Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 3, 2011

12

LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN

 Mountain Views News Saturday, September 3, 2011

HOWARD Hays As I See It

GREG Welborn


“If you think this job pays 
too much ... I’ll just tell you: 
this job don’t mean that much 
to me.”

 - Rep. Steve Southerland 
(R-FL), on his $174,000 
congressional salary during 
a town hall at a retirement 
home in Tallahassee

 

That remark from the 
class-of-2010 tea-bagger 
reminded me of the 1991 confirmation hearing 
of Justice Clarence Thomas, when he questioned 
whether a lifetime appointment to the nation’s 
highest court was worth having to endure a “high-
tech lynching”; i.e., having to answer allegations of 
sexual harassment. I remember almost shouting 
at the T.V., “If it doesn’t mean that much to you, 
then step aside for somebody else!” 

 Many would give anything for the privilege of 
serving their country in congress, even if it meant 
having to somehow scrape by on $174,000 a year. 
I think of retirees in Tallahassee who never saw a 
salary half that much in their lifetimes, let alone 
the pension and healthcare benefits.

Last Spring, the Polk County Republican Party 
tried to squelch video postings on freshman Rep. 
Sean Duffy (R-WI), who dutifully supported 
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s slashing salaries 
and benefits for those public employees not 
already fired. Responding to town hall questions 
about his own public salary, Rep. Duffy explained, 
“I still pay off my student loans. I still pay my 
mortgage. I drive a used minivan ... I struggle to 
meet my bills right now.” He couldn’t understand 
why anyone would begrudge him his $174,000 
plus benefits (more than three times the Polk 
County average).

Republicans faced embarrassing confrontations 
at previous town halls, but appear to have 
concluded the problem lies not in having to justify 
their salaries to those who pay it, but in town halls 
themselves.

About half of all members did away with town 
halls altogether. Among Republicans, many 
decided to limit attendance to those who’d pay 
for the privilege of being in the room with them. 
Price of admission varied; Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-
MN) - $10, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) - $15, Rep. Lou 
Barletta (R-PA) - $30 (protesters and reporters not 
admitted), Rep. Ben Quayle (R-AZ) - $35 (lunch 
included).

The Carver County, Minnesota, Republican 
Party abandoned all pretense and (briefly) posted 
an eBay-like site auctioning off opportunities to 
“get up close and personal” with lawmakers at a 
closed event (bidding starts at $250).

Blogger Jed Lewison at Daily Kos offered this 
rationale: “It’s hard to blame them. If you’d 
just spent the last seven months trying to end 
Medicare, causing the first debt downgrade in 
American history, and failing to pass a single 
piece of jobs legislation, would you want to face 
the public?”

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) had previously 
required town hall attendees to sign in and submit 
questions in writing, with staffers selecting the 
ones to be passed on to the congressman. He took 
it up a notch, though, when last week a staffer 
directed Cincinnati police to confiscate the cell 
phones and video cameras of attendees.

An Ohio Tea Party activist wrote, “ . . . at a 
public town hall event, in a public venue (high 
school gym), hosted by a public official and 
coordinated by public staffers, personal/private 
cameras and cell phones are now being forcefully 
removed to keep video footage from hitting 
YouTube.” (Video hit YouTube anyway.)

Some later relented and opened up their town 
halls. Tea-bagger Rep. Cravaack watched his 
audience cheer a recent college grad after she 
confronted him on his remark that a problem with 
Pell Grants is they raise tuition costs for “normal 
people”. Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) was slammed 
at a town hall in Millerton for having signed 
the no-tax pledge; “We are your constituents, 
not Grover Norquist!” Rep. Dan Lungren (R-
CA) threatened to walk out of a forum outside 
Sacramento when a woman raised the same issue, 
reminding him the only “pledge” he need make is 
to the Constitution, and a man complained, “You 
use the debt ceiling as blackmail!”

As a means of combating such embarrassments, 
freshmen Reps. Dan Webster (R-FL) and Tim 
Griffin (R-AR) have taken to investigating those 
who ask the “wrong” questions at town halls, 
grabbing photos and personal information off 
Facebook, then distributing ominous information 
sheets on the troublemakers to the media. One 
of those sheets suggested the media question the 
military service of a 66-year-old Vietnam vet, 
who later commented to the Orlando Sentinel, “I 
think it’s pretty weird. Someone asks a legitimate 
question, and all of a sudden somebody’s got a 
dossier on you.”

