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Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 111B i
COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE
On C
lifornia's d
bu
t probl
WHERE I STAND long-term budget problems--Mismanagement of Board, Department of Motor
that are piling billions of debt education funding. Vehicles and Employment
DAN LOGUE on our children and grand- --Pension-related liabili- Development Department.
ASSEMBLYMAN children, ties. Each bureaucracy is charged
Now thanks to research The quick takeaway from with collecting specific taxes,
Just as the sun rises and from California Common the report is that the state such as the DMV collecting
sets each day, California Sense, a nonpartisan organi- wastes billions of dollars the car tax. The current sys-
continues to spend more than zation created by Stanford each year on unnecessarytern is duplicative, inefficient
it takes in each year. It does University students and bureaucracy and mismanage- and confusing for everyone
not matter who the governor alumni to promote efficient ment. No surprise there, but involved. Why can't we con-
is, who controls the Legisla- governance, we have more what is different is that it solidate these bureaucracies
ture or how the economy is data that confirms the obvi- brings together serious is- into one? This move would
performing state govern- ous: California's overspend- sues that can be understood save taxpayers millions
ment cannot control its ing is systemic, not tempo- without a Ph.D. in econom- while improving customer
spending and is constantly rary. ics. For example, why does service.
asking citizens like you for The report, titled "The California spend so muchAnother avenue for reform
more money. Top Five Issues Driving more per prisoner than com- is pensions for public em-
Many Californians believe California's Overspending," parable states like Texas? ployees. We know the current
that if the economy just got succinctly states five major Why does California have 530 system is unsustainable for
better, Sacramento's budget reasons why our state strug- institutions in its executive taxpayers as they have to
problems would disappear, gles to balance its booksbranch while other states cover any shortfalls in in-
As I complete my third year each year: have significantly fewer? vestments made by the state's
in the state Assembly, I can --Institutional sprawl inTake tax collection for pension funds. With a short-
say with confidence that this the executive branch, example. California's system fall estimated as high as $500
will not be the case. An im- Lack of coordination in is divided between four bu- billion, we need to take a sec-
proved economy would Health and Human Services. reaucracies -- the Board of ond look at a system that is
only temporarily mask the Overspending on prisons. Equalization, Franchise Tax consuming more of the state
budget each year.
The Common Sense report
raises uncomfortable truths
for Sacramento. Unless Gov.
Brown and the Legislature
act boldly to address our
long-term budget problems,
they will only grow worse.
Unfortunately, the liberal
majority that controls our
state thinks that higher taxes
will solve our problems.
Even if they are able to get
their way, raising taxes will
not make government more
efficient. It will not give bu-
reaucrats any incentive to be
more efficient with the re-
sources they do have. They
will simply ask for even more
taxes when they run out of
money.
That is why I am working
on reform measures when
the Legislature reconvenes in
January that will address
some of the issues raised in
the report. What is lacking
most in Sacramento is not
money, but Willpower. While
Republicans and Democrats
can disagree about the level
of funding for specific pro-
grams, there should be no
disagreement about consoli-
dating redundant govern-
ment functions and reducing
the costs of providing ser-
vices.
Improving government
efficiency should not be
controversial or partisan.
We cannot continue to pre-
tend that the present system
is serving Californians well.
The sooner we realize that,
the better off we will be.
Assemblyman Dan Logue,
R-Lake Wildwood, serves as the
chief whip of the Republican
Caucus and represents the 3rd
Assembly District in the
California Legislature.
L E T T E R S T() T t-.t E E D I T O R
Guidelines for Letters
All letters must contain an ad-
dress and a phone number.
We publish only one letter per
week, per person and only
one letter per person, per
month regarding the same
subject. We do not publish
third-party, anonymous, or
open letters. Letters must be
limited to a maximum of 300
words. The editor will cut any
letter in excess of 300 words.
The deadline is Friday at 3
p.m. (Deadlines may change
due to holidays.) Letters may
be taken to any of Feather
Publishing's offices, sent via
fax to 283-3952, or e-mailed to
mail@plumasnews.com.
