Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/6574
Thursday, February 4, 2010 – Daily News – 5A A MediaNews Group newspaper 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 Opinion There was a period of time in American history when it was a commonly held belief that car manufacturers would always do well in the US because cars would always be needed. It was pointed out to us by a myriad of studies that we had become reliant on the cheap mode of travel, didn't have enough of a public transporta- tion system, had created a vast network of suburbs that discour- aged walking and had put into place businesses that utilized the car with drive-through windows for services such as banking, fast food and even marriage. A car, from it's conception as an idea down to the sale and then upkeep or repairs, also employed too many people and in particular too many middle class people for us to ever back away from the trough. Auto plants paid middle class salaries that were able to sustain entire towns throughout the mid- west and in particular, in the state of Michigan. It really was possible to have a blue collar job in America and support your family, save some money for retirement, buy a house and send the next generation to college. It's a nice, simple summary of the American dream as a reality. Therefore, the Big Three, as Chrysler, Ford and GM used to be known, might get themselves into trouble but could never fail. That has a hollow but familiar ring to it. Chrysler's bailout in 1979 of $1.5 billion was a novelty but deemed necessary at the time. America depends on cars. However, if there's one thing the Great Recession has taught all of us is that there is no adage in business that's always right. Real estate is not always a safe investment and prices can plum- met to below the price that was paid even in a solid neighbor- hood. A free press is essential to have a free government as Thomas Jefferson pointed out, but the free part now has more to do with the price and not gov- ernment restraints. Newspapers are struggling to survive. And, we may not want to do without our cars but take away our jobs, our savings and then for some Americans, the roofs over our heads and we will finally stop buying them. As a result, places like Ponti- ac, Michigan have lost most of their jobs and the state is drown- ing in debt. The auto plants have mostly shut down. The 80,300 seat Silverdome that sits on 127 acres, which cost over $55 mil- lion to build and was once the stand-out example of Pontiac's prominence but has sat empty for the past 8 years, was just sold for a mere $583,000 to Andreas Apostolopoulos, a Canadian developer. It went for the cost of a house in most of suburban America. Thousands of car dealers, auto parts retailers and other auxiliary businesses that depend on the auto trade have also closed up shop and cost towns that dot America their tax base and morale. One last thought about the crisis that the American auto manufacturers are in, as it relates to the large bonuses that were just paid to the executives of recently bailed-out financial institutions and the Obama administration's new $3.8 trillion dollar budget with proposed tax hikes for the rich to pay off the deficit. The time for any president to be putting into place a better deal for the middle class taxpay- er was before the bailout money was ever handed out and a deficit that could last genera- tions was ever created. But no one made any of the financial institutions agree upfront and in writing to anything for the com- mon voter footing the bill such as credit card fee reforms. The new budget seems to be trying to correct that mistake by raising the taxes on an entire class of wealth rather than finally addressing the original error. Keep in mind that when Chrysler received its bailout 31 years ago even the unions partici- pated in the eventual success of Chrysler's turn-around. There wasn't a sense of a pyramid kind of bene- fits pay-off with the most, the American public, taking the risk and the least, the exec- utives on Wall Street, taking the spoils. Maybe it's too late to fix the tril- lion dollar bailout mistake but it doesn't mean we have to build on it and make entirely new ones that don't really benefit anyone. Martha's latest book to embrace change, Live Your Big Adventure is now available at www.marthasbigadventure.com. Email Martha at: Martha@marthasbigadventure.c om. The American Dream vs. car manufacturers Commentary N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY 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 Martha Randolph Carr STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), 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. Your officials Medicare is an entitlement Editor: Recent letters to the editor have painted a rather inaccurate picture of Medicare. Medicare is most assuredly an entitlement program. With respect to federal social pro- grams, the word entitlement means something very