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6A Daily News – Monday, January 2, 2012 Opinion 2011 was a year of accomplishment 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. 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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 As we ring in the New Year I'm proud to say that 2011 was very productive for protecting the safe- ty and health of many people, especially those who are least able to help themselves. This is almost miraculous considering the stead- fast efforts of Republicans with their Tea Party cheerleaders set on keeping our president from achieving anything that might help him get re-elected come next November. Although many, if not most in our community, are glad to put 2011 behind us so as to move forward to brighter horizons in 2012 this takes a great number of accomplishments for granted dur- ing a tumultuous time in America and the world. Our troops have been with- drawn from Iraq as promised by our president and American inter- ests have been decisively advanced by putting Osama bin Laden to rest, protecting Libyans from further exploitation by Moammar Gadhafi, and keeping al Qaeda on the run in Afghanistan. As commander-in- chief president Obama deserves our respect and gratitude for main- taining the peace in spite of all the volatility in our world, our strug- gling economies, and the unprece- dented domestic political vitriol over our values, beliefs and goals. It is also notable that our econ- omy continued to function after suffering from the greatest threat to domestic stability since the Great Depression. While most conservatives act as arm chair quarterbacks with their theories over how to improve matters our president and his staff have deftly kept things from becoming worse and planted seeds of recovery that are only now coming to fruition. I am confident that these and other efforts will become apparent to more Americans before we vote this November on whether Bar- rack Obama will continue to serve as president. Over 2.5 million more young adults now have health insurance coverage thanks to a provision in the health law allowing young adults to remain on their parents' health insurance until age 26. This means more young adults in this country can now go on and live their lives with less worry about visiting their doctor when they get sick, or facing catastrophic med- ical bills if they are in an accident. Insurers who want to hike their rates by 10% or more now must explain and justify those increases in writing. As a result of this law, over the last year, 42 states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories have stiffened their oversight of proposed health insur- ance rate increases. A new consumer protection took effect in 2011 called the 80 / 20 rule. It makes sure that at least 80% of your premium dollars are being spent on health care and improving your care – not on marketing, adver- tising, and executive salaries. This rule makes sure that we get our money's worth from health insurance compa- nies. You and your fam- ily are also eligible for free preventive services such as blood pressure readings, cholesterol tests, and nutrition coun- seling; cancer screen- ings, including mammo- grams and colono- scopies; flu and pneu- monia shots; and routine vaccinations against diseases such as measles, hepatitis, and meningi- tis. The number of doctors, nurses, and health care professionals in the National Health Service Corps has nearly tripled in the last three years. For the first time in its forty year history, the National Health Service Corps can count more than 10,000 members in its ranks. Millions of Americans are enjoying improved Medicare coverage at a lower cost. Medicare's premiums have remained stable and the Part B deductible will drop in 2012. Medicare beneficiaries now have Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point access to free preventive mea- sures like physicals, flu shots, tobacco cessa- tion programs, mam- mograms, and colono- scopies. And Medicare will cover an annual wellness visit with no charge to seniors. And thanks to the health law, the Medicare pre- scription drug coverage gap known as the donut hole is starting to close. These discounts have saved seniors and people with disabilities a total of $1.5 billion on prescriptions – aver- aging about $569 per person. Health care providers now have to go through tougher screening procedures before they can start billing Medicare and states now can recover improper Medicaid payments, saving more than $2 billion over the next five years, with nearly $1 billion going back to the states. So from an objective point of view there is much to be grateful for as we begin 2012, not because 2011 was so terrible, but because 2011 was a year of accomplish- ment. Richard Mazzucchi 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), 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. Realignment: Needs 2nd Amend't response? Commentary Year-end writing (pardon me, it's Saturday at the keyboard) often involves unfinished business claiming some of my 800-odd words, which often overlaps likely 2012 issues, requiring observa- tions. For instance, right here in "river city," we've got