Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/252862
4A Daily News – Saturday, February 1, 2014 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. 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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 Opinion A State of the Union address is often difficult to fact-check, no matter who is president. The speech is a product of many hands and is carefully vetted, so major errors of fact are relatively rare. But State of the Union address- es often are very political speeches, an argument for the president's policies, so context is sometimes missing. Here is a guide through some of President Barack Obama's more fact-challenged claims, in the order in which he made them. "The more than 8 million new jobs our businesses have created over the past four years." The president is cherry-picking a number that puts the improve- ment in the economy in the best possible light. The low point in jobs was reached in February 2010, and there has indeed been a gain of about 8 million jobs since then, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. But the data also show that since the start of his pres- idency, about 3.2 million jobs have been created — and the number of jobs is about 1.2 million fewer than when the recession began in December 2007. "A manufacturing sector that's adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s." The low point for manufactur- ing jobs was reached in January 2010, and there has been a gain of 570,000 jobs since then. But BLS data show that the number of man- ufacturing jobs is still 500,000 lower than when Obama took office in the depths of the recession — and 1.7 million lower than when the recession began in December 2007. The gain in man- ufacturing actually has begun to stall a bit in the past year. The only reason Obama can tout a gain in manufacturing jobs "for the first time since the 1990s" is that, before the recession, manufactur- ing had been on a slow decline for many years. "Our deficits — cut by more than half." The federal budget deficit has declined in half since 2009, from $1.3 trillion to about $600 billion, but that's not much to brag about. The 2009 figure was not just a deficit that Obama inherited from his predecessor, since it also reflected the impact of decisions, such as the $800 billion stimulus bill, enacted early in the president's term. Moreover, the deficit soared in the first place because of the reces- sion, so as the economy has improved, the deficit naturally has decreased. The United States still has a deficit higher than it was in nominal terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product than it was in 2008, and a debt much greater as a percentage of overal economy than it was prior to the recession. "Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled." Close readers of the president's speeches might have noticed an interesting shift in the president's rhetoric. Just last month, the presi- dent gave a speech on economic mobility in which he said three times that it was "declining" in the United States. But this month, renowed economists Raj Chetty, Emmanuel Saez and their col- leagues published a paper based on tens of millions of tax records showing that upward mobility had not changed significantly over time. The rate essentially is the same as it was 20 years ago. Still, the same study confirmed that income inequality had increased during the same period. "Hence, the conse- quences of the "birth lot- tery" — the parents to whom a child is born — are larger today than in the past," the paper said, offering the analogy of a ladder in which the rungs have grown farther apart but the children's chances of mov- ing upward from one rung to another had not changed. It is rare to see an academic study lead to such a swift change in presidential rhetoric. Even so, some might argue that Obama is stretching the use of the term "stalled," since the main point of the research was that the trend was constant, not that it halted. "Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment." There is clearly a wage gap, but differences in the life choices of men and women — such as women tending to leave the work- force when they have children — make it difficult to make simple comparisons. Obama is using a figure (annual wages, from the Census Bureau) that makes the disparity appear the greatest. The Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics, for instance, shows that the gap is 19 cents when looking at weekly wages. The gap is even smaller when you look at hourly wages — 14 cents — but not every wage earner is paid on an hourly basis, so that statistic excludes salaried workers. One survey, prepared for the Labor Department, concluded that when such differences are accounted for, much of the hourly wage gap dwindled, to about 5 cents on the dollar. "More than 9 mil- lion Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage." Obama is careful not to say that these numbers are the result of the Affordable Care Act, but he certainly leaves that impres- sion. But the Medicaid part of this number — 6.3 million from Octo- ber through December _is very fuzzy and once earned a rating of Three Pinocchios. The ACA expanded Medicaid to those who earn less than 133 percent of the poverty line — about $15,000 for an individual — to the 26 states (and the District of Columbia) that decided to embrace that element of the law. But no one really knows how many of the 6.3 million are in this expansion pool — or whether