If there’s such disdain for those paying their 
$174,000 salaries, then who do freshmen tea-
baggers think they’re working for?

Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) took in $87,700 
from agribusiness over his first six months, 
then introduced legislation weakening oversight 
in rushing genetically-altered crops to market. 
The aforementioned Rep. Duffy raised 40% of 
his funds from insurance and financial services 
PACs, and is pushing to gut the new Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau. Rep. David 
McKinley (R-WV) got $176,000 from mining 
interests and is working to strip powers from the 
EPA, which earlier this year vetoed a mountaintop 
coal removal permit.

The FEC reports House freshmen received 
$37.2 million in campaign cash their first six 
months in office, a 34.3% jump over two years 
ago.

Having to represent the interests of constituents, 
rather than corporate benefactors, while getting 
by on $174,000 a year might be a job that “don’t 
mean that much” for some freshmen tea-baggers, 
but they’ll be relieved of the burden none too 
soon - about fourteen months from now.

It’s not really a town hall, but a couple ladies 
at the Monrovia Farmers’ Market told me of 
an upcoming gathering Saturday, September 
10 from 4-7 PM at the Montevista Unitarian 
Congregation in Montclair - where the subject 
will be universal healthcare, discussion featuring 
Dr. Bill Honigman and Dr. Jo Olson - specifically 
SB 810 - to bring single-payer healthcare to 
California. Call (626) 824-9055 for info.

 Also - check out sangabrielvalleyprogressives.
com.

Obama’s & Reagan’s

Transformative Visions


When he took office, it is reported that 
President Obama sought out a lengthy biography 
of Ronald Reagan. Obama saw in Reagan the 
same sort of transformative accomplishment that 
he hoped he would have during his term in office. 
Unfortunately, at the 3 year mark of his tenure, 
the comparison between these two presidents is 
not that flattering to President Obama. In fact, 
it may well prove to offer some insight into a 
resounding defeat next November.

Both new presidents came into office with 
a troubled, if not collapsing, economy. Both of 
them, in the same vein of aggressiveness and 
commitment to change what they inherited and 
what ailed the country pursued radical solutions. 
President Reagan passed the largest tax reduction 
in this country’s history, deregulated a host of 
industries and applied a firm-footed brake to 
the easy money policy of the day, which risked 
driving the economy further into recession. 
President Obama pushed forward with the 
largest spending increase in this country’s 
history, instructed his various department 
heads to increase the regulatory burden in their 
respective spheres and encouraged the Fed in its 
attempt to float us out of the recession on a sea of 
newly printed greenbacks.

It’s hard to argue that three years in office is 
not a sufficient waypoint at which to measure 
the progress and success of these diametrically 
opposed solutions. At Reagan’s third year, GDP 
growth had returned to a whopping 5% on its 
way upward (it finally peaked at about 7%). As 
we stand now at Obama’s third year, we have an 
anemic, if even measurable, 1% growth rate with 
some concerns that it could slip into negative 
numbers, signaling a double dip recession.

I bring this up not to argue that’s where 
we’re heading, but to make the secondary point 
about confidence. Every measure of American 
confidence was hitting high marks at the end of 
Reagan’s third year, while today every measure of 
American confidence in Obama, the economy, 
the country, fill in the blank, is dour and getting 
worse. With Reagan, America was back; with 
Obama, there is concern America may be 
slipping away.

An honest observer – liberal or conservative 
– has to admit that one radical program worked 
and the other has not. I’d go even further to say 
that Obama’s is hurting the economy, but we 
don’t have to agree on that point per se to at least 
acknowledge that Obama’s massive spending, 
regulatory meddling and monetary profligacy 
has failed to accomplish what he promised 
his program would and what clearly Reagan’s 
opposite program did accomplish.

The difference of course lies is in the difference 
between the basic philosophies which undergird 
both men’s programs. Obama clearly believes that 
the federal government is 
the solution. The larger 
the government as a share 
of the overall economy 
and the more regulations 
that are promulgated, the 
more control Washington 
exercises over the conduct 
of our lives and our 
economy. This isn’t an insult or an accusation. 
It is a truth born of both observation and the 
current President’s own words.

