Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 2-28-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, February 28, 2019 Editorial & Opinions
Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION
Have you ever thought about what would happen if you went to the bank for money to build a new home, and about halfway through decided you weren’t going to be able to finish the job? Do you suppose the money provider would simply offer absolution — forgive the money you’ve already spent — and allow you to keep the unused money without having to pay it back?
Jon Earnest — Editor / Sports Juanita Adame — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying.”
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
That’s pretty much the position that has
been taken by Gavin Newsom with our al-
ways controversial High Speed Rail project.
Now, the governor says that the government requesting the return of taxpayer money is all about politics. Duh! Isn’t everything that California and its attorney general, Xavier Becerra, have done over the past two years about resisting anything the president wants to do to make America great again also about politics?
Finishing the High Speed Rail? There is no plan beyond com- pleting the line from Merced to Bakersfield, which is so dumb as to make one’s head hurt. It’s moments like this that make us real- ize that politicians absolutely think we are so stupid as to believe anything. That’s the problem in any political constituency that has become so one-sided as to be unilateral in their beliefs. Yes, there are a few Republicans left in California, but so few that we do not fill a single seat beyond the handful in the Assembly and Senate. Democrats have what is called a “super majority” and need not even consider any Republican objections to the stupid adventures of state government.
During the first two years of the Trump administration, Becerra — the chief law enforcement officer in the state — sued the United States a total of 38 times, according to The Los Angeles Times. If you have the time, it would be a pretty good idea to read through the lawsuit list and examine the levity of the issues about which suits are being brought.
Space here does not permit us to provide a comprehensive list of items over that our political powers feel so strongly about to go to court and spend our money. We strongly believe that once you’ve examined the list, you’ll find yourself opposing the politicians or even believing their cause is frivolous. It’s absolutely political, and more about “resistance” than the common good!
It just seems to me that the time has come for our politicians stop acting like petulant children and do the bidding of the people who elected them. I would emphatically point out that I am not only talking about Democrats but Republicans as well. It seems that the media continues to mislead the American public with the full com- plicity of most Democrats but some Republicans have joined them.
Let’s set aside the malfeasance of California’s attorney general for a moment and take a look at both the Senate and the House of Representatives; the United States Congress. Republicans should have done the border wall while they were in leadership of both houses. Donald Trump had been president long enough for the GOP to have passed much more of the agenda upon which the American people elected him. The man had members of his own party in “re- sistance” because they felt — or maybe it was just hope — that Bob Mueller, the FBI and the Justice Department (along with National Security operatives) would succeed in removing the president from office.
Overturning the results of an election by an unelected bureau- cracy is about as ugly as its gets. Newly-released information indi- cates there were internal discussions involving the aforementioned agencies of attempting the invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the President. That’s not in their purview, and such discussions alone are enough to warrant jail time.
Now, with Democrats the majority in the House and Mitch Mc- Connell as Senate leader, there can be little doubt that there will not be much accomplished. Nancy Pelosi completely ignored Trump’s attempts to strike a deal — which would involve relief for “the Dreamers” — and stubbornly stuck by her position of no money for the wall. One has to be politically blind to ignore the fact that there is, indeed, a crisis on our Southern border involving drugs and human trafficking. The president went to the only other option avail- able and that was to declare a national emergency and take money which was available for parallel needs and protect our security.
Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Maxine Waters are among the radical instigators for continued investigations to follow the conclu- sion of the Mueller probe. Ironically, all three are from the very same California which continues to file lawsuit after lawsuit in an attempt to thwart the actions of a duly-elected president.
As sad as it is, that’s the current political climate in the United State — but it’s no excuse for what’s happening right here in Cali- fornia. The High Speed Rail is perhaps one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the California voter. From day one, the entire project made no sense either in terms of need or viability. Now that it has been truncated to a span between Bakersfield and Merced we are told that it represents an economic boon to the great Central Val- ley. That’s a story that is palpably incorrect, and yet our politicians think we are stupid enough to buy it.
