Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/188421
6A Daily News – Tuesday, October 8, 2013 Opinion Save face with abiding grace 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 As we enter the second week of the federal government shutdown precipitated by Republican objections to the Affordable Care Act people from all walks of life are signing up for Obamacare in droves, so much as to overwhelm the help lines and web site processors working to sign people up. This program has already saved Americans over a billion dollars in medical insurance administrative and marketing costs, makes insurance accessible to millions previously denied due to pre-existing conditions and extends coverage up to the age of 29 on a parent's insurance. While the individual mandate to maintain medical insurance presents a burden to a few wealthy families that have the wherewithal and desire to gamble on their health, the vast majority of Americans will not be affected adversely or at all. Anyone presently on Medicare, MediCal, CMSP, or covered by their employers are not directly impacted by the new law, and for most the costs of medical insurance coverage and care will be reduced. Furthermore all insurance plans must provide for preventative care, such as annual physical exams to help nip disease in the bud before more expensive, intrusive, and dangerous surgical procedures may be required. That said, at the behest of intransigent Tea Party terrorists Americans are now denied federal government services such as access to national parks and memorials, the EPA, NASA, and NIS are essentially shutdown, and Wall Street is nearing a crisis point. They know they do not have the votes to kill this signature achievement of the administration but this does not stop them from this costly charade that now threatens to stop Social Security payments, debt servicing, and send the nation and world into a depression. Such brinkmanship is blight and an abuse of the separation of powers built into our democracy. So now in order to save face the House Speaker continues to water down his demands to bring the issues to a vote. First it was necessary to defund Obamacare, then it was to defer implementation of the individual mandate for a year, and now it is simply to sit down and negotiate with members of his party that have to date demonstrated no willingness to help implement anything that the President may suggest. For the President to do so is now is akin to negotiating with terrorists that have demonstrated their willingness to hold a gun to the people's collective head, hold any government programs not to their liking hostage, and extort the administration with threats to destroy our economy and world standing. Hardly the endeavors of those that hypocriti- cally call themselves patriots, tory and the people of this great country will be able to instead their positions put this embarrassing look more like treason. and counterproductive In any event it appears battle behind them. that the only way to Perhaps this is the silbreak this ridiculous and ver lining of this whole unworkable impasse is drama, to reveal how a for the President to throw group of 40 congresRepublicans a bone so sional zealots can bring they can save face and the country to a halt claim that something was over partisan concerns accomplished by their despite the support of destructive strategy that the Senate, the Adminhas shaken world marRichard istration, and the kets, shuttered our Supreme Court. If national parks and busiAmericans didn't nesses reliant on visitors, appreciate the danger delayed the processing of done by electing perclaims, and denied sersons with such propenvices to millions. While sities to office in 2012, many rightly argue that they certainly should in one should not dignify 2016. So Mr. President such antics with negotiation we must realize that we are it would seem the next move is dealing with juvenile mentalities yours – I hope for the benefit of us that put immediate gains and per- all in this matter it is one granting sonal priorities above the long Republicans the opportunity to save face with abiding grace. term good of their communities. As such I believe that the PresRichard Mazzucchi is a retired ident should meet with Congress and yield some sway their way so research engineer specializing in they can claim victory and we can energy efficiency and renewable move ahead. It shouldn't take energy. He has travelled much, perhaps a six month delay extensively and now makes his in enforcing the mandate justified home in Los Molinos, where he is by program roll-out problems striving to manifest a sustainable associated with the overwhelmed and spiritual lifestyle and operate program web sites and the com- a BBQ equipment and supply plexities of new procedures. In business. He can be reached at such case everyone can claim vic- 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; E-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Doug LaMalfa 506 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-225-3076. 