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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2019)
A4 OPINION Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, June 5, 2019 SB 870 should be decided by Oregon voters T here is great irony in a legislative proposal to embrace the Na- tional Popular Vote, which would change how Oregon helps elect our nation’s president. Senate Bill 870 would require that Oregon’s votes in the Electoral College be cast for whomever wins the national popular vote for president, regardless of the election outcome in Oregon. The bill’s backers say they believe in “one person, one vote.” However, they are ada- mant against letting voters make that change through a ballot measure. Instead, they insist the Legislature do so. The bill passed the Senate on a 17-12 vote and passed out of the House Rules Com- mittee on a party-line vote with no discussion. It was scheduled for a vote on the House fl oor Tuesday. The Oregon House passed similar bills 2009, 2013 and 2015, only to see the legis- lation disappear in the Sen- ate. Last time, supporters of the National Popular Vote refused to accept a compro- mise offered by Senate Pres- ident Peter Courtney, D-Sa- lem, to send the proposal to voters. This year, advocates started in the Senate, where the increased number of lib- eral Democratic senators ensured passage of SB 870. Our nation’s founders cre- ated a process in which elec- tors — now referred to as the Electoral College, a term that does not appear in the Constitution — choose the president and vice presi- dent. This arrangement was an 18th century compromise between Congress’ elect- ing the president and having the people do so. It also gave a greater voice to smaller states, although advocates of the National Popular Vote say that no longer applies. The Electoral College has proved controversial, to say the least. Through the cen- turies, more than 700 pro- posals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral Col- lege. The impetus stems in large part from fi ve presi- dents — including two of the past three — losing the pop- ular vote but winning the presidency via the Electoral College. That is how Republicans Donald Trump and George W. Bush came to occupy the White House instead of Democrats Hillary Clin- ton in 2016 and Al Gore in 2000. The other three, in case you’re wondering, are pres- idents Benjamin Harrison (1888), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876) and John Quincy Adams (1824). State Sen. Betsy John- son, D-Scappoose, recalled that recent history in urging her fellow senators, unsuc- cessfully, to send the issue to voters. “There are two words not mentioned in Senate Bill 870: Donald Trump. In my opinion, he’s the reason the National Popular Vote has caught on so aggressively of late,” Johnson said. “If we’re going to end an historic insti- tution, let it be prompted by something loftier than dislike for one particular president. “Let regular voters make that decision, not the Legislature.” Johnson, Courtney and Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, voted against the bill. Two Republicans voted for it: Brian Boquist of Dallas and Chuck Thomsen of Hood River. SB 870 would add Oregon to the 14 states, plus the Dis- trict of Columbia, that have adopted the “Interstate Com- pact for Agreement Among the States to Elect the Pres- ident by National Popular Vote.” If Oregon joined, partic- ipating jurisdictions would have a collective total of 196 electoral votes. The compact will become legally bind- ing once enough more states have joined to reach an Elec- toral College majority: 270 votes. The Electoral College comprises 538 electors. Each state has as many electors as it does U.S. senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives, giving Oregon seven electors. And under the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution, the Dis- trict of Columbia is allocated three electors. Like most other states, Oregon has required its elec- tors to cast their Electoral College ballots for whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote in their own state, regardless of what hap- pened nationally. Feelings run strong on both sides of the issue. Advo- cates of the National Popular Vote consider the Electoral College an anachronism from an era in which the white male elite made all the deci- sions. They contend the cur- rent system disenfranchises members of political minori- ties — for example, Republi- cans in Oregon, Democrats in Idaho — because such states are predictably blue or red in presidential races. Opponents warn that Americans should be very wary of tinkering with the U.S. Constitution, even in a roundabout way. They say the change would make it even less likely that presiden- tial candidates would person- ally campaign in Oregon or other small states. In any case, this is an issue that deserves to be decided by Oregon’s 2,783,496 registered voters, not 90 legislators. Blue Mountain EAGLE Published every Wednesday by FARMER’S FATE Make someone dance a jig “Buy Local Buy Homemade Buy from People You Know Buy from Self-Employed When you buy from a small business, an actual person dances a little jig at each sale. Big stores don’t ‘jig’ when they make a sale. Make someone ‘jig’ today — buy local!” hat a great sign, I thought, as I pulled out my notebook to scrib- ble down the message. I am sure most self-employed people feel the same way. Each time a load of hay drives out of the stack yard, or a load of melons heads to the gro- cery store, or something we have crafted sells at the local market, you can be sure it makes supper time conversation that night. I can’t remember how long ago I jotted down the words on that sign, but the sentiment has taken hold in our family vernacular. Such as “I know it’s a couple of dol- lars more, but it’ll make some- one dance a jig” or “I think we just made someone dance a jig.” I’m often very ... um ... let’s say frugal with money. So my natural inclination is to go where I can get the best deal — but over time, the personal relationships you make when buying local often turn out to make it a deal that can’t be beat — making us both dance jigs — because it isn’t just money transac- tions that create jig dancing. On a recent trip south, a com- plete stranger made my husband dance an unexpected jig. We had spent a few days in Mexico before deciding to surprise our kids with a couple days at Disneyland. A mag- ical place where adults can relive their childhood, kids can meet their favorite storybook characters and just breathing in the delicious scents seems to debit your bank W strangers? My husband danced a jig the rest of the evening. A week later we were back home, a little worse for wear as our trip had been maybe packed with a little too much stuff and not enough sleep. We were all sick, and not a tissue in sight. Too soon our noses looked like we were run- ning competition with Rudolph. Then came an Amazon package in the mail. Inside a four-pack of Puffs with lotion — my favor- ite type of tissue from a friend in