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6A Daily News – Thursday, December 22, 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 Merry Christmas, welcome home, job well done 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 Surrounded by the protec- tion of barbed wire fences and cement barricades, the United States Forces – Iraq flag was furled for the last time during an unpretentious ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq on December 15, 2011. It has been a long nine years. At the war's onset in 2003, troops were promised the only way to return home was through Baghdad. Nine years, two administrations, and multiple tours later, with mission finally accomplished, troops are headed home to celebrate Christmas. The holiday celebrations this year should extend to include honoring the many soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have sacrificed so much for the liberation of Iraq. Given the current political climate, it is unrealistic to expect the ticker tape parades of days-gone-by that took place to commemorate war's end. Frankly speaking, the word "victory" is all but missing from the vocabularies of those in leadership who origi- nally voted against the surge leading to success in Iraq. Thankfully, sound wisdom prevailed. At this point in time, it seems it is safer for those who could not militarily strategize their way out of a paper bag to err to the side of caution. After all, the mission in Iraq is as accomplished as it can be – considering the comman- der in chief had promises to keep with an anti-war con- stituency, thereby closing down operations prematurely and against the wishes of commanders with boots on the ground. At the moment, conditions look favorable for the people of Iraq, but enduring freedom in this country bordering the sable-rattling Islamic regime of Iran is a crap shoot at best. Albeit the existence of a free Middle East devoid an Amer- ican presence there may be atop our president's Christ- mas wish list, a wish it shall remain -- until history does its part to tell us the rest of the story. Unlike what seems to be happening in some "Arab Spring" countries, which may soon succumb to the weight of their own ineptitude, America's presence in Iraq has unequivo- cally contributed to the birth of a fledg- ling democracy in a region known for and surrounded by deep and widespread oppression. There is much in Iraq for America to be proud of despite the comments com- ing from isolationist naysayers like Republican presiden- tial hopeful Ron Paul, who has all but pissed on the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for a war he recently described as "useless" during the GOP Presidential Debate in Iowa. As nonsensical as it may be, Paul is entitled to his own opinion, but it might be much wiser to heed the voice of common sense coming from those whose boots are soiled with Iraqi desert sands -- like U.S. General Lloyd Austin – who recently said America's sacrifice gave the Iraqi people "an unprecedented opportuni- Susan Brown ty to live in a relatively peace- ful environment." Similarly , Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged "the cost was high in blood and treasure" but "those lives have not been lost in vain" because "they gave birth to an independent and sovereign Iraq." As many of us pause during this busy holiday season to reflect on the birth of freedom for mankind offered to us by way of a lowly Bethlehem manger, we should offer a prayer of thanks for the birth of a sov- ereign Iraq and the soldiers who gave her a chance. Susan Stamper Brown is an op-ed columnist, motivational speaker, military family advocate and grief counselor who writes about politics, the military, the economy and culture. she can be reached at susan@susanstamperbrown. com. 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), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 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; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Confessions of a child janitor Commentary My first job was cleaning the group home I lived in. True story. I participated in the Summer Youth Employment Program part of the Job Train- ing Partnership Act passed during Reagan's first term. It was a War on Poverty federal program considered to be an economic stimulus and a way to keep teenagers off the streets. I was in foster care and had just barely turned 14; I went to a few seminars on job skills and was given a job "super cleaning" for minimum wage ($4.25). I pulled in about $75 a week…before taxes. I learned two things at that job: one, horizontal blinds are a malevolent plague on soci- ety; and two, Republicans don't care about people who work. No, Republicans, in gener- al, and disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, specifically, concern themselves with their fickle "job creators" and not the sta- ple of the American economy: job workers. The overpaid, overfed, and over-hyped Gingrich said to an audience at a Nationwide Insurance luncheon earlier this month, "Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works, so they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday." Gingrich is willfully igno- rant of the fact you can work and still be "really poor" in this country. You can show up every Monday and do your job faithfully and STILL not make a living. If you work full-time at the federal minimum wage you'll pull in $15,000 a year before taxes (and yes, they do take social security, state and federal taxes out of those pay- checks). Add children to the equation and it's worse than the working poor – it's the working impoverished. Now 49 million Americans live in poverty – with 2.6 mil- lion falling into the category last year. That's 16 percent of Americans. There are more Americans living in poverty than there are Canadians on the planet. Gingrich is trying to equate poverty with a moral short- coming. It's a warped offshoot of the prosperity gospel – rich- es are a sign of god's love – poverty is a sign of his indif- ference. But also in Gingrich's rich- er-and-therefore-holier-than- thou diatribe is an attempt to bust unions. He suggested fir- ing union janitors to hire chil- dren to clean their own schools. Yes, a janitor with a job that pays him enough to live on is, in Gingrich's eyes, a problem. In the call for hiring children and ending child labor laws is also the call to end working for a living. All the anchors of a middle-class living (pensions, benefits, decent salaries) are being dubbed "luxu- ries" by Republi- cans, to be sacrificed so magical "job cre- ators" can be cajoled into saving us all. Because, really, the greatest threat to America is that jani- tors are paid too much. Please. Wealthy janitors are, to borrow Gingrich's phrase, "an invented people." employer in the country: Wal- mart. Tina Gingrich has a dark vision for a Shining City Upon a Hill: where poor children work in place of union labor. It's basi- cally the 20th century played in reverse. Working (even scrubbing toilets) should mean making a living. If someone who works is still eligible for food stamps and government assistance – it's really the employer who is federally subsidized. These "job creators" are taking advantage of government pro- grams so they won't have to cut into their profit margins to pay living wages. The best example of this is also the biggest private Dupuy If Newt and his Republican same-thinks want to go after Welfare Queens and those who don't value work – go after the Walmart heirs. According to economist Sylvia Allegretto in 2007 the six Walmart heirs owned more than the bottom 30 percent of Americans. And that was four years ago when their wealth was estimated at $69.7 bil- lion, now it's thought to be around $93 bil- lion. Will Newt take them on? No, Gingrich is showing his courage as a K Street custodi- an by kicking the little guys. Because really, it's not that poor children need jobs to make them better workers – it's that jobs need to be better to adult workers. Is this kind of bravery to take on the least powerful (and some imaginary) among us resonating with Republicans? Well, he is the new front- runner. Tina Dupuy is an award- winning writer and fill-in host at The Young Turks. Tina can be reached at tinadupuy@yahoo.com.