A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
We know too little
about governor’s
tax, spending plans
I
f the Oregon Legislature
intends to pass tax and
spending reforms in 2019,
the work should have begun
months ago.
That was the message from
veteran legislators at the recent
Oregon Leadership Summit. It
echoed what Gov. Kate Brown
and legislative leaders said in
June: In the 2019 Legislature,
focus on structural budget and
tax reforms.
Yet Brown told the
Leadership Summit this month
that she wanted to achieve such
reforms a year earlier — in the
2018 Legislature. She said her
staff was working on “options
to solve the structural deficit
issues Oregon faces, not just for
the short term but for the long
term.”
With that 35-day legislative
session starting in February,
Brown has yet to show her
hand.
Which reinforces why
four veteran legislators —
Democrats and Republicans
— were skeptical about the
state soon being able to make
progress on tax and spending
reforms.
The four lawmakers steered
the massive transportation-
finance plan through this year’s
Legislature. The Democrats
— Springfield Sen. Lee
Beyer and Coos Bay Rep.
Caddy McKeown — chaired
the special transportation
committee. The Republicans
— Dallas Sen. Brian Boquist
and Ontario Rep. Cliff Bentz —
served as vice chairs.
Their collaborative success
might provide a guide for
handling revenue and budget
reform, which is why the
summit’s organizers asked them
to speak. Yet the lawmakers
warned that financial reform
would be far more complicated,
difficult and potentially divisive
than the state’s transportation
package, far-reaching as it was.
Three approaches were key
to the transportation plan:
First, the four legislators
operated as a bipartisan
leadership team, instead of
the Democrats controlling
the outcome. The four trusted
and respected each other,
even when they disagreed,
sometimes vehemently.
That team approach
recognized political practicality
— the majority Democrats
would need minority
Republicans’ votes for passage.
Widespread bipartisan support
also would deter critics
from trying to overturn the
transportation plan through a
voter referendum.
That approach also reflected
the leadership quartet’s
commitment to a transportation
plan that would overcome
ideological and geographical
differences. Maybe it’s
noteworthy that three of
the four came from rural
regions; none represented the
Portland metro area; none was
considered an ideologue.
Second, the negotiations
involved months of work —
or years, if you count past
iterations of transportation
plans.
Third, everyone had a
say. Scores of individuals
and interest groups from
throughout Oregon participated
in workgroups. They could not
reasonably claim they had not
been heard.
In contrast, the 2018
Legislature is only weeks
away and Oregonians know
little about the governor’s
and legislative leaders’ plans
for genuine tax and spending
reforms. We are not filled with
hope.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
That didn’t go as planned
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Bad decisions make great stories
— and this was a whopper. I kneeled
over our bathtub, pulling pieces of
epoxy paint out of the clogged drain.
Years ago, when my husband and
I were first married, our bathroom
sported a colorful collection of Pep-
to-Bismol pink fixtures and sea foam
green tile and floor.
One day while he was on a hay
run to the other side of the state, I
installed a new white toilet, setting
the old pink one on the lawn to greet
my husband upon his return. Later,
while he was again hauling hay, I
enlisted my mom’s support, and we
sent the pink sink to ugly appliance
heaven. The big, pink cast iron tub,
however, seemed a little bit more
daunting. I stood in the hardware
store admiring the sleek, white fi-
berglass ones, knowing they were
well out of my realm of expertise.
How to get the old one out seemed
the most problematic — my hus-
band would love to help with house
repairs — if they were “income
generating projects.” Unfortunate-
ly, I haven’t been too successful
with installing a “pay bathroom.”
Then I saw it. On the end of the
bathtubs display I found a box of
epoxy paint for toilets, sinks and
bathtubs. I picked it up. I felt my
tub dilemma slipping away under a
lovely coat of white paint.
“Don’t do it,” a voice behind me
said.
I turned to see a general contrac-
tor friend of ours. He warned me
that I wouldn’t be
happy with the end
results for long, as
he had never seen
one that lasted more
than a few years.
I listened, and my
Brianna
brain heard, “It’ll
Walker
last a few years —
and then perhaps
you will have had time to figure out
how to encourage your husband to
help you install a new one.”
A half-baked idea is OK — as
long as it’s still cooking in the oven.
But I pulled that idea right out and
bought it. Within days, I had a love-
ly white tub — which lasted almost
a year. Then came the “peel and
plug” stage, which left us with the
only thing uglier than a Pepto-Bis-
mol tub — a Pepto-Bismol tub with
a little milk of magnesia thrown in!
It was a great example of a bad idea.
My mind contains many good
ideas — but sometimes my brain
forgets to tell me which is which
when it squeezes them out. My
1-year-old enjoys sitting in front
of steering wheels pretending to
drive. He’ll pull the key out and put
it back in, push and pull every light
and button, until the windshield
wipers are going crazy, the hazard
lights are flashing and the radio is
blaring some horrible station.
One evening while waiting to
load a hay truck, he was playing
in the front seat of my Jeep. In the
dark, with the top down, I could
imagine the keys being thrown out-
side and lost into the sea of goat
heads. I figured they would be safer
with me. The risk I took was calcu-
lated — but, boy, I must be bad at
math! My Jeep sat in that same lo-
cation for nearly two weeks before
we finally found the keys — the
keys that I had so carefully taken
away so the baby didn’t lose them.
