A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Governor’s
energy orders
set unrealistic
standards
G
ov. Kate Brown issued
two executive orders
this month that she
said would reduce greenhouse
emissions while supporting
Oregon’s economy.
The environmental aspects
were obvious. The economic
ones? Not so much. The
Governor’s Office has yet to
release any analysis of how her
fiats would affect the economy,
especially construction costs.
That should concern
Oregonians. So too should the
governor’s decision to bypass
the legislature in revising the
state building code.
As head of the executive
branch, Brown certainly was
within her rights to expand
purchases of electric vehicles
for state use and to require
increased energy efficiency
when the state builds or
remodels its government
buildings. The legislature
ultimately will decide whether
to fund those decisions.
But in her 17 pages of
executive orders, Brown
also demanded changes to
building regulations that
affect all construction in
Oregon, including requiring
that new buildings be ready
for installation of solar
panels. That mandate would
take effect in October 2020
for residences and October
2022 for commercial
buildings.
By January 2020, high-
efficiency water fixtures would
be required in new buildings.
By October 2022, new
commercial buildings would
have to exceed International
Green Construction Code
requirements.
By October 2023, new
residences would have to
consume no more energy than
they generate.
By October 2025, new
commercial structures would
have to safely reuse water for
irrigation.
Those changes, and others,
during the next two to eight
years sound good in theory.
Brown says Oregonians will
save money on utility costs
and — with the emphasis on
electric vehicles — on fuel.
There also are provisions
that some requirements could
be temporarily delayed if
the costs are “significant,”
although that term is left
undefined.
But in practicality, this
seems like a classic case of
putting the cart — in this case,
an electric one — before the
horse. Brown provided no
evidence that her executive
orders involved give-and-
take discussions with the
construction industry, private
property owners and other
Oregonians throughout the
state.
If state government wants
to place unfunded mandates
on itself, that’s one thing. But
it’s quite different to put those
mandates on the private sector
without first understanding the
resulting financial and social
costs.
Running a business,
especially a small business, is
tough enough in Oregon. So is
getting a housing development
to break ground in Eastern
Oregon. Every government
mandate increases both the
cost and uncertainty of doing
business.
G UEST C OMMENT
We must save Medicaid from
Gov. Brown’s failed leadership
By Rep. Knute Buehler
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
As a doctor who has devoted my
life to health and healing and as a
lawmaker who supports Oregon’s
expanded Medicaid program, I am
gravely concerned about the lack of
leadership from Gov. Kate Brown
that has created an atmosphere of
chaos, corruption and incompetence
around the management, funding and
delivery of health care services that
millions of Oregonians rely upon ev-
ery day.
It was recently revealed that for
three years the state government has
overpaid $74 million to 16 health care
providers through the Medicaid pro-
gram. That’s $74 million of your tax
dollars. Almost as bad, state health
care managers were aware of this
problem for nearly a year and chose
to conceal the overpayments from
legislators and the public until now.
What was the governor’s response?
She said she was out of the loop in
the very government she allegedly
leads. This is a deflection and dodge,
not leadership or accountability.
When I learned of the overpay-
ments, I quickly sent a letter to the
governor demanding she do three
things: 1) get Oregonians’ money
back – with interest, 2) appoint an
independent investigator to find out
how this happened and who should be
accountable and 3) immediately re-
lease any and all documents, emails,
etc. from her office related to the
millions of dollars in overpayments.
At first, the governor refused to de-
mand repayment. But after criticism
came her way, she reversed course. I
applaud Gov. Brown for joining me
in demanding repayment of these tax
dollars. Unfortunately, she still refus-
es to launch an investigation to find
out the truth and she hasn’t released
any documents from her office on
this subject. I hope the governor will
change her mind and realize that find-
ing the truth and fixing problems be-
gins with transparency and trust.
Now that getting Oregonians’
money back is a bipartisan goal
shared by both the governor and me,
I am requesting that the governor and
my 89 colleagues in the House and
Senate join me in supporting legis-
lation to make it the law when we
meet in Salem in February. House
Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate
President Peter Courtney have so
far been silent on this scandal, but
I hope they will be the first to sign-
on to the legislation — or propose
their own bill. Given the unfortunate
track record of waste and misman-
agement in Medicaid going back to
Cover Oregon, good intentions and
nice words from state leaders are no
longer sufficient. We need bipartisan
leadership and the force of law to
ensure accountability and to regain
taxpayer trust.
Oregon has a proud tradition of
innovative thinking and bipartisan
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
America is being
Tim White is a
destroyed from within different candidate
USPS 226-340
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leadership in health care policy. Since
the advent of the Oregon Health Plan
in the 1980s, to expanding access to
health care for low-income children,
through the launch of coordinated
care organizations and allowing the
sale of over-the-counter birth control
for women, Oregon has been a health
care policy leader. Unfortunately,
under Gov. Brown’s watch, this leg-
acy is in tatters. More important, the
health of Oregonians who rely on
health care services is at risk. Every
dollar wasted on a failed computer
system or overpayment to a provider
is a dollar that can’t be spent provid-
ing health care to Oregonians. That’s
the biggest scandal of all.
