Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/733686
Days a er the first presidential debate, Americans are still wondering why moderator Lester Holt didn't ask more pertinent questions about issues that, according to the latest Rasmussen polling, have 67 percent of viewers convinced that the nation is on the wrong track. Perhapsnotsurprisingly given the media's aversion to covering immigration hon- estly, Holt never asked about it, border security or refu- gee resettlement even though those topics have, for at least 18 months, dominated the news. The San Bernardino, Orlando, and New York ter- rorist attacks made headlines while the incredible story that U.S. Citizenship and Immi- gration Services, which oper- ates under the Department of Homeland Security, granted citizenship to 858 individu- als with final deportation or- ders should bring DHS under intense scrutiny. A nationally televised debate with an es- timated 100 million viewers is the perfect forum to delve into the candidates' proposed solutions to DHS' ineptitude, but nary a peep from Holt. First, on the subject of im- migration in general, the U.S. has admitted more im- migrants in the last 25 years than during the entire 50- year Great Wave from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The federal government issues more than 1 million green cards with work authoriza- tion to new permanent resi- dent immigrants each year. Should the pattern contin- ues, the non-partisan Pew Hispanic Center calculates that the U.S. population will rise to 438 million in 2050 from today's nearly 325 mil- lion, and 82 percent of the in- crease will come from immi- grants and their American- born children who arrived and will arrive from 2005 to 2050. Those dramatic popu- lation increases will affect ev- ery aspect of Americans' lives — education, health care, and urban sprawl. Holt had ques- tions about the birther con- troversy, but not population growth. Second, on border secu- rity, in recent weeks, the As- sociated Press reported that foreign nationals from as far away as China, Africa and Haiti have gathered at the Southwestern border. The mi- grants anticipate that, be- cause of the Obama admin- istration's refusal to enforce immigration laws, they'll be allowed to enter, and ap- peal for asylum. Border Pa- trol Agent Chris Cabrera has repeatedly declared that the border is less secure than at any time in history with "large stretches... extremely porous, unmanned," and is a "recipe for disaster." Yet the open border which threatens national security and Ameri- can sovereignty went unmen- tioned during the debate — this may represent a low point in journalistic integrity. Finally, no questions were asked about the highly unpop- ular refugee resettlement pro- gram, despite a documented link between terrorism and people admitted to the U.S. as refugees, and not withstand- ing a $19 trillion national debt, Obama has committed the U.S. to accepting 110,000 refugees during fiscal year 2017. The upwardly revised total represents a roughly 57 percent increase over FY 2015. Since the refugees are imme- diately welfare eligible, tax- payer dollars fund their reset- tlement. Department of State data shows that as of August 9, 2016, the Obama Adminis- tration has admitted 61,232 predominantly Muslim refu- gees this fiscal year of whom 8,114 are from Syria, 7,322 from Iraq, 7,067 from Soma- lia, 2,838 from Iran, and 1,924 are from Afghanistan, all ter- rorist sponsoring nations that have vowed to destroy the U.S. Obama has dismissed Americans' common sense concerns while his adminis- tration expands its reckless and extreme policies. In the first debate, Holt also ignored Americans' immigration re- lated worries. The second and third debates must address immigration's short and long- term consequences or the de- bates will be meaningless. JoeGuzzardiisaCalifornians for Population Stabilization Senior Writing Fellow whose columns have been syndicated since 1987. Contact him at joeguzzardi@capsweb.org. JoeGuzzardi Americans deserve more substance in presidential debates Cartoonist's take With the first of several de- bates featuring the Presidential candidates under our belt, I was prepared to report that D. Trump will certainly become the worst Pres- ident if elected, when I read of a new book by Jean Edward Smith ti- tled "Bush," in which George W. is so excoriated: "Rarely in the history of the United States has the nation been so ill-served as during the presidency of George W. Bush." And the book con- cludes with the author predict- ing that George W. will prove to be the worst President in Amer- ican history. That prediction seems a bit harsh, especially with the possibility of Donald Trump ascending to that office. If that assessment were not enough, fellow writer Roger An- gell weighs in with "Come No- vember, I will be casting my eighteenth ballot in a Presi- dential election. It will be the most important one of my life- time. The first came in 1944, when I voted for a fourth term for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, my Commander-in-Chief, with a mail-in ballot from the Cen- tral Pacific, where I was a ser- geant in the Army Air Force. It was a thrilling moment for me, but not as significant as my vote on November 8th this year, the most important one of my life- time. The first debate impends, and the odds that Donald Trump may be elected President ap- pear to be narrowing. I will cast my own vote for Hillary Clinton with alacrity and confidence." Angell concludes with, "Ms. Clin- ton will make a strong and reso- lute President — at last, a female leader of our own — and, in the end, perhaps a unifying