Richard Pombo is the congressional representative representing
most of Morgan Hill. He is a longtime Republican congressman from
the Tracy-Stockton area. It is ridiculous that he also represents
Morgan Hill.
Richard Pombo is the congressional representative representing most of Morgan Hill. He is a longtime Republican congressman from the Tracy-Stockton area. It is ridiculous that he also represents Morgan Hill.
I am proud to have him as my Congressman. I’ve been involved in politics since before Barry Goldwater in 1963, when I held my first political leadership roll. Richard Pombo is the very first conservative Republican Congressman my wife and I have ever been privileged to have!
I say “ridiculous” because of the most recent redistricting. Anyone accepting the concept that “communities” should be represented, would agree that Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy classify as a “voting community” sharing similar concerns.
Those interested in classifying us into voting sub groups within the community (so much for “unity”) have split the South Valley into three different congressional districts (two of them share Morgan Hill), two state Senate districts and two Assembly districts. At least for now, we are all in the District 1 county supervisor district.
“People’s Advocate” is circulating a initiative petition wherein the voters would put a stop to such self-serving politics. Call me at 408-782-7555 for a copy
Thus, I read with interest the item in the March 12 edition of The Times about local columnist Wes Rolley opening a “Pombo Watch” web site. Wes and I have met. It appears to me he is sincere in his beliefs. No doubt, we are both influenced by the “authorities” we choose to hear. Each of us must ultimately rest our decisions upon our own reasoning, not that of our “experts.”
It is here that Wes and I usually seem disagree. Pombo heads the House Committee on Resources. That makes him a target for the various groups interested in the environment. Pombo’s committee passed out a bipartisan energy report by a vote of 32-14 that drew a rash of attacks from environmentalist groups. Wes writes that Pombo’s actions prompted his web-site in opposition.
I believe reason will come down in agreement with Congressman Pombo. We suffered devastating forest fires last summer/fall. Wes recalls, “I remember that there are two things that feed large fires. The first is the presence of significant ground fuel. For example, the young growth coming along after major clear cutting is a prime location for fast-moving fires. The second was the presence of single-species stands of forest, which make them less able to resist insect damage.”
It is obvious that “the presence of significant ground fuel” (i.e. dead branches and underbrush) feeds forest fires. The rest of his reasoning (above) appears to me to be questionable. Those with a vested interest in healthy forests (lumber is a crop just like corn. It just takes longer to grow.), keep them cleared of underbrush and sick trees. It was untended, government regulated and un-cleared forests that caused the devastation.
California is becoming a national joke as it was before we rejected Rose Bird and her “Supremes.” The inmates are running the asylum. On the news recently I heard of a state-level move to force school districts to permit public elementary school students to choose their own gender classification.
The point that seems always present in all this foolishness is a consistent attack upon sound reason, private property and productive use of natural resources (industry). We are asked to vote ever more money to fix the same schools that needed fixing the last time we were asked for more money. We are asked to shut down logging industries in order to create fire damage like that last fall. We are asked to accept ever higher imported fuel costs in order to protect Alaskan reindeer that appear to enjoy the presence of their pipeline.
Have you seen the map of the small dot, way up on the north side of the 19-million acre Anwar Reserve in Alaska? That is the area the environmentalists are using to drive up our fuel costs and internationalize our dependence upon foreign energy?
I like to contemplate the day when energy expenses are negligible. No longer will socialistic government policies stand as toll booths between our homes and our light, heat and power drill. How about each home having its own independent energy source?
To reach those days, we must first throw off “nanny” government and once more become productive, independently thinking, individual voters. That begins with each of us.
Reason concludes that each of us chooses the principles (laws) by which we select among alternatives. One set of laws rest upon man’s opinion (your own, is “anarchy,” another’s, is “slavery.”) The only other set of laws, we call “the Law of Liberty,” rest upon the opinion of God. Note that the fool in his heart says, ‘There is no God’.
I agree in advance to accept a better set of laws. Until then, I choose to honor individuality and responsible self-government, modeled after the best example of quality character. I choose to respect private property and the fruit of individual labor. I reject “globalism” (international governmental organizations) and hold individual nations and communities responsible for their corporate actions. I support local authority, originating in the individual and the family as the building block of a society. Finally – I hold that the fruit of such standards will be individual and corporate liberty that is anathema to “social engineering.”
Ben Gilmore is a Morgan Hill businessman. The Board of Contributors is comprised of local writers whose views appear on Tuesdays and Friday.
