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6A – Daily News – Monday, March 21, 2011 Opinion The reality of California’s economic woe 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 In seeking to close the state's $26.6 billion budget deficit, Gover- nor Brown is asking for $12.5 bil- lion in spending cuts along with an extension of $14 billion in tax rev- enues. Many of those cuts require that the poorest Californians, those receiving public assistance, to pay more for medicine and emergency room visits and face limits on how much medical treatment they can seek. Republicans are all for these spending cuts but insist on even more draconian reductions at a time when help is most needed. Brown is not asking the wealth- iest Californians to pay more in individual taxes, but he is dipping into wealthy corporate pockets by seeking to eliminate tax-break pro- grams like enterprise zones, which largely benefit $1 billion-plus cor- porations. The state's independent Legislative Analyst's Office found that "half of the (enterprise zone) hiring and sales tax credits went to businesses that each had more than $100 million in assets. Around 40 percent of those credits went to businesses with over $1 billion in assets." Furthermore the analyst found the programs have "not shown to be effective" in creating jobs. Brown's proposal is to man- date that multistate corporations that do business in California adopt the single-sales tax structure so that corporate taxes would be based on actual sales in California. Individually, there is plenty of income to tax in California. The incomes of the wealthiest 1 percent of Californians grew 81 percent from 1978 to 2008, while those in the bottom 20 percent dropped 11.5 percent, according to the non- partisan California Budget Project. By allocating 16 percent of income to state and local taxes and fees California ranks 12th nationally at 1 percent more than the national average. Nonetheless, analysts and activists say a proposal to increase by 1 percentage point the income tax rate on Californians earning more than $500,000 was consid- ered too politically risky to attempt at the same time that Brown wish- es to ask voters to extend sales and vehicle license fees already in place. Contrary to the conservative spin, the state's tax rate isn't driving businesses away, either. A 2010 study by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that corporate "relocation" - a busi- ness moving from California to another state, or vice versa - "accounts for a smaller share of job gains and losses in California than in most states." Between 1992 and 2006, the institute found that "only 1.7 percent of all job losses were due to establishments leaving the state." In the past few weeks, several of the state's largest business organi- zations - including the Bay Area Council, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Metro Area Chamber - have backed Brown's plan. This is true although, as the Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman says, they disagree with parts of it. "We would rather not see enterprise zones cut and redevelopment done away with if we could avoid it because we rely on those things to create jobs. But, he added, "nobody believes the current system repre- sents perfection." Richard intact as we achieve a state of bal- ance. It is high time that our repub- lican lawmakers end their intransi- gence by allowing voters to decide if the governor’s plan has merit. Their contempt of the electorate is the height of arrogance by denying us a say on how to address the reality of California’s economic woe. I hope their intimi- dation of their minority to hold a partisan line will soon falter so that our democratic process- es can prevail. Mazzucchi Positive Point Fundamentally our present fis- cal crisis is a consequence of the inevitable correction to hyper- inflated housing values and egre- gious lending practices that put a stranglehold on the economy, stymied job creation, and reduced state revenue collections as con- sumption plunged. The governor’s proposal restores balance by col- lectively tightening our belts and keeping state revenue streams Of special note: On March 30, 2011 the Democrats of Tehama County are providing "A Salute to American Workers Dinner," from 5:30 till 8:00 pm. For $15 you can enjoy lively discussion, and tri-tip or enchilada dinners at the Veterans Memorial Hall – 735 Oak Street in Red Bluff. For more information on this com- munity event call 347-5834 or send an email to tehamacountydemoc- rats@gmail.com. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired research engineer and can be reached at living- green@att.net. 