one." He will vote for "a female leader." It is time for this to hap- pen. Don't miss getting on the "a woman for President" boat. ••• Questions from the Internet: Why, when getting a prescrip- tion filled in a super market, are the ill forced to walk way back to the rear of the store? Why is cat food not mouse flavored? Bright sunlight makes your hair lighter but your skin turn darker, why is that? If airplanes are so safe, why do they call your destination "the terminal?" And why do you never see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery?" Why is the severity of the itch inversely proportional to your reach? And, why is it that as soon as you find a product that you re- ally like, they stop making it? ••• There are taxes and there are tax breaks. For example, prop- erty owners in Australia can de- duct the cost of garden gnomes on their lawns, in the Nether- lands witchcraft lessons are de- ductible and in Germany, bribes to private businesses were tax- deductible until 2002. That brings us to last week's former Assemblyman Stan Statham's column, which was headlined "My take on tampon taxes," in which he assures us that if he were still in the Assembly he would never vote to tax them be- cause they are not a luxury, they are a necessity, and proceeds to tell readers why this is so. To which I would add "duh?" Mr. Statham concludes with the admonition that this is one of the reasons why he considers himself fortunate to have been born a male. So noted, Stan, now let's move on. ••• Automobile buffs note: John Zimmer, president of the ride- sharing service Lyft, reports that "By 2025, private car ownership will all but end in major U.S. cities." ••• "Beautiful walls" are not only the fantasies of D. Trump. Sources say Hungary, Norway, Kenya and the Ukraine are all contemplating constructing same for various reasons. ••• TIME recently published an essay on the growing number of religiously unaffiliated and ag- nostic Americans. Readers con- gratulated the magazine for hav- ing "the bravery" to come out and openly discuss the trend. Does it really take "brav- ery" in this enlightened age to do so? What is the down side to taking a stand against or- ganized religion? There are no faith police on the horizon that I can perceive. ••• However, here are some laws of Ultimate Reality. Law of Mechanical Repair: Af- ter your hands are covered with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you will have to pee. Law of Gravity: Any tool, screw or nut, when dropped, will roll to the least accessi- ble place. Law of Random Numbers: If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers. Law of Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire. If you change traffic lanes, the one you were in will al- ways move faster. Law of the Bath: When the body is fully immersed in wa- ter, the telephone will ring. ••• More information for your dancing enjoyment: The 55 million Hispanics in the U.S. represent 17 percent of the na- tion's population. That jumps to a 30 percent projection by 2060. In 2015, U.S. Hispanics controlled $1.3 trillion in buy- ing power equal to the GDP of Mexico, the Dominican Re- public, Guatemala and El Sal- vador combined. Also, His- panics are projected to ac- count for more than half of all new U.S. homeowners be- tween 2010 and 2030. As these folks launched new small busi- nesses at a rate more than 60 times higher than that of non- Latinos, it might be good time for your school age children to take Spanish rather than French or German, right? ••• The General received word that the mother of Corporal Perkins had died. On the pa- rade grounds, where the men were standing at ease, the Ser- geant Major volunteered to break the sad news to Perkins. The General said, "That would be fine, Sergeant, but you should do it gently and with tact and diplomacy." "Yes sir," said the Sergeant. With that, he marched over to the soldiers and bellowed the command: "Fall in." When the men had complied he bel- lowed again, "All those with mothers still alive, one pace forward." And then quickly added, "…not so fast, Perkins." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@ hotmail.com. I say Worst president in the history of the nation? Those dramatic population increases will affect every aspect of Americans' lives — education, health care, and urban sprawl. Holt had questions about the birther controversy, but not population growth. Sounding off Alookatwhatreadersaresayingincommentsonourwebsiteandonsocialmedia. Iwishwegottoseemoreofthelittles.We saw them each answer 4generic questions and that's it. I wish they got to do a taker or dance together. At this age, it is adorable. Instead we watched them walk across the stage a few times then listened to several older kids sing...very nice, but I would have liked to have seen the little ones more. Danielle Ramey: On coverage of the Little Miss Tehama County competition These people work hard and deserve a raise. I could never understand when the county talks about giving raises, they always start at the top of the tier instead of at the bottom, for the people who keep the county running. Then by the time all the bigwigs get their raises, there is none le over for the ones who really need it. Patricia Hall : On county employees protesting following an impasse in wage negotiations Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Robert Minch StateandNational Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, Kristina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials By Joe Guzzardi OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, September 30, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6