The INDEPENDENT, April 7, 2011
Where to Find Them
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(Dem)
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland OR 97232
Phone: 503-326-7525
223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510-0001
Phone: 202-224-5244
E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/
contact
Website: http://wyden.senate.
gov
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
(Dem.)
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-326-3386
313 Hart Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3753
E-Mail: http://merkley.senate.
gov/contact
WebSite: http://merkley.senate.
gov
U.S. Representative David Wu
(Dem) OR District 1
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-326-2901
2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0855
Website: http://house.gov/wu
Senator Betsy Johnson
(Dem) Senate District 16
PO Box R,
Scappoose, OR 97056
Phone: 503-543-4046
900 Court St. NE, S-314
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1716
E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/johnson
Representative Brad Witt
(Dem) House District. 31
21740 Lindberg Road,
Clatskanie, OR 97016
Phone: 503-728-4664
900 Court St. NE, H-373
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1431
E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/witt
Representative Deborah
Boone
(Dem) House District 32
PO Box 926
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Phone: 503-717-9182
900 Court St. NE, H-375
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1432
E-mail: rep.deborahboone@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/boone
Page 3
Letters
Should admire and
emulate the wealthy
To the Editor:
In response to Out of My
Mind, March 17, 2011, publica-
tion.
Just another article about
someone trying to convince
themself and others the
wealthy continue to receive
government benefits. Far from
the truth the wealthy pay more
taxes and create more com-
merce than anyone that has
ever committed or wrote
against this fact. I have always
admired the wealthy and
worked hard and took financial
risk to create more wealth for
me and my family. In fact I start-
ed a business from ground zero
and at the time of selling it em-
ployed 24 individuals. Let’s talk
about greed. In my opinion
greedy are the individuals that
continue to partake in social
programs as a lifestyle and al-
ways want what the other guy
has but not taking on more re-
sponsibility or working longer
hours to create more for them-
self.
Too bad articles like this one
don’t look into the burden social
programs put on the deficit,
both locally and nationally. How
many times have you stood in
line and seen a perfectly
healthy person buying gro-
ceries with the Oregon Trail
Card and what type of food was
purchased? I bet it wasn’t the
staples; like flour, milk, beans
and such. And gone to the
emergency room or DMV and
waited to be helped lots of tax-
paying citizens hanging around
in those waiting rooms lately.
Or talked with someone that
works in a hospital maternity
ward and seen the amount of
babies being born to people
who think that healthcare is free
because they are on the Ore-
gon Health Plan.
The reference to 25 percent
American homeowners are un-
der water again is referencing
the wrong issue. It’s not the
mortgage companies fault,
people if you can’t afford it don’t
buy it. Social programs were
started to help anyone in time
of need and I still believe that is
needed but they have since be-
come a lifestyle. I will always be
grateful to my parents who
taught me if you want some-
thing work for it, if you create a
consequence pay for it. Yes I
was arrested at 17 years old.
Guess who paid for that mis-
take? I did, as my parents saw
to it I didn’t get away with any-
thing, it was my fault so I paid.
Mr. Abraham Lincoln said
once, or something close to it,
don’t take from one man’s
house to build one for another.
We need to get back to those
basic principles. This is still the
greatest nation on earth and
land of opportunity. So if you
want opportunity go get it don’t
wait for someone to hand it to
you. The greatest gift we can
give our kids, or kids we know,
is work ethic and pride in them-
selves and basic principles.
Brian Bassett
Vernonia
Action against Libya,
Gadafhi is absurd
To the Editor:
Not since the war of Jenkins’
Ear has there been a conflict so
absurdly initiated, and subse-
quently fought, as this modern-
day campaign on the part of the
Obama administration to “pun-
ish” Gadafhi, and then deliver
Libya into the arms of his oppo-
nents. As U.S. and “allied” mili-
tary assets crash onto Libyan
soil, spokespersons for the
U.S. administration and its Eu-
ropean sidekicks declare that
they are “only interested” in
protecting civilians from being
massacred by Gadafhi’s armed
forces. Obama himself de-
clared the other day that he had
visions of the awful deeds
Colonel Gadafhi intended for
people in the rebels’ strong-
holds. “We had to act.”