Taxpayer money has been taken from everywhere to fund this project which is over budget and far behind schedule. Money was even taken with the false narrative of it helping clean our air! That was based on Californians giving up their automobiles and riding the train. There has been a long-standing love affair between Golden State residents and their cars. We once had the finest road system that was the envy of everyone. We now rank near the bottom in the maintenance of that system. Fix our roads and scrap the train.
I know that common sense is foreign to most of the people we elect, but we suggest they act like adults and move toward a solution that benefits people and not their re-election!
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
It didn’t quite have the lure of dealing with Reedley’s homeless situ- ation, but economic development still drew interest from a number of com- munity members earlier this week.
About 50 people turned out on Feb. 25 for the second of six Town Hall meetings scheduled for the first half of 2019 in the Senior Room at the Reedley Community Center. Those who attended were able to learn of how the city tries to attract develop- ment, some of the hurdles they face, and some of the accomplishments.
Anyone driving around the area of Buttonwillow and Manning avenues the morning of Feb. 20 saw some of the future development in the works in Reedley. At the northeast corner, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for a new 20,000-square-foot health facility operated by United Health Center. Plans include additional den- tal stations, exam rooms for medical services, optometry exam rooms and services for chiropractic and behav- ioral health needs. The health center will be the centerpiece of a 16-acre development, and is expected to be completed by January 2020.
While there’s unlikely to be a store the magnitude of a Target anytime soon, city development leaders are continuing to court businesses to set up shop in Reedley. Recently, the city finalized a deal to bring TurboSpas to town, relocating their corporate head- quarters from the Southern California
city of Adelanto. The publicity the city gained from this — in particular, a profile in the Central Valley-based Business Journal — drew a round of applause from attendees.
Expect to see more economic de- velopment plans come to light in the
coming months.
•••
On Feb. 19, Reedley motorists in the southeast portion of the city began their detours around the road recon- struction on Dinuba Avenue — from the Southern Pacific railroad to East Avenue — and East Avenue from Di- nuba to Lincoln Avenue. It’s a major project that will cause detours and disruptions on a regular basis through May 2. The city reminds residents that no parking is allowed in the area of construction between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. People living and working in the construction area like- ly will be affected by the construction.
Residents are advised that safety should be the number one priority around the construction work. People are asked to keep children away from the work areas and equipment in addi- tion to signs and notices.
Any residents in the area with questions can contact Dan Sampson with AJ Excavation, Inc. at (559) 930- 2048.
•••
Renee Craig-Marius, the vice pres-
ident of student services at Reedley College, is one of three inductees for
2019 to the State
Center Community
College District’s
Wall of Honor. She
and two others will
be honored during
a special ceremony
from 5:30 to 7:30
p.m. Thursday,
Feb. 28, at Fresno
City College in the
old administration building, Room 251. Joining Craig-Marius is Paul Binion, pastor at Westside Church of God in West Fresno and founder/chairman of the Southwest Fresno Development Corporation; and the late Sam U. Lane Jr., pioneer of the Black Studies pro- gram at Fresno City College.
A brief biography on Craig-Mari- us says she has contributed countless hours to improving the lives of stu- dents while providing support to fac- ulty and staff. She is one of the found- ers of the Black Faculty & Staff As- sociation at Reedley College, and has supported efforts to decrease equity gaps among Black and Latinx popula- tions. Her past positions include dean of instruction at FCC and dean of stu- dents at Clovis Community College.
This is the 22nd induction cer- emony for the SCCCD-sponsored Wall of Honor, which recognizes the contributions of outstanding African American. Congratulations to Renee!
Fred Hall
New United Health Center is just one potential coming sign of growth
Jon Earnest
Your bill on national debt is $179,908 — due immediately
By Harold Pease
Guest columnist
Our national debt just exceeded 22 trillion dol- lars. To pay this debt today each citizen owes $67,033. Since children pay no taxes, nor do about 45 percent of our adult population, each taxpayer actually owes $179,908. Our largest credi- tors in order are: Medicare/ Medicaid $1,091,280,000,000, Social Security $1,005,651,000,000, De- fense/War 676,814,000,000, Income Security (wel- fare) $293,531,000,000, Net Interest on Debt $350,206,000,000, and Feder- al Pensions $272,980,000,000 (USDebtClock.org).
