Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/148600
6A Daily News – Tuesday, August 6, 2013 Opinion Congressional division, derision, dysfunction 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. 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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 With an approval rating of 17% the U.S. Congress is setting a new record for dissatisfaction with the American populace. This however seems to be a reflection of the electorate itself with deep divisions and polarized attitudes on virtually every topic of consideration. Perhaps we should look within to find the source of their derision and dysfunction. It is too easy to view the government and our representatives as "they" and "them" as if we have no role in their membership and operation. Then all one must do is point ones finger and place the blame for their problems on a disembodied goblin and take no responsibility for problem resolution. However such an easy out is not justified in the United States because we alone elect our representatives and empower the government to do our bidding. Instead it should be incumbent upon us all to invest our time and energies to help solve problems small and large engaging our intellects to objectively and fairly consider options and communicate our desires. This requires time and patience that are in short supply in our frenetically paced lives with instant gratification and extremely short news cycles given our technologically advanced society. The fact that our technologies are outpacing our ability to think critically, form our own opinions, and effectively express them may ironically be at the core of our Congress's dysfunction. While we have the means to efficiently gather and transmit information, we are overwhelmed by the pace and quantity of it, and consequently adopt another's position rather than come to our own conclusions. By seizing upon this reality modern politicians simply sway public opinion to be relevant and achieve reelection, leaving the electorate as the tail wagging the dog. Add to this reality a certain popularity of cynicism to further deflect accountability over the workings of our democracy and we have the perfect storm for continuing dysfunction of our governance. If I am right we have a great deal of work to do to restore confidence in the workings of public affairs and the agents we elect to do our bidding. It is not sufficient to simply vote once every two of four years and go about our business, instead we must invest more time developing informed positions and sharing them with our representatives. In a way we are blessed that our two party system of democracy has evolved to stymie the functioning of Congress rather dom is not free - it that allow one party or requires the attentive the other to take conaction of the citizentrol and impose onery to act cohesively sided solutions on a and responsibly care populace too busy or for one another as too lazy to think for one's own. Such itself. But inaction and action is possible as derision are not effecwe humbly consider tive in problem solving one another's perso we must break the spectives, tolerate deadlock and put more choices than our priority ourselves to ponder and effect Richard own, and respectfully treat our brothers. changes in our own Ours is not a tradilives and by extension tion of "my way or to our society that the highway" but one make them better. This of welcoming and is the process of the helping those with evolution of consciouswhom we might disness that facilitates a agree to work and more peaceful and defend freedoms against prosperous world. In my view there are two oppression. For at the end of inherent desires of the human the day it is the expression of condition. One is the altruistic this American virtue that will and loving desire to share with bring an end to Congressional one another to enhance life, the division, derision, and dysother is the defensive struggle to function. survive and secure one's liveliRichard Mazzucchi is a hood driven by fears of lack or retired research engineer limitation. I find it philosophically enriching to realize that specializing in energy efficiency the desire that prevails is the one and renewable energy. He has we feed, so in the end we all get travelled extensively and now makes his home in Los to choose our fate. America is built on the con- Molinos, where he is striving to cept that all men are created manifest a sustainable and equal and endowed with spiritual lifestyle and operate a inalienable rights now BBQ equipment and supply ensconced in the Constitution business. He can be reached at and Bill of Rights. Our free- living-green@att.net. Mazzucchi Positive Point 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) 558-3160; Email: 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) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Commentary Abilities, needs, taxes, benefits, cynicism You can hear Don Jans speak on the subject of Marxism tonight at the Tea Party Patriots meeting, 6 p.m. at the Westside Grange. By the way, he's against it. What do you really know about Marxism? From the simple but oft stated adage, "From each according to their abilities, to each according the their need," to the last hundred years of attempts to implement those utopian, collectivist