LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.Byline: The Register-Guard What would county critics do? I am astonished a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. at the number of misinformed people who believe the Lane County commissioners are circumventing the voters' will by enacting an income tax. One must at least ask oneself why a county commissioner would commit political suicide Political suicide is the concept that a politician or political party would lose widespread support and confidence from the voting public by proprosing actions that are seen as unfavourable or that might threaten the status quo. unless the situation truly were dire. As a minutes recorder for Eugene, I frequently cover county meetings. I must tell you that I have witnessed real agony as people attempt to patch what could only be described as a dam about to burst. The people who cry "live within your means" are really placing their fingers in their ears and asserting "la-la-la I'm not listening." Get real. One wing of the jail and the county psychiatric hospital psychiatric hospital n. A hospital for the care and treatment of patients affected with acute or chronic mental illness. Also called mental hospital. are closed already. Oregon State Police, a force of 75 for the region in 1983, is down to 20 officers; it won't pick up the slack a bankrupted sheriff's office would leave. The county has cut approximately $20 million over the last 16 years. Where are we going to absorb a $40 million cut? I challenge anyone to examine the county budget, freely available online or at the county building, and come up with solutions. Also, in my work I rarely sit in the presence of someone as thoughtful and well-spoken as Commissioner Bobby Green. He is truly attempting to fix an impossible situation. I voted for him and will vote for him again. He continues to demonstrate a level of courage and wisdom few attain. RUTH MAURA ATCHERSON Eugene Recall process being misused What are recalls for? Certainly, there is a valid use for the recall process. For example, judges who let sexual predators off on probation. That would be a good one. But where an elected official does what he or she believes is the best for the community - no. That's why we have terms and elections. I don't agree with everything Bobby Green has done as a Lane County commissioner, and I really don't like the way the county income tax was handled. Is this specific thing that Green did, in of itself, a just cause for a recall? I don't believe so and do not support it. I wonder how many who are supporting the recall and are in opposition to the tax have really looked at what will happen if Congress doesn't renew the $47 million in timber payments. The problem that the pro-tax people have is a self-inflicted lack of credibility. Doom and gloom doom and gloom n. Gloom and doom. doom  -and-gloom adj. . Doom and gloom. And then does it happen? Nope.
Well, this time take a hard look. Do you or any of your family receive services from any of the nonprofits in Lane County? Senior and social service agencies? Agencies that serve teens, disabled, etc.? Call them up and start asking how much of their program budget comes from Lane County and what it would mean if those funds get cut. Look real hard, because you may be cutting off your own nose. JESS HART Eugene Some demands unreasonable Regarding the Lane County income tax, it's clear we need to find an appropriate, reliable way to fund the services that the county provides. It is also clear that there is a credibility issue with the Lane County com- missioners. How can the public trust them when they campaign by predicting a public safety apocalypse, then after the measure fails, find funds to maintain services? They are the government equivalent of "the boy who cried wolf." Then I read W. Joe Lyon's March 27 Mailbag letter. Early on St. Patrick's St. Patrick's or Saint Patrick's may refer to:
In Australia: - New South Wales -
Perhaps I overestimated how reasonable our citizens are. It appears that Lyon's measure of success for the county is whether there is 24/7 public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. support available in case some animal has an unhappy encounter with a vehicle and that public safety and all else has no value. He seems to believe that the best use of police time on a holiday weekend notorious for drunkenness - and therefore drunk driving and accidents - is collecting animal remains that do not present an imminent hazard. Reflecting on Lyon's letter, I assume the commissioners hear from many residents, each with a distinct, perhaps myopic my·o·pi·a n. 1. A visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred because their images are focused in front of the retina rather than on it; nearsightedness. Also called short sight. 2. , viewpoint. No wonder commissioners fail to accurately assess what citizens expect from them! STACI McDANIEL Springfield Area lacks objective reporters There are very few objective news reporters (print or electronic) in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. these days, and absolutely none in the Eugene-Springfield area. Seems like reporters are all graduates of the Josef Gobbels school of propaganda or they paid more attention to the marketing aspect of their journalism education, learning how to become press agents. There is a large difference in writing copy to sell pork and beans Noun 1. pork and beans - dried beans cooked with pork and tomato sauce dish - a particular item of prepared food; "she prepared a special dish for dinner" or Hula Hoops hula hoops large plastic hoops revolved around body by hip action (1950s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 145–149] See : Fads or automobiles versus reporting the news. There is no poetic license poetic license n. The liberty taken by an artist or a writer in deviating from conventional form or fact to achieve a desired effect. Noun 1. in reporting the news. Just give us the facts, ma'am. JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape LANG Springfield Don't allow an attack on Iran It is clear from the deployment of U.S. armed forces in areas surrounding Iran (the Persian Gulf Persian Gulf, arm of the Arabian Sea, 90,000 sq mi (233,100 sq km), between the Arabian peninsula and Iran, extending c.600 mi (970 km) from the Shatt al Arab delta to