off in year two of a pandemic that not
only has wreaked havoc on our mental
and physical health, but the economy and
the supply chain. The latter is backlogged
largely because of a worker shortage (due
to illness or disillusion) amid increased
demand for goods. And how much any
president can affect that is debatable, de-
spite Biden’s release of an “action plan”
aimed at rebuilding U.S. supply chains.
Still, 62% of registered voters blame
Biden at least in part for the blockage, ac-
cording to a poll conducted by Politico
and the Morning Consult.
Wednesday, on the eve of his year an-
niversary, the president held what was
only his second formal news conference
since taking office. He defended his gov-
ernance, claiming to have “done remark-
ably well” despite significant pushback
from Republicans. “I did not anticipate
that there would be such a stalwart effort
to make sure that the most important
thing was that President Biden didn’t get
anything done,” he complained.
Tempting as it is to dismiss that com-
ment as a throwaway, pass the buck line,
we should not. The country is arguably
more politically and culturally divided
today than it has been during any other
time since the Civil War. And much of
the Republican Party has shifted from
one of conservatism to extremism, with
many members focusing more on radi-
cal conspiracy theories around election
results or white identity politics and ob-
structionism, than traditional GOP ide-
ologies of national defense, small govern-
ment and business promotion.
Both circumstances are consequences
of the prior officeholder’s presidency.
And we should take a moment here to
consider what the country would look
like should Donald Trump have retained
the presidency. By most any measure, we
would be worse off.
And Biden has had some wins — big
ones. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal
he struck is the largest of its kind since
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s historic inter-
state highway plan of 1956. It will rebuild
the country’s roads, clean our drinking
pipes and drive the creation of hundreds
of thousands of jobs. And the $1.9 trillion
COVID-19 relief plan enacted in March
has the potential to reshape the country’s
social sector. Under Biden’s leadership,
more than 60% of the population also
has been vaccinated, and unemployment
has now fallen to a pandemic low.
But the failures on his watch are stark.
Democrats were trounced in November
elections; inflation is rising, along with
gas prices; the Afghanistan withdrawal
was a mess; and Biden’s signature legisla-
tion, the “Build Back Better” bill, has hit
a wall. And then there is the devastating
failure to pass voting rights legislation
this month, a critical component to the
Democratic agenda.
Also of concern is the shifting guid-
ance from the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention and the lack of
preparation for a fast-moving coronavi-
rus variant like omicron. While we un-
derstand that scientists are learning in
real time how to handle this virus, the
mixed messaging and lack of adequate
testing and protection resources have
been detrimental to public health.
Messaging overall may be Biden’s big-
gest problem. He made big promises —
and he didn’t deliver. He is not, at least
not yet, the reincarnation of Franklin D.
Roosevelt many had hoped. There were
factors outside Biden’s control, certainly.
But as the person raising hopes, he’s the
natural target of disappointment when
they’re dashed.
If he is, as he’s said, planning to run for
a second term, he’s going to have to recal-
ibrate his approach, starting now. He can
still think big, but he’s going to have to act
small, given the hand he’s been dealt. We
need realism and results. Hyperbole does
not help; we want Honest Joe at the helm.
For his second year in office, not being
Donald Trump will not be enough.
Editorial from The Detroit News:
Not only has President Joe
Biden failed to fulfill his promise
to unite a broken nation, his rhet-
oric is now actively contributing
to our divide. The president must
watch his tone. He’s starting to
sound like the man he replaced.
In an angry, rambling rant in
Georgia last week, Biden sug-
gested those Americans who op-
pose the Democratic drive to strip
states of their constitutional right
to run their own elections are rac-
ists and segregationists.
His speech not only distorted
the facts about Georgia’s voter in-
tegrity law, it compared it to Jim
Crow-era policies, and likened its
supporters to Confederates who
want to tear down our democracy.
It was delivered in the same
confrontational cadence as the
president’s address commemorat-
ing the anniversary of the Jan. 6
Capitol riot.
The Atlanta speech has been
widely criticized for both its con-
tent and its tone. Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell said of
his old friend and colleague, “I
did not recognize the man at the
podium,” adding that Biden’s re-
marks were incoherent.
Another former Senate col-
league, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin,
a Democrat, conceded, “Perhaps
the president went a little too far
in his rhetoric,” before defend-
ing the sentiment of his remarks.
For that mild rebuke, Durbin has
drawn the ire of fellow Demo-
crats, including Rep. Jim Clyburn
of South Carolina.
How’s that for unifying the
country?
Biden’s remarks fit into his ad-
ministration’s view of its oppo-
nents. Last year his Justice De-
partment agreed to investigate
some parents who protest COVID
mandates, after a national school
board group likened them to do-
mestic terrorists.
Post Donald Trump, the nation
needed a period of calm and heal-
ing. Biden promised to bring that.
Instead, he’s committed himself
to passing the most contentious
policies with the barest of Demo-
cratic majorities in Congress.
His promise of being the presi-
dent for all Americans now leaves
out the roughly half of voters who
disagree with the radical transfor-
mation Democrats are trying to
force on the nation.
Instead of recognizing the
country’s sharp differences and
working toward bipartisan com-
promise, Biden, in classic Trump
fashion, is demonizing his oppo-
nents with defamatory labels and
outright lies.
Fact-checkers noted a num-
ber of false claims made by Biden
about Georgia’s voting law. And
yet the president continues to re-
peat them.
Distortion is no way to build
trust in what Democrats are at-
tempting to do with their federal
voting bill.
A year into his presidency,
Biden sounds more like Trump
than he does the unifier he prom-
ised America.
He should mind his tone, and
when he speaks, he should speak
to all of America with respect.
Had voters wanted lies, bluster
and hateful rhetoric, they would
have kept the other guy.
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. office: 313
Hart Senate Office Building, U.S. Senate,
Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753; fax
202-228-3997. Portland office: One World
Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250,
Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386; fax 503-
326-2900. Baker City office, 1705 Main St.,
Suite 504, 541-278-1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office: 221 Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.,
20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-228-2717. La
Grande office: 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.
office: 1239 Longworth House Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-
6730; fax 202-225-5774. Medford office: 14
N. Central Avenue Suite 112, Medford, OR
97850; Phone: 541-776-4646; fax: 541-779-
0204; Ontario office: 2430 S.W. Fourth Ave.,
No. 2, Ontario, OR 97914; Phone: 541-709-
2040. bentz.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. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario):
Salem office: 900 Court St. N.E., S-403,
Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. Email: Sen.
LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane): Salem
office: 900 Court St. N.E., H-475, Salem,
OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.
MarkOwens@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. Councilors Jason Spriet,
Kerry McQuisten, Shane Alderson, Joanna
Dixon, Heather Sells, Johnny Waggoner Sr.
and Dean Guyer.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541.
Jonathan Cannon, city manager; Ty Duby,
police chief; Sean Lee, fire chief; Michelle
Owen, public works director.
Baker County Commission: Baker County
Courthouse 1995 3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814;
541-523-8200. Meets the first and third
Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark
Bennett, Bruce Nichols.
Baker County departments: 541-523-8200.
Travis Ash, sheriff; Noodle Perkins, roadmaster;
Greg Baxter, district attorney; Alice Durflinger,
county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby, county clerk;
Kerry Savage, county assessor.
Baker School District: 2090 4th Street,
Baker City, OR 97814; 541-524-2260; fax 541-
524-2564. Superintendent: Mark Witty. Board
meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6
p.m. Council Chambers, Baker City Hall,1655
First St.; Chris Hawkins, Andrew Bryan, Travis
Cook, Jessica Dougherty, Julie Huntington.