Opinion
A4
BAKER CITY
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news@bakercityherald.com
Thursday, August 25, 2022 • Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
Baker benefits
from a summer
of detour signs
B
aker City has been festooned with detour signs
this summer to an unprecedented level.
Barricades blocking sidewalks at intersections have
been pretty conspicuous, too.
But although this months-long project to build or
improve curb ramps, which started in the spring and
is projected to continue into November, has undoubt-
edly frustrated many of us at times, the city will be a
better place for it.
This $11.8 million effort, through the Oregon De-
partment of Transportation and contractor Wildish
Standard Paving Co. of Eugene, is making several
dozen intersections compliant with the Americans
with Disabilities Act. ODOT started the project,
which includes 25,000 ramps statewide, after receiving
a formal complaint from the Association of Oregon
Centers for Independent Living.
State officials agreed to improve ramps along state
highways. That includes sections of highway that are
also city streets. In Baker City the list includes sections
of 10th, Broadway, Main, Campbell and Elm streets,
as well as Dewey Avenue.
The project is about two-thirds finished, according
to ODOT.
The benefits are obvious. The new or improved
curb ramps make it much easier, and in some cases
possible for the first time, for people in wheelchairs to
navigate sidewalks. The upgrades are a boon to pedes-
trians as well. The contractor has replaced sections of
sidewalk as well as building the ramps.
This is the sort of project the city on its own could
never afford to undertake — particularly in a single
year.
It’s gratifying to see such rapid, and tangible, re-
sults from the expenditure of public dollars. Better
YOUR VIEWS
Everyone should get
involved with the
Baker Food Co-op
I would like to thank every-
one who stepped up to help
the Baker Food Co-op in our
recent SOS — Shop Our Store
campaign. Although we didn’t
garner as many pledges as we
were hoping for, it was reas-
suring to meet so many pos-
itive and enthusiastic mem-
bers of the community who
love and appreciate the Co-op.
This summer many visitors
from around the country and
other parts of the world were
happy to include us in their
travels, tell us us what we al-
ready know. What a great re-
source we are for a town our
size. Our Co-op was one of
the many food co-ops begun
in the seventies that gave birth
to and nurtured the market
for natural foods. Like most
other consumer food co-ops,
the Baker Food Co-op began
literally with nothing but the
energy of people involved. A
real homegrown, community
owned grocery store serving
the community with quality
products and honest informa-
tion.
The world has changed a lot
during the 40-plus years that
the Co-op has been around.
One thing has not changed,
however. That is the beauty of
the concept of cooperation,
mutual respect, good healthy
food and a business based on
people. Fast forward to today.
I am so grateful to be a part of
our small board, hard-work-
ing creative staff and generous
working members that make
things happen here. You are
precious, and you prove every
day that a group of devoted
people with a passion and a vi-
sion can still make a difference
in a community. Where local
isn’t just a tagline. It is sim-
ply the way we do business.
Working together to promote
a sustainable economy by
supporting organic and sus-
tainable food production. As
always, everyone is welcome
to be a part of the food co-op
movement and hopefully we
can continue to be part of a
positive social and lifestyle
change.
See you there!
Joan Tracy
Baker City
Knights of Columbus
grateful for overturn
of Roe v. Wade
On June 24, 2022, the Su-
preme Court overturned Roe
v. Wade. Prayers to God were
answered on this historic day
for our country. Many have
been waiting for this day, par-
ticularly those on the front
lines standing for life at abor-
tion centers and others who
are working countless hours
behind the scenes to save
these precious children. This
Supreme Court decision ba-
sically determined there is no
U.S. constitutional right to
an abortion. Hopefully many
states will make the right deci-
sion and ban abortion. Other
states, including Oregon, are
predicted to increase abor-
tions by accepting out-of-state
mothers who want to abort
their child.
The Knights of Columbus
serve in four different action
categories: faith, community,
family and life. The Life pro-
gram includes the ultrasound
grants, assistance and support
after pregnancy, marches for
life, pregnancy center support,
and the Novena for life. The
Knights are also involved in
installing memorials for the
unborn, prayer vigils, and spe-
cial services in honor of the
unborn.
The Knights of Columbus
ultrasound grant initiative
has proven to save innocent
lives. This program is helping
women choose life by giving
them the opportunity to view
their unborn child on ultra-
sound machines at pro-life
pregnancy centers. With this
assistance, more than 70% of
undecided women choose to
have their child after seeing
an ultrasound. It has been es-
timated that one ultrasound
machine at a pregnancy care
center may save the lives
of 1,000 unborn children.
Knights in Oregon have pro-
vided at least 30 ultrasound
machines since 2014, which
means our efforts may possi-
bly have saved 30,000 lives.
Now is the time to step up
our efforts, for not only vot-
ing for pro-life candidates, but
also increasing our support
and assistance for pregnancy
centers and ultrasound instal-
lations. Please consider sup-
porting Knights events and
assisting other organizations
involved in protecting unborn
lives.
Tim Delsman
Grand Knight,
Knights of Columbus Baker
City Council
Steve Bogart
Deputy Grand Knight
David Lindley
Hal Huntington
JR Vela
Trustees
still, these benefits will continue to enrich the city for
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
decades.