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 Feds close parks, punish the people The headline in last Thursday's Daily News, "Rec Area closes," provided the local evidence and "exhibit A" of the dysfunctional government "shutdown." Scenes of locked gates, blocked roads and parking are playing out from Florida to Alaska and Hawaii. Monuments, agencies, campgrounds, highways, even private businesses catering to visitors and citizens are closed and people denied access, hurting local economies. The Red Bluff Recreation Area, U.S. Forest Service, is mostly a passive facility requiring virtually zero staffing for we, the people, to use. We've paid for it; we collectively own it and it is preserved for our enjoyment without fee-collectors, traffic managers or trail supervisors. The Sycamore Grove campground needs staff but its gate could easily be locked, leaving the rest open. Am I missing something to see a bias against the users of America's federal lands, to intentionally inconvenience the people? I parked my car in the lot outside the main gate and strolled down the path to the site of the boat ramp that, sadly, served the boat drag races. A blue passenger coup exited the gate, paying me no mind; while returning to my car, a white Suburban left, also. If I routinely walked, ran or biked throughout the grounds, I would pay no mind whatsoever to the statement that it is "currently closed … (but) the campground will reopen once Congress restores funding." That proves my point that, other than the campground, all of the trails and paths have no reason to be closed during the best time of year to be using them. No Forest Service employee should have the temerity to say otherwise; besides, Congress has authorized payment for their time on furlough, so, figure out a way to allow the people to enjoy their own land. It was about 16 years ago that Barbara and I took a sightseeing drive south on I-5 to the Delevan National Wildlife Refuge during that year's federal government shutdown. We drove around sawhorse-type barriers, parked and went to the visitor center to find a sign similar to what "greets" you at our Recreation Area. I was as incensed then as I am now, knowing that workers would get paid, and that they persisted in inconveniencing visitors with the ruse that the entire refuge was closed. I left a note to that effect on the door, admonishing them to do their jobs rather than take what would effectively be a paid vacation. However, individual rangers or workers doing the administration's bidding should not be put on the spot, as a Republican congressman did at the WWII memorial—they are truly pawns in the Obamacrats' brinkmanship game. This is where the propaganda excrement hits the Obamacrat blades and gets flung far and wide, making it difficult to form a coherent, truthful narrative refuting the Democrat/news media story line: It's the intransigent "Republican/Tea Party/Ted Cruz/John Boehner and other "hostage-takers-with-guns-toheads" gumming up the legislative works. Examples: Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid astonishingly blurted, "Why would we want to do that?" when asked why he wouldn't agree to open the National Institute of Health if it would save the life of one child (House Republicans did, indeed, chambers. Republicans are unsurauthorize funding for NIH, veter- prisingly taking significant political blame, in spite of ans services, the parks, having absolute ConstiWIC, D.C. and many tutional funding authorother things; ity (Article 1, Section Reid/Obama say "NO"). 7). However, He said his 1100 furBloomberg, CNN and loughed workers at Nellis CBS polling all find Air Force Base have disapproval for Obama problems (Republicans and Democrats increashave authorized funding ing; President Obama all of government except has dropped to 41 % Obamacare); they will approval vs. 52 % disget paid, remember, but approval (Gallup) over the dozens of children the shutdown. that apply each day to Don Back to our Recrereceive treatment won't get timely attention. Polson ation Area: it joins unnecessarily shut Reid illustrated the "death panel" mentality The way memorials for WWII, Iwo Jima, Vietnam Vetperfectly: He couldn't I see it erans, the Normandy possibly prioritize sick Cemetery, Mount children over well-paid Rushmore, privatelybut inconvenienced government employees. HHS Secre- owned Mount Vernon, D.C-area tary Sebelius similarly provided trails, privately-operated Claude "death panel" logic when she dis- Moore Colonial Farm, Shenanapproved an available transplant of doah National Park (hurting local some sort to a girl in desperate economies), even the ocean! Want need, saying "Some live and some to fish in Florida Bay or Biscayne die"!?#*! (My exclamation points) National Park? Sorry! Park SerReid also had the gall to say, vice ranger: "We've been told to "Understand, we're dealing with make life as difficult for people as anarchists (Republicans)," insult- we can. It's disgusting." Gale Noring the sincere outrage and con- ton, Secretary of the Interior under cern over trillions in deficit spend- George W. Bush, stated that it's ing and unfunded Obamacare part of the Park Services' "long history of dramatizing budget costs. Obama saying, "I shouldn't issues by inconveniencing the have to offer anything" belies the public." Obama is fishing for sob history of 17 government shut- stories: "How has the government downs, most of which came under shutdown affected you?" Shame Democratic House Leader "Tip" on Obama's administration, top to O'Neill, wherein all leaders, the bottom. President included, negotiated and Don Polson has called Red Bluff gave a little. Obama is immersed home since 1988. He can be in his self-serving, "my way or the by e-mail at highway" mentality, with compli- reached ant media mouthpieces and echo donplsn@yahoo.com.