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6A Daily News – Wednesday, February 8, 2012 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 Let's keep our commitment to our veterans With a new year comes a new state budget and with it the opportunity for the Gover- nor and the Legislature to lead California in a positive direction. 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 But once again, Governor Brown has squandered this opportunity. In his proposed budget, the Governor takes aim at our dis- abled servicemen and women by targeting the Veterans Homes in Redding and Fresno for additional spending cuts. This comes despite the Governor's Department of Finance announcing that the state received $8 billion more in revenue than it anticipated in January last year. Originally, the Redding home was slated to open sometime this year. But as part of last year's budget, the majority party elected to cut $7 million in funding from the project. This decision pushed back its opening to January 2013, depriving our local veterans of much-needed services. Under the Governor's new budget proposal, the opening date would now be January 2014 at the earliest. By further delaying this project, many eligible veter- ans will be without services for another full year. This new home is vital to veterans living in the North State, and will provide them with access to medical care, rehabilitative programs, and opportunities to engage in activities with other veterans. Any additional delay is inex- cusable. It is especially dishearten- ing given the fact that con- struction of the Redding facil- ity will finish early this year, but will remain empty for two whole years. In a state that has the largest veteran population in the country, will see the largest number of veterans returning from our recent wars, and with an aging veter- an population, it is unforgiv- able to turn our backs to them in their hour of need. Cutting funds to these Vet- erans Homes also puts our relationship with the federal government in jeopardy. Acting in bad faith by delaying the opening of these federally-funded projects may make it difficult for Califor- nia to leverage for federal dollars in the future. In fact, the California Department of Veterans Affairs already had to renego- tiate its operating agreement with the federal gov- ernment when the Legislature voted last year to delay the opening to 2013. It is clear that the Governor believes he can use our veterans as pawns to convince members from these areas to support his proposal to raise $35 billion in new taxes. This is an inappro- priate tactic and is disrespectful to those individuals who put their lives on the line for the freedom we enjoy in this country. With businesses only just starting to recover from the economic downturn, and state tax revenues up by $8 billion, it is not only unnecessary to raise taxes – it would be cata- strophic and further stall job creation in California. Ultimately, it all comes down to a question of priori- ties. Last year, the Governor and the majority party made their priorities clear when Dan Logue they chose to protect funding for welfare programs and give pay and benefit increases to public employee unions rather than fully fund veter- ans programs. As a legislator and grateful American, I will continue to fight for full support for our veterans in this year's budget. They should always be a top priority in any budget debate and should not be subject to the political tem- pest that naturally transpires. The next few months in Sacramen- to will be challenging. I hope my colleagues will join me and do the right thing by restoring funding for both the Redding and Fresno facilities and supporting these men and women who gave so much for our country. R-Lake Assemblyman Dan Logue, Wildwood, is a member of the Assembly Budget Committee and represents the 3rd Assembly District in the California Legislature. 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. Sexes' differences good for Valentine's Day Commentary Get this: men and women are different. Italian researchers made this "groundbreaking" dis- covery in a recent study. According to Psych Cen- tral, the study, led by Marco Del Giudice, Ph.D., of the University of Turin, used "new and more accurate methods to measure and ana- lyze personality differences." Researchers administered personality tests to more than 10,000 people -- approxi- mately half men, half women -- that assessed 15 personali- ty traits, such as warmth, sen- sitivity, perfectionism and so on. Here's where the study is unique: By assessing multiple traits rather than individual traits, as prior male-female studies have done, the researchers concluded there are significant differences between the sexes. And in my humble opin- ion, nothing illustrates those differences better than Valen- tine's Day. I'm certainly no expert on what women think, but does- n't Valentine's Day fill most women with hope? They dream of romance, surprise and having sweet nothings whispered into their ears -- and if such things hap- pen, they hope their husbands don't find out! Most men have the oppo- site point of view. To us, Valentine's Day is a contrived undertaking that makes mandatory the things -- flow- ers, dining out, expensive jewelry -- that should be reserved for the times when we do something really stu- pid and are desperate to make up. I was raised as the only boy among five sisters. It was obvious to me early on that males and females have dif- ferent priorities. My sisters were perpetually angry at me for failing to change this thing they referred to as the "toilet paper roll." Differences between the sexes are illustrated in the typical romance novel, read almost exclusively by women, which is filled with prose such as this: "He was tall, silent and handsome, yet he knew everything she was thinking at every moment and he real- ly cared and understood what she was thinking because it was important to him that he knew what she was thinking ... ." If there were such a thing as a male romance novel, it would read much differently: "She poured the Guinness carefully, bringing forth a frothy head without spilling a drop. Smiling, she looked deeply into his eyes and said, 'I brought you extra bleu cheese for your hot wings.'" It's true that, over the past three decades or so, there has been some effort to pretend that many differences don't exist between men and women. It's true that a slew of men's maga- zines have headlines on their covers that are almost identical to headlines on the covers of traditional women's magazines ("How to Style Your Hair to Win Her Affection!"). It's true that way too many men are getting misty at baby showers and mostly fictions? Heck, we've come so far in our thinking in so many areas. Can't we just take our level of understanding one step further -- into the realm of reality and common sense? Why do we need studies to validate what is obvious? Most people know that males and females are remarkably different. Our differences are good -- particu- larly on Valentine's Day. It is only when the two truly opposite forces called man and woman come together that romance may occur. And if a fellow is Tom Purcell clapping enthusiastically the first time Junior uses the "poddy" for "No. 2." And it's true that most every dad is depicted on tele- vision as a soft, bumbling idiot, whereas most every mom is portrayed as a mascu- line, decisive figure who keeps the household together. But aren't these scenarios lucky to have a fine lady in his life, the contrivances of Valentine's Day won't bother him much in the end. Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. ———