U.S. Senator Ron Wyden announces a $6 million grant for upgrades to the failing Gold Hill, Oregon sewer system.
Yes, Gold Hill.
Bright red Gold Hill.
Rogue Valley Sewer Services General Manager Carl Tappert credited Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (D) for securing this money.
Thanks to the hard work of our local USDA representatives and strong support from Senator Wyden we were able to secure a USDA Rural Development grant of over $6 million. This is more than double what we were hoping for and should allow us to keep sewer rates in Gold Hill below $120 per month.
Wyden has risen to a position of power in the Senate as ranking member of the Senate's Finance Committee. The new digital Southern Oregon newspaper, the Rogue Valley Times, had a story on it.
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| Rogue Valley Times |
I'm highlighting this special attention to Gold Hill because it is such a contrast to the message of President Donald Trump. Trump openly and proudly says that the power of the federal government under his command is directed to helping his friends and punishing his opponents.
Trump announced that he was moving the Space Command headquarters from Colorado to Alabama because Colorado voted blue while Alabama voted red, and because Colorado had mail-in voting, which he opposes. Trump threatened Wes Moore, the Democratic governor of Maryland, with pulling federal funding to repair the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which is essential to the port of Baltimore and collapsed last year when it was hit by a container ship. Moore said he objected to Trump's sending federal troops to Baltimore.
Trump barred from federal courthouses law firms that represented clients and interests Trump opposed until they paid him a tribute bribe. Trump pulls research funding from universities that he thinks are aligned left. Trump threatens cities with Democratic mayors, pledging to send federalized National Guard soldiers from red states. There is a message: Please the king; Don't cross the king.
Senator Wyden projects a very different approach. The Gold Hill residents who will benefit enormously from this grant vote bright red. They voted over two to one for Trump over Kamala Harris. Wyden helps them anyway.
They voted for Wyden's Republican opponent, Jo Rey Perkins with 67 percent of the vote -- 31 percent for him -- in Wyden's 2022 re-election bid. The area gave Tina Kotek, the Democratic candidate for governor, only 22 percent of the vote in that election.
Wyden didn't treat Gold Hill voters as enemies. He treated them as Oregonians and his constituents. He wrote me explaining his approach:
I'm not the U.S. senator representing just Portland, Oregon. I'm the U.S. senator representing all of Oregon. Which is why every year I go to all 36 counties and have town halls -- over 1,135 at this point since my time in the Senate.
Listening to people, and realizing that we have a lot more in common than apart from one another, is the Oregon Way. It's something I've always done, and I will continue to do as long as I have the honor to represent this state. It's something I encourage all senators and members of Congress to do.
I urge readers to resist the temptation to read this and think "yadda, yadda, typical political Mr. Nice Guy talk." Stop and reflect: Wyden's position and words are not typical -- not anymore. It is a statement of principle of good, representative government, in direct counterpoint to Trump's quid pro quo approach.
Trump is normalizing the old spoils system, the idea that it is acceptable to direct federal resources disproportionately toward friends and to punish opponents by withholding resources. You represent your base. You smash your opponents. You make liberals cry. Opponents will learn from their suffering and, if nothing else, MAGA voters will love to see Rachel Maddow fume.
Wyden communicates a better, more just, understanding of American government. We are all in this together. Politicians represent the whole of the people. We each enjoy the equal protection of the law. That idea is under attack, but it isn't dead yet.
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4 comments:
“Trump is normalizing the idea in sharp contrast to Wyden's, that it is acceptable to direct federal resources disproportionately, toward friends and to punish opponents.”
Wyden is doing his job. Trump has turned our democratic republic into an autocracy, with his army of masked thugs abducting people off the streets and U.S. troops invading U.S. cities. He may have normalized that among Republicans because they’re batshit crazy, but there’s nothing normal about it.
They are building an eight mile pipeline, visualize that. MEANWHILE THE "BIRTHDAY BOOK" IS THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING. MANY NAMES. ANY OF THEM IN THE FILES? COULD THIS BE THE "ROSETTA STONE" TO FINDING THE TRUTH? DEMAND "THE SIGNATURE" BE VERIFIED. REPUBLICANS ARE COMPLICIT WITH A COVER UP.
Would Ted Cruz do what Woden did? At some point it will break if Republicans keep playing unfair politics.
The Republicans have a reputation of always playing dirty. That's how they win. Do whatever it takes to get elected. Name calling, false narratives, false blaming, even if they themselves were to blame. They rely on voters forgetting all the bad stuff they did, but scream to the hilt at what Democrats did or may have done. Even if they didn't. Democrats, on the other hand, try to play nice. Give everyone a fair shake. Help the poor and invalid. Help people in need. The immigration problem isn't that big of a problem anyway. Virtually every person in the US has an ancestor who immigrated, legally or not. But, Trump and his sycophants scream these interlopers have ruined the country. I guess if you yell loud enough and often enough, people will believe the narrative. It works for them.
What works for Democrats? Nothing much lately. Too soft on everything. They want better gun laws, but no Republican dares do anything. Better environment? Not as long as Big Business has a say. Billionaires? They have a friend in the White House. No one is taking their money away.
All in all, I'm disappointed by the Democrat leadership. They are whimy in their messages, even if they make sense. I guess Americans want strong leadership, even if it's bad. Made nice is not a virtue. It's a losing cause.
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