Excellent job
I'd like to congratulate Suzi
Brakken, director of the should havebeenlooked at as
Plumas:C Cot s Bu- de igrl pJ zls were
reau, for t~ceiient job she develope;d and: certainly be-
did providing The Sacramen- fore the project went out to
to Bee with pictures and in-
formation for the article in
Sunday's paper, Sept. 25, enti-
tled "The colors of Plumas
County."
Offering the public maps
and trail guides for days of
brilliant beauty can mean a
lot to bur economy. A day
trip, maybe a weekend away
from the daily routine in the
city could be just the adven-
ture a family needs. The arti-
cle provides numerous activi-
ties, advice and is well
mapped out.
The Board of Supervisors
needs to find a way to make
sure the visitors bureau stays
alive for the economic benefit
of all of Plumas County.
G. W. McDowell
Quincy
Respect locals
Thank you to the "normal"
bike riders in Quincy who
simply pass by you on the
bike trail. However, the" span-
dex-wearing bikers need to
learn respect and stop being
so selfish and egotistical.
When someone yells left or
right all it does is confuse me.
Also, some people are deaf,
yelling at them will do noth-
ing. I always stay to one sid
of the bike trail as do most
pedestrians, yet these people
think they own everything
and insist on yelling at us
even though we are to one
side of the trail.
Cut the attitude and respect
the locals!
Carrie Huntsman
Quincy
'Affordability'
A concern that should al-
ways be considered and ad-
dressed by our elected offi-
cials and their staff is one of
affordability to the rate pay-
ers of this community for
each of the utilities' enter-
prise funds.
When the water treatment
plant was first designed and
initial estimates of costs were
determined, it should have
been incumbent of someone
to ask, "How much is this go-
ing to cost in total and what
will it mean to the rate pay-
ers?"
Even when initial estimates
are obtained, someone should The City Council is now
be monitoring any changes asking the public to "lend a
and cost variations that may hand" to help those water
follow. Where did things go and sewer customers that
terribly wrong? It is probably may be shut off and left
a moot point, but that doesn't homeless to pay their bill for
mean that the city should be one month. Their Utility As-
doing everything in their sistance Program has just
power to soften or keep the over $21 in it. City residents
burden as low as possible to get a hand from county pro-
the rate payers, grams. With the continuation
At the April 16 public hear- of the royal treatment of city
ing of the City Council, I staff theyexpect theover-bur-
raised the question of afford- dened county staff of Plumas
ability. I followed that up Crisis Intervention and Re-
with a letter to the City Coun- source Center to administer
ell, also published in the Por- their program. It is time for
tolaReporter, after reviewing the public to demand a
the rate study the city had change in city policy.
prepared. Larry F. Douglas
For whatever reason, the Portola
affordability issue has never
been a consideration. It Service
The mail delivery from Su-
sanville to Chester is unreal!
I ordered something and it
took a week to get to me.
bid. Can't something be done
A majority of the City about it? The mail now goes
Council voted to increase the to Reno to Sacramento and
rates as indicated by the rate who knows where else before
study, with no compromise it finally gets to me. I'm sure
and with the assertion that others have this same service
there is no choice "otherwise problem.
the city would be bankrupted Della Bridges
in three to five years." Are Chester
we to conclude from the deci-
sion to save the city from
bankruptcy that it is better to Petition
sacrifice over half the popula- I received a call from our
tion of Portola and make the supervisor, Robert Meacher,
rates unaffordable to them? telling me that there is a peti-
EarlMorrison tion available to remove the
now unemployed. But it Entrenchedv. destitute
doesn't, though it has the Obama's intention to in-
money (today's large compa- crease taxes for the wealthy
nies are not hurting finan- is not "class warfare" as the
cially). Why? The individual GOP claims. It is simply ask-
employer feels no patriotism, ing the wealthy to sacrifice
and given no financial re- some of the wealth that they
ward (profit) why would he can easily spare in order to
do anything? Businesses are help the rest of the people
individual enterprises; they who are hardly making ends
do not often act collectively meet.
