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6A Daily News– Wednesday, October 3, 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 Nothing in Brown's threat guarantees taxes collected will actually go for schools, law enforcement, fire departments or any other agency that pro- tects us as Jerry Brown stated that funds will also go into the general fund. This will allow Brown to allocate where and how the funds will be spent. Fast rail train? Jerry Brown wants his Prop. 30 to pass stating the rich will have to pay the most. Do you realize that does not include him? He bases this on the income of people making over $200,000 a year for single and $250,000 for filing jointly. Here's the run down: California pays the highest salary in all categories across all 50 the states. Governor Brown makes $173,987. Lt. Governor Newsom Gov.'s threat Editor: work 140 to 145 days a year and make $116,208 plus per diem $141.86, $155,230. All of the above There is another 10 percent cut due on Dec. 3, 2012. Now, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo has filed a lawsuit for her and all colleagues stating these pay cuts implemented are unconstitutional and illegal and wants the 18 percent in cuts restored, retroactive and stop the additional 10 percent cut in December of this year. Jerry Brown is searching ifornia's Public Schools by sending $10 billion a year into a separate trust fund for educa- tion that can't be touched by the governor or the Legisla- ture." Jerry Brown and all the rest will be included in paying this tax. Please don't cower makes $130,490. Legislators (assemblymen) reflect reductions imposed since 2009 by the California Citizens Compensation Com- mittee, which was voted in by the voters to control the salaries and not be controlled by the legislatures themselves. salaries every avenue he can to get his funds, including forcing Ama- zon to start collecting sales tax as of Sept. 15 , a net to the state of another $200 million a year. The State Lottery commission will contribute $1.284 billion to education for its Fiscal year 2012-13 and is promising to increase lottery sales and effi- ciency so that they can gener- ate more money for the schools from future sales. Since the lottery began in 1985 they've contributed more then $24 bil- lion to education. Our schools receive more money than any other state as all salaries are higher in all categories espe- cially in administration. Three- fourths of all monies that go to schools goes to administration. That's were the schools need to consolidate not in the classi- fied or teaching departments. However, to be fair across the board, if you vote for high- er taxes please consider Molly's Munger's prop 38, "This measure will reboot Cal- down to Jerry Brown. Vote no on Prop. 30. Our kids are our future, we not only want them to have a great edu- cation but we also want them to be safe, that is our constitu- tional right and that's the job of our state government. Kathy Nelson Barking down In Saturday's paper, Nathan Esplanade suggested taxing dog owners one penny each time their dog barks and using the money gained to pay off the national debt within a year. I think Mr. Esplanade meant the suggestion ironically, but it put a picture in my mind of just how bad our national debt has become. the debt Editor: Here are the numbers: According to treasurydirect.gov, our current public debt is about $16 tril- lion, but if we exclude debts the federal government owes to Your Turn itself, the total drops to about $11.3 trillion dollars. The Humane Society estimates that there are 78.2 million owned dogs in the US. At a penny a bark, we'd need about 14.5 million barks from each dog to bark down the debt. That assumes there's no administrative over- head in administering the tax. Wikipedia cites a National Geographic article saying dogs average 10.1 hours of sleep per day, leaving each of the lazy pups only 13.9 barking hours in a day. To eliminate the debt in a year, the average dog would have to bark every 1.26 seconds every waking minute. In my neighborhood, I hear the barks of at least half a dozen dogs, including my own canine pal Remington who chimes in from time to time. Depending on doggy sleep schedules, that means I'd have to hear around 3 barks per sec- ond 24/7. Ouch. How constant is that? What if we skipped the barking and had the dog own- ers pay the equivalent tax? In order to pay down the debt in a year, every owner would have to pay $12,000 per dog per month. Even for the top 1% of all dogs, that much kibble is no joke. 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. Timing the American experience just right Commentary My parents' generation timed it just right. Born in the thick of the Great Depression, they were taught from an early age how to pinch a penny. My parents would have six children between 1957 and 1971. My father worked hard to generate income, as my mother worked harder at home to mini- mize the costs of running a large household. My father never expected to By the time my parents mar- ried in 1956, America was on its way. Like many couples of the Silent Generation, they were filled with confidence and opti- mism that the world was secure and the American economy would prosper. It prospered beyond anyone's wildest imagination for the next five decades. time, they experienced the sacri- fices of World War II. My father was drafted and served two years in the Army during the Korean War. Though they were little at the retirement income. He's 79 now, retired for near- ly 20 years, and he is saddened by the mess our country is in. America's massive debt, deficit and spending worry him. His generation could never borrow and spend so recklessly. How will younger genera- tions foot the bill? What will the country be like for his kids and grandkids long after he is gone? Will they ever get to enjoy the sort of retirement he's still enjoying? The answer is proba- bly "no" for most of us. It's simple demographics. My mother and father entered the world with little and acquired more in wealth and good fortune than they ever would have asked for. are two big reasons for our indebtedness. As baby boomers begin to retire, those entitlements' costs are growing by leaps and bounds. Consider: When the Social Security Act was passed in 1935, there were 16.5 people working for every per- son receiving benefits. The average lifespan was much shorter than it is today. Now, every person working young people, or tax revenue, to cover them. live a long life. His father died at 34. His mother died at 69. My father didn't expect to make 70. So when he had an opportuni- ty to retire at 60, after 37 years of 60-hour weeks, he took it. He was able to do so, in part, because his Social Security ben- efits would supplement his After World War II, as politi- cians established a number of entitlement programs, the costs were initially sustainable. The population was growing. The economy was growing. And so the politicians kept on promising and spending and, for the most part, all was well. Until the collapse of 2008. America is broke now. We are producing about $1 trillion less in government receipts than we are in government expenditures. We need massive growth to meet our obligations but our growth rate is anemic. Medicare and Social Security receiving benefits is supported by just 2.9 workers. The average recipient is getting thousands of dollars more than he or she ever paid in. Medicare spending is grow- ing massively every year. It cost nearly $600 billion in 2011 — accounting for about 60 percent of our current budget deficit — and will double over the next decade. The average Medicare recipi- ent's benefits are well in excess of $100,000 more than he or she paid in. It is the younger generations that are footing the bill for these costs. Anyone with basic math skills can see that these pro- grams' future is not looking so good. Their costs are soaring so rapidly that there are not enough Tom Purcell That certainly isn't my parents fault. They worked hard. They contributed well to their country and community. They produced six respon- sible children who are working hard — and generating far more tax revenue than my parents are receiving in Social Security benefits. (They have private insurance and do not use Medicare.) timed their American experi- ence just right. They had a fan- tastic run at a fantastic time in American history. And they worry that if Amer- ica doesn't get its affairs in order, their kids and grandkids may never enjoy the sort of golden years that they have been so blessed to enjoy. ——— Still, my parents Micah Stetson, Red Bluff 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.