Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/18811
6A – Daily News – Monday, November 1, 2010 Opinion Brown, Boxer, and Reed have what we need D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y 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 let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. 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 submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity 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 vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents 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 The political environment today seems to be more polarized than ever, particularly on the con- servative side of the spectrum where self declared non-partisan Tea Party members are making right-wing Republicans appear to be moderate. Such disingenuous posturing is magnified by the fact that Americans are literally being sold a bill of goods by moneyed conservative organizations hiding behind misleading monikers. For these reasons alone American’s that think for themselves should pause before taking the conserva- tive bait and joining them hook, line, and sinker. I encourage you to take the time to consider that neither President Obama nor the democratic con- gress has a crystal ball that reveals how to best extricate ourselves from the economic meltdown handed them less than two years ago. It is naïve at best to think that they could implement policies and initiate programs to immediately resolve such vexing and compli- cated problems when blocked at every opportunity by the intransi- gent partisan blockade of the Republican party – that can objec- tively be viewed as pulling out every stop to make sure that the Democrats don’t succeed. If any- thing at least those that voted for President Obama and the democ- ratic congress can be proud of try- ing to solve the nation’s problems rather than indignantly compound- ing them for partisan interests alone. Personally I am glad that we are not in a depression right now with a completely broken econom- ic system that was a real possibili- ty when Obama took office. We need the practical gover- nance of moderate politicians like Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, and Jim Reed rather than the extremist views of the likes of Meg Whit- man, Carly Fiorina, and Wally Herger. Rather than tout them- selves as self made millionaires and corporate moguls Brown, Boxer, and Reed stand on principle to exercise personal and govern- ment frugality, protection of the environment, and willingness to listen to their constituents rather than prescribe a one size fits all set of simplistic and extreme corpo- rate and religious platitudes. Meg Whitman fails to acknowledge that her billions came as much from her good for- tune to be employed at eBay where employee stock options aggrandized every employee regardless of their business acu- men. Even her billions, combined with those of Carly Fiorina can’t cover their failure to vote regular- ly as if the democratic process actually mattered. While Wally at least voted during the past 24 years he has been in office, his votes have consistently reflected only his personal religious and political perspectives rather than the views of those he supposedly represents. A brief examination of Wally’s voting record makes it clear that he stands against a woman’s right to choose, environmen- tal protection, separa- tion of church and state, tolerance, and public assistance for the dis- abled and penniless. Perhaps it is just that only those of us that aren’t millionaires can realize that hard working middle and lower income Ameri- cans need and deserve a hand-up, by a gov- ernment that provides vital health and educational services irrespective of income with poli- cies that respect our diversity of belief and condition and enacts programs to balance economic, environmental, and social equity for the common good. Such citi- zens should not be condemned as socialists, nor derided as liberals, for simply speaking their minds and sharing their beliefs that America should continue to be the land of opportunity rather than opportunists. As a political newcomer Jim Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point Reed offers a refreshing alterna- tive to the tired rhetoric and party-line voting of Representative Herger. Jim recognizes the diver- sity of the 2nd congres- sional district by pro- moting a moderate agen- da and protecting the right to bear arms. He believes our forefathers, when they created our government, wanted congressional represen- tatives to speak for the people in their district and independently exer- cise good judgment in voting for the legislation that comes before Con- gress. This means at times voting against political party leaders and resisting the influence of spe- cial interests. As our congression- al representative he promises to listen to all the people in the dis- trict instead of consistently giving preference to minority segments he might agree with. Finally, he supports term limits, fiscal restraint, health care reform, and environmental protection. Whether you agree with me or not please vote thoughtfully. Richard Mazzucchi can be reached at living-green@att.net. