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6A Daily News – Monday, September 19, 2011 Opinion Race to the top for all Americans 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 President Obama's plan to put Americans back to work and renew our nation's role as a global leader in innovation is on target as are his commitments protecting Americans from toxic mercury pollution, ending subsidies for Big Oil, and building a clean energy economy that works for all Amer- icans. It is time Congress suspends political rhetoric and campaign politicking to promptly address the high unemployment and sagging economies now devastating the North State and our nation. Investments in efficiency and clean energy technology, infra- structure repair and improvement, high-speed rail and electric vehi- cles will help to free our nation from fossil fuel dependence, revive our economy, and ensure our industrial competitiveness by putting Americans back to work protecting the health and safety of families and children. To pay for these vital national needs we must insist that wealthy Americans and profitable corporations pay taxes commensurate with their incomes and benefit by immediately invest- ing in these public and private enterprises. Those that believe reducing taxes on the wealthy, easing regu- lations protecting our planet, or diminishing the role of govern- ment will create jobs and cure our economic malaise couldn't be more mistaken. Instead we must reverse the concentration of wealth that is strangling our economy, redouble our efforts to maintain a clean and healthy environment, and marshal the tools of gover- nance to provide living wage employment, economic security, healthy workplaces, and fiscal policies that stimulate widespread domestic investment. To end deficit spending and reduce the polarization of our pop- ulace into camps of haves and have-nots we must restore progres- sive taxation rates that encourage re-investment rather than wealth accumulation. Fully one-sixth of our citizens now live in poverty while the wealthiest sixth claim over two-thirds of all income. Conservative claims that we can stimulate the economy and create jobs by cutting taxes on the wealthy and cutting services to the middle and lower class are self- serving follies. Higher marginal income tax rates will increase job growth by motivating investment in domestic research and private industry while increasing funding for public works. One of the only areas experi- encing job growth of late are green jobs associated with environmen- tal protection and sustainability. Regulations that limit emissions and curtail environmental dam- ages are increasingly important to address public health and climate concerns irrespective of their costs. Not only is planetary stewardship imperative for our survival, it is good for business in that it creates jobs for efficient and responsible use of resources. Our government is the means by which the citizenry expresses its priorities, demonstrates its resolve, and manifests a greater good through the demo- cratic process. To demonize it and its functions is a slap in the face to our forefathers and those that serve us. While I don't dispute that greater efficiency and accountability are vital to improve govern- ment effectiveness, its principle function to serve the people by ensuring our safety and security must not be compromised. Those that place blind faith in free-markets to police themselves need to be reminded of the Enron and mortgage industry malfeasances in the absence of government oversight. Working Americans should support the president as he con- fronts the fossil fuel industry and its supporters in Congress who are misleading the American pub- lic by insisting that taxes and reg- ulations kill jobs and that a clean- energy future isn't viable. Today the clean energy economy employs 2.7 million American workers across a diverse group of industries, which is greater than the number of people employed by the entire fossil fuel industry. Furthermore consider these facts: • Clean-tech has produced explosive job gains in the past year, outperforming the national rate of job creation during the recession. • The clean economy offers more opportunities and better pay (13% higher) for low- and middle- skilled workers than the national economy as a whole. Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point • The green jobs rev- olution is at work throughout the nation and the world. • The environment, public health, social justice, and our econo- my benefit from clean- tech. Please don't be fooled by the whole "jobs versus environ- ment/public health" argument that is noth- ing but a rhetorical ruse by polluters. Challenge those that assert increasing taxes on the wealthy will stymie job creation, claim that environmental regulations damage our economy, or harp that government is by nature detri- mental. The sooner we can dispel these misconceptions and show they are self-aggrandizing plati- tudes, we can begin winning the "race to the top" for all Americans wanting living wage jobs, aclean environment, and more effective governance. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired research engineer specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. He 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: governor@gover- nor.