Don’t follow the money
Few of us are fans of special interests which pour big money into campaigns to sway elections, especially local elections like those for County Supervisor.
Two candidates are on the ballot for District 1 Supervisor in the November 8 election — Monica Rosenthal and Moke Simon.
A look at campaign filing reports shows that special interests have made their way into Simon’s campaign. As of September 24, 2016, Simon has accepted a total of $27,500 in donations from 3 special interests. That’s more than 75 percent of all donations raised by the candidate.
The largest amount ($15,000) comes from the California Nations Indian Gaming Association. The rest is from an Arizona attorney who helps tribes take land into trust for gaming purposes ($5,000) and from the Middletown Twin Pines Pomo Tribe ($7,500).
I see no such funding in Monica Rosenthal’s disclosure report. Her campaign contributions are diverse and varied. They come from a wide range of supporters from throughout the county, from neighboring counties, and from family and friends.
Organizations such as the Lake County Association of Realtors and the North Coast Builders Exchange endorse Monica for Supervisor; they made fair and reasonable contributions to her campaign. She is also supported by individuals involved in Lake County’s agricultural industry and by those who want to protect our environment and improve our economy.
This recent revelation about how Simon’s campaign is being funded leaves no doubt in my mind about which candidate is best for Lake County.
I encourage you to say NO to special interest politics and YES to Monica Rosenthal on November 8.
Tom Guthrie, Sebastopol/Lake County
The wrong side?
“Hillary is on the wrong side of every issue”, Mac McKay, RB 10-4.
I am sure that Mac did not mean ‘every’ issue. Respect for Women. Donald Trump said no one has more respect for women than he. This made the debate audience laugh out loud. I suspect HRC is on the right side of this issue. Respect for the military. Hillary has not said she knows more that the US Generals. She has presented her strategic plan to defeat ISIS which does not involve being unpredictable. Generals will work the details. She has not backed away from supporting NATO. She has not disrespected Gold Star parents or prisoners of war. She is for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
All of these are important issues to me. I hope they are to Mac as well. Apparently, Mac thinks that Hillary is on the wrong side of all the above.
But I would like to thank Mac for informing us that Comey was on the board of directors for HSBC holdings. But he should have told us why Comey was there. From Wikipedia, “He (Comey) was also appointed to the board of directors of the London-based financial institution HSBC Holdings, to improve the company’s compliance program after its $1.9 billion settlement with the Justice Department for failing to comply with basic due diligence requirements for money laundering regarding Mexican drug cartels and terrorism financing.” This is not recently revealed news as Breitbart reported, but was noted in several main-stream newspapers in 2013. So please Mac, show us your facts that this was a conspiracy.
Kevin Bracken, Kelseyville
History and deplorables
“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe”, H.G.Wells, 1921.
Today many of us are asking, “What happened? How did we get to this place in our elections? Why is it that we seem to have to choose between the lesser of two evils?”
I do not believe that either of the two candidates are evil. I do believe that one has used dishonest tactics. Reputable online fact checkers tell us that Donald Trump has lied to us about once in every three minutes — or about 97 percent of the time. And mainstream media has not been very helpful with their completely off-balance amount of time and/or space given to Trump. I am unable to turn on TV news or scan the headlines of a newspaper for five minutes without Trump’s name being emblazoned on my mind and without hearing “Crooked“ or “Corrupt” Hillary.
What does this have to do with History? I see America going the way of Germany in the 1930s — You must know something about Hitler, his propaganda ministers, and their ability to convince the German people that white supremacy and Nazism was needed to save the world… And now we have Donald Trump and his “team” trying to convince Americans, that only he, with the help of white supremacists, can solve our problems — that the opposition is dishonest, and corrupt — that in 35 years of public service Hillary’s never done anything right or honest.
But some voices, rarely heard in the media, tell us otherwise. Research into her past shows us that Hillary Rodham Clinton has been an exemplary public servant. Wikipedia, the people’s online encyclopedia says:
“…In mid-2012, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham said, ‘I think she’s represented our nation well. She is extremely well respected throughout the world, handles herself in a very classy way and has a work ethic second to none.’
“Especially in the Mideast turmoil but elsewhere as well, Clinton saw an opportunity to advance one of the central themes of her tenure, the empowerment and welfare of women and girls worldwide. Moreover, she viewed women’s rights and human rights as critical for U.S. security interests, as part of what has become known as “the Hillary doctrine”. Former State Department director and coordinator Theresa Loar said in 2011 that, ‘I honestly think Hillary Clinton wakes up every day thinking about how to improve the lives of women and girls. And I don’t know another world leader who is doing that.’ In turn, there was a trend of women around the world finding more opportunities, and in some cases feeling safer, as the result of her actions and visibility.”
