By Tom McClintock

More than a year ago, pollster Frank Luntz stood before a group of about 40 House Republicans in a cramped conference room in the Longworth building. “I need to tell you something,” he said. “I’ve been looking at polling data from congressional districts across America for the last three months. I’m convinced that you are going to be in the majority next year.” After a long pause, he added, “This time, please don’t screw it up again.”

I don’t think we will.

The message of the last two elections could not be louder or clearer. Great parties are built upon great principles and they are judged by their devotion to those principles. From its inception, the core principles of the Republican Party have been individual freedom and constitutionally limited government. The closer it has hewn to these principles, the better it has done. The further it has strayed from them well, my God.

Tom McClintock

In the aftermath of the Bush debacle, House Republican leaders resolved to restore traditional Republican principles as the policy and political focus of the party and they achieved something no one at the time thought possible: they united House Republicans as a determined voice of opposition to the Left and rallied the American people. Republicans rediscovered why they were Republicans, and Republican leaders rediscovered Reagan’s advice to paint our positions in bold colors and not hide them in pale pastels.

Ironically, in Reagan’s home state, Republicans tried to campaign to the left of the Democrats and the result was disastrous. While the rest of the country was celebrating historic Republican gains (including a shift of at least 61 U.S. House Seats, 6 U.S. Senate Seats, 680 state legislative seats, 19 state legislatures and six governors), the statewide Republican ticket in California imploded. Republicans nationally now hold more state legislative seats than in any year since 1928. In California, they hold fewer than at any time since 1978.

House Republicans were unfairly criticized as the party of “No.” When somebody is driving you off a cliff, “no” is a handy word to have in your vocabulary. But it can’t be the only word in the national debate over the future of the country and Republicans know it.

Over the last two years, House Republicans laid out detailed plans to revive the finances of our government and the prosperity of our economy, to return freedom of choice, competition and affordability to health care, to restore the integrity of our borders, and to return to our states their rightful powers and prerogatives.

A Republican House cannot alone enact such laws, but it no longer must labor in the obscurity of minority irrelevance. It now has the opportunity to elevate the national debate by putting forward these plans at a time when Americans are alert to the danger facing the nation and eager for an adult discussion about the fundamental mechanics of freedom – how freedom works and how we can put it back to work.

In 1858, Lincoln warned the nation that two antithetical philosophies, freedom and slavery, competed for the future and reminded us that a house divided against itself cannot stand. “I do not believe the house will fall,” he said, “but I do believe that it will cease to be divided.” Today two incompatible philosophies, freedom and socialism, compete for our future and the stage is set for one of the greatest debates in the history of the American Republic.

Upon the outcome of that debate rests the question of whether the United States of America will fade inexorably into history or whether it will begin its next great era of expansion, prosperity and influence.

Tom McClintock represents the California side of Lake Tahoe in the U.S. House of Representatives.

By Paul Saffo

Small-town living has long been part of the American dream, but amid California’s fiscal crisis, it is becoming a nightmare. Cities like Vallejo have declared bankruptcy as municipal deficits deepen. Others, like Maywood in Southern California, have fired their city employees and outsourced everything from police and fire protection to pothole filling.

Cities all over the state are contemplating similar measures, but the Bay Area is particularly at risk of further municipal bankruptcies. Quite simply, the Bay Area has too many cities, and if serious steps aren’t taken to consider all options – from sharing services, to merging municipalities and even disincorporation – the list of bankruptcies is certain to grow.

The nine counties of the Bay Area are home to 6.9 million residents, living in 101 cities. By contrast, Los Angeles County has nearly 10 million residents living in 88 cities, while Orange County’s 34 cities represent 3 million residents. Over a third of Bay Area cities have populations of less than 20,000 residents, and nearly a quarter are smaller than 10,000 citizens. Among these are more than a few micro-cities like Belvedere, with just over 2,000 residents, and tiny Colma, whose population of just over 1,000 citizens is outnumbered 10-to-1 by a silent majority interred in the town’s cemeteries.

Paul Saffo is managing director of foresight at Discern, an institutional investment research firm based in San Francisco.

Read the whole story

To the publisher,

Both private and public sector employers commonly grant Administrative Time annually to their managers, supervisors and professional level employees, who are exempt from overtime pay.

These employees often work more than 40 hours per week and this paid time off is intended to offset additional hours worked, but it does not constitute additional pay [like overtime].