the Strait of Hormuz, which links it with the Gulf of Oman. , Iraq and Afghanistan) that the Bush administration has planned a pincer movement The pincer movement or double envelopment is a basic element of military strategy which has been used, to some extent, in nearly every war. The flanks of the opponent are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion after the opponent has advanced towards the center of an to attack Iran. This is not in the best interests of world peace. We must stop the rush to Armageddon. It would be a serious mistake and lead to the loss of more lives, fortunes and reputation of this country! MARTIN FALK Eugene Examine total taxes on poor I was puzzled by the article written by David Steves titled "Report says Oregon taxes fall hard on working poor" (Register-Guard, March 28). Steves reported on several issues in this short article and failed his readers by ignoring a fundamental shortcoming short·com·ing n. A deficiency; a flaw. shortcoming Noun a fault or weakness Noun 1. in the primary study cited in this article. The main focus seemed to be informational - that Oregon's working poor pay more in income tax than their counterparts in most states and that our Legislature is reworking the tax code to alleviate the burden on the working poor and households at the brink of poverty. Yes, I agree that it is admirable and commendable that our Legislature fine-tune the tax code to be ever more progressive. But the premise of the message is based on partial information. I read the premise to be: We in Oregon are more unfair to our working poor and households at the brink of poverty than nearly all other states. This conclusion annoys me. The facts, as presented, do not support this conclusion. The article didn't spend enough time examining our total tax burden. Most states have sales taxes. Oregon doesn't. Most states rely on a combination of income taxes and sales taxes to raise money. In general, sales taxes are regressive. To support his conclusion, Steves needed to cite more than a couple of sentences that measured the tax burden from all sources that we pay. I am not implying that our Legislature cease reworking the tax code. I am encouraged by their efforts and actions. I am hoping that future articles will make a clearer distinction between conclusions based on intuition and emotion and those based on numerical analysis numerical analysis Branch of applied mathematics that studies methods for solving complicated equations using arithmetic operations, often so complex that they require a computer, to approximate the processes of analysis (i.e., calculus). . JOY OLGYAY Eugene Welcome to Springfield, Murphy In the article "High-end homes scale new heights" (Register-Guard, March 29) about the new MountainGate development, new Springfield resident Larry Murphy Lawrence Thomas Murphy (born March 8, 1961 in Scarborough, Ontario) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played defence. Playing career Larry Murphy was drafted 4th overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. is quoted with an utterance that bears repeating: "At first, we were like, `There's no way we're living in Springfield,' said Murphy, who lived in west Eugene for six years. 'But when we saw this place, that changed. With a lot of people, there still is that stigma there. So when people ask me where we live, we say MountainGate.' ' Welcome to Springfield, Mr. Murphy. Hopefully, you will find most of us with manners superior to your own. ART KENNEDY Springfield The right to bear arms The right to bear arms refers to the right that individuals have to weapons. This right is often presented in the context of military service and the broader right of self defense. is clear The opinion piece by Matthew Dennis (Register-Guard, March 25) presents the classic liberal, often-repeated lie that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an individual right to own firearms. The recent decision by the D.C. Court of Appeals affirming an individual right is correct. There is precedence, logic and history shown in this decision, Emerson (2001) and the U.S. Department of Justice opinion (2004). Grammar, etymology etymology (ĕtĭmŏl`əjē), branch of linguistics that investigates the history, development, and origin of words. It was this study that chiefly revealed the regular relations of sounds in the Indo-European languages (as described and early history all support the individual right interpretation of the Second Amendment. The prefatory pref·a·to·ry adj. Of, relating to, or constituting a preface; introductory. See Synonyms at preliminary. [From Latin praef clause may give a possible benefit of the operative clause, which is straightforward and unambiguous. The people have a right to keep and bear arms. The people are the citizens of the states with individual rights. To keep arms is to possess, have, own, maintain and lawfully use arms. To bear arms is not exclusively military: We bear children, bear witness, bear our burdens. The concept of free citizens owning arms is ancient. One interested in history should read the Assize of Arms The Assize of Arms of 1181 is a legal precedent decided by King Henry II of England and developed in common law jurisdictions ever since guaranteeing a right to bear arms. Having inherited the English common law legal system, the Assize of Arms formed part of the legal basis for (1181), the English Bill of Rights An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown The English Bill of Rights grew out of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. During the revolution King James II abdicated and fled from England. (1689), Blackstone, the founders' original statements and state constitutions. The Oregon Constitution includes the right to "bear arms for the defense of themselves, and the state." Many state constitutions are more specific than the federal constitution. The D.C. decision is based on fundamental principles and clear language. It is not judicial activism. The Bill of Rights was intended to protect individual rights and interests. We should worry more about revisionist history and the quality of education in our public schools. WARREN WALSH Eugene Mail letters to: Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Fax: 338-2828 E-mail: rgletters@guardnet.com |
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