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 3070 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. Plan to show colors; right on rights Commentary We are now a little under three weeks until one of the highlight events for the local Republican faithful (hint: there are a lot of us). I refer, of course, to the annual "Red, White, and Blue" Tehama County Republican Banquet, Sat- urday April 9, at the Veterans Memorial Hall. It’s the one oppor- tunity for Republicans, conserva- tives and supporters to gather, break bread, rub elbows with each other and our elected representa- tives, and hear words of encour- agement and inspiration from spe- cial speakers. Trust me when I say it’s a warm and uplifting sense to know you are surrounded by like- minded citizens. This early notice has the pur- pose of alerting you to the possibil- ity of saving serious bucks by reserving tables early. The hall always fills to capacity, often requires last minute additional seating, and behooves those plan- ning to attend to act soon. This is the last notice for securing the dis- counted tables, which are only available until next Sunday, the 27th. While single tickets will be $35 and include either juicy prime rib or scrumptious chicken dinner from award winning Snackbox Catering, tables for 4 or 8 are $130 or $260, respectively. I’ll have more details on the program, guests and raffle opportu- nities later, but for now, the easiest way to sign up and learn more is to call 567-2323, or 529-1226, or email tehamagop@att.net or ksay@att.net and the website is www.tehamagop.org. One big rea- son to attend will be the Executive Director of Gun Owners of Cali- fornia, Sam Paredes, one of the most inspirational speakers I’ve personally heard. Let’s revisit union collective bargaining so-called rights, which I more properly categorized last week as privileges (via Heritage.org writer Con Caroll). When I wrote, "There are no such (rights) as we understand rights to derive from the Constitution" some of the usual liberal advocates and union-defenders were quite adamant that I was completely wrong. I’ll explain how right I was by starting from first principles: The enumerated rights in the U.S. Con- stitution and Bill of Rights are rights from God, such as speech, press, religion, petitioning the gov- ernment over grievances, and assembly – against infringement by the government. The govern- ment is restrained, within reason, from abrogating those rights (no yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, no "unreasonable searches and seizures," assembling only "peace- ably"). It also follows that those rights have not, cannot, and should not involve forcing others to provide you with something, violating their freedoms. So, no free air time or newspaper space for your speech rights, no forcing you to worship in someone’s church, and no forcing others to "assemble" with you. That gets to the core of the inherent conflict over union orga- nizing and representational activi- ties, workers inherent freedom not to join unions, and the efforts to protect such freedom through "right to work" laws (right not to join to work). Moreover, as quotes from President Roosevelt, AFL- CIO president George Meany ("It is impossible to collectively bargain with the government") and federal courts made clear, public employee unions, unlike private sector unions, are a mis- take – some would say an abomination. They are certainly a luxury that taxpayers can no longer afford. Looking to the rich, or the not-quite-rich, to pay more to sustain compensation well above the average citizen’s, is foolish and fruitless. Union defenders and other political hacks try to obfuscate the issue of "rights" by conflating rights and obligations under con- tractual law, and rights created by legislation and regulation (Taft- Hartley, National Labor Relations Board), with "unalienable rights." Not in any way comparable, folks. Contracts are binding only so long as they are sustainable and cannot be enforced absent ability to per- form – they then simply dissolve. Laws are enforceable only until representatives and citizens deter- mine and believe they were erro- neously, foolishly, or ignorantly formulated – they are then super- seded and replaced by new laws. If the agreements that public employees and their unions had in Wisconsin were "unalienable" rights, they would apply to every worker, public or private, in every state, including those working for Don Polson The way I see it the federal government. They clearly do not – not even President Obama is making that case for universal feder- al employee union rep- resentation. There is an obvious reason why only 6.9 percent of pri- vate sector workers are in unions. The benefits are under whelming when compared to the hundreds of dollars in forced dues and the inability to be rewarded for, and advance based on, one’s performance in the workplace. Final note: In review- ing supposed "Republi- can assaults on planet earth," I found much to cheer about for our side. Anyone who supports the free market, private entrepre- neurial economy, and has followed the regulatory "assault" on the same, knows the following: Radical environmentalism as a regulatory club has gone beyond what we, as a nation of free, productive, enterpris- ing citizens can tolerate. From the EPA to the BLM to the National Forest Service, to the fanatics want- ing hydroelectric dams removed (driving ranchers from Klamath County to Tehama County out of business), to Endangered Species Act restrictions on the Delta – it’s time to rein them all in. Keep up the good work, Republicans. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.