We don’t budget for administrative time in the budget because it is not a monetary item. Employees’ total annual salaries are budgeted which would include any administrative time taken throughout the year. Staff are granted administrative leave on a calendar year basis, and the number of hours are determined by their department head or manager. There is no “cash value” to administrative time.

It is “use it or lose it” at the end of the calendar year, and cannot be carried over or cashed out upon separation from employment. The city of South Lake Tahoe currently has 39 exempt employees who are eligible to receive administrative time annually.

Christine Vuletich, South Lake Tahoe director of finance

By Bob Herbert, New York Times

If you had a leak in your roof or in the kitchen or basement, you’d probably think it a good idea to have it taken care of before matters got worse, and more expensive.

If only we had the same attitude when it comes to the vast and intricately linked water systems in the United States. Most of us take clean and readily available water for granted. But the truth is that the nation’s water systems are in sorry shape — deteriorating even as the population grows and demand increases.

Aging and corroded pipes are bursting somewhere every couple of minutes. Dilapidated sewer systems are contaminating waterways and drinking water. Many local systems are so old and inadequate — in some cases, so utterly rotten — that they are overwhelmed by heavy rain.

As Charles Duhigg reported in the Times last March: “For decades, these systems — some built around the time of the Civil War — have been ignored by politicians and residents accustomed to paying almost nothing for water delivery and sewage removal. And so each year, hundreds of thousands of ruptures damage streets and homes and cause dangerous pollutants to seep into drinking water supplies.”

Read the whole story

To the community,

On behalf of V-Day South Lake Tahoe and Dolphin anti-rape and AIDS prevention, thank you to BioSpirit and Elevate Wellness for donating their space and energy to raise $750 for Dolphin’s self-defense workshops.

Seven local massage therapists donated their time on Nov. 12-13 for Community Massage Days. One hundred percent of this money will go to provide life-saving self-defense education to girls and women in Kenya.

Great work, South Lake Tahoe.

Julie Lowe, V-Day South Lake Tahoe

By Liliana E. Sanchez

As we wrap up the series Breaking the Cycle, we recap the previous three articles and we end with what we hope will inspire you to take action if you witness domestic violence or if you know someone in an abusive relationship.

In the first article we discussed the cycle of violence, how each phase affects victims and the different tactics used by abusive partners to manipulate and coerce their victims. The second article looked at the abusive partner by explaining some of the characteristics and tactics of those who batter, followed by the third article that answered the most common question asked by anyone who has not experienced domestic violence, “why do they stay?”

Today we are going to address how the damage of domestic violence propagates through every aspect of a victim’s life and how it affects everyone and everything around her. But more important, we will discuss what we can do to help victims of domestic violence and their families whether you are a bystander, a coworker, a friend or a family member.

You may be wondering if domestic violence extends beyond the confines of four walls or if it affects any other part of a victim’s life or other people around them? Domestic violence does not stop when victims walk out and close their door. Domestic violence follows the victim and affects every part of their lives as well as those around them. Let’s first look at someone in a domestic violence situation who is employed. Absenteeism and/or tardiness are reoccurring issues at work for a victim of domestic violence for various reasons. These can be severe arguments at home, physical altercations or evidence of it especially on the face and neck areas, emergency visits to the hospital, jealousy, physical injuries which are not addressed or the abusive partner won’t allow the victim to go to work that day or ever. Productivity and job performance are other aspects that are affected by domestic violence; the victim may have trouble focusing on the task at hand resulting in the decline of productivity and/or job performance. This makes a negative impact on a business which can result in loss of revenue, clientele or both which is how domestic violence affects the workplace.

Another part of life that is affected by domestic violence is academic performance for both the victims and their children. The victim may fall behind in school work, miss assignments, fail or drop out of school. The children may loose interest in school, arrive to school late, miss breakfast, loose concentration, withdraw from their peers, act violently towards others, fall behind academically or fall asleep in class because they were up all night listening to violence at home.

Family members are also affected. They may often be pushed away by the victim because the abusive partner does not want them around due to power and control and fear that the victim might leave. Often, friends and family members turn their back on the victim judging and criticizing their choice to stay in the abusive relationship, not realizing or understanding that they are being coerced into isolation. This judgment, criticism and lack of understanding from family and friends can put the victim in deeper isolation because he/she will feel like they don’t have anyone but their abuser. Family and friends may spend time and money trying to help a victim leave the abusive situation and may even become involved in conflicts and confrontations with the abusive partner to protect the victim.