The health care safety net we pro-
vide Oregonians through Medicaid
is vital. As governor, I will work to
make health care more accessible and
more affordable. That’s my commit-
ment to you. But first, we must save
our Medicaid system from the failed
leadership of Gov. Brown. We must
ensure overpayments to providers
are returned, we must investigate
how this happened and why, we must
make needed reforms to prevent fu-
ture waste and we must recapture
Oregon’s commitment to bipartisan
innovation in health care policy. Ore-
gonians deserve better than the failing
status quo.
Knute Buehler is a state represen-
tative and orthopedic surgeon from
Bend. He is running for the Republi-
can nomination for governor.
To the Editor:
To the world, America was a bea-
con of light, giving hope, prosperity
and freedom to all who came to the
shores of this great nation.
Today, Americans watch our
statues being removed in most of
the Southern states. Some claim
these people were slave owners and
should not be seen by the public, yet
most, if not all, were Christians.
History shows us that the North-
ern states had as many or more black
slaves than the Southern states, and
the Northern states were taxing the
South 20 percent. Lincoln was going
to add another 20 percent tax, which
would have bankrupted the south.
Most people learned from our
past by studying history, but this is
a movement. It is not about slavery
in America; it’s about eliminating
Christianity, and anything that resem-
bles Christianity. Ignorance in our
country is at its lowest level when it
comes to American history. Our pub-
lic schools used to teach civics; then
they changed to teaching Social Stud-
ies some years ago.
If slavery was an issue, then the
first slave owner in America was a
black tobacco farmer named Antho-
ny Johnson. North Carolina’s larg-
est slave holder in 1860 was a black
plantation owner named William
Ellison. American Indians owned
thousands of black slaves, and in
1830 there were 3,775 free black
people who owned 12,740 black
slaves.
Where do you think the term
“red neck” came from? It came from
white slaves in America. Read the
book “They Were White and They
Were Slaves.” If you think Lincoln
was so great, read the book “The Real
Lincoln,” by Dilorenzo, and another
book, “Lincoln’s Marxists.”
Communism started in 1848, and
was an issue in the Civil War. Karl
Marx supported Lincoln because he
pushed for a centralized government,
which enacted the nation’s first per-
sonal income tax.
The Rev. Duane L. Wildie
Roseville
To the Editor:
I’m writing in support of a dif-
ferent sort of candidate for Oregon’s
Second Congressional District — dif-
ferent because of his independence
from party dogma and a real desire
to see real benefit to the residents of
our district. His name is Tim White,
and if you examine his positions,
you’ll find that he doesn’t conform
to the “identity politics,” which Steve
Bannon rightly identified as the Dem-
ocrats’ vulnerability. Yes, he is in full
support of ensuring the rights of all
of us, whether we are of a racial mi-
nority, LGBTQ, female or male and
especially those of us in the working
middle class who have been left be-
hind in times of economic boom.
More importantly, he believes
we must stop the wave of undoing
the progress our country has made
on many fronts. Our health care sys-
tem needs to be fixed, not discarded.
Tim believes the ACA deficiencies
can be fixed if our representatives
would work together and stop the
partisan bickering. Our Veterans Ad-
ministration is in trouble, leaving our
heroic military veterans in a sea of
paperwork and bureaucratic delays.
Tim believes we can do better by
providing adequate funding for facil-
ities and staff and by holding the VA
management accountable. Remem-
ber the economic ditch we were in
during 2007 and 2008? The GOP is
now proposing to gut the protections
put in place to prevent a recurrence of
that mess — eliminate Dodd-Frank
and the supervisory authority of the
Consumer Protection Agency.
So, it’s time for Greg Walden to
retire. Can I honestly say Oregon’s
Second District is on a stronger eco-
nomic footing than that of 18 years
ago? Are our veterans being better
served? Has Walden introduced any
legislation of substance during his
tenure? I believe the answer to each
of these three questions is no. And I
think we need someone who will tru-
ly represent us.
Take a look at Tim White. I think
you’ll find that he will more than
measure up on both counts. Visit his
website at timwhiteoregoncd2.com
for discussions on key issues and how
you can support his candidacy.
Gerry Mueller
Bend
Rural community
commitment inspiring
To the Editor:
There are many ways to give back
to one’s community including engag-
ing in careers of service, volunteer-
ing, donating to causes, participating
in community events and generally
being aware of issues and resources
in the community.
Since I started in my new role
with Grant-Harney County CASA
(Court Appointed Special Advo-
cates), I have frequently heard that in
the small communities we serve, the
same individuals and businesses are
asked repeatedly to volunteer with
and donate to all of the various events
and organizations in the area.
This is because in many ways our
counties have a higher need for ser-
vices than ever before. In 2011, there
were 45 children in the state’s care in
our program’s jurisdiction, and the
number has risen to 76 today. Yet, we
have even more limited resources to
provide these services to each child
in need.
The commitment of so many
people to contribute to the health
and well-being of our communities,
regardless of these challenges, is in-
spiring and one reason rural commu-
nities remain so strong. Without the
support of our advocates, volunteer
board members, donors, professional
community partners and event volun-
teers, sponsors and participants, we
would not be able to do the work we
do advocating for the best interests of
abused and neglected children in the
court system.
Moreover, we know that we are
just one of the many recipients of the
ways you give to your community. As
I pause and reflect this Thanksgiving
season, this gives me a deep sense of
gratitude for my community.
Hannah Hinman
Executive director
Grant-Harney County CASA