You are always one decision
away from a different life. It’s
amazing how even the smallest
of decisions can change your life.
When my oldest son was learning
how to talk, he said “Daddee” for
almost a year before he said “Mom-
ma.” I told my husband it was my
turn this time to be first. And you
know? The worse you want some-
thing, the worse you get it. I said
every variation of mommy imagin-
able to my littlest son. And then one
day he said it “maMA.” I clapped in
delight, he’d said “Momma” before
“Daddy.” He pointed at his ther-
mos, then at me and said, “maMA.”
It was a beautiful moment. Then he
pointed at his snacks, and later his
toys, each time saying the glorious
word “maMA.” That was in the
morning.
By that evening, it was “maMA,
maMA,” getting louder each time
if he thought I didn’t jump fast
enough.
By the end of the week, he was
relishing his own personal assistant,
and I was begging him to say “Dad-
dy.” They say everything happens
for a reason — but sometimes that
reason is that you are stupid and
make bad decisions.
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
G UEST C OMMENT
Children need health care
By Sen. Jeff Merkley
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
W HERE TO W RITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-
575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax:
541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-
575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityoflong-
creek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025.
Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax:
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: www.
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol,
Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180.
Website: www. leg.state.or.us (includes
Oregon Constitution and Oregon Revised
Statutes).
• State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario (Dis-
trict: 60), Room H-475, State Capitol, 900
Court St. N.E., Salem OR 97301. Phone:
503-986-1460. Email: rep.cliffbentz@state.
or.us. Website: www.leg.state.or.us/bentz/
home.htm.
This year has been one of stark
partisanship, with rhetoric from
both sides of the aisle seeking to
stress differences between Dem-
ocrats and Republicans. But one
thing I thought we all could agree
on is that we need to do everything
we can to look out for our children.
I see our responsibility and mission
as legislators — and the core pur-
pose of our Constitution — as en-
suring children have safe spaces,
full bellies and good health.
That’s why I am outraged that
the majority in Congress has re-
fused to act to renew the Children’s
Health Insurance Program, com-
monly referred to as CHIP. For 20
years the program, with strong bi-
partisan support, has ensured that
no children fall through the cracks
of our health care system. It pro-
vides states with funding to cover
health care expenses for children
whose families have incomes too
high to qualify for Medicaid, but
too low to afford expensive private
coverage.
Oregon’s CHIP program, called
Oregon Healthy Kids, last year
helped more than 140,000 Oregon
children access health care. Thanks
to CHIP, 85 children from Grant
County— that’s 7 percent of chil-
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............................... M ARISSA W ILLIAMS , MARISSA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITOR .................................... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
R EPORTER ............................... R ICHARD H ANNERS , RICK @ BMEAGLE . COM
C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE A SSISTANT .................... A LIXANDRA P ERKINS , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
dren in the county — this year have
been able to access check-ups, im-
munizations, dental care, doctors’
visits and other important health
care services.
Funding for CHIP expired on
Sept. 30, 2017, because Congress
failed to extend funding for the pro-
gram. Every single state in America
— 50 out of 50 states — has a CHIP
program. Oregon, along with five
other states, will run out of CHIP
money this month. Another 25
states will run out of CHIP money
in the first three months of 2018.
It is completely unacceptable
that the Congressional majority al-
lowed CHIP to expire — and it’s
even more outrageous that they’ve
waited 88 days and counting to re-
authorize it.
Right now there is a bipartisan
bill ready and waiting to be brought
to the Senate floor. It would ex-
tend the Children’s Health Insur-
ance Program through 2022. It was
passed by the Finance Committee
with unanimous support. The Sen-
ate could take up that bill right now
and pass it. So what’s the holdup?
Why is health care for our children
being disrupted?
The answer makes my blood
boil: It is a pawn in cynical polit-
ical machinations. The majority
leadership in Congress is using the
health and well-being of scores of
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County .....................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Email: www.MyEagleNews.com Phone: 541-575-0710
children in Grant County and 9 mil-
lion children across the country as
a bargaining chip. Instead of taking
up this bipartisan bill, they’re hold-
ing it hostage to try to win conces-
sions in budget negotiations. The
most the majority is willing to give
our children is a paltry three-month
extension of the program that was
included in a continuing appropri-
ations bill. Three months is unac-
ceptable; we need to create stability
and reliability for our children by
reauthorizing this program for years
to come.
The holidays are around the cor-
ner, and no parents should have to
worry at this time of year that an ill-
ness or injury could endanger their
child’s life or family’s finances. I
am urging my Senate colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to urgently
prioritize issues that are essential to
working folks — like ensuring the
children who rely on CHIP can keep
getting the care they need.
There is no reason I can see that
we shouldn’t be able to agree that
protecting health care for 9 million
children across the country is an
absolute top priority. That is our
responsibility. That should be our
mission. We must get it done. Nine
million American children are wait-
ing.
Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, is a
United States senator for Oregon.
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
Day and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Copyright © 2017 Blue Mountain Eagle
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication covered by the copyright
hereon may be reproduced or
copied in any form or by any means
— graphic, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, taping or
information storage and retrieval
systems — without written
permission of the publisher.
www.facebook.com/MyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews