Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/70921
6A Daily News– Wednesday, June 20, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS 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. 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 Metteer story Editor: regarding Metteer School's 25th Anniversary most enjoyable. In order to give credit where it is due, I'd like to point out a couple of facts. First of all, the person most responsible for the naming of Metteer was George Froome, who was director of instruction in the district. He came up with the idea and encouraged its adoption. Secondly, thanks to the efforts of Barbara Mclver, a school board member at the time, a meeting was arranged with State Sen. Mike Thompson, which resulted in the funding for the construction of Metteer, provided that it would become a year-round school. Metteer's funding was in jeop- ardy as a result of the state's failure to stand by its prior commitment. The meeting with Thompson and state building officials made the difference. George Russell, Red Bluff I found the recent article Discount cards business less than a year is going to give me a large discount on medication. Editor: Wow, a Florida company in cial Marketing Concepts — fund- ed to provide discounts? It is hard to believe that CVS, Walmart, Raley's Elmore's, etc. are going to give me a 75 percent discount just because I have a plastic card from FMC. How will FMC decide which medications are covered in the 60,000-item list? Who pays the Couple of questions: How is this company — Finan- cost to keep this list updated? How is this FMC card related to the Healthcare Alliance card we just received in the mail? If I am fortunate enough to gans? A cool trillion dollars plus, which actually exceeds the com- bined outstanding balance on all our existing credit cards. have some health insurance, do I get a discount above what I cur- rently pay? Again, who is funding this scamy looking program? Bill Trapp, Red Bluff Graduates Editor: some of us old timers attempting to equate their college education and consequent successful career with such decidedly different, extremely difficult conditions faced by freshmen of today. A number of decades ago, higher education was It is quite interesting to observe either gratis or made affordable in an ongoing national effort to pro- mote a stable economy, future growth and prosperity. Employment and career oppor- tunities for graduates were practi- cally assured by a veritable smor- gasbord of choices, in which busi- nesses and corporations competed, in an effort to snag the best, bright- est and most qualified candidates for themselves. Today, higher education has joined the growing throng of cash cows and rip offs for profit. New so called schools, colleges, institu- tions, universities et al, seem to be springing up daily, evidently allowed to operate without the imposition of any restrictions or accountability, and empowered to bilk and fleece aspiring students at will, which includes many of our veterans, who certainly deserve better. provided The total bill for these shenani- the average millstone around the neck of a graduate is the the tidy sum of $30.000. Most disturbing, however, is the fact that 55 percent of them, our next generation of potential leaders, shakers and movers, is either unemployed, or under- employed, and often rele- gated to perform work which in no way would require a college educa- tion. According to latest statistics, Your Turn It seems to be uniquely Ameri- can these days, to feature the most highly educated debt ridden burger flippers, in the world, unable to afford a decent living, let alone positioned to pay back their colos- sal debt. To further aggravate the situa- and exercise of boundless preda- tory greed, which has infested our whole system and lives, way beyond the realm of higher educa- tion, where human endeavor, hope and aspiration has been commodi- fied in the shameless pursuit of profit. How does it feel having to tion, the interest rate on student loans is scheduled to double on July 1, from 3.4 to 6.8 percent. Is there no end to such avarice Another season of political bull is upon us. If everyone would just vote for your party everything would be hunky dory and the future rosy again. Unfortunately that isn't true. Our political, judi- cial and financial system operates under the Golden rule, not the one found in the good book, but the one that says, he who has the gold rules. The minute minori- ty because of their Politics Editor: enormous wealth are able to con- trol our resources and dictate our laws. The answer isn't in political campaigns. The answer is educa- tion not necessarily the kind you find at universities but the kind you find in law libraries, the Internet and visits to the public library. Obtaining a working knowl- edge of all laws and regulations is an impossible task. With thou- sands of pages dedicated to each new law passed even the most bril- liant legislators can't keep up with it all. But all those laws have to conform to our Constitution referred to as just a piece of paper by a previous President. If it does- n't agree with the Constitution it isn't valid and can be ignored. So you don't have to be a acknowledge that oligarchs, pluto- crats, banksters, kleptocrats and Wall Street tycoons have been allowed to convert once proud American citizens into their own highly exploitable two-legged bot- tom line cash providing ATM machines? Joe Bahlke, Red Bluff lawyer you just need to read and try and understand the Constitu- tion. It may be just a piece of paper but everyone working for this gov- ernment whether he/she be a pri- vate in the army or the Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court has to swear an oath to protect and defend that piece of paper. Orval Strong, Gerber 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. Cool, but not for spending Commentary I'll shut off my air condition- ing if the government goes first. Maybe I better explain. Federal records say the Unit- ed States recently completed the hottest spring since such record- keeping began in 1895. March, April and May aver- age temperatures in the lower 48 states surpassed the oldest spring average-temperature record by a full 2 degrees. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also reported that this May was the second warmest on record. The warmest May ever occurred in 1934. America is going through a hot spell, to be sure. Well, some environmental- ists are certain that it is pri- marily man's activities, not natural cycles, that cause the warming. They say air conditioning runs on electricity and electric- ity in America is generated mostly by coal-fired plants that pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They want us to give up air conditioning and other modern conveniences. I think they're on to some- thing -- so long as the govern- ment shuts down its air condi- tioners first. ed by Willis Haviland Carrier in 1902. Initially it was used for industrial purposes, but by the mid-1920s, it was being used for human comfort. Air conditioning was invent- movie houses were among the first to install cooling technolo- gy. Regrettably, the federal government soon followed. Washington, D.C., is a hot, humid place in the summertime -- made even hotter by so many blowhards who give long-wind- ed speeches on how Washing- ton ought to spend more tax- payer money. Department stores and Before air conditioning, fed- eral agencies routinely shut down when the temperature got too high, giving them that much less time to think up ways to waste our money. ton was empty from mid-June to September and our govern- ment remained relatively small. Heck, I wonder how many Thanks to the heat, Washing- been commonplace in Washing- ton, the government runs full tilt all year long. Now it can spend lots more time working on, as former New York Times columnist Rus- sell Baker once wrote, "the promulgation of more laws, the depreda- tions of lobbyists, the hatching of new schemes for Federal expansion and, of course, the cost of main- taining a government running at full blast." I know air condi- tioning has improved life for the elderly and others with res- piratory problems. I know capitalistic efficien- government programs dreamt up during the Great Depression era might not have happened had federal government build- ings been made unbearable by hot, sticky air. Since air conditioning has cies have made it possible for any American to install a win- dow AC unit that could save lives for as little as $100. I know our productivity and comfort have been vastly improved by cool air, and that there is still debate about the extent to which AC may con- tribute to global warming. I'm just saying that this pro- buildings would be empty dur- ing the hotter months. Hey, we might have 30 percent fewer government programs and 30 percent less spending. We might have a Tom Purcell zero deficit right now as a result — $4 tril- lion budget, minus 30 percent in spending, equals savings of $1.2 trillion. Now, I certainly federal government went first, I just might. If our government doesn't get spending under control, we will eventually have a melt- down so boiling hot, no amount of air conditioning will be able to fix it. ——— don't want to give up my air conditioning and the comfort it provides. But if the ductivity and comfort have come at a price -- that without AC, Washington's federal 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.