As you can see, domestic violence indirectly affects the workplace, employers, coworkers, school, academic performance, children, and family. The problem does extend beyond the four walls and it touches everyone directly and indirectly, so what can we do? As family members, friends, coworkers, employers, neighbors or even bystanders we need to take action to help victims of domestic violence. To begin, you can let victims know that there is a way out.

As an employer, ask how you can help or if they would like to talk about what’s going on, refer them to law enforcement or the Women’s Center, be supportive and never threaten their job security — work may be the only safe place they have. As a neighbor or a bystander, every time you hear or see yelling, shoving, objects hitting the wall, screaming or children crying hysterically call 911 or call the police and ask them to do a welfare check at the address where the commotion is coming from – this can save someone’s life. As a friend or family member it is extremely important to remain supportive so that the victim feels that he/she has support and help when they are ready to leave the relationship, help them come up with a safety plan if time allows. Don’t turn your back on them by judging or criticizing their choice to stay because leaving the relationship can put them at greater risk for physical retaliation which may cause injuries and sometimes death.

Finally, listen to them and be there for when they are ready to leave because it takes a lot of courage to do so and if you have any questions on how to help someone who is in an abusive relationship call the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center to discuss more ways in which you can help.

During Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center took our Silent Witness Exhibit to different locations in the community each week. This exhibit is composed of silhouettes of men, women, children and pets. Each silhouette honors a person from Reno/Tahoe and the surrounding area whose life was cut short because of domestic violence. The exhibit is meant to bring awareness to the public and to evoke others to take action against domestic violence.

Joins us in our efforts to stop domestic violence. To find out what you can do call the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center, Monday-Friday 8am–4pm at (530) 544.2118 or call our 24 hour crisis line at (530) 544.4444. The Women’s Center Business office was financed through a low-cost loan from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation.

Liliana E. Sanchez is outreach coordinator for South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center.

Dear Publisher,

Your recent story about a $230,000 UC Davis study that predicts a 40 percent decline in snowfall due to global warming was fascinating, but scientifically flawed. Fortunately, the dire predictions by these UC Davis scientists overlooked compelling new solar research that insists global cooling, not warming, lies ahead.

Regardless of any increase in greenhouse gases, or any other arguments for global warming, it is the output of the sun that drives our weather and climate. Now we have hard evidence that our sun has entered a period of minimum solar output.

According to peer-reviewed research, published in June of this year, solar scientists are now predicting global cooling due to several decades ahead of lower solar output: “…using new data for the geomagnetic aa index we foresee that a Grand Minimum is immanent. Thus, a prolonged period of relative global cooling is forecasted.” See details at: http://journalofcosmology.com/ClimateChange111.html

Think snow,

Steve Kubby, South Lake Tahoe

By Liliana E. Sanchez

Yesterday’s article discussed some of the reasons why people abuse their partners. Today we are going to look at why victims of domestic violence stay in an abusive relationship.

If you ask a person who has lived or is living in an abusive relationship, “why do you stay?” you will hear many reasons such as love, fear, children, money, security, hope, and religious and cultural reasons. It is difficult for someone who has never been in an abusive relationship to understand why someone would stay, but we hope that when you read this piece you will gain a little more understanding.

Relationships start out with courtship, romance and kindness that may lead to a loving, respectful and healthy relationship full of hope and dreams for the future. But for some, this loving, respectful and healthy relationship takes a turn that no one saw coming. The relationship gets violent, the respect disappears and it is no longer what it was in the beginning. The victim in this type of relationship hopes their partner changes their ways, trusting that someday it will happen. The victim is then confused because what was once perfect is suddenly chaos, so they wait for the situation to get better and easily slip into the cycle of violence as they hold on to the promises and the illusion of being loved and cared for by someone they love.

Honeymoon, tension and explosion are the phases victims go through cyclically, and fear is a main driving force for victims to stay put. Fear the abuser will hurt the children, hurt family members, and/or destroy their belongings. They fear they will not be able to provide for their children without the other person’s support and they fear retaliation if they report the abuse and eventually, they convince themselves that they will be safer if they stay.

