The INDEPENDENT, January 18, 2012
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 ace
pl
620 SW Main, Suite e 606
r
Portland, OR 97205
o on
Phone: 503-326-2901
– n lecti
d e Ofc. Bldg.
2338 Rayburn
l
ne ti House
g
i
Washington,
s un DC 20515
e
t
Phone:
R en 202-225-0855
Website:
m 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
Fair play, regulation
can balance economy
To the Editor:
For sure, times are tough for
Vernonians, let alone everyone
else. Most folks, locally, want a
good job, housing, food, to buy
a few things, go visit a few
places, have transportation,
education for the kids and ade-
quate services like police, fire,
utilities and civic events.
This isn’t happening like it
should. Why?
There are two economies:
(1) Global and (2) Local.
Globally, business is very
good; the cost of workers
(worldwide, including child and
slave-like labor) is extremely
low; fringe benefits are non ex-
istent; regulation does not ex-
ist; sale prices of goods is very,
very good. Profits are excellent
and in the billions, that is with a
“B”, billions.
Locally, minimum wage, or
slightly above, is what you get,
if at all. Unemployment is high.
Housing, utilities, government
services, medical care, gaso-
line…everything, is way more
expensive than wages. Most
folks are broke and on the
edge. Why?
We’ve been robbed. How?
The Global Economy is run by
1% of the folks on the planet.
The Local Economies consist
of the remaining 99%, the
workers and local business
folks.
Financial movers and shak-
ers control technology and the
global banks, that is, the
“Banksters” rule who gets what
and when. This is not good or
bad, it is what is. They have
their own rules, to create profit
and control. Simple. If you, as
an individual, are not included,
tough.
Control in the United States
is done by the Federal Reserve
Banking System, a “private”
business organization. It is not
owned by the Federal Govern-
ment.
How did they rob us? Most
recently? By deliberate, re-
hearsed testing and planning,
and then actually giving loans
to everyone (wink, wink) on
anything, especially houses.
Repayment? Not a problem.
Why? If you don’t pay, the bank
owns what you have; and they
take it back, which is what their
plan was in the first place. (I am
not talking about most local,
small banks and credit unions.
They are the ones that will
bring sanity back).
Meanwhile, all those loans
were thrown into a big pot,
mixed into a kind of financial
“hamburger”; rated as A+ by
crooked associates of the
banksters, and sold in very
highly priced pieces as “pure
gold” to a gullible world market,
including dumb folks and in-
vestors in the United States.
The result? Billions of dollars in
loot, into bankster Swiss bank
accounts or places like the Ba-
hamas; and, best of all for the
banksters, no taxes!!
Well, what happened? We
got robbed, not by someone
sticking a gun in our face and
saying “hands up”. No, this was
an “Inside-Job” by folks in suits
who were supposedly keeping
our money and economy safe.
Since anyone could get a
loan, housing prices responded
by going sky high. Money was
everywhere. Loans got bigger,
bigger and bigger and “Pop”!!
Wages could not keep up, peo-
ple could not pay loan pay-
ments, banks foreclosed, bank
owned assets skyrocketed;
people lost jobs; small busi-
nesses could not operate and
CRRRRASH!! 99% broke…1%
own most everything. Slick.
Ohh, and by the way, wages
are a lot lower in China, so,
banksters moved all our jobs
overseas. Homeless? Tough.
What about Vernonia? Well,
let’s take one example: since
money was so easily available
during the bubble, a hedge
fund in Canada borrowed a lot
of money on thin-air and
bought Long Fibre timber com-
pany, whose owners bailed out
with millions, no problem for
them. The new owners, in
Canada, began cutting every-
thing. Nice run for awhile. Saw-
mills were converted to pulp
mills; a lot of folks were thrown
out of work; logs were thrown
onto the export market
and…”pop”!! What about sus-
tained growth and steady tim-
ber industry employment? Get
a life, you’re fired! And by the
way, taxes on the profits? For-
get it, we took the money else-
where. And the problem, you
folks are having with floods?
Sorry about that. We replanted
fast growing hybrids but, mean-
while, all that collapse of the
canopy and destruction of the
forest floor, which mushed up
all your rivers and streams and
your town…nasty break. May-
be you can flip burgers.
Solution? Rules of fair play
and regulation of the banksters
for the benefit of the 99% of us.
It will take a while. But do this
one thing, GET OUT AND
VOTE!!
Jack Phillips
Vernonia
Vernonia really does
care: Thank you!
To the Editor:
Dear Vernonia Cares Food
Bank Supporters; Thank you,
one and all, for your continued
support for our Holiday Grocery
Box Project. Thanks to your
generosity, 205 households
(containing 652 people) were
given a turkey and food for
their Christmas meal. This proj-
ect is always strongly support-
ed by individuals and organiza-
tions throughout our Vernonia
community. Truly, you exempli-
fy what our name says, “Ver-
nonia Cares!”
Gratefully,
Sandy Welch, Director
Vernonia Care Food Bank
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.
Vernonia City Update
Haack explains tree cutting on Bridge and Missouri
by Bill Haack, City Administra-
tor
The City of Vernonia and the
Vernonia School District are
coordinating the development
of the Bridge Street Improve-
ment Project in conjunction
with the new construction of the
K-12 school campus on Mis-
souri Avenue. In December
2010, then Governor Ted Ku-
longoski announced that Ore-
gon Department of Transporta-
tion had found grant resources
to allow an award of $3.8 mil-
lion toward road improvements
on Bridge Street between
Texas Avenue and Spencer Av-
enue and along the length of
Missouri Avenue to the then
proposed new school campus.
Now in January 2012, over
the next few months, in ad-
vance of the road improve-
ments, two projects will unfold:
(1) a tree removal project and
(2) a hydrant relocation project.
ODOT is in the process of put-
ting out a small contract for tree
removal. In advance of that
project, they will mark all of the
trees to be cut. I know in ad-
vance that this change will
cause some chagrin, and I am
hopeful that we can find a way
to accept this modification in
the landscape as a sign of
progress.
The required movement of
the fire hydrant is specifically to
allow for the realignment of
Bridge Street. However the
City intends to realign it also to
allow for the eventual modifica-
tion of Lakeview Terrace to
align with Missouri to make a
true intersection. This future
modification will also allow for
better access for Vernonia Rur-
al Fire Protection District trucks
to enter their fire station off of
Lakeview in the future.