Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/119814
4A Daily News – Thursday, April 4, 2013 Opinion DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes letters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All 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 cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submitted will be considered for publication. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong community newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehicles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its communities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the residents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Sports Editor: Once again your sports department has let down the youth of this community. You report on stabbings, drugs, gangs, etc. that put a bad light on some young people but there also are some that achieve news of a good nature. The RBUHS Junior Varsity baseball team is undefeated at this point with a 18-0 record. That is an achievement that the community would be proud of if only you were reporting it. Those young men are playing for Red Bluff as well as their selves every time they go on the field. I hope their efforts continue in a winning way. They have the talent to. Your non coverage of the team's achievements is a slap in the face to the young men, their parents, and supporters that take pride in watching the youth of Red Bluff do something in a positive direction. The news is negative enough without missing these kinds of stories in your paper. I am sure that you will blame something else for the lack of coverage as usual such as the coaches not letting you know what is going on but that is not good journalism. If the coaches don't pass the game information on to you shame on them. But if they do and you ignore it shame on you. Everyone hears the sports news on ESPN and other TV outlets but the local athletes are what you should fill your paper with. The AP reports that you copy and paste about every other state and country just doesn't get it. Maybe, just maybe more people would read your paper. Jim Ross, Red Bluff Poor Red Bluff Editor: One of the things I promote on line are things to do and see in towns that I visit. I try and help the local business stay local as they compete with the big chains. Eat at local restaurants and stay as much as possible at boutique hotels. Today I thought I would highlight the little cute town of Red Bluff. "The town where the river runs through it." The town with the beautiful Victorian homes, antique stores, beautiful parks and great place to fish. The town were I went to school at. Unfortunately, I was unable to do this today. I was saddened to see how it would now be difficult to have my granddaughter's birthday party at the parks, take her to feed the ducks or fish down by the bridge etc. I was too scared to get out of my car to even take a photo. Since when was it ok to camp wherever you choose? Isn't there still a camp ground out at the Diversion Dam? The positive parts were, I had a wonderful breakfast at M&M Restaurant. I loved seeing that Frontier Village and the Main Street buildings were all full of business, hardly any vacancies. Negative part, there were lowing: strange homeless people mak"From your recent reply, I ing it a bit impossible to enter find that you certainly don't some of those business. support me, nor do you support I would love to be a part of a the position of some 90% of citsolution and see this little town izens who favor universal backas a great place to visit or live. I ground checks — including would love to send clients here, NRA members and former as they look to vacamembers, such as I. tion the north state. Why in God's name Your I just don't feel do gun owners, such comfortable telling as I with a total of them to plan a picnic at seven guns, need to the local park and have magazines holdwatch the beautiful ing more than 10 river go by. I understand this is rounds of ammunition?" an issue in a lot of towns, but I urge that we make Doug this little town use to not be this LaMalfa, paraphrasing Senator way. So sad. McConnell, a one- term repreKimberly Williamson, sentative. Red Bluff Hugh Merhoff, Red Bluff Turn Rep. LaMalfa gun stand Resolution to the budget crisis Editor: I recently wrote to Representative Doug LaMalfa to express my opinion of proposed gun laws. I am in favor of universal background checks, as are about 90% of the populace and 80% of NRA members. He answered with a nebulous comment that included: "I was sent to Washington not to strip rights away from the American people, but to fight for our basic freedoms and ensure that our government follows the Constitution." Of course, that doesn't include my Constitutional right to freedom from the threat of death by gunshot. So, I sent him an e-mail that included the fol- Editor: At present, the media is engaged in a reporting frenzy about the papal conclave in Rome, describing the Cardinals as locked in a room, with only bread and water as sustenance, until they have elected a new Pope. This strikes me as a perfect solution to the ongoing budget gridlock in Washington. Let's deprive those stubborn miscreants in our nation's capital of the luxuries they are accustomed to, and subject them to the same spartan conditions until a consensus has been reached, which would more than likely occur within the span of a few hours. Joe Bahlke, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Dan Logue, 1550 Humboldt Road, Ste. 4, Chico, CA 95928, 530-895-4217 STATE SENATOR — Jim Nielsen, 2635 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico, CA 95928, (530) 879-7424, senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 5583160; E-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Doug LaMalfa 506 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-2253076. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 3930710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Commentary Bureaucratic incompetence Sadly, bureaucracy is a timehonored tradition in the United States government, but perhaps no greater bureaucratic juggernaut exists today than the Veteran's Administration (VA) run by the Obama Administration. The abject failure of the VA under the leadership of the three-ring circus we know as the Obama Administration is a case in point that increasing funding does little to inject competence or efficiency. Recent documents from an Internal Veterans Affairs Department reveal some veterans actually die before receiving the care they need and others are forced to wait up to eight months to see a doctor, well beyond the VA's standard of 14 days. A House Veterans Oversight and Investigations committee appointed to look into the problem found evidence the VA is falsifying numbers and closing out veterans' appointment requests in response to the backlog. According to the Military Times, the committee chairman, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), cites reasons for the closeouts include: "the request was years old, too much time had elapsed, or the veteran had died." A March 14 witness testimony by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Health Care Director, Debra Draper stated no one actually knows how long veterans are waiting for care because "the reported dates are unreliable" -- a large number of VA appointment schedulers don't know how to do their job, the whole system is obsolete, and dates are massaged to "show clinic wait times within VHA's performance goals." I digress to note that similar complaints are also documented within Britain's National Healthcare System where workers manipulate numbers to meet quotas to keep their jobs. If the VA can't provide benefits to our nation's veterans, how does the Obama administration plan to deliver healthcare for 30-plus million Americans? Liberals would have us believe that a bloated federal government has the ability to play a meaningful role in nurturing people's lives, but if they can't get this one right, they should just fuhgeddaboutit. Case closed. Done. Additionally, internal VA documents secured by the Cen- Obama inherited," then think ter for Investigative Reporting again. The Center for Investigative Reporting found, found wait times for "the average wait time first-time disability for veterans filing discompensation claims ability claims fell by and other benefit more than a third claims are much longer under President than the VA cares to George W. Bush, even admit, with claims takas more than 320,000 ing anywhere from 316 Iraq and Afghanistan to 642 days. veterans filed disabiliIn the first year of ty claims." It's actualPresident Obama's ly about priorities, presidency, 11,000 vetwouldn't you say? erans were on a claim Jon Stewart effecwaiting list for more Susan tively nailed it using than a year. Five years humor March 27 on later, despite promises The Daily Show when for improvement, and he said, "McDonalds massive dollars "invested," the situation has deteriorat- handles ten times that many customers in an hour, and may I ed. Those on a one-year waiting remind you, they are run by a list for claims rose by more than clown." Sadly, though, the inep2000 percent, to 245,000 in titude of this administration is 2012. Currently, the average no laughing matter. wait time for 900,000 veterans Susan Stamper Brown is an who have been willing to sacripage columnist, fice life and limb for our free- opinion dom is 273 days. With that kind motivational speaker and military of malfeasance taking place advocate who writes about under my watch, I think I'd do a politics, the military, the economy little less golfing if I were presi- and culture. Email Susan at writestamper@gmail.com or her dent. at If you think this has some- website thing to do with "the mess susanstamperbrown.com. Brown