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 Mont- gomery St., Suite 240, San Francis- co, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Always the same, always different Commentary It was the same campsite in the same campground, Princess Creek, at the same place, Odell Lake, tucked onto the east side of Ore- gon's Willamette Pass. The same nearly-9,000 foot tall Diamond Peak, still covered with snow, stared back at us; the sun set over the same pass and ridgelines. The same heavily wooded slopes marched down from the wilder- ness to train tracks and the edge of the lake. The train whistles, air horns actually, blew as they always do, echoing across the water and disappearing into the sky. Our fold- ing camp chairs were placed in mostly the same places to give us either lake and mountain views, or campfire warmth, or shelter from the ever-present winds. Then, the subtle changes and differences emerged: the lake was a bit lower since the winter ice pushed a narrow rock dam aside at the mouth of the creek; Diamond Peak was covered in a full blanket of snow, fairly heavy and unusual for late August; the log and rock breakwater on our small shoreline, built and maintained by campers over the years, had also been rearranged a bit by the winter ice and waves; and the crisp, clear mountain air, while still a bit crisp at night, was mostly hazy. Thunderstorms spawned literal- ly thousands of lightning strikes, ultimately burning at least 100,000 acres on reservation, private and federal lands, producing smoky air and marginal photography. A weekend trip to our half of a duplex in Bend left us practically gasping for fresh air as the visibili- ty dropped to a quarter of a mile. Then, driving back to camp, a stiff breeze blew north, exposing blue sky and puffy white clouds. While highs usually dwell in the 70s at the lake, nature never fails to bring a touch of chill, mist, low clouds and occasional precipitation. One day the 50+ degree air blew off the lake at 20 mile an hour, produc- ing wind chills in the 40s, in the sun. Outdoor reading and radio lis- tening – yes, if the radio was cocked at the right angle, I could get a little news and, fortunately, Rush's show out of Bend – was limited to how long it took for the chill to penetrate. Then the warmth of the motorhome won out. Among the most rewarding of sights has got to be the nation's symbol, the bald eagle. We were blessed to see many over the weeks of camping, often from our 2 horsepower driven inflatable boat in distant coves, along lakeside forests. Best viewing was a family of three flying over the trees; longest sighting was while we were motoring across an unusually calm surface and I could keep the boat directed toward the eagle fly- ing south so as to keep it centered in the binoculars' field of view. The most spectacular sighting was a mere dozen yards from our camp chairs at water's edge. One of the ever-present ospreys was hovering as if to snatch a meal from the water below him; a bald eagle swooped down and, in a well-prac- ticed maneuver, slowed, extended its talons just below the surface and emerged with a glistening silver fish. It did not appear to be of legal size, a fact, of course, com- pletely irrelevant to the bald eagle. The ferns, blooming flowers and green grasses delighted us for the entire trip. The negative ion infused air refreshed our lungs. The snows on Dia- mond Peak inexorably receded, exposing ridges, outcroppings and moun- tainsides. Having taken a photo upon first arriving, I could hold it up so we could marvel at the dif- ferences over the weeks since then. Don Polson The way I see it And yet, amidst idyllic sur- roundings, in an occasional news- paper, together with radio talker Lars Larson's local show, I found plenty to remind me of the near universality of governmental and political lunacy, similar to our own fair state. A massive public works project is under way to replace the Interstate 5 bridge over the Colum- bia River between Oregon and Washington. This black hole of a boondoggle has sucked over $130 million into its maw with little beyond so- called studies and public input meetings to show for it. A major budgetary driving force has been the insistence, with virtually no public demand or demonstrated need, that a light rail line be incor- porated into the design. Ka-ching, ka-ching. Can you see similarities to the fiscal lunacy of California's high-speed train boon- doggle, which will ulti- mately cost many tens of billions of dollars for a trip only marginally faster than by car? Then, an article described how the pub- lic employee union, AFSCME, had engaged in such threats and shenanigans that the county "filed an unfair practice complaint" with the NLRB. Union bosses and hacks are the same, apparently, everywhere. Finally, I found that a mar- velous, world-class golf course/resort, Tetherow, having fallen victim to a horrible econo- my, is asking for extensions to complete parts of its project. The usual environmental obstruction- ists see an opportunity to do their thing – say no. For enviros every- where, stopping development is its own reward, no matter the fallout. Sound familiar? It's fair week – be sure to stop and say hi at the Republican booth in the Tyler-Jelly Building. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.