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July 30, 2009 Opinions |
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—Editorial—
The Drug Cartels Are Here
Most of have heard of the far-reaching arm of the Mexican Drug Cartel, but last week’s bust of 3,500 marijuana plants worth more than $7 million along the Snake River was a bit of an eye opener. Remote wilderness areas undoubtedly offer an advantage to the cartel when it comes to growing plants in secrecy. We’ve seen it in the news in other areas, but we’d like to think these kinds of things aren’t going on in our backyard.
Thanks to the efforts of our local law enforcement this particular operation is out of business, unfortunately we doubt we have heard the last of the cartels.
News reports indicate that the cartels are moving into North America
The Mexican drug trade is gaining help from American teenagers who work as drug smugglers and assassins. Yup, that’s what we said, “assassins.” The New York Times profiled one teenager, who was recruited by the Gulf Cartel to kill on command along the interstate that connects Laredo to Dallas. In the article the teenager stated, "It was like a James Bond game." He is now serving a 70-year jail sentence. The assassins are reportedly paid $500 a week as a retainer and $10,000 to $50,000 for each assassination, and two kilos of cocaine.
The teenager profiled in the article first attended a Mexican training camp, where he learned to shoot assault rifles, before he was returned to America. The article said he lived in an expensive house in Laredo and was provided with a $70,000 Mercedes, plus access to firearms and women.
Earlier this month 12 Mexican drug officials were tortured, murdered, and dumped along a highway in the Mexican state of Michoacan. The agents were off-duty at the time and were caught in an ambush by members of a drug cartel, officials said. The murders are believed to be revenge for the recent capture of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, a reputed chief of operations of the Michoacan-based La Familia cartel.
In Mexico, an estimated 6,290 drug-related murders occurred last year and in March of this year they had already exceeded more then 1,000.
On Feb. 20, 2009, Roberto Orduna Cruz had to resign as chief of police of Cuidad Juarez after drug traffickers announced they would kill a police officer for every 48 hours Orduna remained on the job — and they made good on the threat.
In North America the use of kidnapping by Mexican drug cartels for ransom and revenge has taken place in Arizona. One report said Phoenix has become the second-worst city in the world for kidnappings, right behind Mexico City, with brutal dismemberments for those abductees who do not get ransomed quickly enough.
Of course, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, the United States shares the blame for the Mexican drug trafficking and violence. Our nation’s demand for illegal drugs and our country’s inability to prevent weapons from being smuggled across the border help fuel the fire. Guns, body armor and night vision goggles are pouring across the border from North America into Mexico.
About 90 per cent of all the cocaine consumed in our country transits through Mexico. According to the DEA Mexico also supplies 80 to 90 percent of the methamphetamine sold in the U.S. The FBI has reported that the Mexican cartels deal only in wholesale distribution in the U.S. and farm out street sales to various U.S. gangs.
The drug trade generates about $13 to $15 billion per year for the cartels. In March of this year it was reported that members of the Mexican cartels are already present in 230 American cities including several in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
As the old saying goes, it was never a matter of if, it was a matter of when, and it’s now — the drug cartels are here. And as evidenced by the recent Snake River arrests they are moving from the big cities into the small towns, farming communities and rugged mountains.
It’s hard to believe people capable of this kind of violence are in our own backyard. But it’s comforting to know our local law enforcement is on the job.
—Guest Opinion—
Creating Quality Jobs In Oregon State
By Perry Wong
An economic downturn can be the mother of reinvention. With a little ingenuity and a lot of initiative, Oregon can turn economic upheaval into employment for many of its residents. How? Look no further than the state's manufacturing sector -- especially high-tech.
Manufacturing jobs are important to the state's economy because they pay well and because each manufacturing position creates 2 1/2 jobs in other areas such as retail, restaurants and real estate. High-tech jobs are especially lucrative, paying an average of $88,700 a year in Oregon and creating as many as 15 other jobs.
Yet, at a time when the federal government is spending billions to spawn job creation, Oregon recently approved increases in corporate and personal income taxes that could delay job creation by manufacturers and other firms in the state.
As Oregon contemplates how to retain employment and battle the recession, it should consider high-tech manufacturing as key to a speedy recovery. Based on the Milken Institute's recent study, "Manufacturing 2.0: A More Prosperous California," in which we compared the manufacturing industry in California to Oregon and six other key manufacturing states, here are a few suggestions:
1. Build on the state's existing strengths. Despite recent job losses, Oregon's manufacturing industry is still a key player. In 2008, manufacturers were responsible for 31.5 percent of Oregon's economy.
Oregon also has a number of key incentives in place, a business-friendly environment and a strong long-term economic plan. These are invaluable tools that the state must continue to fund to remain competitive.
2. Recruit high-paying industries and give them a good reason to stay. Despite being home to Silicon Valley, California is losing high-tech jobs to Oregon and several other states, our study shows. California's share of the nation's high-tech jobs fell 5 percent from 2000 to 2008 while Oregon's rose by 7 percent. Oregon's high-tech manufacturing employment was 6 percent higher than the national average in 2008. The state should actively promote itself as a hub for these types of high-tech industries, allowing those manufacturers to share suppliers and a trained workforce.
3. Invest in the state's capacity for technological innovation. The federal stimulus bill earmarks billions of dollars for the establishment of "green jobs," but Oregon isn't in a strong position to compete for them. In the institute's latest State Technology and Science Index, which ranks states' capacity for technological innovation, Oregon fell to 23rd, down four spots from 2004. If Oregon hopes to capture a reasonable share of green jobs, particularly in the state's burgeoning renewable energy sector, it must implement clear and consistent incentives and invest substantially more in the state's "innovation infrastructure."