Slowly, victims become isolated. Their abusive partner gradually controls whom they can or cannot talk to – slowly removing them from their support system until they no longer have one. They learn to be passive because they live under the control of someone who has kept them dependent, consequently they feel like they are unable to survive on their own. They have been emotionally, psychologically and physically trampled into conformity that they no longer have the ability or confidence to survive independently, which lowers their self-esteem. Their self-esteem becomes so minute that they believe that they will never be able to get a job on their own, get a bank account, live independently or even go out in public. They begin to believe they don’t deserve to be loved, that everything is their fault so they deserve to be beaten and mistreated and that their spouse or partner is the best they can do.

Sometimes, cultural beliefs can keep a victim in an abusive relationship. Some cultures still operate as a patriarchy, where men are regarded as the authority within the family and society thus women and girls are expected to comply, cultures where defiance is punished with abuse. Although this country has come a long way in gender equality, the belief that women are second class citizens is still out there which also causes domestic violence.

As you can see, the reasons why victims of violence don’t leave are very complex and sometimes dangerous. Perpetrators have complete power and control over their victims, not only psychological but emotionally and physically and according to studies victims who leave an abusive relationship are at a higher risk for stalking and physical retaliation once he/she leaves the abusive relationship. Victims know better than anyone when is the right time to leave and as a friend, a family member, a co-worker or an acquaintance we need to be supportive and try to understand that this is one of the most difficult decisions they will ever make and be there to help them when they are ready to leave. Know that there are agencies whose mission is to help victims of domestic violence and have expert staff that are dedicated to the cause and understand the dynamics of abusive relationships. Know that there is hope.

If you know someone involved in an abusive relationship the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center is that agency dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence, call us at (530) 544.2118. The Women’s Center Business office was financed through a low-cost loan from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation.

Liliana E. Sanchez is outreach coordinator at the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center.

By Jennifer Marshall and Liliana E. Sanchez

After going over the different stages of the cycle of violence in yesterday’s article, we begin to understand a bit more about the way in which abusive relationships work. Today, we are going to take a look at the abuser and try to understand the characteristics and tactics of those who batter.

Domestic violence and emotional abuse are behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other person. Partners may be married or not married, heterosexual, gay or lesbian, living together, separated or dating. Many men are in abusive relationships, however the most common victims of abuse are women and children. There are many tactics perpetrators of abuse use to gain and maintain power and control over their victims.

Types of abuse include physical, emotional, sexual, financial and verbal abuse as well as making threats, using children as a manipulation tool, intimidation, and isolation. The most widely known and most dangerous form of abuse is the physical form. Physical abuse can involve a range of tactics including pushing, dragging through the house, kicking, threatening with weapons, rape, pulling hair, and more. This type of abuse is often when the police and medical teams become involved.

Emotional abuse can involve the abuser embarrassing their partner in front of others, constant put-downs, forcing their victim to live in a home with drugs and alcohol, constant demand of their partner’s time, suicide threats or attempts, unpredictable behavior, and the silent treatment.

Someone can also sexually abuse their partner by forcing unwanted sex, making the person feel that it is their duty to have sex, forcing their partner to get pregnant, or physically harming the person if they do not have sex.

Abusers often control all of the family money and may not allow their partner to work or get an education, or on the other hand, will refuse to get a job.

Verbal along with emotional is the most common form of abuse and involves constant put-down by the abuser, the victim being told they are crazy, stupid, or lazy, the abuser using racial slurs, and even threatening to kill their victim. Many victims report that broken bones will heal, but verbal and emotional abuse leaves a more permanent scar.

Other common tactics of abuse include intimidation, isolation, and using the children as a form of control. Abusers may intimidate their victim through looks, actions, tone and volume of voice, and destroying property to instill fear in their partners. Isolation is common and can include controlling where their partner goes, excluding family members and friends, and not allowing their partner to get a driver license or use the vehicle.

During the winter months, South Lake Tahoe is an ideal spot for the isolation of victims as we receive hundreds of inches of snow per year. Victims without transportation may be trapped in their homes with their abusers for days at a time. Abusive partners may also make their victim feel guilty for having children and may use the children to deliver intimidating messages that continue the abuse even after a victim has left the relationship.

So, why does someone become abusive? It is important to realize that physically and psychologically abusing an intimate partner is not an issue of anger management, but a learned behavior or a choice that a person makes. For example, many abusers are able to manage their anger quite effectively with friends and co-workers, and only use that anger in a negative way when they choose to batter their partner or their children. There is no definitive way to determine why some people are abusive and some are not, but there are common psychological and environmental characteristics and factors that increase a person’s risk from becoming an abusive person.