trouble; that starts with "t" and it rhymes with "p" and that stands for prisoners and parolees (shamelessly lifted from "Music Man"). I would be disingenuous to state that I don't have faith in the intentions, abilities and plans of our Sheriff Hencratt and Chief Probation Officer Meunch, but my cold, steely eye sees a downside for our communi- ty as decisions are made to incar- cerate the worst, and release the rest. We've seen no doom-and- gloom reports from those depart- ments, as happened down south in Los Angeles, where law enforce- ment boldly predicted nearly unprecedented crime waves to accompany the same triage-type of response to the realignment-neces- sitated prisoner transfers to cities and counties. Since the end result of ne'er-do-wells in our streets, parking lots and neighborhoods will, I emphasize will, result in more assaults upon our persons, cars, belongings and homes, I heartily urge all to take a closer look at their, and their home's, security. The soft-hearted-and-headed that write upon this page may wish to organize a "citizens welcoming commission," to help the "realigned" misfits learn the error of their ways and the opportunities that await those so-reformed in heart and deed, by perhaps placing them into the homes of teacher/civic-modeling guides. The rest of us may prefer to be more meticulous about locking doors, windows, cars and sheds, with bigger, sturdier locks, and incorporate home security systems and companies to that end. Ultimately, law enforcement will always find the time to take reports from citizens injured, raped, burglarized or killed (reports from the survivors, anyway), but I suspect many are availing them- selves of more proactive means. Use your Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms" and know that the National Rifle Asso- ciation, Gun Owners of America and many of our elected represen- tatives (Tehama County in particu- lar), are laboring mightily to pre- serve and expand your ability to exercise legal self-defense. Local sheriffs, including Tehama Coun- ty's Hencratt, are quite willing to assist you in qualifying for con- cealed carry permits. There are also non-lethal methods and tools to make sure that the only report you need to file is that an attempt was made to steal from, or hurt, you and your loved ones. Not to be partisan, but the reali- ty is that Democrats in Sacramento and Washington are never more than one vote and a signature away from making it harder for you to protect yourself, and easier for the bad guys to have the advantage. Wayne Lapierre has provided us with a serious look at the reality of President Obama's, and the Democrats', likely efforts to under- mine our Second Amendment rights through regulatory and legal efforts (or illegal – means justifies ends, you know) in their next terms. If reelected, Obama will have no accountability for whatever executive- level measures he imple- ments. If that is a critical issue to you, there is no option for sitting out this next election, particularly when a hidden agenda to take away Americans' gun rights will be front and center on the ballot. I wrote extensively in 2008 about the record of then- Senator Obama, previ- ously state senator Obama, to undermine the Second Amendment; subsequently, he has placed two anti-gun jus- tices, Sotomayor and Kagan, on the Supreme Court. Don Polson The way I see it His Justice Department in gen- eral, and Eric Holder in particular, have engaged in what may be the greatest single act of betrayal of trust, oaths and responsibilities to ever emanate from an administra- tion: the "Operation Fast and Furi- ous" gun running scandal. It allowed weapons to be purchased by "straw men" buyers and illegal- ly transferred over the border into Mexico. It ultimately resulted in hundreds, possibly thousands, of dead Mexicans and one U.S. Bor- der Agent, Brian Terry, at whose murder site were found at least two of those weapons. CBS's Sharyl Attkisson and Republicans in Con- gress have uncovered much, against "stonewalling" efforts not seen since Nixon. However, the most outrageous aspect of that outrageously illicit program has been emails confirming that their agenda was, from the start, to effect the placement of illegally transferred weapons, purchased from Ameri- can gun shops, into Mexican drug cartel hands, to provide a fab- ricated pretext for push- ing tighter restrictions on those same border area gun shops, most of whom actually tried to confirm if it was alright to make such obviously shady sales. From Watergate to Iran-Con- tra to Monica Lewin- sky, no innocent civil- ians of any country, nor Americans, let alone American law enforcement, died from those scandals. If Obama's people will go to such lengths to shove an anti- gun agenda down our throats, the only solution to such assaults on our Constitutional rights involves voting Barrack Obama out of office. One thing you can do is to make a habit of attending weekly Tea Party Patriots meetings 6 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Westside Grange. Further unfinished and future topics: I'm distorting facts? Real- ly? No proof so far. Who's propa- gandizing? Is news media biased? Don Polson can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.