ideals—any objective observer of history would have to concede the utter failure of such systems and ideologies. To its devotees on the hard left in academia, entertainment, government and the body politic, there are always excuses for such abominable records: Poorly formulated planning (as in the USSR's vaunted but catastrophic 5-year plans), or the inevitable non-cooperation of the "bourgeoisie" (middle-class) who had eeked out and possessed modest abundance, or the ideological reluctance of Western, capitalist nations to prop up socialist regimes through trade. It has always been the fervent desire and design of the international leftist movement to seize upon the wealthy jewel of the freemarket, entrepreneurial world: the United States of America. Domestically, beginning with the dismissive near-derision by progressives like President Woodrow Wilson toward our Founding Documents; to the writings of Godfrey Wilshire ("Socialism Inevitable"); to the quasi-collectivist programs of the government-centric New Deal under FDR; to the realization by socialists that the American people would never knowingly accept socialism but could be fooled with different labels—there has never been any retreat by the humanist, statist left. Failing to accomplish their goals through military conquest— when the Soviet Union collapsed—only strengthened an existing strategic move by those devoted to socialism to change their terminology and take over the Democrat Party. You would have found little in the news pages or broadcasts in the 60s, 70s and 80s to inform Americans of that process; it proceeded quietly in conferences and seminars, much like those that one Barack H. Obama attended while at Columbia University, documented in Stanley Kurtz's book, "Radical-inChief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism". The so-called "coat and tie" radicals like Hillary Rodham, Barack Obama (and future wife, Michelle) kept their true beliefs masked in euphemisms and coded intellectual double-speak. They let the bombthrowers like Barack Obama's future buddy, campaign supporter and fellow leftist-education-transformer, William Ayers, take the flack. Meanwhile, the hard left academic establishment laid the groundwork for redistributionism, power-to-the-downtrodden, American-white-people-all-racists, aka Critical Race Theory, aka "white privilege". Hence, Marxist community organizations like ACORN, and Saul Alinsky acolytes like Barack Obama, became the shock troops for deconstructing American, freemarket private enterprise; and replacing it over time with crony capitalism and redistributive poor and middle-class benefit programs. What has come to fruition is a system whereby nearly one-half is the most cynical "transformapay no income taxes and more than tion" of the American dream of self-sufficiency, economhalf receive more in ic freedom and political some sort of benefits liberty to ever be foisted than they pay in taxes. on a nation in all of modRather than urge people ern history. It's never to save for their own been debated, certainly retirement, their own not by Mr. Hopenchange medical care, and their as he ran for President; own children's future, even now none of the program after program leftists in the Democrat like ObamaCare Party will own up to how encourage just the oppomuch our tax structure site. The middle-class will have to grow and has always been the expand into ever lower greatest enemy to the Don income groups to avoid collectivist schemes of default on our debts and the socialists because Polson obligations. that group of people has Now, consider an made their economic The way editorial by Investor's life rewarding and relaBusiness Daily, "Obama tively comfortable by I see it Calls Income Gap their own efforts, thus 'Wrong'—After reinforcing their natural It," (7/30, skepticism of governmental "take- Widening from-rich-give-to-poor" redistribu- Investors.com). "Obamanomics: The president has been decrying tion. So, we come full Marxist circle the growing gap between rich and with a massively intrusive and con- poor in the U.S. to help sell his trolling tax/spend/regulate bureau- retread tax-and-spend proposals. cracy unable to find the funds to But those policies have already honor its self-imposed commit- produced record levels of income ments of benefits to the poor and inequality… University of Calithe middle class. The fiscal reality fornia economist Emmanuel Saez is that every dollar earned by shows that since the Obama everyone over $100,000, maybe recovery started in June 2009, the even less now, would not fill that income of the top 1 % grew bill. There are not enough "rich" 11.2% … the bottom 99 % shrank people, rich folks' income or even by 0.4%." Growing income the entire possessions of the rich, to gap=growing demand for more satisfy those commitments in per- taxes … eventually on all of us. petuity. No, the dirty little secret is "In other words, Obama is selling that only by ratcheting up the tax snake oil. And that's what's burden on the middle class, can all morally wrong." those fiscal promises be kept. Don Polson has called Red Bluff Now, it's "From each taxpayer according to their assigned share, home since 1988. He can be by e-mail at to each benefit receiver according reached donplsn@yahoo.com. to their legally assigned needs." It