But no one will be sorry to see the detour signs or
barricades leave.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
• We welcome letters on any issue of public inter-
est. Customer complaints about specific businesses
will not be printed.
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false or misleading claims. However, we cannot
verify the accuracy of all statements in letters.
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and legal reasons.
Mail: To the Editor, Baker City Herald,
P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814
Email: news@bakercityherald.com
COLUMN
Political moderates still run the show in Washington
BY DAVID A. HOPKINS
L
ast week’s enactment of the 2022
budget-reconciliation bill, also
known as the Inflation Reduc-
tion Act, is being treated by many an-
alysts as a major turning point in Joe
Biden’s presidency. As recently as last
month, when it looked like Congress
might not pass reconciliation legisla-
tion this year, conventional wisdom in
Washington suggested that Biden was
a failing president who should even
reconsider seeking a second term. But
once the IRA unexpectedly secured
sufficient support, Biden enjoyed an
immediate reputational rebound as
a master of legislative achievement; a
few hyperbolic responses even com-
pared him to Great Society-era Lyn-
don Johnson.
This wasn’t too surprising. Amer-
icans usually regard the president as
the gravitational center around which
the entire political universe revolves,
responsible for almost everything —
good and bad — that happens on his
watch. But the events of the past few
weeks demonstrate how much this
view can distort the more complicated
truth. What changed between July
and August wasn’t Biden’s presidential
acumen, but rather the behavior of
a single key senator: Joe Manchin of
West Virginia.
Despite the credit he received for its
passage, Biden had little involvement
in crafting the bill he happily signed
into law on Aug. 16. The policy areas
addressed by the IRA reflected Man-
chin’s preferences more than those of
the president or any other public of-
ficial. It was Manchin who compelled
Biden to settle for a bill much smaller
in scope and cost than the White
House originally favored,
Manchin whose open skepticism ear-
lier this summer had seemed to sink
the prospects of reconciliation leg-
islation passing at all, and Manchin
(along with fellow moderate Kyrsten
Sinema) who was responsible for
many of the specific provisions in-
cluded in the final product. He even
forced a change in the bill’s name,
pointedly abandoning a previous title
that had echoed Biden’s “Build Back
Better” campaign slogan in favor of a
strategic rebranding.
There’s nothing unusual about
moderates like Manchin using their
pivotal positions in Congress to exert
substantial legislative influence. The
ideological polarization of American
politics over the past several decades
has steadily reduced the number of
moderate members in both parties.
But our current era is also historically
distinctive for its remarkable degree of
electoral parity. As noted by the polit-
ical scientist Frances Lee, Democrats
and Republicans are now more evenly
matched at the national level than at
any time since the late 1800s.
The consistently narrow margins
of party control in the contemporary
Congress ensure that the shrinking
number of moderates who can sur-
vive both primaries and general elec-
tions continue to hold the balance
of power between blocs of ideologi-
cal stalwarts — even during periods
when the same party controls the
presidency and both congressional
chambers. The objection of just three
Republican senators permanently
blocked President Donald Trump’s at-
tempts to repeal the Affordable Care
Act during the last period of unified
party rule in 2017-18. Manchin and
Sinema have similarly used a credible
threat of defection from the party line
to shape the contents of both the IRA
and last year’s American Rescue Plan.
When combined with the sepa-
ration of powers established by the
Constitution and a cloture rule in the
Senate that requires most bills — in-
cluding, crucially, annual appropria-
tions legislation — to pass with super-
majority support, the enduring clout
of moderates explains why widening
polarization hasn’t produced dramatic
swings in policy when the majority
shifts from one party to the other.
The status quo still holds a systematic
advantage over proposals for major
change in either ideological direction;
most successful congressional action
remains incremental and bipartisan;
and no session of Congress in the
era of polarization has yet matched
the transformative productivity of
the New Deal, Great Society or
Reagan Revolution.
Moderates have not been com-
pletely unaffected by polarization,
however. Whereas in bygone decades
they voted similarly regardless of
party — or, like the southern Dixie-
crats and northeastern Rockefeller
Republicans of the mid-20th century,
even overlapped each other on the
ideological spectrum — today the
most conservative Democrat in each
chamber stands significantly to the
left of the most liberal Republican.
Despite the frustration that Man-
chin and Sinema have provoked
among progressive activists over the
past two years, both the IRA and
American Rescue Plan were more
substantively ambitious — and much
more responsive to top Democratic
Party priorities such as health care
and climate change — than any hypo-
thetical product of negotiations with
moderate Republican Senators Susan
Collins and Lisa Murkowski would’ve
been. So while the dwindling ranks of
centrist officeholders continue to play
a crucial policy-making role, the ques-
tion of which party’s moderates
will be empowered to supply the de-
ciding votes has never been more
meaningful.
David A. Hopkins is an associate professor
of political science at Boston College and the
author of “Red Fighting Blue: How Geography
and Electoral Rules Polarize American
Politics.”
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. 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. 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. 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 administration: 541-523-6541. Jonathan Cannon,
city manager; Ty Duby, police chief; Sean Lee, fire chief;
Michelle Owen, public works director.