Page 20
The INDEPENDENT, May 21, 2009
Letters
To Your Health!
From page 18
posed LNG terminals.
The state Attorney General
has weighed in on this bill, say-
ing it will have a “profound im-
pact on property rights” – and
seizure – in Oregon. Political
groups on both ends of the
spectrum oppose this bill. Witt
managed to get it through the
first step of the legislative
process; you might want to let
him know what you think of his
action.
Witt’s second bill is HB2470,
“Relating to Dogs”. It’s an at-
tempt to fix the fact that dog
kennels in Oregon are essen-
tially unregulated at the state
level. You might think this is a
good idea…but wait till you see
the details.
This bill allows breeders to
have 50 sexually intact dogs
that are two years of age or old-
er. They can have an unlimited
number of younger dogs, but
they have to keep some
records about them. They also
can have an unlimited number
of dogs that are not sexually in-
tact. Even these limits don’t ap-
ply to boarding kennels – they
can have an unlimited number,
as long as the average stay at
the facility is less than 30 days.
The bill does require that a fa-
cility that has 75 dogs have one
person on site for 8 hours each
day!
I love dogs – we currently
have two rescue Great Danes.
But the thought of 75 dogs liv-
ing next door, with only one
person there for 8 hours a day,
terrifies me. This bill is worse
than useless. It will specifically
legalize these kennels, making
it harder for neighbors to pre-
vent new ones or fight abuses
caused by existing ones. In Co-
lumbia Co., as anyone who’s
followed the five year saga of
the local kennel ordinance
knows, there is essentially no
kennel regulation.
Witt can be reached at 1-
503-986-1431; rep.bradwitt@
state.or.us .
Pat Zimmerman
Scappoose
Dealerships are not
manufacturer’s cost
To the Editor:
For several months we have
been bombarded with informa-
tion about the future of General
Motors and Chrysler. Every
source of media has had a
hand in disseminating this sub-
ject. During all this activity one
misconception has been re-
peated so many times that it
has been mistakenly accepted
as the truth. From many re-
spected news publications, to
the President’s Auto Task
Force to the person who watch-
es the news in the morning
over a cup of coffee have all
bought into this notion that
dealers create a cost burden to
the manufacturers. This is un-
true and harmful to our nation’s
franchised automobile dealers
who are in actuality independ-
ent business owners just like
the mom and pop stores in your
neighborhood.
VERNONIA INN
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The President’s Auto Task
Force is relying on this miscon-
ception to force even more rap-
id dealer reductions at GM and
Chrysler. These dealers do not
create a cost burden to the
manufacturer, in fact they are
the first step to profitability. Our
nation’s new car dealers pro-
vide the manufacturer more
than 90 percent of their rev-
enue each year, and drive com-
petitive pricing in the market-
place. The dealerships in your
neighborhood are not manufac-
turer owned, they are privately
owned by people who pay for
the land, building, payroll for
their employees, every single
car you see on the lot, and
even the big manufacturer sign
out front. Essentially, dealer-
ships buy their cars from the
manufacturer the same way
you buy your car from a dealer-
ship.
By allowing this misconcep-
tion to go on, the risk is adding
more people without jobs to an
already surmounting unem-
ployment number. Our nation’s
GM and Chrysler dealerships
today employ almost 500,000
people and the Task Force pro-
posals would require GM and
Chrysler to eliminate as many
as 3,600 dealerships and al-
most 190,000 jobs.
The bottom line is that clos-
ing dealerships is ineffective in
solving GM and Chrysler’s
problems. Conversely, this will
negatively affect thousands of
people right here in Oregon
and across the nation, from
these independent businesses,
to their employees, from the
vendors that serve them, to the
communities they support. Our
nation does not need further
erosion of employment, it
needs recovery.
Greg Remensperger
Executive Vice President
Oregon Auto Dealers Ass’n
From page 8
spirit, commitment and integrity of Laura Nichols, PA-C. Imper-
sonal care, fast-paced clinics and 10-minute visits have the oppo-
site outcome. I believe, and research has demonstrated, that pa-
tients are healthier, more compliant and motivated when they
have a good relationship with their healthcare provider and conti-
nuity of care. Let’s hope that more providers recognize the part of
practicing the art of medicine that makes it rewarding and about
the patient, not just the bottom line. We can only hope for more
Lauras in the world and Health Providers who are committed to
healthcare based on genuine concerns for a patient’s well-being
instead of “bottom line” medicine.
As usual, we welcome your questions and feedback. You can
contact us at To Your Health c/o The Independent or, you can
email us at health @the-independent.net.
Reference: Is “Busy” Good by Jean Antonucci, MD.
Salem Scene
From page 3
will be increased over the life of
the tires, fuel consumption and
exhaust will be reduced and
environmental benefits en-
hanced without unduly burden-
ing either tire distributors or
consumers.
I am pleased to report that I
have already begun meeting
with the bill’s proponents to be-
gin erecting
sideboards
around the bill’s tire and sever-
al other provisions. To date, the
discussions have been very
encouraging.
Attention Veterans...
Hearings have been held for
HB 3480, which authorizes the
Oregon Military Department to
make payments to members of
the Oregon National Guard
who were exposed to hexava-
lent chromium while serving at
the Qarmat Ali water treatment
plant in Basra, Iraq, in 2003.
Hexavalent chromium is a
known carcinogen, and several
soldiers have fallen ill because
of it.
Approximately 286 soldiers
from the 1st Battalion, 162nd
Division, have been notified by
letter of the exposure and its
hazards, however fewer than
20 guardsmen have respond-
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Buying unwanted vehicles with clear title
ed, and 40 letters were re-
turned unopened. Some of
these soldiers came from the
St. Helens, Hillsboro, Gresham
and McMinnville areas. If you
know of anyone who served at
that time in Basra, Iraq, please
pass this information along to
them. An article that ran in The
Oregonian that more fully de-
scribes the urgency of this situ-
ation, is available on the Inter-
net at: http://www.oregonlive.
com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/or
egon_veteran_disabled_by_ira
.html
Revenue Forecast...
The Legislature received the
May 15th revenue forecast, the
report that serves as the basis
for the state budget. It showed
that we have $4.2 billion less
than the amount needed to
maintain services such as ed-
ucation, health care and public
safety at their current level. The
legislature will have to use
$351 million dollars from state
reserves to balance the current
budget, which has only six
weeks remaining, meaning
there will be less in savings to
patch a hole of over $3.8 bil-
lion for the next budget. The
state legislature, unlike the fed-
eral government, must pass a
balanced budget. This means
that any shortfall must be filled
either with cuts or more rev-
enue. To fill the current short-
fall of around 25% will take a
balanced approach of mostly
cuts, our state reserves and
asking big corporations and
households
making
over
$250,000 a year to contribute a
little bit more. I will keep you
posted as we gather more in-
formation.