When one side proposes solution after solution to contain gun violence—and offers compromise after compromise to get something done —while the other side blocks action every time, you know which side is right. When one side brushes aside the dangers of racist and white nationalist terrorism while the other side[Read More…]
Opinion
Wins and loses of 2019
I want to briefly share an update of some of the things my office was able to accomplish in the 2019 legislative session. HB 3213 – Establishes safety corridors around the state, which I hope will address the death road (as described by The Newberg Graphic) in North Marion County.[Read More…]
Mueller has no savior
WASHINGTON — I was at the dentist getting a tooth drilled at the start of Robert Mueller’s comparable experience on Capitol Hill. I am the kind of person who cringes intensely while watching anyone fail in a public and humiliating fashion. So it was just as well that I missed[Read More…]
Changing demographics breeds anger
Should we worry? It would seem appropriate. Why? Referenced are the ever more frequent threats and delivery of violence by what appears a growing number of Americans who’ve become upset or disenchanted with their lives. Then there are those who harm others when not understood or do not respond to them on their terms[Read More…]
Yesterday once more
A old saw goes: the more things change the more they stay the same. That is so true when one considers politics in America, circa 2019. The issue of race is everywhere in politics, from the Oval Office to the Democratic presidential candidate debate to Keizer’s city council chambers. At[Read More…]
Money down the drain
The Army Corps of Engineers plans to spend up to half a billion dollars to build a water-mixing tower and fish enhancement project at Detroit Dam. Is it a waste of tax money? How much is $500,000,000? It’s a number us average mortals have a hard time getting a grip[Read More…]
Egregious budget deal
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. “ That’s a quote attributed to long-ago U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen (which he probably never said). The quote—real or not—was about the federal budget in the 1960s. Back then a budget deficit of $5 billion would[Read More…]
Banners
As Americans take to the road this summer they will drive through large cities and small towns. Just about every burg they visit will have one thing in common: identifying banners lining the main street. We have called for banners along River Road for years and now we renew that[Read More…]
After 69 years, Korean War is not over
To the Editor: The Korean War (Not a declared war; only Congress can declare war) began 25 June 1950 and the ceasefire occurred 27 July 1953 at 10 p.m. (2200 hours). During the 37 months of combat more than 37,000 Americans were killed. This equates to about the population of the[Read More…]
Trump’s unnecessary roughness
The most revealing moment of last week’s Greenville, North Carolina, Trump rally was not when the crowd chanted “Send her back” in support of President Donald Trump’s criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a Somali-born immigrant who frequently calls Trump a racist and whom Trump argues hates America. Trump later[Read More…]