THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 A5
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
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Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Landlords deserve more help from Legislature
D
on’t throw people out of their homes in the middle of a
global pandemic. As a policy choice, that was a fairly easy
one for Oregon legislators to make.
But what then should the state of
Oregon do about the landlords who
aren’t being paid rent?
The Legislature has marched on a
journey through distinct stages:
1. Extend the eviction moratorium.
It’s now through June 30.
2. Give landlords help. Landlords that
are willing to forego 20% of their back
rent can apply for payments for the re-
maining 80%. The state put about $150
million in that fund — for starters.
3. Get sued. The allegation in a suit
filed for landlords in U.S. District
Court says the state action and actions
by local governments should be void
because they are an unconstitutional
taking of property and violate con-
tract guarantees. Landlords question
if they will ever get their past due rent.
We can’t tell you what the courts will
decide.
4. Do something else? Now a new
stage is taking shape as the Legisla-
ture gets set to meet again. Before
the Legislature extended the eviction
moratorium, it discussed the 80%
state payback program for landlords
or another option — tax credits. State
Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose,
proposed tax credits that would en-
able landlords to get back 100% of
lost rent. It failed to pass. But it will be
back on the table when the Legislature
convenes.
Senate Bill 87 creates a similar in-
come tax credit “for lost rental income
of landlord, forgone due to prohibition
on evictions and rent nonpayment ac-
tions during COVID-19 emergency
period.” As written, it may be that a
landlord would not get back 100% of
lost rent immediately. It might be paid
off over the years because the credit
“may not exceed the tax liability of the
taxpayer for the tax year.”
We don’t question the importance
of an eviction moratorium during the
pandemic. But the state also should
not balk at bills such as SB 87 that
attempt to make landlords whole.
Tenants deserve protection. So do
landlords.
Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Publisher Heidi Wright, Editor Gerry O’Brien and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe.
My Nickel’s Worth
Bentz ignores his oath
Cliff Bentz took less than a week
to ignore the congressional oath of
office he took Jan . 3 . Recall that Pres-
ident- elect Joe Biden received over 7
million more popular votes and 74
more electoral college votes than the
incumbent. Despite over 60 court
cases and 90 judges finding that
claims of widespread voter fraud in
the presidential election were unsub-
stantiated, Mr. Bentz joined 146 other
Republicans and voted to ignore the
will of the people and overturn the
election results.
He should know better. He is an at-
torney. He knows the law. He, like all
of us, heard the hour long phone con-
versation the president had with the
Georgia secretary of state pressuring
him to “find votes” and ”recalculate.”
In the United States, it’s not who yells
the loudest, makes the most unsub-
stantiated claims and bullies the most
election officials to change results who
earns the office. It is the person the
people choose with their votes. That is
democracy.
So do us a favor, Mr. Bentz. Take
the American flag pin off of your la-
pel. You’re not fooling anyone. We can
clearly see by your actions that your
allegiance is not to our country, de-
mocracy, or the Constitution, but to
your political party and maintaining
power at any cost. Shameful.
— Ginny Adams, Sunriver
Bentz should go
Rep . Cliff Bentz should be removed
from office, as three days after he
was sworn to protect and defend the
United States of America from ene-
mies, both foreign and domestic, he
for voted to reject the Electoral Col-
lege votes from the state of Pennsylva-
nia for Joe Biden. There was no voter
fraud, the secretary of state approved
the votes and Joe Biden won.
Under the 14th Amendment of
the U.S. Constitution, Section 3 states
“no person shall be a Senator or Rep-
resentative in Congress, or elector
of President and Vice President, or
hold any office, civil or military, un-
der the United States, or under any
State, who, having previously taken an
oath, as a member of Congress, or as
an officer of the United States, or as a
member of any State legislature, or as
an executive or judicial officer of any
State, to support the Constitution of
the United States, shall have engaged
in insurrection or rebellion against the
same, or given aid or comfort to the
enemies thereof. But Congress may,
by a vote of two-thirds of each House,
remove such disability.”
The Bulletin reported that Rep.
