Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/639975
Itisfrequentlysaidthat,unfortunately, Americans disdain government. It is more usefully said that, unfortunately, they have abundant reasons for doing so. In com- ing days, the Supreme Court, by deciding to hear a case from Connecticut, can begin limiting a contemptible government abuse that the court's passive deference to legisla- tures has encouraged. Thecaseconcernsaminor economic activity, teeth whit- ening, but a major principle: Can a state limit Americans' op- portunities by restricting ac- cess to particular professions for no reason other than the enrich- ment of people entrenched in those professions? If the court refuses to hear the case, or if it hears it and decides it incor- rectly, the "rational basis" test for judging government regula- tions of economic activities will no longer test anything — it will be completely severed from reasoning based on evidence. Teeth whitening is a simple, safe procedure that people can perform on themselves with materials — a peroxide-based whitener and an LED "acti- vating light" — bought with- out prescriptions. Or they can pay whitening salons to do it for them. The salons charge much less, often $150 or less, compared with $350 or more charged by dentists, many of whom regard the salons as competitors to be crushed by political power. Dentists are or- ganized, salons are not, so at least 30 states have defended the strong by giving govern- ment-licensed dentists and den- tal hygienists a whitening mo- nopoly. The Connecticut State Dental Commission, which is run by and for dentists, is em- powered by law to write whit- ening regulations. They can subject salon operators to fines of up to $25,000 or up to five years in prison — per customer — for the crime of giving cus- tomers assistance (applying the whitener, positioning the LED in front of the customers' mouths). This is pure rent seek- ing — a politically connected faction bending public power for its private benefit by crip- pling competitors. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has compla- cently said of other people's in- juries from government favor- itism: "While baseball may be the national pastime of the cit- izenry, dishing out special eco- nomic benefits to certain in- state industries remains the fa- vored pastime of state and local governments." Echoing this in the Connecticut case, the 2nd Circuit has dismissively said, "Much of what states do is to favor certain groups over others on economic grounds. We call this politics." Yes, and if states violate, say, the First Amendment ban on abridging freedom of speech, that, too, would be politics — unconstitutional politics. Much of what deferential courts do is connive with state governments in the pretense that there is some explainable public good beyond transferring wealth to the politically con- nected. We call this dereliction of the judicial duty to enforce the Constitution's due process and equal protection clauses. The rational basis test al- ready is extremely permissive. Courts administering it defer to government restrictions on economic activity whenever legislatures enunciate any reasons for the restrictions. And courts occasionally con- coct reasons the legislatures have neglected to imagine. This vast judicial deference is a consequence of the Supreme Court distinguishing, without warrant in the Constitution's text or history, between "fun- damental" rights, infringe- ments of which must survive strict judicial scrutiny, and economic rights that receive lackadaisical scrutiny. In the Connecticut whiten- ers case, the 2nd Circuit held that courts can render sum- mary judgment on behalf of the government even when plain- tiffs in rational basis cases pro- duce undisputed evidence that the challenged regulations can- not plausibly be said to advance governmental interests in pub- lic health or safety. The 5th, 6th and 9th circuits, however, have held that naked economic pro- tectionism — protecting an eco- nomic faction from competition — is not a legitimate govern- mental purpose. The Supreme Court must referee this dispute. Connecticut's whiteners are represented by the Institute for Justice, the United States' fore- most defender of economic lib- erty and of the entrepreneur- ial, often minority individuals whose progress up the ladder of social mobility is blocked by cartels such as Connecticut's dentists. The institute reduces the case to its essence: "It is uncon- stitutional to require someone to have eight years of higher ed- ucation [college and dentistry school] before they can point a flashlight at someone's teeth." If the Supreme Court re- jects this patent truth by al- lowing the 2nd Circuit's con- clusion to stand, the rational basis test will become a cha- rade, which will effectively mean the end of judicial re- view of economic regulations. This will become an unlim- ited license for government to impede access to professions, reward rent seekers and pun- ish consumers, thereby vali- dating Americans' deepening disdain for government. GeorgeWill'semailaddressis georgewill@washpost.com. GeorgeWill It's time to break the teeth whitening monopoly Cartoonist's take There may be readers who pe- ruse this column and accept it as all true and correct. Then there are others, includ- ing the editor of this newspaper, who view it criti- cally and question my remarks. If in the latter group, you are correct in doing so. In last week's effort, I authoritatively an- nounced the meaning of the ex- pression "an arm and a leg." The editor pointed out that my ex- planation was not based in fact, that this, and other such ascer- tains, have bounced about the Internet for years and those in the know avoid them like the plague. Other phrases like "the whole nine yards" are equally suspect. This revelation is em- barrassing for yours truly as well as M. Oldham who inno- cently conveyed them to