A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Trade outlook
offers glimmer of
hope for farmers
L
ast week Secretary of
Agriculture Sonny
Perdue released details of
the administration’s response to
trade damages from retaliatory
tariffs by China and other
countries.
The plan includes nearly
$4.7 billion in direct payments
to producers harmed, more than
$1.2 billion in government food
purchases and $200 million to
develop foreign markets.
It is, at best, a stop-gap
measure. Assistance checks
and government purchases are
not a replacement for stable
export markets. We urge the
administration to make good
on its campaign promises and
reach fair agreements with our
major trading partners.
American farmers and
ranchers export $135 billion
in products each year. They
have a lot riding on trade and
are feeling more than a little
nervous.
One of the central themes
of Donald Trump’s campaign
for the presidency was that
the United States was not
well served by its many trade
agreements.
It was a message that
resonated with manufacturers,
farmers, union workers and the
creators of intellectual property
— none of whom can survive
without trade, all of whom
find themselves perpetually
challenged by trade.
People have been
complaining about various
provisions in the North
American Free Trade
Agreement since the first
President Bush negotiated it
and President Clinton signed
it. China’s manipulation
of its currency and its lax
enforcement of patents have
tested administrations since
trade relations opened up
in 1979. Dealings with the
European Union and its
byzantine bureaucracy have
always been vexing.
And all of the candidates —
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders
and Trump — said they’d
pull out of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership, the big 12-party
deal among all of our big
Pacific Rim trading partners,
with the exception of China.
It should not have come
as a surprise that President
Trump sought to redress these
grievances.
What has been surprising is
that he has chosen to fight all of
our best trading partners at once.
We are out of TPP, we’ve
slapped tariffs on China and a
host of other partners, NAFTA
has been blown apart.
And while he has followed
through on his promises to
extricate the United States
from unfair trade deals, Trump
has fallen woefully short on
delivering better replacements.
There could be some
progress in the offing.
Even as Perdue was
announcing the details of the
aid package, the president was
announcing that the United
States and Mexico had reached
an agreement to replace
NAFTA. It is unclear at this
writing whether the Canadians
will join in the rewritten
agreement.
Nonetheless, the trade
situation continues to hang
heavy over farmers. They
rightfully worry that the trade
relationships they have worked
so hard to develop will be lost
if tensions are not soon eased.
Farmers and ranchers would
rather sell to trading partners
than receive cash assistance
checks.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Regarding McLeod-
Skinner and Phoenix
To the Editor:
The upcoming election for our
Second Congressional District is
important, so I would like to set the
record straight regarding some re-
cent false information that has been
made public by candidate Jamie
McLeod-Skinner. Setting the record
straight has nothing to do with Jamie
McLeod-Skinner’s political party af-
filiation.
As the mayor of the city of Phoe-
nix, Oregon, I’ve become aware of
misleading information being dis-
seminated by McLeod-Skinner in an
article in the East Oregonian news-
paper, during a radio interview and
in other areas. I have concerns for
two specific statements. Jamie Mc-
Leod-Skinner was not, as she report-
ed, “the eighth city manager of Phoe-
nix, Oregon, in seven years.” Ms.
McLeod-Skinner was the city’s third
official city manager in 11 years. She
was terminated by the Phoenix City
Council after just four months.
Ms. McLeod-Skinner accuses the
city of Phoenix of “fiscal mismanage-
ment and inappropriate use of funds.”
Ms. McLeod-Skinner publicly made
similar false claims when the city ter-
minated her employment. Of course,
the city takes such accusations ex-
tremely seriously. The city, therefore,
hired a distinguished city manager
with over 30 years of experience and
a CPA firm to investigate Ms. Mc-
Leod-Skinner’s outrageous claims.
Independent and credible experts
found McLeod-Skinner’s claims to
be unfounded.
I encourage Ms. McLeod-Skin-
ner to please stop misrepresenting
her Oregon work experience. Our
citizens and public servants deserve
better.
Please understand that, as Phoe-
nix’s mayor, I cannot emphasize
enough how the city of Phoenix has
always and will always be fully com-
mitted to open and appropriate use
of public funds entrusted to the city
by our hardworking taxpayers. My
intent is to defend Phoenix and make
the citizens of our community proud,
as indeed we are here in the wonder-
ful city of Phoenix, Oregon.
Chris Luz
Phoenix
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:
541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
• 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).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol or
messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone:
503-986-1730. Website: www.oregonlegis-
lature.gov/Bentz. Email: Sen.CliffBentz@
oregonlegislature.gov.
Editor’s note: McLeod-Skinner’s
campaign has released the follow-
ing information about Phoenix: ja-
miefororegon.com/lets-talk-about-
phoenix. City of Phoenix meeting
minutes, including the March 8,
2017, council meeting at which she
was terminated without cause, are
available at phoenixoregon.gov.
