Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
MARISSA WILLIAMS
Regional Advertising Director
MARCY ROSENBERG
Circulation Manager
JANNA HEIMGARTNER
Business Office Manager
MIKE JENSEN
Production Manager
OUR VIEW
Federal regulations
in need of review
President-elect Donald Trump,
to the voters back home?
So, to pack in more law-making
affirmed Monday by the Electoral
Congress has left it to federal
College, in his deluge of campaign
agencies to make the rules, and to
promises said he would work to
decide which violations will carry
reduce costly regulations.
The Heritage Foundation, a
civil penalties and which will be
federal crimes that carry jail time.
conservative think tank, earlier this
Bank robbery is a pretty
month provided a review of federal
straightforward crime, and one
regulations that carry criminal
needs no more than an
penalties. The list
would be a good place “With little to no understanding of the
Commandment “Thou
to start, and its point is
input from or
shalt not steal” to
well taken.
In civics class
accountability to know it’s wrong. But
we learned that the
the violation of many
voters, bureaucrats regulations that carry
legislative branch
makes law, both
have run amok criminal penalties
civil and criminal,
is no where near as
with the power obvious. Without any
and the executive
branch enforces those
criminal intent, an
to create new
laws. Congress, for
unsuspecting violator
crimes.”
example, passes a law
can face jail time and
criminal fines for even
making bank robbery a
the most innocuous action.
federal crime, defines the elements
Equally alarming is that the
of the crime and establishes a
number of potential criminal
penalty.
violations grows annually as
Simple. But, as is often the case
agencies make more regulations.
in Washington, things are rarely
No one really knows, but critics say
ever simple.
In 1911, the Supreme Court held violations of as many as 300,000
regulations carry criminal penalties.
in United States v. Grimwaud that
“With little to no input from or
Congress had the power to pass the
broad strokes of law and delegate to accountability to voters, bureaucrats
the executive the details of the rules have run amok with the power to
create new crimes,” the foundation
and regulations to implement the
says.
law. The case revolved around the
If regulations are to be enforced,
secretary of agriculture’s authority
there must be penalties. However,
to make regulations concerning
for all but the most egregious
the use of Forest Service lands for
violations, the threat of civil
grazing and other purposes, and to
fines should be adequate to force
attach criminal and civil penalties
provided by Congress for violations compliance. Congress should
reserve for itself the power to define
of those regulations.
federal crimes. Citizens should
The ruling was a boon to
Congress, a busy institution without demand that accountability.
In the meantime, we agree that
time, expertise or often particular
the next president should curtail the
interest in the arcane details. More
creation of new federal crimes by
time on details means less time for
bureaucratic fiat.
law-making. How might that look
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of publisher
Kathryn Brown, managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, and opinion page editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
OTHER VIEWS
Lawmakers should heed
local government concerns
The (Albany) Democrat-Herald, Dec. 14
A
ttorneys for the state of Oregon
are pondering whether to appeal a
judge’s ruling that the state’s law
requiring paid sick leave for employees
represents an unfunded mandate to
local governments and therefore is
unconstitutional.
Our guess is that they probably will
choose to appeal the case, even though
such a decision comes with a certain
risk: As matters stand now, the ruling
from Linn County Circuit Court Daniel
Murphy applies to just the nine Oregon
counties — including Morrow — that
are plaintiffs in the case. An appeal
potentially could run the risk of spreading
Murphy’s ruling statewide, although you
can be sure that every local government
in Oregon has heard about Murphy’s
ruling and that some are actively
considering their options.
In the meantime, the ruling should be
raising eyebrows among state legislators
and other officials, who might earlier
have been tempted to write off the
lawsuit as the brainchild of cranky county
gadflies. Before Murphy’s ruling, state
officials might have dismissed the suit as
a shot across the bow, the legal equivalent
of seniors on a porch telling those
legislative kids to get off the lawn.
But now, at least as far this ruling
goes, this particular shot has landed right
on target.
The lawsuit in question, filed by Linn
County and eight other counties, argued
that the state’s mandatory sick leave law
was unconstitutional as it applied to local
governments because it didn’t come
with the funding to cover the additional
costs. (The state’s constitution bars such
unfunded mandates.)
The state’s attorneys argued that the
constitutional prohibition didn’t apply
in this case because the sick-leave law
didn’t qualify as a “program.” If this
sounds like a technicality, well, it is, but it
was a legitimate argument, and Murphy,
although he sided with the counties, noted
in his ruling that “(T)his is not a case
where the answer is crystal clear.”
What is clear, however, is that at least
some of Oregon’s cash-strapped counties
feel as if their concerns have been given
short shrift by legislators and other state
officials. (That very same sense is driving
the somewhat similar timber lawsuit
that’s been filed against the state by
Linn County; that lawsuit is pending in
Murphy’s court.)
In some ways, Oregon’s businesses
might be feeling the same way. Murphy’s
ruling, of course, doesn’t apply to most
state businesses (the constitution does
exempt private businesses that in some
way compete with local governments).
As other editorial writers have noted,
it’s unfair to ask Oregon businesses to
comply with a rule that local governments
don’t have to follow. That would suggest
that the 2017 Legislature should consider
repealing the mandatory sick-leave law.