Even with the present robust Trump economy (the best in several decades) this cannot continue to escalate. We are on a collision course with Armageddon which, at this late date, may not be avoidable. Any hope de- pends on three things (1) our ability to make signifi- cant cuts in the top six ex- penditures noted above, (2) our not electing a big spend- ing congress or president in the next decade, (3) our not entering into any new big funding events such as war, infrastructure overhaul, or open borders allowing new groups to “eat out our sub- stance” without having al- ready paid their way.
Of this enslaving debt, $4 trillion came from eight years of George W. Bush and $10 trillion from eight years of Barack Obama — the two biggest spending presidents in U.S. history. Obama alone accumulated more debt than all previ- ous presidents put together.
Donald Trump is responsi- ble for more than $2 trillion in two years.
So what is a trillion dol- lars? To begin with a trillion is the number one followed by twelve zeros. A trillion dollars is a thousand billion and a billion is a thousand million. This still means very little to students who count their money in fives, tens and twenties.
One mathematician gave us a more practical way to evaluate our out- standing debt. One trillion, one-dollar bills stacked atop each other (not end to end but flat) would reach nearly 68,000 miles into space— a third of the way to the moon (See CNN News Cast, Feb. 4, 2009). If so, the debt incurred under President Obama alone, $10 trillion, would have reached the moon and back and to the moon again. Moreover, if you like traveling atop this stack of ones, our total $22 trillion in debt would take you to the moon and back three times and to the moon a fourth time and a third of the way home again.
I ask students, “Who gets to go without so that this debt can be paid?” “Go without!!!?” That is a con- cept foreign to this genera- tion! They do not know, and neither do their parents and grandparents who laid it on their backs. When they are told that their share of the debt is $67,034 and up to $179,908, depending on how many of their fellow non taxpayers they can get to pay their fair share (see USDebtClock.org), due immediately, they are an- gry. Someone should have told them that government
Other Opinions
handouts are not free.
The 13th Amendment ending slavery has been rescinded, they are Amer- ica’s new slaves. Bondage was given them before their birth, or while still in the womb, or before they were old enough to know what it meant to be sold into slavery. The past gen- eration wanted nice costly programs for free and were willing to sell their children
in order to have them.
The latest new theory to avoid fiscal responsibil- ity and continue unlimited spending, used by Bush in late 2009 and Obama there- after, is referred to as Quan- titative Easing. Crudely it means printing more money out of thin air to cover our debt, but it is far more so- phisticated than that. For Bush the money supply was greatly expanded by having the Federal Reserve purchase $600 billion in mortgage-backed securi- ties (Harding, Robin, Nov. 3, 2010, Quantitative Eas- ing Explained. Financial Times). Obama purchased $600 billion of Treasury se- curities over a six month period of time beginning in November 2010 in what has been called Quantitative Easing or QE2 to distinguish it from QE1, the Bush ex- pansion of the money sup- ply (Cesky, Annalyn, Nov 3, .2010, “QE2: Fed Pulls the Trigger” CNNmoney.com.
Retrieved Aug. 10, 2011). The biggest problem with expanding the money supply is that it reduces the value of the money that you have in your pocket. Prices go up. My Camaro, pur-
chased in 1968, cost $2,700, purchased today at least ten times as much. In this instance, money has lost 90 percent of its value since 1968. Those on fixed in- comes are robbed as surely as if a thief had lifted their wallet or purse. They can- not return to their employer for a raise to compensate for the loss caused by their own government.
Still, with all the sophis- ticated “doublespeak,” as for example quantitative easement, it means that we will print whatever money we need to purchase what- ever we wish. Neither par- ty is serious about stopping the debt and removing the bondage that we are impos- ing upon our children and grandchildren.
Democrats propose “free” college and a salary for everyone, whether they work or not, under their proposed Green New Deal. Donald Trump’s proposed trillion-dollar infrastruc- ture program, also does not suggest a change. Who cares if our debt of dollar bills stacked upon one an- other can go to the moon and back almost four times so long as the government fills our stomachs and, in the case of Obama, pur- chases our cell phones?
Harold Pease is a syn- dicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedi- cated his career to studying the writings of the Found- ing Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College in Kern County.