Letters
- Details
- Written by: David W. Smith
I am writing today as an In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care provider in Lake County. I am currently taking care of my disabled son.
The IHSS program allows the elderly, the disabled elderly and the younger disabled persons to receive care at a huge savings to our local, state and federal governments. “In-home” means exactly that – they receive care in their "own" home instead of being placed in an institution, which costs taxpayers up to 8 times more than home care.
Here are some facts.
Fact 1: Any one of us, or our family member(s), could become disabled in an instant; lose everything we have and need to rely on Social Service programs to help us (I speak from experience, on this subject).
Fact 2: We're all getting older. Our retirement savings may not be enough to last us, for the remainder of our life, and we may have to (I say again) “rely on Social Service programs to help us.”
At this point in time, our state government is planning on cutting into the IHSS program, which is already a lean program. This type of fiduciary cut could lead to institutionalizing people who are currently IHSS recipients.
For those who do not move into institutions, their safety could be placed in jeopardy if they do not receive the care that they need. If our state government is attempting to justify cuts to this program, legislators must take into consideration that if thousands of people are placed in institutions, taxes will have to be increased to cover the extra costs.
So you ask yourself, “What can I do?”
The answer to the question is simple: Get involved. Work with others who are dedicated to ensuring that the voices of those who rely on vital programs such as IHSS, are not silenced, but rather heard from every corner of Sacramento.
Our elected officials are the people that have control on how these programs are funded, and we are their voting constituents. We need to speak up. We need to help protect our most vulnerable residents and the programs that serve them.
This nation started with a group of people that came together and wrote the Constitution – which became the backbone of democracy. It's up to us to remind our elected officials, that even in difficult times, it's about “We the people.”
David W. Smith lives in Nice.
- Details
- Written by: Randy Ridgel
I don’t know where Democrats find people who dislike the United States to run for President – Michelle Obama got the campaign in trouble when she announced she was ashamed of our country until it nominated her husband. She hasn’t said much since then; I believe they wired her jaws shut to eliminate further eloquence. Still, Obama ran around Europe with his teleprompter apologizing for our country to everyone.
His inability to speak without teleprompters reminds me of the Yankee ventriloquist who kept a Texas audience in stitches with jokes denigrating Southerners until a huge, angry galoot in the third row stood up and shouted, “You badmouth us Southerners one more time and I’ll come up there and whup you good!”
After the ventriloquist apologized, the man shouted, “You stay out of this Mr., I’m talking to that little blabbermouth sitting on your lap.”
Even as an ignorant country yokel, I wouldn’t make that mistake. If I wanted to shut up Obama, I’d say, “You badmouth the United States one more time and I’m going to whup that blabbermouth teleprompter.” Do you suppose a secret serviceman is programmed to leap in front to save the teleprompter? With the teleprompter dead would Obama be mute?
Randy Ridgel lives in Kelseyville.
- Details
- Written by: Donna Christopher
The real question to ask Mike Thompson on Thursday in Lakeport at 9 a.m. at his round table discussion is why he voted for Gramm/Leach/Bliley bill in 1999 – H.R. 10.
This is the bill that essentially deregulated the banking industry and repealed Glass/Steagal leading to the financial meltdown we are now experiencing and burdening generations to come with this fiscal malfeasance.
Of course the bill was greatly favored by the Republican Party. But they could not have gotten to their goal without the enabling of Mike Thompson and Bill Clinton.
Thus proving, there truly isn't a dime's worth of difference between either party when it comes to sticking to We The Poor Taxpaying Shmucks and financial hijinks and deregulation.
Donna Christopher lives in Lucerne.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Recent discussions about the ill-conceived Provinsalia project (650 residential units and a nine-hole golf course on a pristine site in the extreme southeast corner of the city of Clearlake) have moved from the merits and demerits of the proposal itself to center on the concept of "respect": has the City Council shown respect to the citizenry, and have the citizens respected the council?
In my opinion the answer is "no" on both counts – a lamentable situation that the council can easily repair in a few hours and at no monetary cost. All they have to do is rescind the two resolutions (certifying the Provinsalia Environmental Impact Report, amending the General Plan and adopting the Specific Plan) passed at their contentious Feb. 26 meeting, delay a second reading on the ordinance rezoning the project site, schedule another public hearing based on the principles of free speech and participatory democracy, and then take whatever actions on the project they think best.
The mayor and council will thus simultaneously demonstrate the esteem that all elected officials owe to the people they serve, and take a giant step towards regaining the high stature in the eyes of the community that these decent, hard-working, public-spirited individuals had previously enjoyed. It would have been even better to have done this spontaneously, without waiting for a legal opinion on whether arbitrary limitations on public comment violated the Brown Act on Feb. 26, but it is by no means too late to do the right thing.
The council is expected to consider this question at their April 9 meeting. For the benefit of all, I hope that by taking the steps listed above they act to blow away the fog of accusations that has settled over the city, and allow public business to resume in an atmosphere of mutual trust and good will.
Victoria Brandon is chair of the Sierra Club Lake Group. She lives in Lower Lake.
How to resolve AdBlock issue?