Letters to the Editor: March 18, 2016

Common ground

Both groups would deny it, but there are a lot of similarities between Republican and Democratic partisans.

First, they share denial of this. Trump’s Republican followers are characterized as furious with establishment Republican leaders — bitterly angry that they’re constantly promised relief from stagnating wages and the lack of good jobs but get no action once they put their candidate in office.

Instead, once in office, their candidates attack Social Security that voters have contributed to all their working lives while they don’t do anything about jobs.

The corporate Democrats who control the party under Debbie Wasserman Schultz treat their party’s base exactly the same way. They can’t win office without the working voters who support them, and they make inspiring speeches to get those votes. Once elected, they turn their backs on the party’s base until the next election.

Both parties’ leaders are known for their inability to work together and accomplish anything for their constituents, yet they have no trouble at all uniting to pass another trade agreement that will further hamper the living standards of their party’s base voters.

Yes, trade will increase, and corporations will grow more prosperous, but voters won’t share in that prosperity. They only get to share when things go bad and there are losses to pay.

The partisan voters in both parties are convinced that they have nothing in common. As long as they remain divided, they’ll have a declining standard of living and lower wages that look and feel quite the same. As far as blaming each other for what does get done, it makes no sense either, since it typically isn’t what voters elected their candidates to do.

Fred Fawcett 
Lafayette

Trump? What a riot

I respect everyone’s right to choose and encourage all citizens to cast a secret ballot.

If, however, you are considering a vote for Donald Trump, I request you please reconsider that choice. Many will support Trump out of frustration with the growing polarity of established Washington politics.

I share your frustration with the lack of meaningful legislation and responsible governing. Unfortunately, Trump is not the answer. His brashness and lack of empathy will only lead to further obstructiveness and antagonism in our country.

Consider for a moment what happened in Chicago Friday night. Vitriolic and racist rhetoric by Trump has turned American citizens against each other and led to increased violence. We can only imagine the future if this trend continues.

Cameron Urnes 
McMinnville

Do the math, Boquist

It’s hard to believe such a silly statement coming from state Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, who opined that the Legislature’s increase in the minimum wage will be exactly cancelled by an increased cost of living.

Yes, the cost of living will be increased by a small amount, say 2 percent a year each year through 2022, when the rate for Portland will be $14.75 per hour. In that case, the purchasing power of the near 50 percent increase in the minimum wage will be reduced by 12 percent, leaving a net increase of 38 percent. The effect on employment levels is unclear. Extensive previous studies of moderate increases have failed to detect any effects. However, this increase is a large one, so we are in uncharted territory.

The increase will have no effect on doctors’ fees, since specialists make about $150 per hour, or on rents or on mortgage costs or on gasoline and only a small amount on food.

It will affect sit-down restaurant costs where labor amounts to 30 percent of costs, so that a 50 percent increase in wages would increase costs by 15 percent to be covered by increased prices.

A $20 meal might go to $23. Fast-food restaurants with much smaller labor costs would see prices rise much less. Ditto for Walmart where labor costs are about 5 percent of total costs. A $5 blouse might rise in price to $5.25.

Businesses will have a big incentive to reduce employment by increasing the recent lagging productivity growth. That’s how our standard of living is increased.

It’s disappointing when our state senator is so uninformed. We deserve better.

Anthony Bell 
McMinnville

Spring into veganism

After another winter of severe snowstorms and floods, I look forward to the first day of spring, balmy weather and blooming flowers.

Hundreds of communities welcome spring with an observance of Great American Meatout, asking neighbors to explore a healthy, compassionate diet of vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains.

Indeed, 56 percent of respondents to a GlobalMeatNews poll said that they were or are reducing meat intake. U.S. per capita red meat consumption has dropped by more than 16 percent since 1999.

Mainstream publications like Parade, Better Homes and Gardens and Eating Well are touting vegan recipes. Even the financial investment community is betting on plant-based meat startups, like Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods, while warning clients about the upcoming “death of meat.”

The reasons are ample. Last year, the World Health Organization found cancer to be associated with consumption of processed meats. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended reduced meat consumption. The media keep exposing atrocities perpetrated on factory farms. And animal agriculture remains the chief contributor to climate change, water scarcity and pollution.

Each of us should celebrate our own advent of spring by checking out plant-based foods at our supermarkets and vegan recipes on the internet.

Milo Nakamura 
McMinnville

Be true to our schools

I am a proud graduate of the McMinnville School District. In fact, the first year that I returned to teach in our community, I had the opportunity to teach kindergarten in the exact same classroom where I had gone to kindergarten.

One of the attributes that makes our community special is our commitment to state-of-the-art education for our kids.

Throughout the decades that I have lived here, I have benefited from that commitment, and I have watched my fellow classmates also return to this area to enrich, enhance and evolve our community.

If you look around McMinnville and Lafayette, we have former Grizzlies serving as lawyers, doctors, farmers, teachers, winemakers, nurses, restaurant owners, public servants, mechanics, bankers, professors and more. I think it says a lot about how special this place is when our youth return here to share their talents as adults and raise their own children.

We would not be able to have the strong education system that we do without the cooperative spirit of our taxpayers. This collaboration has allowed us to meet the needs of our growing population and do what is best for kids in the changing field of education.

As our economy changes, so do the skills that our graduates need to be successful. In May, our school district will be asking for approval on a bond to replace the 1997 bond that retires this year. It is my hope that our community continues to recognize that the hard work of education is best done with a resounding “we,” because together we can, we are and we will continue to grow the talents of our youngest citizens into the future for our beautiful area.

Kourtney Ferrua 
McMinnville