North Carolina. Dancing may not cure the common cold — but it put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. Dancing a jig doesn’t have to be as expensive as a Disney- land cookie. It could be as sim- ple as a letter and stamp. I recently received a letter from a reader in Mt. Vernon that made me “jig” all afternoon. The writer said he looked for- ward to reading both my column and “Life on a Ranch” by Chel- sea Matthews. He then went on to address my comment that I had always expected “blonde, Pinter- est-loving, tractor-driving girls” and instead had loud, messy, ador- able boys. In nearly the same issue, Chelsea had been out calving when she came back to a homecooked meal her daughter had found on Pinterest. The reader then sug- gested that perhaps Chelsea and I do a “kid-swap-camp.” Her kids would become tractor drivers, and mine would learn the cattle side of ag! He closed the letter: “I am anx- ious for each issue to watch your two families grow through the years to come.” Think local. Think commu- nity. Think about making someone dance a jig. Brianna Walker occasionally writes about the Farmer’s Fate for the Blue Mountain Eagle. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Veterans deserve Memorial Day recognition To the Editor: Memorial Day is special to all Americans with the display of fl ags in cemeteries and on veter- ans’ graves. The front page photo in the Blue Mountain Eagle of Prairie City’s cemetery was beau- tiful, as is Canyon City cemetery. There are veteran graves that do not have a military marker and are sometimes missed having a fl ag because volunteers are not personally aware of the individu- al’s military service. This is unfor- tunate for the veteran and a family member or friend that visits the site on Memorial Day. It is my understanding that several years ago both Ameri- can Legion posts in John Day and Prairie City acquired small stain- less steel stars to mount at the base of headstones to denote mil- itary service on those not oth- erwise identifi ed. Prairie City Legion post has done that, but John Day Legionnaires have yet to do so. I wonder why the stars have not been set on grave bases for those veterans that are not identifi ed as such? If help is needed, perhaps a Publisher............ ......................................Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com Reporter ...................................................Richard Hanners, rick@bmeagle.com Community News .................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com Sports ........................................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com Administrative Assistant ..................Makenna Adair, offi ce@bmeagle.com Offi ce Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, offi ce@bmeagle.com day could be picked, and volun- teers could place the stars where needed. All our veterans should be recognized with a fl ag on Memo- rial Day. It is the least we can do for their service for our country. Dave Traylor John Day ‘Is this what they fought and died for?’ To the Editor: I just received the latest publi- cation of Imprimis from Hillsdale College, which featured “Sacred Duty: A Soldier’s Tour at Arling- ton National Cemetery,” com- piled by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton from Arkansas. My attention was immediately captured by the fi rst paragraph “Every headstone,” which described how the minia- ture American fl ags were placed at the graves in Arlington Ceme- tery. Only one soldier is allowed to place the fl ag on a row for con- formity due to boot size. The fl ag is placed one boot length from the head stone, and the length cannot vary for the full row. The article went on to give the history of the “Old Guard,” which was the oldest active duty infantry regiment in the Army 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION account. We have made this trip multiple times with our old- est son — and he knew exactly which land he wanted to Brianna visit fi rst and which Walker rides he wanted Fastpasses for. Our youngest son has only been there once, and it was a bit overwhelm- ing to him. He found the kid rides “too dark,” “too loud” and “too scary.” Meanwhile, my oldest just wanted to ride the biggest ones again and again and again. So we decided to divide and conquer. I headed to the roller coaster with my speed-obsessed boy, while my husband headed out with the stroller to fi nd something “not dark, not loud, not scary” to do. The breeze picked up, and my hus- band maneuvered the stroller into a side area, and started rummag- ing around in the bottom of it for sweatshirts. “Excuse me sir, are you in line for the cookies?” a woman’s voice asked. My husband looked up to see he had stopped in front of a fresh cookie hut. “Oh, sorry, no,” he said, trying to pull the stroller out of the way. “I didn’t even real- ize there were cookies there,” he laughed, “but feel free to pick one up for me.” The lady moved around him, and he fi nally got the shirts out and had just fi nished putting one on our son, when a man tapped his shoulder. “Here ya go. My wife got you a cookie.” The man handed my hus- band a plate, and then quickly the couple walked away. Leaving my husband holding a giant, warm, chocolate-oozing cookie. As if buying Disney food wasn’t expen- sive enough, buying it for total Grant County .........................................$45 Everywhere else in U.S. .......................$57 Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60 Online: BlueMountainEagle.com Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery Periodicals Postage Paid at John Day and additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER send address changes to: Blue Mountain Eagle 195 N. Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845-1187 USPS 226-340 Phone: 541-575-0710 dating back to 1784 and nick- named “the old guard” in 1847. They have served in every war in our history and remain the only unit in the Army autho- rized to march with bayonets fi xed to their rifl es in honor of their forerunners’ bravery at Cerro Gordo. Since 1948, the Old Guard became the Army’s ceremonial unit and offi - cial escort to the president at ceremonies. The article is full of fascinat- ing history, and the fi nal com- ment tells a lamentable story: While attempting to explain the history with a foreign mili- tary leader, Sgt. Maj. Dan Dailey said that the foreign leader stood looking out the window at all those headstones and, after a long pause, commented, “Now I know why your soldiers fi ght so hard. You take better care of your dead than we do our living.” Then I think about all of our homeless vets, second-rate health care, dishonored by small-minded football players and the under-ed- ucated younger generation, the attempt to dishonor the U.S. Con- stitution whose rights they took an oath to defend, and ask myself, “Is this what they fought and died for?” Judy Kerr Canyon City Copyright © 2019 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. facebook.com/MyEagleNews @MyEagleNews