Reagan’s philosophy was rooted in his trust in 
both the goodness and the industriousness of the 
individual. Free up the individual to pursue his 
dream, to build the castles he saw in those visions, 
and, Reagan was confident, the rest of the country 
would bloom and prosper. Reagan unleashed 
a miracle of productivity and growth by giving 
back to the average American the economic 
incentives that would reward such effort. Reagan 
reduced marginal taxes to allow Americans to 
keep more of what they produced by the sweat 
of their brows. He removed the hurdles which 
prevented America’s great companies (large and 
small) from the innovative genius that seems to 
be in our DNA. He removed the destructive risk 
that inflation posed on anyone who wished to 
invest in the future. 

Interestingly enough, both presidents faced 
mountains of criticism and dire warnings that 
their policies were doomed to fail. These weren’t 
easy agendas to implement. The healthcare and 
budget battles of the current president are still 
fresh in our minds, but the opposition to Reagan 
may be a lost historical point. Today it seems so 
obvious what he did, but at the time economists 
staked their reputations on the “fact” that A) 
the economy could not grow without inflation 
increasing, and B) it would take almost a decade 
for the economy to recover. They were wrong. 
The dire predictions leveled against Obama’s 
program have sadly for our nation proved to be 
prophetically true. We are more in debt, less 
confident and more exposed to a coming tidal 
wave of inflation than we have ever been before. 

There is still hope. President Obama can 
become a transformative president in a way 
that will mark his spot in history with accolades 
rather than derision. To do so however, he may 
have to return to his readings of his first months 
in office. To emulate Reagan wouldn’t be a bad 
strategy right about now.

About the author: Gregory J. Welborn is a 
freelance writer and has spoken to several civic 
and religious organizations on cultural and moral 
issues. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his 
wife and 3 children and is active in the community. 
He can be reached at gregwelborn@earthlink.net.

BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques


PORTANTINO’S STUDENT FINANCIAL AID BILL HEADS 
TO GOVERNOR

PROMOTING ONLINE


Sacramento - Assemblymember 
Anthony Portantino’s (D- La Cañada 
Flintridge) legislation (AB 91) aimed 
at simplifying the financial aid process 
for California’s Community College 
students has been approved by the State 
Legislature and is now on its way to the 
Governor’s desk for signature.

 “I’ve been working on this bill 
for several years because I think it’s 
important to make these cumbersome 
processes simple so eligible students 
get all the financial help they can. Our 
children deserve the opportunity for a good 
education and our economy demands a well 
trained workforce,” explained Portantino.

 “The goal of this measure is to end a needlessly 
duplicative process and get more students to 
participate in state and federal aid programs. We 
are losing $500 million dollars in federal aid that 
will help students and our struggling economy.”

 AB 91 establishes a three-year pilot program at 
ten community college campuses where the Free 
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 
would be used as the primary application for 
financial aid. Community College students 
currently apply for either a BOG fee waiver or 
the FAFSA or both. When students 
don’t file the FAFSA form, they miss 
out on Pell Grants and other federal 
opportunities. Currently, only about 
a third of eligible students apply for 
federal aid.

 The bill was overwhelmingly 
approved in the state legislature 
last fall, but was vetoed by then 
Governor Schwarzenegger.

 The ten campuses in the pilot 
program will be selected by the 
Community College Chancellor’s 
office which will report the results at the end of 
the 3-year term and make recommendations for 
a statewide expansion of the program.

 Equipment is being mobilized this week for 
the upcoming foundation work on the I-210 
Bridge. As you can see from the images below, 
a large drill rig and crane have been trucked in 
and are being assembled on the south side of the 
eastbound I-210 Freeway. This is the location of 
the first of three 110 foot deep, 11 foot in diameter 
foundations to be drilled over the next four 
weeks. The other two are located in the center 
median of the freeway. 

by La Quetta M. Shamblee, M.B.A.

