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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Weeders turn out to head off pesticide use Gov. Kitzhaber steps down, federal investigation begins Successor Kate Brown must run for election in 2016 Emergency services, Feb. 14 Community leaders saddened by governor's departure Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency services, Feb. 14 Police arrest robbery suspects who wore underwear as masks Purple Parrot robber sentenced Busy burglar still at large in Medford Sheriff's lieutenant may face misconduct charges over ticket dismissals Politics and Elections Gov. Kitzhaber steps down, federal investigation begins Gov. Kitzhaber announces resignation Successor Kate Brown must run for election in 2016 Community leaders saddened by governor's departure Read Gov. John Kitzhaber's statement on his resignation Education Logos to receive a slice of Wes Howard Memorial Sports Park Medford School Board OKs full-day kindergarten Former superintendent sues district, board member Sharing black culture SOU board names officers, committees Environment Coho salmon road trip Mt. Ashland Ski Area celebrates snow Company fined for illegally dumping asbestos in White City Solar pavilion going up at Coyote Trails GMO opponents can join Jackson County in defending ban State News Gov. Kitzhaber announces resignation Read Gov. John Kitzhaber's statement on his resignation Top Democrats call on Kitzhaber to resign Legislative leaders join in call for Kitzhaber resignation (updated) Oregon secretary of state calls meeting with governor 'strange' Nation - World Obituaries Richard Lester Spencer Arlene M. (Ryan) Mills William J. 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Mangino: The government has access to your emails Letters to the Editor, Feb. 13 Our View: Time to end the vaccine exemption Guest Opinion: Weed killers should not be sprayed on streams, homes Editorials Our View: Time to end the vaccine exemption Our View: Hemp hemp, hooray — old crop is new again Our View: Maintaining a major community asset Our View: A small contribution to fairness Our View: Call for resignation is premature Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Feb. 13 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 12 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 11 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 10 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 9 Columns Guest Opinion: Weed killers should not be sprayed on streams, homes Dana Milbank: Bobby Jindal's unpleasant record George Will: The Pence paradox Kathleen Parker: Brian Williams' six-mile stare Guest Opinion: Understanding Wes Cooley Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Weed killers should not be sprayed on streams, homes Guest Opinion: Understanding Wes Cooley Guest Opinion: Smokers: Quit before this happens to you Guest Opinion: Our public school system is a stew pot of clashing ingredients Guest Opinion: How long will we look the other way? Lifestyle Latest stories Community blog: Your Brain on Love She needed time to think The zwickels shall flow David Murdock: Take a nice little walk Looking Up: The sky on Valentine's night Food The zwickels shall flow Community blog: Custard mashup omits scary step for amateurs Season Stepp: Prepare a steakhouse meal at home Tammy Kelly: Healthy at-home Valentine’s Day meals (and desserts) for two Donna Knight: Meatloaf holds lessons Home and Garden Repair or replace your garage door panel? Dear Monty: Hot markets change agent behavior Carol Link: How to make sure yucca plants are gone Home Help: Repurposing garage doors into stunning walls with a view Landscape lighting for beauty, safety and value Health Community blog: Your Brain on Love Health Watch: The rise of wearable fitness tech Community blog: Are You Losing or Gaining on Your Investment in Health? Community blog: Simple Solutions Health Watch: Simple swaps for a healthy lifestyle Hiking Biking Faith Religion briefs: Friday, Feb. 13 RELIGION BRIEFS, Feb. 6 Religion News: Church of England consecrates first female bishop Religion briefs Religion briefs, Jan. 23 Milestones and Achievements New arrivals: Sunday, Feb. 8 Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Soo Rah Korean Cuisine Southern Oregon Rod and Custom Show Ayron Jones and The Way play Rocky-Tonk Brett Dennen plays the old Ashland Armory Blues Jam at The Little Brown Jug in Talent Theater Le Cirque presents 'City Walk' 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' 'Dames at Sea' opens at Oregon Cabaret Theatre Camelot presents Playwright Richard Manley's 'A Question of Words' Classics, premiers highlight '15 season for OSF Music Live Music in Local Clubs Roy Zimmerman's 'The Faucet's on Fire" Victor D. Infante: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, some favorite breakup songs Ayron Jones and The Way play Rocky-Tonk Brett Dennen plays the old Ashland Armory Community Events Southern Oregon Rod and Custom Show Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Jacksonville celebrates Chinese New Year Comedian Susan Westenhoefer pulls no punches Paula Poundstone performs at the Craterian Dining The zwickels shall flow Soo Rah Korean Cuisine Stylish shareables are the feature at Brickroom Sandwiches and burgers are hits at The Rogue Chef The Vine offers a taste of Italy Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Weeders turn out to head off pesticide