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6A – Daily News – Wednesday, February 17, 2010 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. 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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 Opinion Boy, could we use more snow in Washington, D.C. You see, when it snows in Pittsburgh, my home town, or any town in the heartland, peo- ple pick up their shovels and clear their sidewalks and drive- ways. We are invigorated by the crisp air and a good sweat -- we are cheerful as we sip hot coffee and catch up with neighbors. That's not how Washington reacts to snow. I lived in the Washington region for nearly eight years. When the forecasters say an inch or two is on the way, panic sets in. Powerful people shut down schools, cancel flights and order "non-essential" government employees -- and that covers just about everybody -- to stay home. Last week in D.C., the snow fell so thick -- the winds were so bitter cold -- that even global warming conferences were can- celed. Activists, who tell us toilet paper and bottled water are bad for the environment, flocked to supermarkets to hoard toilet paper and bottled water. Why such panic? Because Washingtonians aren't used to reality. In Washington, a fellow can make a fine living by spewing bogus numbers and arguments to convince policymakers to write laws that favor the organi- zations he represents. The government doesn't much care for reality, either. If it needs more money, it just bor- rows or prints more. If a majority of politicians want to impose a new govern- ment program on us, they sim- ply contort their bill to produce estimates that likely have little correlation to what the actual costs will turn out to be. Some are so good at this game that they enjoy 30-year careers without ever approxi- mating reality of any kind. Unless snow falls. Snow is real. It falls at its own whim. You can slip on it and hurt yourself. You can wreck your car in it. Commonsense people in the heartland don't complain much when snow comes. We clear our sidewalks and driveways so the mailman won't fall. We plan ahead. We outfit our cars with snow tires so we can get to work when the snow arrives. We prepare for reality because we will suffer reality's consequences if we don't. It's not like that in Washing- ton -- reality often has no consequences there. Implement an ethanol-subsidies pro- gram that screws up markets and drives up the cost of food? Oh, well. At least their intentions were good. Pass the largest spending bill in history -- one that has stimulat- ed little, except our deficit and our debt? Oh, well. Maybe they'd better pass another. Run a massive deficit brought on by reckless spending? Oh, well. They'll just print and borrow more dough so they can spend even more. Such is "common sense" in Washington. When record snows fall in the heartland, our first instinct is to do what we must to keep the snow from affecting our fami- lies' well-being. When record snows fall in D.C., the Washingtonian's first instinct is to politicize and spin and tell us the snow is caused by global warming. Or argue that taxpayers are losing an estimated $100 million in lost work and pro- ductivity every day the government is shut down and 230,000 federal employees remain idle. That's what John Berry, Office of Per- sonnel Management chief, tried to do. Hey, John, here's an offer: If you promise to keep non- essential government employees idle after the snow melts, we'll pay you $200 million a day. We in the heartland know, for the most part, that the less the federal government does, the better off we are. That's why we need more snow in Washington, D.C. 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. Needed: More snow in Washington, D.C. 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 Tom Purcell 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 Bend Area doesn't need more visitors Editor: I attended the public hearing at the Bend School Feb. 3 for the proposal on changing the BLM land to a National Recre- ation Area. My husband and I are from Red Bluff and have been riding our horses at the Bend for over 10 years. When we first started riding there, only a few horse trailers were in the parking lot. As more people found out about the area more riders came. Soon the parking lot was overflowing and it was enlarged to accommodate more rigs. It is again at capacity. If we open the area to the whole nation it will soon be overrun by way too many peo- ple. I realize it would be nice to get more funding by making it a National Recreation Area, but bigger does not always mean better. We like it the way it is now. If the BLM needs more help maintaining the trails or the pic- nic areas, all they have to do is have a work day. Put out a notice and the equestrians will come to help clear trails or whatever needs to be done. I am sure the hunters would help out, too. All you have to do is ask for volunteers. Joyce Pickering, Red Bluff The money changers Editor: Money, power, greed and lust run this country, by the ruling class government corporations the rich and movie industry image makers TV capture your imagination and keep you tied into your lower nature and enslave you to serve the upper classes. Give the lower classes in the food chain a home, a car and a woman and that will be as close to ever having the American Dream, in reality it is the American night- mare by this time the stress has wore you down and the doctors are waiting to get your retirement so they can have the American Dream. There is a sucker born every day, a new taxpayer, in with the young out with the old, keep the money changers in business. Most laws created for we the poor to serve these monsters to keep them on top of the food chain eat crow 364 days and a turkey dinner on thanksgiving. About man most men are predators. They have not evolved to be humane. They are sharks rap- ing and devouring the little fish at the bottom of the food chain. These man made institutions are prisons for we the poor and honest working class held captive by the money changers who murder peo- ple for power and greed. The rea- son they said justice is blind, it gives them an excuse not to be humane and fair. God's laws are perfect, man's laws are imperfect, do not put your faith in the arm of the flesh who destroys nature and peo- ple for profit. We pay a high price for freedom in this coun- try. It's under the bridge or in jail. If you can't pay for your so called free- dom in reality the rich can afford to stay on top of the food chain. Most laws created to feed into these money changers. Robert Pruitt, Red Bluff Writer wrong on animal group Editor: Daily News columnist Jean Barton gets it wrong when she falsely characterizes the work of The Humane Society of the Unit- ed States — The trickery of ani- mal welfare groups — in the Feb. 13 edition. Our efforts to champion wel- fare reforms for animals raised for food have drawn the strong support of the public and many family farmers. Proposition 2, which 63.5 percent of California voters approved in November 2008, will provide more space for breeding pigs, calves raised for veal and egg-laying hens. Our legislation last year to ban cruel and unnecessary docking of cow's tails was signed by the gov- ernor and supported by the Cali- fornia Farm Bureau and the Cali- fornia Cattlemen's Association. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been the nation's most important advocate for ani- mals and animal shel- ters. We provide train- ing, national shelter standards and millions of dollars of support for spay and neuter programs. The HSUS has just launched the largest-ever adoption campaign for dogs and cats in animal shelters in cooper- ation with the Ad Council. The HSUS rushes to aid ani- mal victims of disaster, rescuing thousands from floods, earth- quakes, fires, hurricanes, puppy mills and animal fights — and providing emergency shelter for thousands of suffering dogs, cats horses, and other creatures. In 2009, we provided direct care to more than 70,000 animals. We also provide no-cost veteri- nary care to dogs and cats in low- income communities around the world with more than 26,000 treatments valued at $1.2 million in free services during 2009. We also have major advocacy campaigns to combat animal cru- elty, dogfighting and cockfight- ing, Canada's notorious killing of baby seals and large-scale puppy mills, and we make no apologies for efforts to stop these terrible abuses. Readers can go to humaneso- ciety.org to learn more or to get involved in our work. Jennifer Fearing, Sacramento Your Turn