4. Avoid permanent tax increases because they will delay job creation even longer. Oregon's tax structure is one of its primary competitive advantages. Despite the recent increase, the state's corporate, property and sales tax rates are among the lowest in the country. On a per-capita basis, Oregonians pay roughly $500 less than the national average in state and local taxes. Between 2000 and 2007, the state saw a 10 percent increase in the number of new businesses created, easily besting the national average -- a likely benefit of a competitive tax climate.
However, the recent increase approved by the Legislature is a slippery slope to more tax hikes and may scare off would-be entrepreneurs flocking to the state.
5. Shun the any-job-will-do approach to increasing employment. Oregon should not rely on new government programs funded with federal stimulus money to stem the tide of unemployment. The low-skilled, low-paying jobs these programs often create generate few ripple effects, and Oregon taxpayers foot the bill once the federal money runs out. Instead, use stimulus money as collateral for private loans to companies that will create high-paying jobs in Oregon.
6. Eschew borrowing as a way out of the recession. From 2000 to 2007,Oregon's dependence on public debt increased 30 percent, making it one of the highest increases among the states we studied in terms of government debt relative to the state's gross domestic product. Further borrowing will only exacerbate the state's financial woes and weaken its ability to compete.
The recession presents Oregon with an opportunity to chart a new course to prosperity, building on its robust manufacturing base and growing high-tech industries. But the recession also highlights some weaknesses, including an onerous regulatory climate, unsustainable government borrowing and spending, and an uncoordinated confluence of economic development incentives. Oregon must balance the clamoring for immediate results today against the tremendous opportunities of tomorrow. In short, it must turn adversity into opportunity.
Perry Wong is a senior managing economist at the Milken Institute, based in Santa Monica, Calif.
—Letters To The Editor—
More Digits
To The Record-Courier:
One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.
Yes with all the transitions taking place these days having to do with digits as well as digital, it can drive you bonkers.
If not all of you or the majority part of all of us by January we will soon be dialing 541-523, not like it used to be in the good old days when you were able to do 3. You know what disturbs me the most is that when you have to take time to dial all these numbers which can make anybody go crazy, it is bad enough that once you are connected in having to do business for whatever reason than you get this computerized person on the other end saying to do this and saying to do that, so that tells me just about any kind of replacement so to speak can be reality in the here and now at that.
Seems like for some humans they must not want to do things the old fashioned way and get the job done faster at that and less the hassle of hanging up half way thru and give up. I would just as soon use our track phone and do the speed dialing and get on with business, ha, and no time to waste at that.
Remember the good old days and those old fashioned phones, how far we have come and kinda like the pony express.
Now with my gardening issues once again, yes things are flourishing at that, after all my seedlings being started in doors are showing their bounty.
At least nothing has come up in the way of a digital garden. I did for the first time see a garter snake in my yard and then a bug that I have never seen before. He was gone in a flash. I was told that with the wind we have had strange bugs seem to be coming in on us. Nothing like good old debugging even on the computer.
One thing I am interested in is huckleberries, I was a client of buying huckleberries, from a friend who has passed on since. I am hoping somehow I can still buy them from a local resource at a reasonable price, picking them will not have time for with all my gardening and all coming with those wonderful pickles that a few family members are wanting. Not to mention all the hot weather makes unbearable to get out at that. You are more than welcome to email me at Brendajames @q.com or 541-523-3877. Remember that 10 digit number for dialing. Smile.
Brenda Dickison
Baker City, Ore.
Letters To Editor Should Be Politically Correct
To The Record-Courier:
It is beyond my intelligence to rationalize why a periodical would print a poison pen letter, written by a hard shell NH Republican, since we have just endured the worst Republican administration in history. NH has the worst roads in the U.S. due to lack of federal funding.
One of the best examples at Republican hard shell was during the Great Depression. F.D.R. supported a P.W.A. project to relieve poverty in New England to generate hydro-electric power by building dams to harness the power of the Bay of Fundy high tides. The project was started along with hard shell Republican opposition. Two years later F.D.R. cancelled the project and transferred the funds to the T.V.A. (Tennessee Valley Authority) which built the massive muscle Shoals complex on the Tennessee River. Today Maine has the uncompleted dams as a memorial to hard shell Republicans.
Years later another hard shell Republican senator, Bricker of Maine, using his political connections, he instigated congressional investigation into wasteful war time spending. Namely: Howard Hughes and Pan Am Airlines. The congressional chambers were packed. Bricker opened with damaging accusations about Howard Hughes’ flying boat venture. When it was over, Bricker had taken refuge in Maine, never to be heard of again.
When the majority elect an official, then the political correctness is to be a team player and go with the flow.
God bless our president.
Dale D. Holcomb
Richland, Ore.
Cash For Clunkers Means Consumer Backlash
To The Record-Courier:
As new car dealerships ramp up advertising to attract motorists to the showroom using “Cash for Clunkers” as an incentive, we anticipate a consumer backlash once reality replaces the hype and car owners realize that “Cash for Clunkers” is nothing more than a clever slogan for a program to spend $1 billion of our tax dollars to fund a government subsidized vehicle trade-in to help new car dealers sell cars. Consumers will soon learn that they are simply trading in their vehicle and will still have to jump through all of the hoops to qualify for and purchase a new vehicle.
The much heralded fuel efficiency and environmental benefits of purchasing a new vehicle could easily be achieved through better maintenance of an existing vehicle or trading up to a newer used vehicle. Any savings from improved miles per gallon will be lost from the costs involved in destroying and disposing of the “clunkers.” We continue to strongly oppose “Cash for Clunkers” because it prematurely destroys vehicles with many more years of useful life, denying consumers more affordable used vehicle options.
Kathleen Schmatz
President & CEO
Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA)
Bethesda, MD
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