Don's Tuesday Column

THE WAY I SEE IT by Don Polson       Red Bluff Daily News 4/29/2025

        Life lived wherever it suits us

When our time is split between two homes in two states—Red Bluff and Bend, Oregon plus months of RV camping—we need duplicates, even triplicates, of the essentials. Still, there are things which must accompany us from place to place: meds, laptops, vitamins and supplements, even as things like undies are stocked up everywhere. Enough about that.

This proverbial life of leisure, as the “golden years” are described, is nevertheless prone to certain interruptions. Medical professionals have their tests; those tests often require further analysis and followup tests—nothing most readers don’t already know.

My hematologist became my oncologist after diagnosing chronic lymphocytic leukemia, CLL. which sounds serious but is the least interrupting of the maladies. No malignancies with further monitoring of test results. For having some biological and genetic bad luck, at 74, I’m actually pretty lucky.

My urologist’s treatments requires no explanation. So, while the oncologist said that, for now, “nothing to worry about,” the urologist’s procedures put an end to my ski season (I’m happily chauffeuring Barb up the mountain), and a 5-unit dental bridge recalled me to Red Bluff for a repair. “It’s always something” as the late SNL comedy actress Gilda Radner would say.

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A reminder: tickets for the upcoming Republican Red, White, and Blue Dinner can be reserved and/or purchased at https://givebutter.com/TehamaGOP . It’s being held at the Red Bluff Community Center this year, on June 7 at 5 PM; more details at the web site.

As part of the “Make California Golden Again” theme, the guest speaker is Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco. He is affiliated with the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and is a candidate for governor of California in 2026. The highlight of our local political year, it raises funds for scholarships, and local and state causes.

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The Chico E-R Editor’s interview with Congressman Doug LaMalfa deserved an accolade for avoiding gotcha questions, the current trend of “attack journalism” seen predominantly on network and cable shows. Such interviewers—who invariably vote for, and contribute to, Democrats—wonder why we on the right question their objectivity. If you missed it, the full interview delved into the issues we in “superior California” care most about, water, farming challenges, etc.

While Editor Mike Wolcott undoubtedly rubs some of us the wrong way with his obsession over cutting any portion of a column that veers too close to national issues and the “T-word,” it has had the effect of leaving the Opinion page free of the national political war among local columnists.

Speaking of which, my Easter column had the last two paragraphs cut when my reference to the freeing of the criminal Barabbas by Pontius Pilate was compared to a current controversy. Readers can go to my blog, Donpolson.blogspot.com and read the deleted section that I am posting today.

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The not-so-Golden State beat: “AB 1228 One Year Later: How The $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage Has Hurt California; Over 22,000 Fast Food jobs have been lost in CA since April 2024” (by Evan Symon, April 1, Californiaglobe.com). I wrote about this predictable outcome based on other ill-advised policies and laws that had already produced such unemployment in entry-level segments of the economy. No “do-gooder” intervention in the free market goes unpunished by the reality of supply and demand, and the actual value of young unskilled workers.

“You Won’t Believe How Many California Voters Support Giving Illegal Aliens Free Health Care” (by Madeline Leesman, April 22, Townhall.com). Gov. Newsom signed a $2.8 Billion bill to shore up this state’s Medicaid program. It “ran into major financial problems when the Governor expanded it last year to include illegal immigrants” (ABC3340.com).

A poll of voters by UC Berkeley and Politico found: 21 percent support Medicaid for illegal immigrants even if it means cuts elsewhere. 32 percent said to continue the program but prioritize those here legally if budget cuts are needed. That’s a majority for continuing Medicaid for illegal residents.

31 percent took the only sensible response: the state should never have allowed Medicaid for illegal residents, while 17 percent want to partially or fully reverse this health coverage.

“Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin broke an outrageous story about an illegal immigrant being granted early release from his prison sentence for the death of two young Californians, whom he killed several years ago. He was speeding at nearly 100 miles per hour while drunk and high. His victims burned alive in their car.

“The immigrant had entered the U.S. illegally multiple times, a felony. He also committed multiple felonies while in the country illegally, but was shielded by California's sanctuary policies, which make illegal immigrants a special protected class—even those who repeatedly commit crimes against Californians” (Townhall.com, April 24). It’s no surprise that polling shows massive support for deportation of “undocumented migrants.”