Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/86421
6A Daily News – Saturday, October 6, 2012 Opinion 1st district 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. 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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 La Malfa. It's my belief that you are on a job interview I need infor- mation in order to decide if I want to hire you or not. election Editor: I take voting very seriously Mr. I visited your website in search of information, unfortunately I did not see any position on issues that are important to me. The only issue listed is Obamacare, howev- er the position is old since it's from before the Supreme Court deci- sion. And frankly some of the numbered rationale are wrong, number 7 for instance is wrong since the text of the law says Unauthorized aliens are not eligi- ble for the federal premium credits or cost-sharing subsidies. Unau- thorized aliens are also barred from participating in the tempo- rary high-risk pools. Would you have supported equal pay for women? Your ante- cessor and supporter voted against the equal pay for women law Lilly Ledbetter three times. You pledge to repeal Oba- macare — how will children with pre-existing conditions have access to healthcare? How about adults with pre-existing condi- tions? Will mammograms and other preventive medicine, now covered, cease to be so. Will I be able to keep my son on my health plan until the age of 26 or do you propose that will be repealed to? Do you support the plan that would give me a voucher for Medicare? As a small business owner, are you going to take away my taxes credits that make it easi- er for me to provide health insur- ance to my employees? On female health. I know you are pro-life, however I would like to know what is your position on abortion rights for rape victims? Do you support exceptions for the health of the mother? Can a preg- nancy be terminated because of fetal complications or in cases of a non-viable fetus? live in Tehama County and have many friends and family who are farmers. Interestingly I don't see those small, family farmers receiving subsidies. I'm not say- ing I am against farm subsidies, I only would like to know if you think that the small family farm that grows fruits and vegetables and benefits our local economy since their profits stay local should not be prioritized over big On the subject of subsidizing. I agribusiness. What about your position on oil? Should we be subsidizing businesses that already have record profits every quarter? There is only so much to cut. I believe every parent agrees we have reached that bottom long ago. On taxes. My hus- band and I have good jobs, still together we are so far from a $1 million a year, well, we are far from a quarter of that. Still we pay a rate of taxes far superior to that of your candidate for president. If cutting taxes for those people would allow them to invest here, therefor creating American jobs, we would be swimming in jobs right now. The reality is that although many have benefited from substantial tax cuts the only place they have invested that money is Switzer- land and the Cayman Islands. Do you believe in trickle down econ- omy or building the economy from bottom up? On the war. Don't you think we should be a little more judi- cious when it comes to your blood and treasure? Beyond the inde- scribable loss of your exceptional young men and women, isn't the fiscal cost of war to be measured? My children go to schools that have trailers for classrooms and cuts for education are the norm. Your Turn rienced loss as a result. Shouldn't the nation we need to build be this one? Shouldn't we invest in our infrastructure? traveled on 99, words cannot describe how awful that road is. I know of so many friends that have expe- I know you have What is your position on the Dream Act? Should we deport children that grew up as our neighbors and that we already went to the trouble and expense of educating or should we reap our efforts and turn those into taxpay- ing adults? I look forward to having your positions listed on your website. There will be people who agree with you as well as people who disagree with you but we need to be able to make an informed choice. And while you are updat- ing your website can you please correct the false statements. Since the page is so old, the Supreme Court decision was in June, I hope the errors are an oversight and not intend to mislead voters. Daniela Sartori, Red Bluff 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. Fall follies and a simple suggestion Commentary We drove today from the sub- urbs of Milwaukie, WI to Min- neapolis. It was very evident that Mother Nature had taken her autumnal palate out of storage and used every fall shade possible to decorate the trees along our way. There were signs advertizing pumpkin patch rides, apples, gourds, Indian corn, and cranber- ries. Although there were year round and frequent signs for the various Ho Chunk casinos along the way, the other frequent season- al sign for this part of our country was "road work ahead"; of course there were also the even year fall signs for political candidates/issues. It is the political season. I was surprised by some of the responses to my column last week- end. We were