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. 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; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Most important election in your life? Maybe Commentary First, here are a couple of events: Tonight, Monday, the Tehama County Tea Party Patriots will hold a casual ice cream social type of pre-election get together at the Westside Grange on Walnut Street west of Baker. It starts at the usual time, 6 PM, and substitutes for the Tuesday meeting at the Baptist church, which is a polling place. Also, watch for Tea Party Patriots showing up on some street corners on Tuesday with posters and signs encouraging drivers to get to the polls. Republicans are having an "expecting-to-celebrate-big-wins" open house at their headquarters on Antelope Boulevard behind M and M Restaurant (look for the flag- theme windsocks on the roof). Thanks to some generous friends, they’ll have equipment to televise coverage from back east starting at 4 PM, until our own West Coast races start to show results. For Republicans, this will be historic with no exaggeration. Plan to share in the congratulatory mood, with hoped-for wins by our candidates for governor and U.S Senate; it has the potential to be one of the most important elections in your life. It is, however, just one vote, and however their political opponents have attempted to muddy the waters over made-up issues, you can be proud to cast your vote for Doug LaMalfa, Jim Nielsen, Wally Herger, Meg Whitman, Carly Fior- ina and just about any other candi- date with "Republican" next to their name. They are all fighting to return California and America to greater liberty, prosperity, econom- ic freedom, and balanced budgets with lower taxes, deficits and regu- lations. If you see that as good for your, your children’s, and grandchil- dren’s future, you cannot vote for a Democrat for even school boards, given what the party stands for these days. To local Democrats who have not given their allegiance to the Obama/Pelosi liberalism of their higher-ups in Sacramento and Washington, I apologize. I’m truly sorry that that you belong to a party that causes, or at least should cause, you to be embarrassed for the hard-left lurch, the quasi- socialistic, class-warfare political thuggery, the politics of personal destruction and centralized-gov- ernment mandates. Moderate, conservative, liber- tarian and independent readers, who have wanted to make a state- ment rejecting what the political elites and governing class have wrought in our land, can vote for Republicans and say "No" to: 1) The idea that America needs the kind of "fundamental transfor- mation" revealed by the Democrats since they took power, from a lib- erty-based state of limited govern- ment into an equality-based wel- fare state with an ever-expanding government. 2) The idea that America will change from a country that empha- sizes producing wealth to a country that emphasizes redistribution of wealth. 3) The idea that minorities are victims needing protection from their fellow Americans by the state. 4) The idea that immi- grants don’t have to come here legally or, upon arriving, need not adopt American lan- guage, culture, and devo- tion and allegiance to their new country and its values. 5) The pessimistic ideas that America’s best economic days are behind us, and that our blessed country has no room for God in its col- lective heart. (Credit to Dennis Prager) pending California’s so-called cli- mate change bill, AB 32, it will (as I documented from multiple sources) prevent mas- sive job losses, huge business expenses and higher energy bills for everyone. Don Propositions have potential to cause or pre- vent great harm to our state. Tea Party Patriots and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association say: Prop 19 – NO for obvious reasons pot should not be further encouraged among our young people. Prop 20 – YES to citizen involvement in redrawing congres- sional districts; also, vote NO on Prop 27, which intends to abolish the Citizen Redistricting Commis- sion. These two votes will make it easier to vote out incumbents. Prop 21 – NO to more taxes. Prop 22 – NO because, while it sounds good, it has bad things in it and is a cash grab for redevelop- ment agencies. Prop 23 – YES because, by sus- Polson The way I see it Prop 24 – NO because it is just a thin- ly-veiled tax hike on businesses, which will send more employers and jobs elsewhere. Prop 25 – NO, NO and NO! This is one of the most deceptive propositions to ever come to a vote. By pre- tending to "punish" leg- islators if they don’t pass a budget, its propo- nents don’t tell you that no one will give up any pay if they pass a budget that doesn’t get signed by the gov- ernor. They will do just that, claim to have done their job, keep getting paid and California still will have whatever tax-and-fee-laden bill they choose to pass with simple majority vote, as long as they have a governor willing to sign it. Prop 26 –YES, YES, YES to make it harder to impose taxes masked as fees. Use this column with pride and confidence when you vote. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.