specific. Namely, there are certain require- ments to qualify and once those requirements are met, you have by law earned the right to those benefits and the government is obligated to provide them. Such entitlement is completely separate from how the social pro- grams might be funded. Congress and the Administration determine funding. They may choose to have beneficiaries fully fund a program or they may choose oth- erwise, depending on the cost, societal benefits, etc. of the partic- ular program. One good example is Medicare Part B. By law, the monthly fees are set so that no more than 25 percent of the pro- gram's annual costs shall be borne directly by premium payers. The remainder comes from general tax revenues. Also, it should be noted that while the total Medicare tax is 2.9 percent, wage earners pay only half — 1.45 percent. The firms or individuals for whom they work pay the other half out of their own pockets. The Medicare tax for self-employed folks is 2.9 percent of net earnings. David Janott, Red Bluff Meaning is in readers' minds Editor: Regarding Don Polson's col- umn in the Feb, 1 Daily News. While I was reading Mr. Pol- son's article I saw that he was again complaining about the use of the word teabaggers, saying that it was in slang a "pejorative, disgusting term" aimed at Tea Party adherents, and that a certain individual owes us an apology for such trash talk that shows disre- spect and insult to the group. I don't have the slightest idea of what he is talking about. I have asked all my friends if they knew what teabaggers meant in slang. They were equally in the dark as to what makes the word a pejora- tive, disgusting term. Whatever it is, Mr. Polson has no compunction in using the term over and over again for his own reasons. When I checked his blog, the first thing I saw was the ques- tion, "How do those tea bags taste now?" Anyone with common sense knows that the term teabaggers is used as a facetious reference to the Tea Party movement as a, to put it mildly, fringe group of the Republican party. The Daily News has printed political car- toons on the opinion page that used the word teabaggers, should the editor also apologize for allowing the use of the word? Apologize for what? I suppose at some point Mr. Polson will let us all in on the real meaning of the word teabaggers. My sugges- tion is that the Tea Party Patriots try to develop a sense of humor and get over themselves. There is an apt saying that was first spoken long ago by an Eng- lish king when he picked up a garter that had fallen from a young woman's leg and returned it to her, while those around him snickered and ascribed the worst possible motives to the king for picking it up in the first place. The king simply looked at them and said, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" or "Evil to him who evil thinks." Larry W. Gray, Red Bluff Attorney pay Editor: On Jan. 26 the Corning City Council in a 3-2 vote approved a generous agreement with the city's part-time city attorney. The agreement will give part- time City Attorney Fitzpatrick an annual salary in 2010 of $73,320, automatically increasing to $79,596 in 2011. A new clause was also added granting the attor- ney 60 days' termination pay in the event the agreement is ever cancelled. In addition to being the part- time attorney for Corning, Fitz- patrick is also the city attorney for Anderson and Orland – and his Web site shows that he also repre- sents seven other public agencies and two corporate clients, in addi- tion to representing individual clients. Fitzpatrick is a sole practitioner with only two clerical employees. How many taxpayers and voters – assuming they are lucky enough to even have a job in this economy – make more than $70,000 annually from working a part-time job? Mayor Gary Strack defends the agreement by saying that Fitz- patrick absorbed $20,000 worth of litigation hours in 2009 as part of his salary. At best this is fuzzy math and a ridiculous argument. Deducting $20,000 from $73,320 means that Fitzpatrick still pocketed $53,320 of taxpayers money in 2009. I suggested that the council consider hiring a local Tehama County attorney, on a small monthly retainer to handle routine legal matters with a fee agreement for additional work. I felt that this kind of arrangement would be more advantageous and cost effec- tive. However, as is common prac- tice in Corning, the 3-2 majority did what they wanted to do in spite of what might ultimately be in the best interests of the taxpayers and voters of Corning. This outrageous deal with the part-time city attorney represents the kind of back room deals, fail- ure to exercise common sense, lack of transparency and squander- ing of public funds that has tax- payers and voters outraged not only in Corning but throughout America. It's time to send a message to all levels of government, including our own City Council that we're fed up and are not going to take it any longer. Dean Cofer, Corning Your Turn