But let’s be honest: That’s not going
to happen. In fact, if anything, the 2017
session seems likely to take an even
deeper dive into the inner workings of
businesses through a barrage of so-called
“predictive scheduling” regulations:
Rules requiring businesses to post
employees’ schedules at least two weeks
ahead of time. In addition, these rules
often include penalties for businesses
that have to make last-second schedule
adjustments.
To be fair, smart businesses already
have adopted their own versions of
predictive scheduling, because they know
that stable schedules make for happier,
healthier and more productive employees.
But we remain unconvinced that the
Legislature needs to be inserting itself
into the day-to-day workings of business.
And we hope that legislators and other
officials take Murphy’s ruling as a sign
that they need to pay more than mere
lip service to the legitimate concerns of
Oregon’s local governments. When those
governments feel that the only place
their voices are heard is in a courtroom,
something is broken.
OTHER VIEWS
How republics end
M
any people are reacting to
preserving forms is already underway.
rise of Trumpism and nativist
Consider what just happened in
North Carolina. The voters made a
movements in Europe
clear choice, electing a Democratic
by reading history — specifically,
governor. The Republican legislature
the history of the 1930s. And they
didn’t openly overturn the result
are right to do so. It takes willful
— not this time, anyway — but it
blindness not to see the parallels
effectively stripped the governor’s
between the rise of fascism and our
current political nightmare.
office of power, ensuring that the will
Paul
But the ‘30s isn’t the only era
Krugman of the voters wouldn’t actually matter.
Combine this sort of thing with
with lessons to teach us. Lately I’ve
Comment
been reading a lot about the ancient
continuing efforts to disenfranchise or
world. Initially, I have to admit,
at least discourage voting by minority
I was doing it for entertainment and as a
groups, and you have the potential making of
refuge from news that gets worse with each
a de facto one-party state: one that maintains
passing day. But I couldn’t help noticing the
the fiction of democracy, but has rigged the
contemporary resonances of some Roman
game so that the other side can never win.
history — specifically, the tale of how the
Why is this happening? I’m not asking
Roman Republic fell.
why white working-class voters support
Here’s what I learned: Republican
politicians whose policies will hurt them —
institutions don’t protect against tyranny
I’ll be coming back to that issue in future
when powerful people start defying political
columns. My question, instead, is why one
norms. And tyranny, when it comes, can
party’s politicians and officials no longer
flourish even while maintaining a republican seem to care about what we used to think
facade.
were essential U.S. values. And let’s be clear:
On the first point: Roman politics
This is a Republican story, not a case of
involved fierce competition among ambitious “both sides do it.”
men. But for centuries that competition
So what’s driving this story? I don’t think
was constrained by some seemingly
it’s truly ideological. Supposedly free-market
unbreakable rules. Here’s what Adrian
politicians are already discovering that crony
Goldsworthy’s “In the Name of Rome”
capitalism is fine as long as it involves the
says: “However important it was for an
right cronies. It does have to do with class
individual to win fame and add to his and his warfare — redistribution from the poor and
family’s reputation, this should always be
the middle class to the wealthy is a consistent
subordinated to the good of the Republic …
theme of all modern Republican policies. But
no disappointed Roman politician sought the what directly drives the attack on democracy,
aid of a foreign power.”
I’d argue, is simple careerism on the part
The United States used to be like that,
of people who are apparatchiks within a
with prominent senators declaring that we
system insulated from outside pressures by
must stop “partisan politics at the water’s
gerrymandered districts, unshakable partisan
edge.” But now we have a president-elect
loyalty, and lots and lots of plutocratic
who openly asked Russia to help smear his
financial support.
opponent, and all indications are that the
For such people, toeing the party line and
bulk of his party was and is just fine with
defending the party’s rule are all that matters.
that. (A new poll shows that Republican
And if they sometimes seem consumed with
approval of Vladimir Putin has surged
rage at anyone who challenges their actions,
even though — or, more likely, precisely
well, that’s how hacks always respond when
because — it has become clear that Russian
called on their hackery.
intervention played an important role in the
One thing all of this makes clear is that
U.S. election.) Winning domestic political
the sickness of U.S. politics didn’t begin with
struggles is all that matters, the good of the
Donald Trump, any more than the sickness
republic be damned.
of the Roman Republic began with Caesar.
And what happens to the republic
The erosion of democratic foundations has
as a result? Famously, on paper the
been underway for decades, and there’s
transformation of Rome from Republic to
no guarantee that we will ever be able to
Empire never happened. Officially, imperial
recover.
Rome was still ruled by a Senate that just
But if there is any hope of redemption, it
happened to defer to the emperor, whose
will have to begin with a clear recognition of
title originally just meant “commander,” on
how bad things are. U.S. democracy is very
everything that mattered. We may not go
much on the edge.
down exactly the same route — although
■
are we even sure of that? — but the process
Paul Krugman joined The New York
of destroying democratic substance while
Times in 1999 as an Op-Ed columnist.
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper
reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and
products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must
be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number.
The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send
letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
or email editor@eastoregonian.com.