with the welfare of the nation Hoover's ordering the
in mind (World War lI, last army (MacArthur and Eisen-
time). One business organiza- hower as commanders) to de-
tion may hire a man just to stroy the camps of the
- help the economy, 99 do not, "Bonus Army" protestors of
and will not. 1932 was "class warfare." It
So where are we? With was an insensitive battle of
more than 14 million unem- the entrenched against the
ployed, who may stay unem- destitute.
ployed for a very long time. Roosevelt was able to
They are added to by new smooth the seams between
young people looking for the wealthy and the poor by
jobs; they are diminished by increasing the taxes of the
the creation of new business- rich who were stil] able.to al-
es. Maybe those two will can- ford their luxuries. Roo-~
cel each other out; we will sevelt's actions gave us a
see. huge, healthy, forward-look-
In the meantime, today's ing, confident middle class
horde of unemployed must be that lasted for many years af-
subsidized by the federal gov- ter he was gone.
ernment. We cannot have Reagan, with the help of
people starving to death in others like Ayn Rand who un-
this country, our far:right, abashedly extolled the
wealthy Republicans virtues of greed, changed all
notwithstanding. The sub- that. They created the mod-
sidy is and will be a burden to ern battle between the
the nation, but cannot be wealthy and the rest of the
helped, nation. Reagan declared that
Tony Van Hemert the conservatives should be
Quincy proud of him for his success-
ful revolution against the lib-
Portolastate as our watermaster. I Gradual elimination
was encouraged to hear him "Freedom is not a luxury
Lend a hand say that he is supporting the we can indulge in when at
This has been a difficult water rights owners who last we have security and
year for the Plumas County have suddenly received very prosperity and enlighten-
Board of Supervisors to adopt high water tax bills, ment; it is, rather, an-
a budget. It has been a quick Other than this call, I have tecedent to all of these, for
and easy one for Portola's heard nothing whatsoeverwithout it, we can have nei-
City Council. The county from anyone who has re- ther security, nor prosperi-
took months and the commit- ceived a high water bill. I at- ty, nor enlightenment."
ment from our dedicated pub- tended the meeting in Tay- --historian and author Hen-
lic officials to arrive at as lorsville Oct. 20. My water tax ry Steele Commager
close to a reasonable solution is very low compared to As we Americans have al-
in these extremely difficult everyone else. lowed the gradual (ahd now
economic times. I can't understand why the speedy) elimination of our
The BOS witnessed those big water users have notfreedom, as Congressman
who would cut their salaries started a movement to get us Tom McClintock has pointed
and make concessions to out of the state watermaster's out, we will feel the pain. I
keep their services running, hands. Time is wasting, an- believe that we are experi-
Others took on additional re- other tax bill is looming just encing the evidence of this
sponsibilities. They wit- over the horizon. We need to truth today. We are losing
nessed those who wanted the get something done now! our security, prosperity and
royal treatment which they Where is this petition? enlightenment because we
received in the good times. Why is it not circulating to have been steadily losing
We saw the county adminis- the water users? Let's find it our freedom. Freedom must
trative officer's realistic ap- and sign it!
proach to cutting the budget. Larry Marshbe restored first before we
On the county's east side Greenvillecan be healed. This truth is
with the usual direction of embodied in our Declaration
City Manager Murphy the Burden to the nation of Independence.
In my observation of the
council made the public car- I think I know the reason
ry the burden. They solved why the unemployment fig- long public service record of
their budget problems with a ure stays so high, and if I am Congressman Tom McClin-
water and sewer fee increase right this country is in for a tock in California, I can say
that would double in five bad future. It stays high.be- without hesitation that he
years. They maintained the cause those unemployed are has always stood by this
royal treatment for them- not needed: Business hasprinciple, that liberty is of
selves and their staff at the found that it can make as paramount importance. It is
expense of the community's much money, or more, with a the underlying foundation of
development. This move used smaller work force. Why our system of limited gov-
over $42,000 of discretionary would a business hire a per- ernment. McClintock has a
community development son who is not needed, Who, keen grasp of history, and is
funds for an outside contrac- in fact, will diminish the a statesman because he tells
tor. The work could have business profit bythe amount the truth. Ybu can count on
been done in house. Themay. of his salary? So, we have McClintock to honor his
or attempted to prevent the reached one goal of high tech- oath of office to uphold the
public from examining their nology: greater output with principles of self-govern-
management and operations less labor. It doesn't seem to ment as established in our
practices by disbanding the be working. Declaration of Independence
ad hoc committee. It has Business could, of course, and Constitution.
