Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/7360
Monday, March 1, 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 The official Tehama County unemployment rate is around 15 percent, I believe; include the underemployed and discouraged and it probably exceeds 20 percent. To those numbers could be added statistics about length of unem- ployment, lost wages, reduced business incomes, foreclosure rates, assistance levels and vacant commercial real estate. However, it's about people's lives, hopes, despair and future expectations, not numbers. The negative impacts of not being able to make ends meet, accepting either work beneath one's qualifi- cations, or the kindness of family, or even strangers, make for a malaise that spreads from commu- nities to states and our nation. Past recessions have usually been followed by recoveries, spurred by business-friendly growth in the economy and employment, that were fairly soon and robust. Lacking such a recov- ery, individuals' lives, families and futures will suffer and simply not recover, leaving permanently low- ered expectations and standard of living. The role of elected political leadership ought to be to quickly put policies in place that promote business activity, which generates hiring and, subsequently, con- sumer and business spending. The current iteration of a so-called "jobs bill," which contains a brief, modest reduction of payroll taxes for hiring a specific demographic of unemployed, is an example of utter ignorance of the proven results of the policies mentioned above. Businesses hire, and plan spending, based on projections of anticipated expenses and sales far enough into the future to reliably predict a reasonable profit for the company – not based on a few thousand dollars of temporary pay- roll tax relief. Only private sector business activities produce mea- surable, healthy economic growth and employment numbers. We've now seen both a lack of such growth and numbers at the state and national level, as well as propaganda suggesting a rosier employment situation than actually exists. It's also said that all of the so-called "stimulus" and deficit spending has not created any real jobs. How are we to know? Gov. Schwarzenegger touted the creation of 150,000 jobs from the federal stimulus and chided those criticizing the programs. He later qualified the claim by includ- ing state workers hired, or not fired, as well as an undetermined number of private sector jobs "cre- ated or saved." This type of rhetoric seems to follow the lead of Washington sources announcing widely varying numbers of jobs – from 600,000 to two million – resulting from federal spending programs. Such self-justifying narratives cannot be traced to actual people in most cases, but rely on formulas, estimates and (usually) later-dis- proved-or-debunked reports. That certainly goes for the supposed 150,000 California jobs, which could not possibly be documented with any accuracy. For an entire year's record of monthly claims from Washington, as well as the subsequent refutations by various mainstream news media outlets, go to "Polecat News and Views" at DonPolson.blogspot.com, and scroll down to a post titled "A year's worth of fuzzy or made-up numbers." What is not subject to fabrication is the number of actual jobs lost – 8.7 million, Bureau of Labor Statistics – in this reces- sion. Half of those losses have been in the last year as the national unemploy- ment rate hovers just under 10 percent, 12.4 percent in California. I take no joy in writing this but simply wish for read- ers to know that some of our leaders desperately peddle economic happy- talk; they hope that their political hacks and mouthpieces persuade you to look anywhere but at those actually, current- ly responsible for the mess. And for the lack of improvement. So, what about the counterintu- itive claim that no real jobs have been created with the hundreds of billions of dollars of stimulus/deficit spending? To understand that you must consider that the government doesn't create one, single dollar of original value, but rather, by definition, acquires them through taxing, borrowing or the printing presses. All money spent for the purpose of economic stimulus, or job cre- ation, is money taken from, or not available to, the actual wealth pro- ducers: private businesses and con- sumers. Their activities, unlike those of the temporary government programs, create ongoing demands for goods and services that are self- sustaining, i.e. real jobs. Speaking of the Governator, those of us in the Tea Party Patriots movement have earned a bit of Arnold's ire (and if you are simply among the conservative majority feeling outrage over what I've been writing, you're includ- ed). He said, "The Tea Party is not going to go anywhere. I think the Tea Party is all about just an expression of anger and dissatisfac- tion and I see it in Cali- fornia …" He would be talking about literally thou- sands of Northern Cali- fornia Tea Party Patri- ots. If you would like to be includ- ed and translate "anger and dissat- isfaction" into productive action, show up on Tuesday as listed in the "Local Calendar" or, if Corning is closer, join their growing Tea Party Patriots, meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center, South St and 4th Ave. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com. Jobs numbers, propaganda and Arnold 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 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 Don Polson The way I see it A transition to help those in transition Across the Sacramento River off Antelope Boulevard, on the corner of Gilmore Ranch Road and Sale Lane, stands a huge, grey-shingled Victorian home. When built in 1909 this house was to be big and comfortable with all modern conveniences, plus spa- cious enough to house many chil- dren and guests. After the death of Mary Sale in 1978 the classic home fell into disrepair. By the time you read this you will have had the opportunity to visit the newly renovated Sale House during an open house Sun- day. Under the auspices of a local organization called The Poor and the Homeless of Tehama County, or PATH, the once dilapidated and vacant home has transitioned to a safe and clean environment for the poor and homeless of our commu- nity to make their own transitions to more healthy and productive lifestyles. Originally, the home was part of the Gilmore Ranch founded by John Gilmore. It was a ranch of 570 acres that raised wheat and cattle and had a dairy. When Frank Gilmore's family wanted to sell the ranch in 1919, Douglas A. Lindey purchased the home for his daughter Mary Denson Lindley and her family. Her husband was Richie Sale. The Sales began converting the ranch from grain, cattle and dairy products into a thriving orchard. In 1910, the Sale couple had three children, later they had five more. Both Sale parents served on the local school board, setting a prece- dent for their descendants, many of whom have been school board members, school teachers, school administrators, city and county officials and very involved in almost every facet of community life. The ranch became a mecca for the younger set, and during the depression years of the 30s and early 40s, many college students earned their clothing and tuition money picking and packing peaches at the orchard. Richie Sale died in 1939 and Mary Sale lived in the grey Victorian until 1970. After years of volunteer effort, the house is now occupied by five residents and a house monitor. When donors for a fire alarm sys- tem are found, the large historical building will be able to house even more appreciative souls. House Director Pam Klein says that "though the house serves as a temporary place to stay for some- one without a place to go, it is not a hotel. It is not a free ride as the residents have to show a strong willingness and desire to make changes." They are assisted by house monitor Jodi Cordial, who says she is blessed to be a part of PATH, having been homeless and through a drug recovery program of her own. It is indeed gratifying and reassuring to know that kind-spirited and right-minded members of our community are taking personal responsibility to "get out of the problem and into the solution," as Klein and Cordial are known to say. Such per- son to person contact and hospitality is essential to mentor and instill hope for a better life in those that suffer from poverty, drug addiction, abuse, trauma and homeless- ness. For many the only alternative might be jail, prison or sleeping on the street — hardly locations con- ducive to improving one's lot and restoring faith and trust in human- ity. To those that garner opinions that this facility enables slackers to keep from taking responsibility for their lives or permits miscreants to avoid accountability for their actions, I say rubbish. The efforts of organizations like PATH are the means by which such behaviors are arrested so that socially respon- sible habits can take hold. Turning a blind- eye, or worse yet, con- demning and malign- ing people in their time of need, only demon- strates anti-social behavior that com- pounds the problem. It is the steadfast combi- nation of compassion and patience with guidance and exertion that produces the healthy outcomes we desire. I hope you will consider promoting this process by donat- ing your time, talents and treasure to this valuable enterprise that brings immeasurable benefits to its clients and society in general. If you have any questions, call Allene Dering at 529-5599. For more information on PATH and the Sale House visit http://www.redbluffpath.com. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired research engineer specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. He can be reached at living-green@att.net. Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point