Businesses and self-employed individuals 
can use a variety of creative and low-cost 
methods to promote the goods and services 
they sell. The internet is driving an advertising 
evolution that has changed the landscape of 
traditional advertising right before our eyes. 
Major newspapers and “5th Avenue” advertising 
firms have been scrambling to find their new 
niches as many time-tested rules have become 
irrelevant. Huge advertising budgets are no 
longer a prerequisite for reaching customers. 
Some community media outlets, including 
newspapers, public access television and radio 
stations are generating broad exposure for local 
businesses as articles, interviews and videos go 
viral on the internet.

Many people refer to some of this activity as 
“free” advertising, but in reality it not actually 
free since there is always a dollar value for the time 
and other resources that have to be invested to 
create the free advertising. Websites, Facebook, 
Twitter and other digital tools have made 
promotional activities and campaigns easier 
than ever. Business Dictionary.com defines 
promotion as “Marketing: The advancement of a 
product, idea, or point of view through publicity 
and/or advertising.”

Although there are different definitions for 
marketing, advertising, promotion and publicity, 
the lines between them are sometimes blurred 
when taken online. E-blasts can be sent out to a 
list of thousands of contacts with one click, or at a 
time, or a more detailed and customized message 
can be transmitted to a more targeted list. It no 
longer takes a large department to implement a 
multi-faceted promotional campaign. Tools like 
Constant Contact provide numerous options for 
marketing and communicating with new and 
potential customers using templates that can be 
customized with logos and other unique features 
that make a business or service unique.

The price to put basic technology in place 
has fallen to a level that is within the grasp 
of virtually any entrepreneur. With the 
recommended basic platform of a website or 
blog, mobi technology like Smartphones and 
iPads® creates a virtual, portable business office. 
When it comes to marketing and promotional 
activities, having the ability to initiate and 
maintain communication with customers will 
have an impact on the bottom line.

 

CURBING BAD BEHAVIOR SAVE THE CHILDREN

Too many individuals 
who are affected by 
the Childhood Obesity 
epidemic are refusing 
to discuss it. Thus, the 
epidemic continues to 
growth at a feverish pace 
in American society. 
Over the past 30 years 
Childhood Obesity has 
more than tripled. The 
spread of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 
years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 
2008. In addition, adolescents aged 12 to 19 years 
increased from 5.0% to 18.1%. If this is not an 
alarm for a call to action, then I don’t know what 
else will galvanize us to act on safeguarding our 
children’s health.

Obesity is the result of caloric imbalance 
(too few calories expended for the amount of 
calories consumed) and is mediated by genetic, 
behavioral and environmental factors. The main 
factors being Genetics, Perinatal ( obese mothers 
giving birth, maternal smoking between 28-
32 weeks’ gestation), Early Life Factors ( infant 
birth weight, sleep duration), Diet and Physical 
Activity. Children stricken with the above factors 
are mostly likely to be obese. Obese youth are 
more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular 
disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood 
pressure.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 
study revealed that obese children with decreasing 
levels of self-esteem demonstrated significantly 
higher rates of sadness, loneliness, nervousness 
and are more likely to engage in high-risk 
behaviors such as smoking or consuming alcohol. 
As you can discerned, there is nothing but bad 
news associated with childhood obesity. We must 
save our children from this epidemic. Everyone 
can help by encouraging children to eat healthy, 
nutritious foods and avoid a sedentary lifestyle. 
Enlist them in sporting activities and monitor 
the time they sit at home computers or laptops.

The time has come for us to be honest and 
courageous by arresting the childhood obesity 
epidemic. Ignoring this mostly curable epidemic 
is killing our children and adding astronomical 
costs to families healthcare expenses. We must 
save our children from a life of lack of self-esteem 
– the potential result of childhood obesity.

Chat with Ron at: 

http://thecarteragency.com/blog/


If your business paid Federal Taxes last year, and you don’t have a Qualified Retirement 
Plan, you just gave money to Uncle Sam that you could have saved and invested for your 
retirement instead!
Whether your business is currently not taking advantage of one of the many Qualified 
Retirement Plans available today; OR: If you currently have a plan and would like a no-cost, 
unbiased review of your plan, I would be more than happy to review your situation and cater 
something to your specific situation.
Ron Carter

www.mtnviewsnews.com