Cliff Bentz, Oregon’s sole Republi-
can member of Congress, said in an
interview impeachment wouldn’t be
a “productive exercise.” He also said
“Trump shouldn’t resign.”
The residents of the 2nd Congres-
sional District need a representative
who supports the U.S. Constitution
and works to improve the lives of cit-
izens, and Bentz should not continue
to support domestic terrorists. Cliff
Bentz should resign.
— Jerry Hubbard, Sunriver
What kind of Republican?
When U. S. Rep . Cliff Bentz was
elected to Oregon’s District 2, I was
hopeful. His record suggested com-
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monsense and bipartisan skills. But
his first official act challenged certi-
fying the election of Joe Biden and
Kamala Harris. This encouraged
conspiracy theorists, who sided with
President Donald Trump, falsely
claiming he and Mike Pence had won
the election. This fantasy was de-
bunked in over 50 lawsuits and dis-
puted by Democratic and Republican
election officials in every state. More-
over, it led to violent armed insurrec-
tion by Trump supporters who occu-
pied the U.S. Capitol and prevented
the Congress from doing their con-
stitutional duty, an act of sedition. So,
Rep . Bentz, what kind of Republican
are you?
Full disclosure: I come from three
generations of Midwestern Republi-
cans and have associated them with
family values, fiscal restraint, law and
order and taking responsibility for
one’s actions. We need to have those
conservative ideals represented, but
President Trump has violated them
attempting to remake Republicans
in his image: corrupt, immoral, anti-
democratic and delusional. Like all
would -be fascist dictators, Trump
promised to make the country great
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edit submissions for brevity, grammar, taste and legal
again by denigrating and persecut-
ing some “other” who was victimiz-
ing fellow citizens, blaming Mexicans
first, then blacks, gays, women, fi-
nally Democrats and even Republi-
cans who disagreed with him. Trump
claimed journalists were “enemies of
the people” and replaced them with
his propagandists who invented “al-
ternative facts” and QAnon conspir-
acy theories. In this way, 74,000 voters
were conned into voting for his re elec-
tion and lost. So, Rep . Bentz are you a
traditional or Trump Republican?
— Don Kunz, Bend
Leave the violence behind
How did we get here? Is this who
we really are?
Retired Republican U.S. Sen . Alan
K. Simpson tells us: “Part of the Re-
publican Party is heading toward
cultism, and there are various kinds,”
“There’s the homophobe cult, the
abortion cult, the conspiracy cult and
the no-mask cult. There’s the follow-
law-and-order cult and the get-gov-
ernment-out-of-your-life-and-leave-
me-alone-cult. “Hate,” Alan Simpson
says, speaking of toxic partisanship
reasons. We reject those submitted elsewhere. Locally
submitted columns alternate with national columnists
and commentaries.
Writers are limited to one letter or guest column every
30 days.
How to submit
Please address your submission to either My Nickel’s
and cultural tribalism, “corrodes the
container it is carried in.”
The Trump cult has shown the
world that it embraces all of these
cults and has inflicted domestic ter-
rorism on all of us. Yes, this is who we
really are.
The recent chamber of commerce
discussion by newly elected Central
Oregon legislators was an example
of the choices we face. Here is what I
heard. Sen. Tim Knopp led off stating
a goal of getting our small businesses
open by getting big government off
their backs. Rep. Jason Kropf ad-
dressed the same goal and proposed a
concrete, science-based, care for your-
self AND your neighbor, empower-
ing plan: wear your mask, wash your
hands, get the vaccine when you can,
we will save lives and livelihoods and
reopen safely.
COVID-19, with the worst times
still ahead, and cults are the enemies
assaulting us, not a specter “big gov-
ernment” and not the need to wear a
.5 oz mask.
We are the democracy in this coun-
try. You and I. Do your part. Vote for
someone not defined by a cult. Leave
the violence and the hate and the
blame behind.
— Steve Carlton, Bend
Please reconsider
One of Rep . Cliff Bentz’s first acts
as Oregon’s newest congressional rep-
resentative was to voice support for
those who question the legitimacy of
Joe Biden’s election. He should recon-
sider that position and get on the right
side of history. As a law school grad-
uate, Bentz presumably gained suffi-
cient knowledge of the Constitution
to know that there is no legitimate
constitutional basis for challenging
Biden’s election. Even if he did not,
that more than 60 state and federal
judges found no such basis should
provide him a clue. History will not
look favorably on lawmakers who
cynically chose politics over law and
reason.
