Buehler would be improvement

So Knute Buehler wants to be governor of Oregon? Well, I want to be King of the World. Neither is going to happen. There are too many Democrats in the Willamette Valley who will vote Democrat no matter who the candidate is. The public employee unions will spend big dollars to fight his candidacy; the Oregon Democratic Party will portray him as a junior Trump; lefty organizations like NARAL Oregon will issue lying or misleading press releases about him, and he can’t raise nearly as much money as the incumbent governor. His candidacy is stillborn. But he would be a decided improvement over the incumbent.

And what could he hope to accomplish as governor? With the Democrats in firm control of both houses of the Legislature, he has no hope of enacting any rational reforms to PERS, tax policy, school funding or health care spending. His programs and proposed legislation will be opposed in the Legislature at every turn simply because he’s a Republican.

Buehler should have stayed in the Legislature, as his resignation therefrom gives the Democrats a chance to gain a supermajority control of the state House of Representatives, thus allowing House Democrats to run amok, a stomach-churning prospect at best.

Or perhaps Buehler’s ego is too big for the Legislature?

Mike Koonce

Bend

Shocked by condition 
of downtown Bend

After not walking downtown on Wall Street for a while, I was shocked and saddened by the condition of our sidewalks! I was actually embarrassed at the level of dirt, walked over gum, grime, broken pavers, smell and the general neglect that is in evidence now.

The closer you get to the intersection of Wall and Minnesota streets, the dirtier it gets, not to mention the smell!

Can nothing be done about the fact that you have to walk around the vagrants sitting on the sidewalk to get down the street? I thought Bend’s big “push” was to be a destination town, a pleasant place to come to.

As I said, I was embarrassed by our downtown area this past week. Get a steam cleaning machine, and hit those sidewalks and move off the vagrant population that spends all day down there with no regard for their, and our, environment.

Chris Simone

Bend

Gun sale law repeal
 not in our interest

The Republican Congress is about to pass a law that repeals one of the last remaining restrictions on gun sales to Mexico.

The following article (https://www.thetrace.org/2017/07/gop-budget-rider-could-cripple-efforts-to-keep-u-s-guns-out-of-mexico/) points out that “Of the 102,339 crime guns seized by Mexican authorities between 2010 and 2015 and submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for tracing, approximately 70 percent originated in the United States. American guns also account for more than 48 percent of weapons seized in El Salvador, which along with Guatemala and Honduras comprise the volatile Northern Triangle countries of Central America. Policymakers, law enforcement, and diplomats in Latin America have pleaded for years for the United States to tamp down the flow of weapons, which contributes to violence so severe that every year, hundreds of thousands of citizens from the region flee to the United States as refugees. The multiple-rifle reporting rule is the only regulatory tool specifically designed to address the epidemic of gun-running over the Southwestern border.”

How can Republicans conceivably believe that repealing this regulation is in the best interest of the United States? They can’t believe it. It’s impossible. And yet they do it anyway. Isn’t that the definition of treason?

David Smith

Bend

Fair was great

I recently attended the Deschutes County Fair with my daughter and 3-year-old granddaughter. Since it was a first time, we didn’t know what to expect. I’m happy to report that the experience was up to expectations of our very excited preschooler. Everyone who worked at the fair was friendly and helpful. I was particularly impressed with the men who were running the kiddie rides. One even stopped a ride when he saw a youngster who was frightened and helped him off before starting the ride again. We also enjoyed and appreciated the free Family Fun Zone sponsored by The Bulletin. It was perfect for my granddaughter, with simple activities like a water play area, bouncing horses and pony rides. My granddaughter’s only complaint was that the fair ended too soon.

Caren Arias

Bend

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