called attention to their con- end this recession in a mo- Barbara MacArthur
duct as public servants, ment, simply by hiring those Chester
eral agenda, which, of course,
meant against the welfare of
the wage earner, many of
whom inexplicably voted for"
him.
As a result, less than 1 per-
cent of the people have con-
trol of over 90 percent of the
nation's wealth and the mid-
dle class has all but disap-
peared.
Salvatore Catalano
Taylorsville
breed with no voice to stop
the liberals at the state or the
federal level; it will be "Pelosi
Galore."
This bipartisan state will
become a "de facto single-par-
ty" state: The People's Repub-
lic of California.
The voting trend will not
be reversed in California, l e-
cause the majority that put
Democrats in office (state
workers, teachers and other
union members of all trades)'
is on the receiving side of fat
union contracts. Why would
union members want to vote
out the "Socialist Democratic
Party" that fills their pock-
ets? Democrats will always
own this state until they run
out of non-union, taxpayer
money.
Fortunately, businesses
and corporations are leaving
the state in droves; there will
be fewer jobs and sales tax
dollars to support union con-
tracts.
I hope someday to watch
hundreds of union members
fight each other over what's
left of their "entitlement" re-
tirement checks from the
state they destroyed.
Dr. Trent Saxton
Lake Davis
'Uncertainty
, ndy Johnston is correct
that economists are divided
concerning the success of
supply-side economics. Econ-
omists of the left favor Keyne-
sian government spending
and higher taxes, which my
research shows has bad re-
Sults (look at the crippled
Obama economy). Econo-
mists of the right favor small-
er government, more free-
dom, lower taxes and less
government. I gave specific
examples of each approach
over the past 90 years that are
verifiable. From those two
Epitaph options, voters must choose.
"Comrade" President Oba- I do not favor a tax cut now.
ma said recently, "That,s • The "Bush tax cuts" reduced
what unions are all about ... all tax rates about 10 percent,
shared prosperity." and now rates are low
Shared prosPerity? enough. Cutting already low
So, will union members tax rates has less stimulative
take a cut in their retirement effect. What is needed now is
benefits or current wages to stability and predictability.
save the state of California? Businesses are hesitant to
It's not the private sector's hire and grow primarily due
fault for breaking this state, to the aggressive anti-busi-
Sadly, the taxpayer pays the ness agenda of the Obama ad-
union members their higher ministration, which has cre-
wages, while greedy politi- ated extraordinary risk and
clans negotiate backroom uncertainty. Obamacare,
union contracts to get re- shutting down energy pro-
elected, duction in the Gulf of Mexico
Unions have always put en- and the West, closing coal
titlements ahead of accom mines, shuttering a huge Boe-
plishment; it seems that will ing plant in South Carolina
be the epitaph for California. after $2 billion had been
The days of growth and op- spent, the GM and Chrysler
portunity for the middle class bankruptcies, are only a few
in California have disap- ways the administration has
peared under higher taxes, misused federal powers. It is
environmental laws and reg- pushing banks closer to insol-
ulations placed on business- vency, imposing onerous
es, agriculture and entrepre- mandates on the insurance
neurs.
Let's face it, liberal Democ. companies and threatening to
rats run this "entitlement impose massive increases ili !
costs for energy, labor and
state and any opposition" regulatory compliance. ' '
from Republicans currently
in office is crushed by the Chanting "tax the rich" cre-
unions. Unions purchased ates more uncertainty, and
there are hundreds of new
the socialist Democrats years
ago. regulations coming out of the
California Republicans and
Independents are a dying See Letters. page 12B
¢