Bentz, therefore, should give more
thought to his decisions going forward.
His entry into national politics was a
decidedly inauspicious beginning.
— Rob Brazeau, Bend
Worth or Guest Column and mail, fax or email it to The
Bulletin. Email submissions are preferred.
Email: letters@bendbulletin.com
Write: My Nickel’s Worth/Guest Column
P.O. Box 6020
Bend, OR 97708
Fax:
541-385-5804
A surprising first impression of Cliff Bentz
“T
he difference between the
Senate and the House,”
Lyndon Johnson famously
said, “is the difference between
chicken salad and chicken shit.”
There are a few sobering realities
about being a freshman in the U.S.
House. For all of the esteem of being
a member of Congress, Westerners
especially reside too much on a com-
mercial jet. When I covered those
men and women as a Washington,
D.C., correspondent, I often won-
dered which time zone their body
clock was in. In that often weekly
commute, they take a beating.
The second reality is that be-
ing a freshman means you’ve only
been given access to a coffee klatsch
or cocktail party with 435 others.
Once inside, the challenge is to move
through that population and make
deals and alliances. To get ahead in
the House demands shoe leather and
relentless energy.
And that gets to my initial skepti-
cism about Cliff Bentz’s decision to
succeed Greg Walden, who repre-
sented Oregon’s vast 2nd Congressio-
nal District for 22 years. Walden was a
freshman at the age of 42. Bentz is 69,
which gives him relatively little time
to gain seniority. Oregon’s most con-
sequential freshman congressman,
Ron Wyden, became a House fresh-
man at the age of 32, half Bentz’s age.
In his first term, Wyden tore up the
track.
If you talk to people who watched
Bentz in the Oregon Legislature, you
gain the impression that he runs very
deep. “Thoughtful” and “smart” are
the adjectives you hear about the man.
The leap from a statehouse to Con-
STEVE
FORRESTER
gress is profound. Congressman Les
AuCoin, who represented Astoria in
the House for 18 years, told me: “Con-
gress is not a bigger version of a state
legislature.” Going from the state capi-
tol to the national capitol “is like mov-
ing from chess to three-dimensional
chess.”
Given that first impressions are ev-
erything in politics, it was surprising
to see the newly minted Congress-
man Bentz join the House Republi-
cans who tried to keep alive President
Donald Trump’s illusion about wide-
spread voter fraud in the November
election.
Bentz has said he cast that vote —
to object to the electors from Pennsyl-
vania — because many of his constit-
uents had those kinds of sentiments
about the presidential election. Fair
enough. But every member of the
House had an appointment with his-
tory on Jan. 6.
After the violent incursion of the
Capitol, many Republicans wised up
and realized that abetting the presi-
dent’s fiction had become a dangerous
choice.
Bentz also voted Wednesday
against impeaching Trump for incit-
ing the insurrection.
In this era, the velocity of change
in national politics, and especially in
Congress, is especially rapid. Sud-
denly, the senators who fomented
the drive to abet Trump’s lost cause
— Josh Hawley, of Missouri, and Ted
Cruz, of Texas — are not hot com-
modities. They are outcasts.
Oregon’s Richard Neuberger had a
rocky beginning as a freshman sena-
tor in 1954. But he quickly recovered
and turned in a consequential term
before his death in 1960. That was in a
much different era, but it makes a cer-
tain point.
In politics, it’s all about what you
will do tomorrow.
It will be interesting to see how
Bentz navigates the Class V rapids in
front of him.
Steve Forrester is the president and CEO of EO
Media Group, owner of The Bulletin. He was
a Washington, D.C., correspondent for Pacific
Northwest newspapers from 1978 to 1987. His
chapter on the late U.S. Sen. Richard Neuberger
will be in the upcoming book “Eminent
Oregonians.” This piece originally appeared in
The Daily Astorian.