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Unconstitutional Delegation of Power to Agents of the State of Oregon
By Curt Chancler
& Jeane Wollman
US~Observer Investigative Journalists
In the last issue of the US~Observer our article, “While We Were Sleeping“, was the first in a series of articles explaining the tyranny of the unconstitutional delegation of power to administrative agencies. These agencies range from the Federal – Internal Revenue Service, Social Security, Forest Service, Department of Health, Department of Education, ad infinitum – to the state agencies which duplicate many of the Federal departments plus those that deal with state and local issues. Their commonality is that none operate under Constitutional Law.
These Federal and State Departments do not work with Constitutional Law because they follow Administrative Law. They operate on a whole system of law not controlled by the Constitution. They tell us that they were created legally and constitutionally but the truth of the matter is they were not and are not legal. Yes, there were US government departments as early as the late 1700s but they were closely controlled by the elected representatives and within Constitutional Law. In the 1930’s a proliferation of Federal and State Departments were created and an apparent fourth arm of the government was created known as Administrative Rule.
Today administrative state departments smother us with an all enveloping control of our daily lives. One that has far outgrown its original purpose is Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality.
DEQ was created out of a perceived need to protect our environment and deal with crimes committed against the environment. It began at the Federal level with a well intentioned effort to help preserve our environment. However our State Senators and State Representatives had to know that the delegation of their law-making power to the state DEQ agency was unconstitutional. Surely they had to know when they delegated their duty to make law to a government department that they were breaking their oath to preserve and protect the Constitution. Could they possibly have been so short-sighted, so ignorant of the Constitution that they did not understand they were creating a dictatorship with no accountability to the Citizens of Oregon?
How in the world could this happen? While we were sleeping our government, under the watchful eye and with the frequent help of our Courts, has all but retired our Constitution. In private some in government will tell you they believe our Constitution is an outdated document; that it has no place in the modern progressive America of today. Unfortunately too many citizens have a different view of a free nation and expect the government to carry them from cradle to grave. There are many others that have given up and say there is nothing they can do. It seems to be the general concensus that the government can only do two things well – to do nothing or to make matters worse at the highest cost and with the most muddling effort.
Keeping this in mind will help you to understand the creation and the rational of DEQ. There is a need to protect the environment. It is the duty of every individual American to have a concern for their land and waterways and to protect them from degradation. It is the when, where, how and by what means that is the current problem. The first thing we must be mindful of is that the land, that America, belongs to We the People not our government. It may be a lot more work. It may even cost more to create Constitutional regulatory agencies but by doing so the people, not the government, will decide the importance of environmental agencies and the direction they take. DEQ and other governmental departments must not continue making departmental laws, then enforcing those laws and adjudicating them. When a department is allowed to do this it becomes a dictatorship. Today there are thousands of governmental departments tyrannically making life a misery for the average citizen. All of this denies American citizens substantive due process. Under this standard we become a nation of serfs.
The first article in our Constitution lays out the separation of powers between the Congress, the Executive and the Judicial arms of government. Our founding fathers were adamant that there must be a separation of powers in order to prevent a monarchy or worseâ?”a dictatorship.
Any government department or agency that makes law, judges the law and enforces the law has created a bureaucratic dictatorship. It is not constitutional and it is not adjudicated in a Constitutional Court.
A bureaucratic dictatorship like DEQ has learned to survive by taking the art of deception to a new level. Another survival skill is the ability to create the illusion of constitutionality to mask its criminal behavior. It is found that with over 700 employees and a budget larger than the GNP of some small countries anything is possible.
Our intent is to ask our elected officials on the Ways and means Committee why they are funding an unconstitutional arm of government. This arm of the state government has a fist on the end of that arm and this fist is being used to beat businesses and land owners alike in to submitting to the will and oversight of government. It is our understanding that the Ways and means Committee has direct oversight of the DEQ. They have the authority to control this despotic department. How? Cut off their money!
We are challenging any one in government, elected or not, to show us a Constitutional provision for this fourth branch of government. A branch that possesses the power to make, enforce and judge a system of unchecked power with little or no accountability for its actions. It is not Constitutional Law it is Administrative Law. Administrative Law is not Constitutional.
There is no question that we must be forever vigilant in our efforts to protect our environment. There are many loyal, dedicated government employees working to do exactly that. It is not our intent to discredit any loyal American intent on preserving our lands and waterways. However, when that intent leads to the loss of jobs, retirements, insurance, homes, cars, dreams of college for our children there is something drastically wrong. When a man can lose the use of his property without compensation and still receive a tax bill there is something drastically wrong.
Everybody needs to understand there are over six billion men, women and children living on this planet. This will create an environmental footprint. How that footprint is handled is all important. Allowing some to play fast and loose with the environment for their own purposes is not the answer. Nor is the answer to create environmental rules and laws that degrade our Constitutional rights, ignore common sense and harm our economy. America’s problems will not be solved by “government” but by the reasonable men and women that make up the silent majority of this country. It is you that must step forward speak up. Speak up loud and clear for you have been silent far too long. Speak up America. Speak up before it is too late.
