Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 12-20-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, December 20, 2018 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
Christmas is just days away, having slipped up on many of us as it always seems to do, and the new year is right around the corner. Perhaps this is the ideal time to wax philosophical about what it all means — es- pecially since all of those with both political parties appear to have done everything within their power to divide our country along the lines of the party line voter constituency.
Great cause, but veterans groups face challenges in Armory sale
Jon Earnest — Editor / Sports Juanita Adame — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
While “divide and conquer” seems to be a
relatively new tactic, history tends to prove
otherwise. It always has been used, and since
the people are relatively slow learners, there
always has been the ancillary negative impact, making it a “win at any cost” undertaking. We think it only appears worse because so many are more brazen in their efforts. While It leaves the practi- tioner with a sense of instant gratification, it also leaves longterm problems in its wake! The real losers in this failed strategy are the people themselves.
Time after time, during especially trying times, the Ameri- can people have shown themselves to be above all the ridiculous machinations of their political class. We have absolute confidence that is exactly what will happen as a result of the infighting and silliness that is emanating from our nation’s capitol, as well as all 50 state capitols. A little bit of understanding, compassion and common sense will go a long way toward helping cure the injuries being internally inflicted on the world’s greatest country.
The simplest, most direct step which could be taken to ame- liorate the current hatred and outrage would be to simply accept the results of the 2016 election. The people have indeed voted and they elected Donald Trump over the Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton. The continued tantrums on one side of the political spec- trum only results in dividing the American people and nothing else. Hillary did not win, and there is nothing they can do about that except to begin to make preparations for 2020. The greater good of this great country is more important than the pique of a few.
If we, as a country, are so awful and racist as claimed, then when the wall is built, we should have people going over the wall headed south. I seriously doubt that such an event will occur.
Aside from a couple of Republican governors, a simple review will quickly demonstrate that the state of California has essen- tially been under Democratic control since about 1960. The Golden State, as it was once known, enjoyed such an abundance of natural resources and a climate that was a magnet for young talented en- trepreneurs it essentially fell into the category of “too big to fail.”
Times change, and the proliferation of left-leaning policies with high taxes and a constant intrusion by bureaucracy in the form of regulations and implementation of out-of-control welfare programs began to take a take a toll on this economic giant. Ig- noring Einstein’s assertion that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, we continue to return the same party to power which dug such an overwhelming hole.
We now have the highest rate of poverty in the country; major cities are awash with homeless living in the streets; the housing shortage is critical with no resolution in sight and we are building a completely illogical high-speed railroad that is devouring billions of taxpayer dollars with no realistic end in sight.
Thrown into this mix is an increasing indication of election fraud with claims of “ballot harvesting” and youngsters under the age of 18 being provided absentee ballots. Why would anyone have any doubt when voter registration is placed in the hands of the Department of Motor Vehicles? Anyone — that would mean almost everyone — who has been forced to deal with these people is well aware of their incompetence!
Perhaps this Christmas we should all pray for a little more rational thinking statewide when it comes to managing the affairs for the state. Revisit the idea of eliminating absentee ballots and the mischief that seems to surround them and think twice about opening our borders to people who become a burden to society — especially when we already have double the population our infra- structure was meant to handle.
There can be little doubt that, as we approach year’s end in 2018, the struggle for continuing the publication of newspapers is beginning, financially, to prove to be an overwhelming undertak- ing. That’s why we want to take a moment to personally thank each and everyone of you who are readers and advertisers with one of the Mid Valley family of publications.
Your continued support helps assure that our communities continue to get the most current reporting on the going-ons with local government, school news, sports coverage as well as reports on local police and fire activity. If we don’t tell you the real story, who is going to? Think about what I’ve said, and let me know how you feel. Merry Christmas to you and yours, may “climate change” give us plenty of water for the farmer again this year.
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
Susan Lusk and Reedley-based veterans have great intentions and wishes when it comes to the im- pending sale of the Reedley Armory building — the decades-old site of veteran-based activities in the city.
That sale by the state of Cali- fornia – expected to be acted upon sometime after January 2019 — puts in jeopardy the home of the Reedley Area Veterans, local American Le- gion post and the annual activities they do. It’s a situation that prompt- ed Susan Lusk — Gold Star mother with the CPT Joe F. Lusk II Memori- al Foundation — to speak before the revamped Reedley Council on Dec. 11 and express her deep concern.
Supported by veterans group members and other community residents, Lusk made public her in- tention to “make some noise” on the issue. She suggested the three main veteran organizations in the commu- nity should band forces and garner community support — and money, is possible — to find a way to pos- sibly buy the building property and
convert it into a Veterans Memorial Building that other Fresno County cities – Clovis is a prime example — rely on.
The biggest obstacle at this point is the state itself. City Manager Ni- cole Zieba said she was told in no uncertain terms that California offi- cials would accept nothing below the going appraisal value of the proper- ty. That appraisal price will be made public sometime in late January.
Political support will be critical, and that has hit some serious road- blocks. In her address to the coun- cil, Lusk said she has pressured local representatives but been told to try other parties, saying “this is- sue is not really in their purview.” Lusk said the lone representative to offer support and possible action is 31st Assembly Member Joaquin Ar- ambula — who is now facing a legal battle to deal with a misdemeanor charge of willful cruelty to a child after a spanking incident involving his 7-year-old daughter. Zieba put it succinctly: “The one person we did
get help from just got arrested.”
