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4A – Daily News – Wednesday, January 12, 2011 Opinion 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 Opinion bias 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 Editor: It was very enlightening to read your column on Jan. 7. You relate that “journalists are trained to be fair.” To the untrained, it would seem that as a whole, your edi- torial pages do not reflect your statement, “Journalists…work every day to consider only the facts of a story.” Did you attend the Dan Rather School of Jour- nalism? I guess you can use the excuses used by some well known Democrats such as “I misremembered” or “I mis- spoke.” Thank you for your unbiased, educated journalistic approach. Gale Gilbert, Red Bluff Darwin taught Editor: In response to Nancy Godi- na’s letter of Jan. 8. Your letter has inspired me to speak up as few have. As a col- lege student, I studied paleon- tology — the study of prehis- toric life — at Montana State University; a field where the understanding of evolution is vital. I was also a student of Mrs. Brown in the 7th grade at Vista, and I feel I must defend her choice here. Your concerns are shared by many Christian families across the country, and I would like to help put them to rest. To clarify your understand- ing of the school system, public schools do not teach or talk about God because they — as government institutions — are prohibited by the First Amend- ment to the Constitution from supporting the “establishment of religion.” This decision has been upheld by the Supreme Court many times over the years, and is also why we no longer see prayer in public schools. A public school cannot favor or influence any religious view. Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is taught in science classes because it is scientific fact. It is a common misconcep- tion that evolution is “only a theory,” but this is a matter of semantics. In scientific nomen- clature, a “theory” is a “hypoth- esis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment.” Gravity is a theory, as is heliocentricity — the Earth rotates around the Sun. Darwin established his theo- ry more than 150 years ago, and since then mountains of evi- dence have been discovered that support and confirm it, from fossil remains to observable changes in living species, over generations, in the wild and in the laboratory, as they adapt to changing environments. Science and religion are not mutually exclusive, or one would have annihilated the other long ago. I am living proof that you can instill in your son good Christian values and he can be taught the backbone principle of biology at the same time. The theory of evolution does not preclude the teachings of Jesus Christ. However, if it bothers you so, I would recom- mend enrolling your son in a private school, where he may be taught as they see fit. Evan Hinton, Red Bluff Polson's latest Editor: I usually lose my place — and interest — about halfway through Don Polson’s weekly collection of run-on sen- tences and conspiracy website recommendations, but I read the whole shameful thing Monday. Writing a 'pre-buttal' about the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords before the blood dried or most of the facts were out is a new low, even for him. His first thought upon hearing the news was not for the victims or our country — that was an after- thought tacked on at the end — but rather the image of his beloved Tea Party. You sure were ready for this, Don. Polson’s heroes Rush Lim- baugh and Michael Savage took the same 'first strike' tact. No soul searching, no talk of toning down the rhetoric. Just finger pointing and blaming the other side for using the same violent language. Judging by the preemptive defensiveness of the column, Polson’s mother didn't teach him that two wrongs don't make a right. A little compassion and an ounce of responsibility for his own pointed words would show he might have learned something from this tragedy. I'm not surprised he missed the opportunity. Your Turn I used to enjoy making fun of Polson, but the joke has grown old. The Daily News needs an original thinker in their right wing nut spot and he need to drink less of his own poison tea. Aaron Standish, Red Bluff Special thanks for roping help Editor: Special thanks to local spon- sors of the World Championship Dummy Roping held at the 2010 NFR in Las Vegas, from the families of Kamish Wagner of Red Bluff, Colton Suther of Palo Cedro, Bowdie Davies of Flournoy and Shelby Dunning of Gerber. The local sponsors were the Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale Office, Red Bluff Taco Bell, Reynolds Ranch & Farm Sup- ply, the Mitchell & Wagner families, Hill Enterprises Tow- ing, Moore’s Blacksmith Shop, Girls Inc. of the Northern Sacra- mento Valley, Triple D’s Metal Fabrication and Cowgirl Karma Botanicals. Other sponsors were Willard Rope Company and ACTRA Team Roping Associa- tion. Adrienne Wagner, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3063 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, 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. Earmarks miss the mark Commentary The USA Today article almost caused me to drive off a bridge to nowhere. Our government can't even squander our money efficiently - - particularly where earmarks are concerned. Earmarks, says FactCheck.org, "are government funds that are allocated by a leg- islator for a particular pet pro- ject, often without proper review." Often slipped into large authorization bills -- or the 13 appropriation bills that fund the federal government every year -- earmarks tend to be concealed. Though they account for roughly $20 billion a year in spending -- a pittance in our roughly $4 trillion budget -- some argue they are dangerous because they can be used to per- suade legislators to support mas- sive bills that do spend serious money Such as last year's stimulus and health care bills. In any event, here's what USA Today's exhaustive investigation found: Our government can't even spend earmark dough effi- ciently. Money set aside to fund some 7,374 congressional earmarks has not been spent in full -- and dough set aside to fund some 3,649 earmarks hasn't been spent at all. Why? There are some legiti- mate reasons -- a state may have canned a project, for instance – but in many cases it is bureau- cratic red tape. USA Today cites one example in which an Ohio congressman drafted a $375,000 earmark to "improve State Road 31" in Columbus when he meant to fund "U.S. 31." His minor error has tied up that earmark dough for 13 years -- and counting. Botched earmarks are so widespread, says the paper, that one of every three highway dol- lars earmarked since 1991 -- some $13 billion total -- is still tied up. But the red tape gets "better" yet. Even if a particular state has not received a penny from botched earmarks, those ear- marks still count against that state's share of federal highway funds. USA Today offers an interest- ing example of how this works. When President Obama was a U.S. senator from Illinois in 2005, he earmarked $1 million for a highway underpass in Chicago. Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, then a congress- man from Illinois, earmarked $928,000 for the same project. But state and local governments had begun building the underpass BEFORE Obama and Emanuel slipped in their earmarks -- and earmarks can't be used AFTER a project has been approved. Though the ear- marked $1.9 million could not be spent, Illi- nois saw its share of federal highway fund- ing reduced by a corre- sponding $1.9 million that year. Rather than bringing Tom their state nearly $2 million, Obama and Emanuel cost it nearly $2 million. The USA Today report on earmarking sheds light on an idea that is simple common sense to many: Why the heck is our federal government med- dling with so much? Lots of highways and bridges are in need of repair across America. It is governments' role to fund them. But ought not state and local governments be making these Purcell tions. decisions? Why are we sending the lion's share of our taxes to the federal government, whose crafty legis- lators and bureaucrats use our own dough to force our state and local governments to bend to their will -- or have the funding with- held? And so it is that the federal government has the power to per- suade us to drive dinky little cars, not build roads where they need to be built and meddle in all kinds of ways that drive up costs and limit commonsense transportation solu- Who are the feds to boss us around when they can't even squander earmark money effi- ciently? Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. ———