Big Monstrous Bill

Everyone reading this letter has learned from multiple news sources that at least 20 million Americans will be uninsured in 2026, because the ACA subsidies were ended by the “The Big Monstrous Bill.” We remain uncertain how the bill’s cuts to Medicaid funding will play out. However, we are certain many Oregonians will suffer. Our overcrowded local Emergency Departments will only become more so.

Health Care for All Oregon has been advancing the development of a publicly funded universal health care system for our state for over 20 years. Step-by-step progress continues in Oregon — far from the front pages and television news programs.

You have an opportunity to learn about the progress and how you can support it this month: Sunday, Jan. 11, from 2 pm to 4 pm at Temple Beth Israel, 1175 East 29th Avenue. Open to the public. Join us to learn how Oregon is on track to become the first state in the U.S. to provide a health care system — at lower cost than the current non-system — serving everyone who lives here.

Charlotte Maloney

Eugene

An Ode to Resolutions

After several New Years Eve toasts a few of us got to talking about resolutions. We settled on some small counters to a few of the dick moves listed in last week’s EW and a couple we came up with on our very own. 

We resolved to cancel our Sanipac service and instead pool our garbage weekly and drive it to the Lane County dump.

We also decided we would boycott King Estate’s wine and winery and any businesses that decide to continue selling their products and encourage others to do the same. 

At some point we pledged to contact each Springfield City councilor and all Springfield clergy and invite them to tour the woefully inadequate new Springfield Warming Center one of the next nights the site is activated.

There were other resolutions but damned if we can remember them.

Dan Dizney

Eugene

Climate Recovery: Informed Citizens = Democracy 

The city of Eugene passed the Climate Recovery Ordinance in 2014 with a goal of reducing planet-warming carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030, but we are nowhere near meeting this goal. Out of total emissions, homes contribute 11 percent. In Eugene, 65 percent of homes were built before 1990, so most have inefficient insulation and heating and cooling systems. There’s something we can do about this.

A Home Energy Score is a tool established by the US Department of Energy that rates a home’s energy efficiency on a scale of 1-10, estimates energy use and costs, makes recommendations based on physical features and appliances, and provides steps to lower energy costs. Many cities have adopted this program to alert buyers and renters to potential energy costs and incentivize energy-efficient building.

This information would be provided by a licensed energy consultant at a cost of $150-$300, depending on the size of the home, and would be available for rental housing as well. The cities of Bend, Hillsboro, Milwaukie and Portland require this report at the time of listing.

Eugene is considering doing the same and you can share your input in their survey at Engage.Eugene-or.gov.

This is one way we can all help our city reach our Climate Recovery Ordinance goals and reduce our energy costs. Democracy requires informed, active citizens!

Debby McGee

Eugene

Home Sweet Home

If you’ve lived in Eugene for a while, you may remember a much quieter city. 

It feels to me like ever since the Lane County Fairgrounds hosted the Weekend Shredfest last year, there has been a noticeable proliferation of extremely loud and sudden “street racer” noises echoing through our neighborhoods at all hours.

Numerous studies demonstrate a strong correlation between chronic urban noise and mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression. Persistent noise exposure disrupts sleep, increases stress, and contributes to the cognitive fatigue and irritability of spouses, students, teachers, employees, managers, the unhoused — basically, our entire city becomes more on edge. 

A 2019 meta-analysis by Dzhambov and Lercher found that every 10-decibel increase in sound levels is associated with a 12 percent increase in anxiety and a 4 percent increase in depression. These outcomes ultimately affect economic productivity, learning, and community well-being.

Are hobbyists and attention-seekers placing themselves above the good of the community? ORS 815.025 states that a person commits the offense of causing unreasonable noise with a vehicle if they operate a motor vehicle in a way that creates more noise than is reasonably necessary for proper operation. Violating this law is a Class D traffic violation.

So the question remains: what’s more important — the momentary thrill of hobbyists and attention seekers, or the mental health, quality of life and productivity of our city?

Eugene can grow without growing louder at the expense of its people. We should expect and enforce nothing less.

Darin Henry

Eugene

Contact your Representatives 

The unauthorized bombing of Caracas is not just a foreign policy blunder; it is an illegal act of war and a Constitutional crisis. By launching military strikes on a sovereign capital without Congressional approval, the president has bypassed the checks and balances that separate a democracy from a dictatorship.

We cannot afford to be silent. This reckless aggression destabilizes an entire region and risks dragging the United States into a catastrophic conflict that Congress never authorized. The War Powers Act exists for a reason, and it is being flagrantly ignored. 

I have already contacted Rep. Val Hoyle and Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to demand they file for immediate impeachment. I urge every reader of the Weekly to do the same. We must demand that our representatives defend the Constitution, not just with tweets, but with legislative action. If we shrug our shoulders now, we accept an executive branch with unlimited power to wage war. That is a price we cannot pay.

Nikolai Serban

Eugene

ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS

The U.S. is on a Three Legged Stool

When Republicans, Independents and Democrats are asked, “Do you think our government acts in your best interest?” their overwhelming answers have been “No!”

The capture of Nicolas Maduro and the annexation of Venezuela is yet another example of our lack of a functioning government. Neither Congress nor the “Gang of Eight” was informed prior to America’s incursion on a foreign nation.

The legislative, executive and judicial branches of our government have been compromised. Like a three-legged stool where two of the three legs are shortened or removed, that stool will tip and fall.

If indeed our sacred right to vote for a representative government, our democracy, has been replaced by the force of corporate capitalism, a single question remains. If American citizens are no longer being protected by their government, why pay taxes for that protection?

Our great nation was not formed on the phrase “Make America Great Again,” it answered the question, “Taxation without representation.”

Michael Foster

Eugene