We wish the best of luck to Lusk and other veteran activ- ists taking on this fight. It’s an uphill battle, but a climb they appear ready to take on with gusto.
Fred Hall
By Greg Dill
Guest columnist
Imagine going to the grocery store, picking up the items you need for the week, but not knowing how much anything costs until the store sends you a bill two weeks later.
Sadly, that’s how our healthcare system works every day.
Healthcare costs now represent one in every five dollars spent in our coun- try. Patients’ deductibles and copays are rising. Pre- scription drugs are often unaffordable for many Americans.
We must do something about rising costs, and one key is to empower patients with the information they need to drive costs down and quality up by making the healthcare system com- pete for their business.
That’s why Medicare recently launched a new online tool that allows con- sumers to compare Medi- care payments and patient copayments for certain sur- gical procedures that are performed in both hospi- tal outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers.
The Procedure Price Lookup tool displays na- tional averages for the amount Medicare pays the hospital or ambulatory sur- gical center. It also shows the national average copay- ment amount a beneficiary with no Medicare supple- mental insurance would pay the provider.
Working with their doc- tors, people with Medicare can use the Procedure Price Lookup to consider potential cost differences when choosing among safe and clinically appropri- ate settings to get the care that best meets their needs. And cost differences can be substantial.
The lookup tool is need- ed because the law requires Medicare to maintain sepa- rate payment systems for different types of health- care providers. That means Medicare pays sharply different amounts for the same service, depending on the locale of the care. It also means that people with Medicare pay different co- pays for the same service, depending on where it’s de- livered.
Unfortunately, this is a prime example of Medi-
care’s misaligned financial incentives, under which providers can make more money if they treat patients at one location as opposed to another. Here’s an example: a Medicare beneficiary needs knee surgery, and her surgeon offers her the choice to have the surgery in the local hospital’s out- patient department or at an independent surgery center.
With the Procedure Price Lookup tool, the ben- eficiary can type in the type of surgery and see an estimate of the difference in out-of-pocket costs be- tween the two settings.
It would take an act of Congress to change Medi- care’s payment systems. In the meantime, patients have the right to at least know what they will be charged. The Procedure Price Lookup makes that information easy to access.
Procedure Price Look- up is part of our eMedicare initiative and joins other patient-oriented transpar- ency tools, including an overhauled version of our drug pricing and spend- ing dashboards. These new tools provide patients with Medicare and Medicaid
spending information for thousands more drugs than ever before and, for the first time, list the prescrip- tion drug manufacturers that were responsible for price increases.
We launched the eMedi- care initiative to empower beneficiaries with cost and quality information. eMedi- care also offers a mobile- optimized out-of-pocket cost calculator to provide benefi- ciaries with information on overall health plan costs and prescription drug costs.
The case for price transparency throughout the healthcare system is clear. The need for consum- ers to comparison-shop is growing as high-deductible plans become the norm. We also need to integrate qual- ity information with price transparency, so consum- ers are empowered to seek out high-value care among providers competing on both cost and quality.
Greg Dill is Medicare’s regional administrator for California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Ter- ritories. Get answers to your Medicare questions by call- ing 1-800-MEDICARE (1- 800-633-4227).
It’s time for government to withhold funding
It appears some Latin American countries are facing a critical state crisis. Their citizens are leaving in great numbers and heading for the United States. Why?
Research shows that in Latin America, three countries — known as the Northern Triangle countries, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Hondu- ras — are plagued with drugs and gang violence. Killings are the norm in these countries. The spiraled of poverty and malnutrition is an ongo- ing daily event. The needs and living conditions of the citizens of these countries, go unnoticed by their gov-
ernments. They look the other way, like it doesn’t exist. The dreams of the people are never fulfilled.
When you have weak unstable governments with weak progressive laws and self-made constitutions, it creates chaos, unrest, and the dis- solution of countries. The citizens of these Latin Triangle countries are poor and do not have the wealth or means. They depend and rely on their governments to provide for all their vital needs. Meager rations is the norm, always in short supply.
These governments also lack the industrial and manufacturing re- sources. Weak economies, always cre- ate more hunger for people. These re- gions, immense problems, are so deep
and so endemic they cannot be fixed in a year or two. That’s why you see migrant caravans entrenching our borders. However, that does not mean we must open our borders.
We are a caring country. We give millions of dollars to these poor na- tions for food and other necessary essentials that their citizens are in great need of having. The monies, in some way, are displaced and wind up in the coffers of dishonest adminis- trators. What the U.S. must do is to withhold any future monetary help until these countries show actual proof that these calamities will not happen again.
Manuel Madrid Reedley
QUOTE
“There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.”
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
•••
As Christmas approaches, re-
member to practice good will and tidings. Along with a little discipline behind the wheel during the danger- ous holiday driving season. Before the year is out, we’ll be dealing with more rain and, likely, more fog. Also, don’t drink and drive. There will be a DUI enforcement on Friday, Dec. 21 near or within the city limits for a good portion of the night. Stay sober, and drive safe in order to be here to enjoy 2019 with loved ones.
A very Merry Christmas to all.
Jon Earnest
How to lower your surgery costs through Medicare
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