visiting our grand- children in the Wisconsin, when I received several emails from peo- ple who are seriously concerned about the ethical behavior of both Jim Nielsen and Doug LaMalfa. These people all appear to be Republicans; some accuse LaMal- fa of being too liberal, all seem to believe that Nielsen is corrupt. Their "evidence" goes all the way back to the accusations of conflicts of interest made in the Chico Enterprise Record during the 1990 election campaign in which Nielsen lost to newcomer Mike Thompson, now a Congressman. Their concerns go far beyond Nielsen's alleged residency issue. I am not an investigative reporter; I merely comment on current events and life in general. Nevertheless, there seems to me to be a cabal of anti-Nielsen and anti-LaMalfa activists within the Republican Party. One even said he was so upset with LaMalfa that he might vote for his Democratic opponent! Two state propositions (30 and 38) have taken much prominence in the media lately and are up in the air according to the polls; these two would allow us voters to increase taxes on ourselves, particularly the wealthier among us on a temporary basis. One would implement a temporary increase in the sales tax as well (prop. 30). Proposition 38 is more focused on education and Proposition 30 contains a variety of issues including education. It is debatable whether setting budget priorities at the ballot box is wise. Some see Prop. 30 as just another excuse for our state leaders to avoid any blame for the long term structural problems with the state budget and actually face up to their inability to take any responsibility for our situation. major fiscal problems whether or not either Proposition 30 or 38 pass. If both pass there will be legal complications, and each is more complex than its title might imply. According to California statues It is clear the state will face and in keeping with the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) theory, each initiative must address only one subject; it is really a stretch to think of how most of the proposi- tions on our ballot meet that crite- ria. Given that at least the male half of the electorate is not very good a multitasking, this is a problem. My father always said if he couldn't understand a proposition on first reading he would vote no. I have a very simple idea for a one subject initiative; it would solve the LaMalfa/Nielsen prob- lem I wrote about last week, and it would save us the taxpayers some money, at least $100 million per year: Abolish the State Senate. state legislature, the Assembly and the Senate. The State Constitution kind of used the Federal Constitu- tion as a model; I say kind of, because our State Constitution creat- ed a large number of statewide elected posi- tions that are cabinet positions in the federal government; allegedly this is to promote democ- racy, and not to create a career path for profes- sional politicians. (Think of all the statewide offices that the current Governor has held.) As you may recall, prior to 1968, each coun- ty had a state senator, no matter the size of the county. That provision of the State Constitution was found "unconstitutional" because it "led to the situation of Los Angeles County, with 6 mil- lion residents as of 1968, receiving 600 times less representation than residents of Alpine County and Calaveras County [in the state sen- ate]….The Reynolds v. Sims deci- sion by the United States Supreme Court compelled all states to draw up districts with equal populations. As such, boundaries were changed to provide more equitable repre- sentation." The result is that we now have forty senators represent- ing the 32 plus million of us; this is proportional representation, with one state senator per approximate- ly 931,000 of us. We have two branches of the poses there are 53 state Congres- sional districts; each representative for approximately 1.5 times as many people.) Joe Harrop state those reasons are not constitu- tional now. have two houses of the state legislature that proportionately repre- sent us. There may have been good excuses, or reasons, to make the US Senate different from the House of Represen- tatives; slavery was one of them at the time; con- cern about small states versus large states was also a concern. Similar reasons may have entered the minds of our state framing persons. Nevertheless, for our In other words, we If both houses of our legislature are based on proportional represen- tation, we can logically eliminate the Senate, have a unicameral leg- islature, still have proportional rep- resentation; we can save at least $100 million per year, eliminate the inane slogans like "He's one of us", save the parties lots of election expense, decrease the visual pollu- tion of political sings, reduce the efforts for fund raising, and remove one of the paths available for those professional politicians, that want to be again senator Nielsen rales so adamantly against. The state Assembly is also cre- ated by proportional representa- tion. In this case there are 80 equal and variously gerrymandered dis- tricts of approximately 420,000 in population. (For comparison pur- Stay tuned for more on the State Senate and the long list of statewide offices next week. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.