In our view Jan. 2: Cheers & Jeers

Cheers: To volunteers who will keep two local boat ramps open this winter. The Daybreak ramp on the East Fork Lewis River and the Happa launch on the North Fork Lewis River had been set to close until March 1 as part of the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Department’s $184,000 cost-saving plan.

Though it’s hardly the season to take the family waterskiing, these ramps primarily serve fisherman, who will go after salmon and steelhead any day of the year. So it’s no surprise that the Samaritans in this case are members of groups that represent fishing and environmental interests. They have agreed to pick up litter, empty garbage cans and remove storm debris. In addition, they’ll pay $700 to defray some of the costs of servicing portable toilets and locking gates at night and unlocking them in the morning. Here’s hoping the solution works, thus avoiding unattractive alternatives.

Jeers: To Oregon’s new law that prohibits cell phone use while driving. Now don’t get us wrong — we don’t endorse driving with one hand on the phone and the other, in the best-case scenario, on the wheel. But Oregon’s new law has several problems. First, Oregon already has a reckless driving statute that should take care of the dangerous offenders. And unlike Washington’s rule, Oregon made this a primary violation, which gives officers cause to stop drivers and issue tickets. It also gives yakking drivers the impetus to try to conceal their phones, holding them below the level of the window, causing greater distraction than holding them to one ear. Finally, the law seems dated even as it takes effect, due to the proliferation of hands-free devices already being adopted by consumers. What’s next? Keep your eyes on your fries.

Cheers: To thrifty state Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver. The new legislator receives up to $8,200 from the state to set up and run his district office, but mindful of the taxpayer’s dime, he figures he spent only $3,963.41. The rent was $3,300 (he’s in a new strip mall at 16904 S.E. First St.), furniture was $189.78, and the rest was spent on town hall forums and attending work sessions, according to a news release. We hope his thriftiness will continue in Olympia, where nickels and dimes become millions and billions.

Jeers: To America’s broken health care system. Fresh evidence emerged this week when state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler released new figures showing 43,000 Clark County residents lacked basic health insurance in 2008, and the number will rise to 63,000 next year. That would be 14 percent of all county residents. Statewide, the number of uninsured soon will reach 1 million.

The problem affects more than those unlucky uninsured. Those of us with health plans — and those of us who pay taxes — get stuck paying the bills of those who cannot. At Southwest Washington Medical Center, for example, the cost of charity care went from $3.7 million in 2003 to $26.3 million in 2008. Uncollected medical debt accounted for another $29.7 million in 2008.

It’s not likely that congressional Democrats will deliver the perfect health care reform bill, and many doubt they’ll deliver a bill that is even good enough. What’s undeniable is that our health care system needs to be reformed quickly.

Cheers: To Battle Ground High School’s Japanese language class. It’s been 12 years since Japanese language instruction was offered in Battle Ground, and it’s good to see its return. Though most high schools offer European languages including Spanish — extremely helpful for Americans — and possibly French or German, it’s Asia that will be the more important continent in many of these students’ careers. It would be helpful to see high schools teach languages spoken in China and India, too.