Now, don’t these sorts of
rhetorical ruffles and flourishes
emanating from Obama and his
crowd remind you of the rabid
hyperventilating indulged in by
Bush’s neocons during the run
up to our 2003 invasion of Iraq?
How soon we forget! Just as
people like Condoleezza Rice
and Paul Wolfowitz had “vi-
sions of mushroom clouds” as
they mulled the implications of
Saddam’s
non-existent
Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMDs), so today Mr. Obama
maintains that he “had to act”
due to bad dreams about the
fate of rebels in their eastern
strongholds. Yes, indeed, the
President just “had to act” when
it became clear that the rebel-
lion was becoming totally
unglued, and that Gadafhi’s
armed forces were a lot
stronger and more proficient
than anyone gave them credit
for early in the game.
Obama waltzed into Wash-
ington D.C. as the man who
would fundamentally change
the bruised and battered rela-
tionship between the U.S., on
the one hand, and the rest of
the world on the other. To my
way of thinking, his Libyan ad-
venture provides positive proof
that his administration differs in
foreign policy only marginally, if
at all, from every single U.S.
administration since Truman’s.
“We had to act.”
Actually, Obama’s fear of be-
ing styled a wimp in foreign af-
fairs impelled him to act. Like
every U.S. Chief Executive
since 1945, Obama has had to
“prove” his national security
bonafides by indulging in a bit
of interventionism and demon-
strative militarism.
So far from being “different”
from his predecessors, Oba-
ma’s foreign policy actually rep-
resents “more of the same.”
And why was anyone fooled by
Obama’s rhetoric on the cam-
paign trail? Just because his
campaign rhetoric didn’t reek
quite as much of machismo as
McCain’s and Palin’s merely in-
dicates that he adhered to the
“normal” tone of U.S. politi-
cian’s post-1945 national secu-
rity discourse. He does so to-
day.
“He had to act.”
Frank W. Goheen
Camas, Washington
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will
not publish letters with per-
sonal attacks on private citi-
zens. Preference will be giv-
en to brief letters, 300 words
or less.
All letters must be signed
and include a verifiable ad-
dress or phone number.
Salem Scene
By Representative Brad Witt
Oregon District 31
The big news this week
is the Ways & Means Co-
Chairs budget. Governor
Kitzhaber released his
budget in January, and
this is the Legislature’s
response to his suggest-
ed allocations. Chief
among the differences is
the Legislature’s pro-
posed funding for education over the next two
years. It is by far the largest expenditure in state
government as K-12 accounts for 38% of the
general fund, which is made up of income tax
and lottery revenues.
The Co-Chairs budget allocated $5.7 billion
for K-12 funding, roughly the same amount of
funds as the current school year and slightly
more than the Governor’s budget. An additional
$55 million could be added for 2012-13 funding if
the economy shows continued improvement.
The $5.7 million means school funding is flat or
slightly reduced for the next biennium and, ac-
cording to reports from school districts across
the state, it isn’t enough to avoid layoffs and loss
of school days for many of Oregon’s schools.
Although the process has been relatively
friendly in the face of a divided House, there are
many remaining issues to be resolved.
Items of Interest...
On Tuesday, I was honored to be present as
Governor Kitzhaber announced the granting of
$11.2 million to the Vernonia School District from
the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) for the dismantling of their flood ravaged
school buildings and the creation of a city park.
This event recognizes the remarkable collabora-
tion of the community of Vernonia, federal elect-
ed and emergency management officials and the
Oregon Solutions Team. The new city park will
protect environmentally sensitive wetlands, as
well as provide a venue for environmental edu-
cation and school athletic performances. Con-
gratulations to the people of Vernonia for their
dedication to their community and their children.
Way to go, Vernonia!