A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Democracy
only works
through
participation
D
emocracy shouldn’t
be a spectator
sport.
Sad to say, but that is
often what our form of gov-
ernment becomes. Collec-
tively, we bemoan perceived
injustices or complain about
a policy or law but do little
to change it.
Our form of government,
though, is built around the
idea that voters should —
and must — participate.
Thomas Jefferson — a
founding member of our
government — felt the peo-
ple were the best protection
against tyrannical forms of
government. Jefferson pro-
moted an “enlightened”
nation of voters who serve
as a check against govern-
ment overreach.
Yet it is a two-way street,
and that means voters need
to participate in their gov-
ernment. Exercising the
right to vote is the single
most obvious method to be
involved, but it isn’t a silver
bullet.
Many of us, in one way
or another, enjoy the fruits
of our great nation. Thou-
sands of men and women
have served our nation over
200-plus years and made a
down payment on our ability
to live inside a democracy.
Those sacrifices stand as an
example and should be moti-
vation for the rest of us to
participate in our democracy.
Granted, that is often not
an easy task. Especially now
in a digital age where events
move at light speed, going
to a city council or county
court meeting after a long
day of work can seem to be
a daunting task. We all have
lives, we are all busy, so
taking a couple hours on a
Monday or Tuesday night to
listen to what appears to be
boring discussion between
elected leaders can seem
senseless.
The public trust, though,
makes it imperative that all
voters, when they can, go to
such meetings to listen and
evaluate how elected leaders
are doing and what they are
making decisions on.
Often there is a refrain
of “I didn’t know they were
doing that” when a spe-
cific policy or ordinance is
suddenly enforced. Yet we
should know. Voters should
never be caught by surprise
by a new ordinance or law.
Our elected leaders work
for us. It is that simple. They
are elected by the people
and serve the people and
are accountable to the peo-
ple. Not to their staffs, not to
their friends and not to their
political cronies. They serve
the people.
Yet voters must take
responsibility as well to
ensure democracy works.
That means going to the
occasional council meeting.
That means — at least from
time to time — taking a gan-
der at a city or county meet-
ing agenda.
Democracy only works
through participation. So,
don’t get caught by surprise.
Get involved.
GUEST COMMENT
Why we walked
I
n a democracy, the major-
ity rules. But when the Dem-
ocratic majority decided
to trade Oregon’s economic
free-market system for one of cen-
tral government control — while
ignoring our constitution and
making a shambles of Oregon’s
rural and low-income economies
— we walked.
These parts of House Bill
2020, which would have imposed
greenhouse gas-emissions lim-
its on businesses and forced them
to buy allowances whose cost, set
by the state, would get passed on
to consumers, were particularly
egregious.
The bill’s regulatory cart is
way out in front of the technology
horse. The bill forces drivers to pay
ever higher fuel prices years before
the development of electric trucks
and before installation of the infra-
structure needed to allow mean-
ingful use of electric or hydro-
gen-powered vehicles. Likewise,
there’s a constitutional problem.
The billions that Oregonians would
be forced to pay in carbon taxes
couldn’t be used to construct such
infrastructure because that money
is constitutionally restricted.
HB 2020 would increase the
cost of fuel by 22 cents a gallon
on Jan. 1, 2021, without regard to
significant increases in the cost of
fuel already in the
pipeline. Those
include Oregon’s
Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (now
five cents a gallon
and on its way to
Oregon Sen. 25 cents over the
Cliff Bentz
next few years);
the 10-cent-per-
gallon gas tax authorized by HB
2017; the international ban on
bunker fuel for sea transport, esti-
mated to increase the cost of die-
sel by 20 to 30 percent effective
January 2020; and the recently
enacted Corporate Activities Tax,
which exempts fuel sales but does
not exempt other costs of fuel
such as freight. HB 2020 callously
stacks its 22 cents per gallon on
top of these increases.
Democrats tried to design HB
2020 so that its 22-cent-per-gal-
lon cost would not be considered
a tax, even though you have no
choice but to pay and the govern-
ment gets to spend it. This uncon-
stitutional approach kept the ver-
boten word “tax” out of the bill,
side-stepped the three-fifths leg-
islative vote requirement and
flouted the prohibition against use
of an “emergency clause” in a tax
bill. (Emergency clauses are often
used to prevent referral of legisla-
tion to the people.)