use ... Get Up & Go: Saturday, Feb. 14 ... Gov. Kitzhaber steps down, federal investigation begins ... Weeders turn out to head off pesticide use ... Get Up & Go: Saturday, Feb. 14 ... Gov. Kitzhaber steps down, federal investigation begins ... ANOTHER VIEW George Will: The Pence paradox Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Feb. 12, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Feb. 12, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News Although he is always preternaturally placid, Mike Pence today exemplifies a Republican conundrum. Sitting recently 24 blocks from Capitol Hill, where he served six terms as a congressman, and eight blocks from the White House, which some Republicans hope he craves, Pence, now in his third year as Indiana's governor, discussed two issues, Common Core and Medicaid expansion, that illustrate the following: Today's president, whose prior governmental experience was meager and entirely legislative, probably has strengthened voters' normal preference for actual executives — governors rather than legislators — as chief executives. Governors actually govern, which means continually making choices and compromises. So, with the Republican nominating electorate increasingly persnickety about ideological purity, governors often are more disadvantaged than senators as candidates. In 2001, as a freshman congressman, Pence was one of just 33 House Republicans to vote against President George W. Bush's pride and joy, the No Child Left Behind education legislation, which Pence considered a federal usurpation of a state and local responsibility, K-12 education. In 2010, with the Obama administration blandishing $5 billion in Race to the Top funds as bribes, Indiana was among the 37 states that embraced Common Core standards. Under Pence, however, Indiana became the first state to formally withdraw from Common Core. But because some critics consider the standards that Pence's administration wrote insufficiently unlike Common Core's, he is excoriated as insufficiently hostile to "Obamacore." But the content of the Common Core standards is beside the point. Even excellent content would not redeem Common Core, because it abets what Pence correctly says will, unless Common Core is stopped, eventually become federal micromanagement of K-12 education. If Hoosiers want different standards, Pence says, they now are forever free to write them. In 2003, Pence was one of just 19 Republicans to defy the Bush administration's excruciating pressure to vote for the Medicaid Part D, the unfunded prescription drug entitlement. So, having demonstrated, as with No Child Left Behind, his conservative credentials, he deserved conservatives' trust when he responded to Obamacare's push for expansion of traditional Medicaid by negotiating from the Obama administration remarkable concessions that are a template for nationwide Medicaid reform. The administration reluctantly conceded what Pence calls "the foundation of consumer-driven health care," the requirement that people make a financial contribution (in Indiana, to a Health Savings Account) and that there be consequences — they are locked out of the system for six months — if they do not. Conservatives who despise any transaction with Barack Obama dismiss Pence's achievement. But Pence's plan is warmly endorsed by Grace-Marie Turner, a leading advocate of replacing Obamacare with consumer-directed health care reform. She says conservatives should applaud Pence for making Medicaid more like a Health Savings Account, under which purchasers of high-deductible insurance use HSA tax-preferred savings to pay for routine medical expenses. Americans sometimes vote for a president who is the opposite of the one who has just preceded him and has disappointed them. Hence the Republicans' nominee should be confident and astute enough to approach the presidency by promising the reverse of an Army recruiting slogan, "Be all you can be." Pence understands the need for a president promising to be less than he can be. Less, that is, like Obama, who has advertised his disdain for the legislative branch by pushing past the proper limits of unilateral executive action. In 2010, before Obama's institutional vandalism against the separation of powers had confronted the country with the most lawless presidency since Richard Nixon's, Pence delivered an address in which he said, "The president is not our teacher, our tutor, our guide or ruler." There is a presidential "duty of self-restraint" because "a president who slights the Constitution is like a rider who hates his horse: he will be thrown, and the nation along with him." It is Pence's political misfortune, though a pleasant one, that his predecessor, Mitch Daniels, left Indiana on a rising trajectory, needing neither a savior nor radical surgery. Still, under Pence individual and corporate income taxes have been cut, the inheritance tax has been abolished, and the nation's largest school-choice program may be expanded. With many Indiana preoccupations, Pence says he will not decide about a presidential campaign until May. This would be perilously late in the scramble for major donors and seasoned staff. Again, the paradox: Governors' jobs can qualify them for the presidency by requiring them to spend much time and political capital in transactions that can make a nomination difficult to attain. George Will's email address is [email protected]. 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