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The INDEPENDENT, March 17, 2011
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Mentor Noni Andersen
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes
Opinion
How to help the Japanese
Many have been riveted to the news about the 8.9
earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Seeing pictures of
all the destruction and reading about the number of
deaths and injuries is heart wrenching.
If you want to send money to the Japanese tsunami
relief effort, be sure your money actually gets there and
helps someone. Read the article on page 1 about
scams already occurring to get money that does NOT
end up in Japan.
Many good agencies can use your help, however.
One that does good work and is based in Portland, is
Mercy Corps. Working with their Japanese partner,
Peace Winds, they are setting up “balloon shelters”
that can house 600 people, and sending emergency
tents, water, food and blankets. To get updates from
Mercy Corps, you can text “corps” to 30644.
You can also text “redcross” to 90999 to make a $10
donation to the American Red Cross, text “japan” or
“quake” to 80888 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army.
To get $10 to World Vision, text “4japan” to 20222.
Don’t know how to text donations, but want to send
money? Be sure to verify that the charity is registered
with the state. Get the name, address and telephone
number of the organization. Ask exactly how the mon-
ey will be used. Ask what percentage of contributions
will actually be spent on the stated purpose.
Oregon Attorney General John Kroger has a lot of
good information on his website about charitable dona-
tions and organizations. Go to http://www.doj.state.
or.us/charigroup/index.shtml for tips, a charity data-
base, and information on how much of the money col-
lected by each charity passes on to those it is designat-
ed to help.
The only thing Japan and Vernonia’s Flood of 2007
have in common is that, in both cases, recovery will
take years. If you can, consider a monthly amount to
help over a longer time frame.
To allay fears: Oregon Emergency Management
says there is no cause for concern about radiation from
the Japan nuclear powerplants reaching us here. No
one is being advised to take precautionary measures
and we are advised not to take any anti-radiation drugs
as they can do more harm than good.
— NOTICE —
The INDEPENDENT publishes on the first and third Thursday
of each month. Because March has five Thursdays, there will be
three weeks before the next issue, on April 7, 2011.
The deadline for the April 7 issue is Friday, April 1.
Out of My Mind…
by Noni Andersen
Many people think
“economics” is too com-
plex for the average per-
son. It really isn’t, but
there are two very impor-
tant economic facts that
should be clarified:
1. Social Security did
not create the deficit.
The federal deficit was
created by increased spending on two wars and
Medicare Part D, while reducing income with big
tax cuts for the wealthy (in 2001 and 2003).
Since the GOP needed to obscure their fiscal
irresponsibility, and have long wanted to “priva-
tize” Social Security, a dual purpose is served by
describing Social Security as a “budget busting
entitlement”. This is a lie, not a misunderstanding.
Social Security does not, and never has con-
tributed to the federal deficit. Surplus Social Se-
curity funds have been used to help pay for wars
in Vietnam, Iraq, etc., but it is essential to note
that the funds have been repaid on schedule.
Like other pension funds, the trustees invest sur-
plus funds to increase its value, but – unlike oth-
er pension funds – the money doesn’t go to Wall
Street. It is loaned to the federal government and
is repaid in the same way as a loan from China.
Does this provide a clue as to why the GOP
wants to “privatize” Social Security?
An adjustment is needed to keep Social Secu-
rity healthy and reliable beyond 2035 (The last
one was in 1984.). The easiest way to do that is
to increase the top wage level to whatever the
actuarial tables indicate is needed for the time
span used. Currently, the tax is paid on the first
$106,800 a taxpayer earns in a year, and nothing
on additional earnings. The loudly touted “need”
to increase the retirement age or decrease the
benefit is another lie.
2. Public employees did not cause the re-
cession.
The recession was caused by greed. Already
wealthy people (not all, just the greedy ones) and
corporations wanted more, more, and more, so
they contributed money to politicians for design-
er tax havens, and to weaken or eliminate regu-
lations that interfered with their previously illegal
financial transactions. These nearly valueless
transactions, in conjunction with unaffordable
sub-prime mortgages (which should also have
been illegal), caused the Wall Street crash and
the recession.
State pension funds are invested in Wall
Street and lost value in the same way as those of
individuals who invested their 401Ks in mutual
funds or stocks. The loss of value didn’t eliminate
a state’s legally contracted pension obligations,
however. The pensions are deferred compensa-
tion for services rendered, and must still be paid,
which means a state may need to use funds that
had been budgeted for other, non-contract ex-
penses.
According to many of TV’s talking heads, So-
cial Security and public employee pensions harm
the economy, and must be cut in order to “share
Please see page 3