they are simply renewing or would have qualified for Medicaid before the new law. Indeed, the number also includes people joining Medicaid in states that choose not accept the expan- sion. The private insurance numbers — about 3 million — are also open to question. The troubled federal exchange counts people as "enrolled" if an individual has selected a plan, but does not know if a person enrolled and paid a pre- mium because that part of the sys- tem has yet to be built. Glenn Kessler writes for the Washington Post. 6 questionable claims by Obama during State of the Union Commentary N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY 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 Guest View Glenn Kessler STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Dan Logue, 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico, CA 95928, 530-895-4217 STATE SENATOR — Jim Nielsen, 2635 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico, CA 95928, (530) 879-7424, senator.nielsen@sen- ate.ca.gov GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558- 3160; E-mail: governor@gov- ernor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Doug LaMalfa 506 Cannon House Office Building, Wash- ington, 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. Your officials Accusation was uncalled for Editor: I take strong issue with Don Polson's character assassination of the three Red Bluff High School Board members. In his Jan. 28 commentary he inferred directly that three board members, who had the initial support of the Teacher's Union three years ago were, as he said "proved his suspi- cions and were on the money — corrupt money." For Mr. Polson to attack the integrity of these three people is ludicrous, especially since has lim- ited information at best as to the reasons behind the firing of the superintendent. As a member of the High School Board, and not one of the three people targeted by Mr. Pol- son, I know as a fact that the union had no direct influence in the deci- sions reached by the board. Yes, the Teacher's Association had a list of concerns and a no confi- dence vote, but the five member board took from September to Jan- uary to examine all issues and facts pertaining to the job being done by the superintendent. This included receiving a response pro- vided by the superintendent. During these months every effort was made by the board members to see if there was a way that we could resolve the issues while retaining the superintendent. After much deliberation it was determined unanimously by the board that the concerns and prob- lems were not going to go away, and it was unfortunately time to move in a different direction. All the facts were not disclosed to the public since it is a personnel matter handled in closed session. But I can say that at no time was the Teacher's Union favored by the board. The decision to terminate was based on what the board felt was best in the long run for the stu- dents, staff and community. To say otherwise is insulting to the three board members, includ- ing Board President Barbara McIver. In my opinion Mr. Polson was over the top with his statement regarding "corrupt money." Jack Hansen Editor's note: Jack Hansen is a member of the Red Bluff High School Governing Board and former school superintendent. South Main unwelcoming Editor: Who is responsible for the stretch of pavement north of the Valero Station to the Wendy's fast food place on South Main? I feel as if I am driving on cob- blestone when I travel that stretch of road. My car rocks, rattles and rolls as I drive along this rough stretch of highway. What kind of welcome does this road send to visitors of our fair city? Is the city of Red Bluff responsible for the roadway or is the coun- ty responsible for the repair of this stretch of road? I am not the only person that feels this way. Please inform your readers about this hazardous stretch of highway. Laurel Walker, Los Molinos Big business Editor: When the local channel providers shut Dish Network off until they got a raise, I, like many other Dish subscribers, called in and complained telling Dish what we thought about the lousy ser- vice. The account clerk at Dish told me they would be happy to give me $5 off my bill for six months to try and compensate for the chan- nel loss. My bill did show up with a $5 deduction on it. Less than two weeks ago when the dispute with the local channel people was settled, the Daily News printed a short article telling us that it had been settled but no details were mentioned. I wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily News and stated to the Dish sub- scribers if they wanted to know what the details were to keep their eye out for their monthly bill and they would know sooner than they proba- bly wanted to. Lo and behold, yesterday I received a letter from Dish telling me and all the other Dish sub- scribers that due to higher costs of operating, etc., it was necessary to raise our monthly charge by — are you ready for this — five dollars. Not only did they recoup their $5 discount they gave out but also managed to use the old American tactic of big business by telling us they needed to offset the higher cost of operating. Every business needs an occa- sional raise in their prices but to offer us a $5 discount for our inability to watch the channels we contracted for and then turn around and raise our monthly charge by another $5 is a big slap in the face. Thank you Dish Net- work and welcome to America. Mac McCollum, Red Bluff Your Turn