Finally, the Democrats silently
changed how to measure Ore-
gon’s carbon reduction. Instead
of factoring in the amount of car-
bon sequestered by Oregon’s for-
ests and sea, the bill tallies only
emissions reductions. This seems
innocuous, but the result sky-
rockets the cost of the scheme
and ignores Oregon’s natural car-
bon sinks, which, if used appro-
priately, could help Oregon
become a major global player in
the sequestration of carbon.
Yes, Oregon’s Republi-
can senators walked, and yes,
HB 2020 is dead. But it will be
back. Maybe the demonstra-
tions against the bill, the three
brave Democratic senators who
also opposed the bill, the Senate
walkouts and the thousands upon
thousands of emails supporting
the death of 2020 will prompt
the majority to actually address
the many and damaging short-
comings of cap and trade. And
maybe this time they will have
the courage to let Oregonians
vote on it.
Cliff Bentz represents Ore-
gon’s Senate District 30, which
covers Grant, Baker, Harney, Jef-
ferson, Malheur and Wheeler
counties and parts of Clackamas,
Deschutes, Lake Marion and
Wasco counties.
GUEST COMMENT
Rural business investment vital
I
WHERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax:
541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509.
Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@
centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John
Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028.
Fax: 541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@
centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601.
Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: info@
cityoflongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426,
Monument 97864. Phone
and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688.
Fax: 541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@
ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website:
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State
Capitol, Salem, 97310. Phone: (503)
986-1180. Website: leg.state.or.us
(includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-
332-2313.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
t’s a story I’ve heard too many
times in my own life and in
the lives of the many small
business owners I meet:
Person grows up in a small
town. Person moves to a city or
urban area for college or work.
Person yearns to return to the
small-town life they love or
return to raise their children in
the same environment they grew
up. However, a lack of job oppor-
tunities makes this American
Dream unattainable.
While it’s heartening to see
many of our region’s major met-
ropolitan areas flourish in this
unprecedented booming econ-
omy, we need to include invest-
ment in rural communities as
well.
Forty-six million people live
in rural America. And according
to the U.S. Census Bureau, 69%
of counties in Oregon are defined
as rural — a substantial segment.
Rural small businesses make
a huge and critical impact on our
state’s economy, the U.S. econ-
omy and even the global economy.
For instance, many of the top 10
exports from Oregon are manufac-
turing products, a mainstay indus-
try of rural communities.
While traditional rural sectors
such as agriculture, mining and
through entrepreneurship and small
business support. That is why the
SBA teamed up with the USDA to
empower rural America through
our Rural Strong initiative.
We are putting special emphasis
on supporting rural economies with
additional outreach to educate rural
communities about access to tech-
nical assistance, capital, exporting
resources, Historically Underuti-
lized Business Zones and Opportu-
nity Zones. The SBA is also offer-
ing fee relief on SBA-guaranteed
7(a) loans up to $150,000 in rural
counties as defined by the U.S.
Census Bureau.
Like most things in life, we
can’t do it alone. It takes all of us
to invest in the communities that
define our nation and many of our
shared values.
By investing in rural small busi-
nesses, we invest in growing our
local and national economy. We
invest in strengthening our con-
tribution to the global economy.
And, most important, we invest in
our neighbors living the American
Dream.
Jeremy Field is the regional
administrator for the U.S. Small
Business Administration Pacific
Northwest Region, which serves
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
Alaska.
L
ETTERS POLICY: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues.
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Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
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MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
manufacturing
employ a smaller
percentage of the
population than
before, they con-
tinue to anchor the
economies of more
Jeremy Field than half of the
nation’s counties,
including right here in our own
backyard.
Our strength depends on our
rural communities’ ability to thrive
in the new global economy, build
and attract an educated work-
force, expand its population base
and use its diverse and abundant
natural resources to provide food,
fiber, forest products, energy and
recreation.
Rural communities face eco-
nomic challenges different from
those in urban areas. Access to
public transportation, housing,
higher education and job training
may limit rural areas’ abilities to
thrive economically.
Resourcefulness, innovation,
common-sense problem-solv-
ing and a reverence for hard work
are familiar attributes of people in
rural areas. They’re also the attri-
butes of successful entrepreneurs.
At the U.S. Small Business
Administration, we see an oppor-
tunity to elevate rural economies
Online: MyEagleNews.com
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