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6A Daily News – Thursday, August 16, 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 Romney's Ryan reset: For victory or defeat? It seems symbolic that Wiscon- sin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan drove the famous Oscar Meyer Weinermobile when he was a teen. Unlike people who gleefully show their buns on San Diego's Mission Beach, the Weinermobile was cre- ated by Oscar Meyer's nephew, Carl G. Mayer, in 1936, to be a visually stunning and unique vehi- cle with a car-sized bun holding a car-sized Oscar Meyer weiner on top. conviction-politician Ryan from the Tea Party ranks to anoint him as his running mate, Romney's message was that he was one with his party's base and wanted Ryan to join him on a campaign that he described as a kind of Truthmo- bile. This was timely, since before Romney's announcement many in both parties concluded that Rom- ney's sagging campaign had become a kind of Baloneymobile. The bottom line: Romney's pick successfully hit the "reset but- ton." When Mitt Romney plucked way and deflected (for now) ques- tions about his tax returns. He drove the remaining nail in the coffin of the moderate Republi- canism his father embraced and the compassionate conservatism the Bush family espouses. He also veered the campaign from being about Barack Obama and his record to the bigger – and riskier - Ryan reset his campaign in a - issues of entitlements, whether it's time to scuttle assumptions about government's role, and whether trickle-down economics should trump costly government safety nets. Romney is in command, but Ryan is in the driver's seat in excit- ing the Republican Party's Tea Partiers, talk show hosts, and the conservative news media. Rupert Murdoch is reportedly delighted. Indeed, Fox News now resem- bles a 24/7 festival of Ryan envy. Themes: Romney's decision to pick Ryan may have been "bold," but Ryan's positions on budget cuts and Medicare are bolder….Ryan has cute kids…Ryan is "a rock star".. Ryan does the P90X workout and has little fat (in his body, that is)...Ryan has great hair (take that, Donald Trump)…Ryan showed he could take on Barack Obama. Fox News' we're-stunned-by- acutely unpopular, no-compro- mise Congressional Republicans. He has rebranded the party with its most high profile Tea Party idol. And The Politico says GOP pros are privately worried. "Away from the cameras, and with all the usual assurances that people aren't being quoted by name, there is an unmistakable con- sensus among Republi- can operatives in Wash- ington: Romney has taken a risk with Ryan that has only a modest chance of going right — and a huge chance of going horribly wrong," The Politico reports. time dominant wing to 21st centu- ry hard-right conservatives. Democrats are now salivating, but losing this election would mean the obliteration of much of what they put in place since the 1940s. If Romney-Ryan goes down to defeat, 2016 will likely belong to Ryan, facing off against a politically diminished Palin, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. Joe Gandleman his-awesomeness descriptions almost matched liberals' 2008 Democratic Barack Obama wor- ship that sparked conservative jokes about Obama trying to walk on water. "[The] most common reactions to Ryan ranged from gnawing appre- hension to hair-on-fire anger that Romney has practically ceded the election." But make no mistake, this is serious stuff. Americans now face the most starkly defined choice since the 1964 LBJ-Goldwater race. controversial budget, his stands on women's issues and is welded to Romney now owns Ryan's Arizona Sen. John McCain played to the base by selecting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who mobilized the party's right and helped win later Tea Party victo- ries. Now Romney picks Ryan. We're watching the virtual surren- der of the party by the GOP's one- If Romney-Ryan wins, it'll mean a political sea change in pol- icy. But already there has been a sea change in the Republican Party. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson – and even Republican Theodore Roosevelt? As Democrats now face an election threatening the survival of their assumptions about what gov- ernment will do and should do, the question becomes: do Democ- rats have what it takes to drive the Gutsmobile? Is Ryan and his vision for America the wave of the future? Or do Democrats have what it takes to beat back this serious challenge to the legacies of Democratic Presidents Franklin Joe Gandelman is a veteran journalist who wrote for newspapers overseas and in the United States. He can be reached at jgandelman@themoderatevoi ce. 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. Taking a load off this summer Commentary I was dreading staring down to see the number — to find out the result of what the past few years of not caring about my own well-being had done to my health. tistics, where I wanted to be and it came out with a calorie goal to meet every day. If I worked out, I got more calories to eat. The past few years? Who am I kidding, try the last decade. Anyway, there I was in mid- May standing on the scale wait- ing to see if it was finally time to take up my 2009 New Year's Resolution. 203. Ouch. Well I had done it. I cracked the 200-pound mark, which for a 5-foot, 8-inch frame isn't the type of mark you should typical- ly be cracking. The worst part was that it I could eat what I wanted, but it meant tightening down my calories on my other meals. I could even scan bar codes of what I was eating with the scan- ner and it loaded up all the nec- essary information. Who knew losing weight wasn't until I saw that "2" lead- ing the number train that I was motivated enough to do some- thing about it. I felt awful half the time, I could feel my gut shifting under my shirt when I reached for the remote control on the couch, but none of that had gotten through to my brain. It was time. Hey, if Charles Barkley could do it why couldn't I? Of course I didn't have the money to join Weight Watchers, but with a little research I found a free alternative in the form of an smart phone application called MyFitnessPal. It worked in much the same fashion. I put in my current sta- could work like a video game? Well, did the program work? I would say yes and no. The program pushed me in the right direction, but in the end it was my own determination. For the first few weeks I entered everything into the application that went into my body. as I want and I don't add one calorie?," I asked. Slowly, I tried other diet pops. Some I've hated. just as I thought. and others weren't half as bad as I feared. Five months later, I'm a converted diet soda drinker. I know it's still not the best thing to be drinking, but it's a nice transitional step. kept it relatively sim- ple with the newly acquired information I learned and the motivation to trim up. As for the food, I During that time I learned a lot more than I ever knew about calorie counts and different vit- amin intakes. of different foods are bad. As a heavy soda drinker I I learned what and how much was surprised to learn how many calories I was consuming a day in those beverages alone. This was probably the tough- est part for me, as I hated diet soda and I couldn't get by with just water alone. That's when my wife intro- duced me to diet root beer, which for having zero calories actually satisfied my cravings. "I can drink as much of this Every week I wrote my Fri- day weight down on the fridge to remind myself to keep going. A tip for the women, next to my weight chart my wife hangs an old high school picture for her motiva- tion. Well I'm proud to Rich Greene I replaced a few meals a week with salads and kept a positive attitude. I can question whether I real- ly need a second-helping and stop keeping junk food in the house. extent on weekends. After all, everyone needs a bit of a reward. the work week leading up to my weekly Friday weigh-in. When you're trying to lose weight, a pound or two a week is considered positive improve- ment. Then I eat healthily through two weeks ago my weight con- stantly went down. I allow myself to cheat to an say two weeks ago I weighed in at 178 pounds and I've been right around that mark ever since. proud to have dropped 20 pounds this summer. Mathematically, I dropped 10 percent of me. It really clicked the other day when I had to weigh a package to mail it. It weighed 20 pounds. It felt heavy and all I could think to myself was "I lost this off my body." If you're still putting off your New Year's Resolution, find something around your house that weighs 20 pounds and pick it up. Then ask yourself if you want that weight off your back. I can say from mid-May to Daily News reporter Rich Greene can be reached at 527- 2151, Ext. 109 or by email at rgreeene@redbluffdailynews.co m. While my goal was 170 pounds by Labor Day, I'm already