According to Wikipedia, her accomplishments include co-founding Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families; first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation; first female partner at Rose Law Firm; First Lady of Arkansas; and she led a task force that reformed Arkansas’ public school system. In her first major policy initiative as first lady of the US, “the president appointed her to lead the Clinton health care plan of 1993, which failed to reach a vote in Congress. In 1997 and 1999, she played a leading role in advocating the creation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act and the Foster Care Independence Act.” She says that her focus now, as President, will be on women and children, and her history shows that, if not shut down by the extreme right, we can look for improvements in education, in jobs, in the economy, in healthcare, etc. etc.
So what is corrupt or untrustworthy about any of that? There are groups that decided, without foundation, years ago that anything the Clintons did was corrupt, possibly stemming from Bill Clinton’s peccadillos — or more likely from an attitude throughout America that “uppity women” belong in the kitchen and not in public positions. Even in a small town in CA I ran into this attitude when I was asked to speak to the school board where I was teaching Special Education, and a Board member tugged at the brim of his ten-gallon hat, took his booted and spurred foot off a nearby chair and asked me why I wasn’t at home taking care of my own family…
What is frightening and seems to be history repeating itself, is that Trump has bought and paid these “deplorables” for his own purposes. His head PR man is Stephen Bannon, former Breitbart News executive chairman, an openly anti-authoritarian paper that “embraces ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right”. Trump’s decision to hire Bannon “represents a landmark achievement for the alt-right’.” And Wikipedia says about alt-right: “The alt-right has no formal ideology, although various sources have stated that white nationalism is fundamental. It has also been associated with white supremacism, Islamophobia, antifeminism, homophobia, antisemitism, ethno-nationalism, right-wing populism, nativism, traditionalism, and the neoreactionary movement. The alt-right is an umbrella term. The movement has been associated with multiple ideologies from American nationalism, neo-monarchists to men’s rights advocates and people who oppose mainstream conservatism”.
I don’t know if this letter will be in time to be published before the election or not — But that’s not important. No matter who’s elected we need to be aware that the Trump Supporters are creating havoc with our Election and our Constitution. We could lose all the progress the Obama Administration has made — and don’t get sarcastic about Obama’s progress — If you honestly look at the mess that Bush/Cheney left us you will thank Obama for getting our country back on track. Remember, some people said we’d never make it … and we almost didn’t except for the intelligence and patience of Barack Obama. Hillary wants to continue that legacy. But with “Trumpism” emerging we will have to help her. We must defeat the deplorable ideas that swarm in the minds of the alt-right.
Shirley Howland, Clearlake
Raise the cigarette tax
I read your letter to the editor from William Bogdanov. Mr. Bogdanov, you are self centered, because you smoke, and you don’t want to pay the $2.00 tax on the tobacco. What about the young people who smoke? The $2.00 tax they won’t be able to pay the extra money. They won’ be able to pay the extra $2.00, unless their parents won’t pay them less money. People who smoke will have to pay $2.87 on a pack of cigarettes.
My husband David died from lung cancer, the doctor told him to quit smoking and he couldn’t stop. I was working for a police department as a dispatcher, and I smoke 3 packages of cigarettes a day. I got where I could hardly breath. I went to a doctor, He told me if I didn’t stop now you will be dead in a short time. From that day I stop smoking and never smoke again, that was 30 years ago. I’m 79 years old I take a couple pills for my high blood pressure day, and I take vitamins.
I have joined clubs, I go dancing, I play bingo, I go to a senior center and play cards. All of this happens, because I quit smoking.
Vote yes on prop 56. Mr. Bogdanov you say vote yes on this prop, because this is will bring more tax money for the state and county “SO”. Mr Bogdanov, take a nap.
Jacqueline Baranzini, Kelseyville
For Rosenthal
I am writing to convey my support for Monica Rosenthal as a candidate for District One Supervisor.
For years, Monica has found ways to remain engaged in our community. During her time as Planning Commissioner, she asked hard questions and refused to cut corners. Monica spent countless hours researching zoning changes and proposed developments. She always came to the table educated about the topics being discussed.
During the aftermath of the devastating Valley Fire, Monica once again showed her strength of character. She worked hard with local and state government to obtain resources and organize distribution to those in need. Monica was recognized as Lake County’s Woman of the Year for her involvement in the community before and following the fire.
Throughout the years, Monica has set an admirable standard of leadership that our community can respect. Hard work and determination is something that we can trust. Vote Monica for District One Supervisor and the leadership we deserve.
Russell Rosenthal, Lake County