Initiative intended
for citizen protection
To the Editor:
This letter concerns the unnec-
essary court action filed concerning
the U.N.-free zone, road closures, etc.
The petition, voted on by the public
in 2002, was done with citizen pro-
tection as the intent. The procedures
and rules were followed as known at
the time.
What must be asked immediately
is who, what, when, why and what
is the objective that is not being dis-
cussed. It is obvious that there is an
agenda against the intelligent citizens
of Grant County.
The U.N.-free zone petition pro-
tects citizens from any actions of
the United Nations including water,
Wildlands Project, protection against
private property seizure and more.
The wolf is one tool of the Wildlands
Project.
Quote: “Does ... the Wildlands
Project advocate the end of industrial
civilization? Most Assuredly. Every-
thing civilized must go ...” — Editor
John Davis - UN Wildlands Project
Journal, Wild Earth. All of the pro-
cesses began with the UN “Brundt-
land Report” as a political concept to
take American soil, by hidden means.
The “objective” is to move all human
activity to the border regions. The
process: Brundtland Report 1987,
Rio Accord 1992, Sustainable Dev.
Commission 1993-1995. Executive
order No. 12858, to insert Brundt-
land Report, by many other names,
into federal, state and county poli-
cies. Noting the research time, 1987
through 2002, the petitioners were
aware of the ramifications of the im-
mense lurking danger, even though
not visible initially.
The spurious attack on your coun-
ty, property rights, via disinformation
and underhanded manipulation of cit-
izenry is criminal of itself.
The suit against all the issues must
be dismissed until evidence can be
produced and evaluated by the court.
The reason to attack the petition is
because it stands in the way of other
nefarious action coming.
Were the petition and road clo-
sure issues moot, there would be no
attempt to circumvent the will of the
citizen. One more thing, neither the
president, nor Congress, can place
treaty over the Constitution. The
material is available to anyone to
protect themselves and your county,
and probably the other 3,500 or so
counties in the United States, who
would benefit from your petitioners’
wisdom.
Robert Powell
Oregon City
Candidates
should debate
To the Editor:
This November, Grant County
residents will have an opportunity
to choose a new county commis-
sioner. During the primary election
this spring, we had several candi-
dates to choose from, and they had
a wide range of experiences and
ideas of what they had to offer us
voters.
The two candidates in the up-
coming election appear to offer a
contrast in philosophies for how
county government serves its cit-
izens, but how different are they?
In order to find out how they dif-
fer, wouldn’t it benefit us all if
they shared their views during a
public debate, hosted and mod-
erated by an independent third
party?
Each candidate could share their
vision of the role of county gov-
ernment, respond to predetermined
questions and even perhaps have
the opportunity to ask and respond
to a question or two from their op-
ponent.
Open debate has always been
an important part of the politi-
cal process to help voters make
an informed decision. I hope
the two candidates for coun-
ty commissioner provide this
opportunity.
Tim Unterwegner
John Day
G UEST C OMMENT
Don’t be misled by false ads
By Kimberly Herrmann
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Online and otherwise, there’s a
lot of information out there, and
sometimes it’s difficult to tell
what sources are credible. With
millions of people relying on So-
cial Security, scammers target au-
diences who are looking for pro-
gram and benefit information.
The law that addresses mis-
leading Social Security and Medi-
care advertising prohibits people
or non-government businesses
from using words or emblems that
mislead others. Their advertising
can’t lead people to believe that
they represent, are somehow af-
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............ ..................... C HRIS R USH , CRUSH @ EOMEDIAGROUP . COM
E DITOR & G ENERAL M ANAGER ... 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 H AND , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
filiated with or endorsed or ap-
proved by Social Security or the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services.
People are often misled by ad-
vertisers who use the terms “So-
cial Security” or “Medicare.”
Often, these companies offer So-
cial Security services for a fee,
even though the same services
are available directly from Social
Security free of charge. These ser-
vices include getting a corrected
Social Security card showing a
person’s married name; a Social
Security card to replace a lost
card; a Social Security statement;
and a Social Security number for
a child.
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
If you receive misleading infor-
mation about Social Security, send
the complete ad, including the
envelope, to Office of the Inspec-
tor General Fraud Hotline, Social
Security Administration, P.O. Box
17768, Baltimore, MD 21235.
You can learn more about how
we combat fraudulent advertisers
by reading our publication “What
You Need to Know About Mis-
leading Advertising” at socialsecu-
rity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10005.pdf.
You can also report Social Se-
curity fraud to the Office of the
Inspector General at oig.ssa.gov/
report.
Kimberly Herrmann is a Social
Security public affairs specialist.
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