me hot off the Internet. There is, however, a service on the Internet, Snopes.com, that will verify or deny items placed before them. We shall test these waters before ventur- ing out in them again. And al- though I have a lovely calen- dar featuring a donkey of the month, I won't attempt to ex- plain one familiar saying which is illustrated by a photo of a lit- tle fellow standing at a start- ing line and the caption reads "Your ass is on the line." That seems to be self-explanatory. ••• Speaking of testing waters, a picture is worth a thousand words, especially when on the cover of The New Yorker and dealing with a certain candi- date for President. The cover de- picts several past Presidents, Kennedy, Lincoln, Teddy Roos- evelt, FDR and George Washing- ton, the latter with his hand cov- ering part of his face in embar- rassment. They are all looking at a TV screen on which a fatuous arrested development adolescent named Trump is center stage. It really tells voters, still enthralled with his off-the-wall perfor- mance, to think twice about let- ting this buffoon occupy the White House in coming years. ••• New Hampshire voting re- sults headlined in the Daily News: "Trump and Sanders big winners, riding voter frustra- tion." The article adds, "…voter frustration with American pol- itics. Sanders swept majorities of men and women, indepen- dents and young people in his win over Hillary Clinton but faces challenges in the more di- verse states that come next on the primary calendar." Well, regarding today's rest- less young voters demanding change, how quickly we for- get — and they should learn — that the decade between 1972 and 1982 was the worst ex- tended economic period since the 1930s. The Dow Jones lost almost half its value, unemploy- ment jumped to 8.5% and the inflation rate exceeded 10%. By late 1980, the year that Ronald Reagan was elected President, the prime rate was 20%. The message here is that this country has gone through greater economic upheaval be- fore, but still emerged as the No. 1 Nation in the world, and even though these are uncer- tain times, there is no reason for young voters to throw cau- tion to the wind and vote for untested candidates promis- ing changes to come — ergo, be careful what you wish for. ••• There was a time when the phrase "reverse mortgage" would raise eyebrows amongst real es- tate people and borrowers alike. Today, the rules have had a makeover, and if you garner one such mortgage under the protec- tion of a Home Equity Conver- sion Mortgage (HECM) program, it may be the way to turn your home equity into cash. To qual- ify you must own your home as your primary residence and con- tinue to pay taxes and insurance. You make no monthly payments out of pocket and your lender many not cut or close your credit line as long as you adhere to loan terms. There are even new protections for a spouse whose name may not be on the title. ••• A friend asked via e mail if the fellow mentioned in Tues- day's Daily News as a "sexual predator" was known to me, that someone said they saw him at my office from time to time. As- suming it was, my heart sank. However, after seeing a photo in the paper, and noting the name of the person taken into custody, I can emphatically announce that he is unknown to me. However, this caused me to ponder a question which I had not previously considered: If one is incarcerated, and accom- panied by a pet, a dog, a cat or a monkey, what happens to the pet? Is the pet allowed into the cell with its owner? That seems unlikely. I would guess that the pet goes to what we used to call "the pound" but is now referred to as the "Animal Care Center," in which case the pet would be fed and looked after until the case was resolved. But then, if the owner is found guilty and sent away for a time, what hap- pens to the pet? Adopted to a good home, we hope. Sigh. ••• In police logs this week: "Big 5 Sporting Goods employee re- ported Saturday that a male suspect stole speakers from the business." I called the store and said I suspected the thief stole "sneakers" instead of "speak- ers." However the manager re- plied, "No, he stole speakers, we sell speakers." Oh. ••• Paddy's pregnant sister was in a terrible car accident and went into a deep coma for nearly six months. When she woke up she noted she was no longer pregnant. Frantically she asked the doc- tor about her baby. The doctor replied, "You had twins, a boy and a girl. The ba- bies are fine. However they were doing poorly at birth and had to be christened immediately, so your brother Paddy came in and named them." The woman thought to her- self, "Oh suffering Jesus no; not me brother. He's a clueless idiot." Expecting the worst, she asked the doctor, "Well, what name did he give my daughter?" "Denise," said the doctor. The new mother was relieved and said, 'Wow, that's a really beautiful name. I guess I was wrong about my brother. I re- ally like the name Denise. So, what name did he bestow on my son? " The doctor replied, "De- nephew." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@ hotmail.com. I say Better vetter of idiom origins While baseball may be the national pastime of the citizenry, dishing out special economic benefits to certain in-state industries remains the favored pastime of state and local governments. GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS StateandNational Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http:// ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 For- est Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator.nielsen@ senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558- 3160, governor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Fran- cisco 94104, 415 393-0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials Robert Minch George Will OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, February 12, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6