Many batterers grew up in homes where they experienced or witnessed abuse themselves and never learned healthy ways to cope with everyday stresses. Many individuals feel that they never had any power or control over their own lives, and now finally, they can assert power over someone else. For some men who batter, physical and emotional abuse is often the result of a man’s belief that women are an inferior gender. They see women’s behavior as wrong, inappropriate, or even evil. With this belief, some men feel that it is necessary to control women, and will use violent and abusive actions to do so. This type of thought is generally not personal, but rather social and cultural. These social norms and beliefs do not force anyone to be abusive, but can explain the source from which the choice to abuse comes from.

As there are environmental factors that can lead to abusive behavior, there are also risk factors that can exacerbate abuse. Although many victims and batterers have substance abuse problems, there is no evidence that alcohol or drugs cause violent behaviors. An abusive person will batter their partner when they are intoxicated as well as when they are sober. Many times, alcohol and drugs are used as coping mechanisms for other problems that the batterer is dealing with such as depression, child sexual abuse, witnessing abuse as a child, and other psychological disorders.

While environmental and psychological factors can increase a person’s risk for becoming abusive, it is very important to recognize that abusive behaviors are almost always a choice and therefore can be controlled. With that said, what can we do to decrease domestic violence in our community? Long-term Batterer’s Intervention Programs are available to address issues of abuse and work with male and female abusers to hold them accountable for their behaviors and allow them to recognize and change their behavior. We can work to reduce prejudice against women and batterers would be less able to justify the abuse to women and the community.

It is also important to provide unconditional support to victims throughout their relationship and if they decide to leave. We need to realize that it is possible to prevent abuse before it starts and can begin by respecting and valuing young boys and girls as equals as well as supporting young girls to increase their self-esteem and become powerful individuals.

For more information about domestic violence, prevention, and intervention programs, please contact the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center at (530) 544.2118. The Women’s Center Business office was financed through a low-cost loan from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation.

Jennifer Marshall and Liliana E. Sanchez work for the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center.

By Liliana E. Sanchez

Each night, during the month of October, South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center displayed purple lights on our building to honor Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

It is not uncommon for us to witness acts of domestic violence at places such as the market, at work, next door or possibly in our own home. It is our hope the purple lights will bring continued awareness well beyond that one month so the community of South Lake Tahoe does not tolerate domestic violence and victims have options.

For victims of domestic violence, every part of their life may feel turned upside-down and the abuse they experience my also affect friends and family. For those of you who have never experienced abuse from a partner or family member, a life “walking on eggshells” to avoid further abuse may be difficult to comprehend. To better understand what victims of domestic violence experience on a daily basis, we begin this four-part educational series by explaining the cycle of violence.

In every abusive relationship there are three defining phases which vary in time and intensity. These are commonly known as the honeymoon, tension, and explosion phases – the cycle of violence.

Each relationship starts out in the honeymoon phase regardless of whether the relationship becomes unhealthy. People pick partners based on mutual interest and affection. Both partners are on “good behavior” trying to show their best side to this new person in their life. People often describe this time as perfect or everything they dreamed of. However, in any relationship you can’t be 100 percent perfect all the time.

When you are trying to merge two lives together inevitably tension can arise. Tension in a relationship can be caused by anything, finances, weather, and even how someone spends their spare time. Relationships that are on their way to becoming unhealthy or abusive struggle to work through everyday issues due to lack of communication and respect which leads to the tension phase.

During the tension phase, one partner typically senses the stress of the other. They may try to change their own behavior in an effort to smooth things over. This phase is often described as “walking on eggshells”. Jealousy, stress, and often brutality are shown by the abusive partner as a result of the tension. Victims are often blamed or blame the actions of their abusive partner on themselves, they may deny that any sort of problem exists, and do whatever they can to stop the tension from rising, frequently to protect their abusive partner or keep the family/relationship together.

The next phase is called the explosion. It is typically the shortest of all and can be the most dangerous. This phase involves an explosion of violence such as intimidation, threats or physical assault. The abusive partner may use physical abuse causing injury to their partner that can range from bruises and broken bones to hospitalization and even death. During this phase the abusive partner is thinking about “teaching him/her a lesson” and will minimize, deny or blame their partner so they do not have to take responsibility for their actions.

In order to complete the cycle, the couple comes back to the honeymoon phase. Commonly, after the explosion the abusive partner may attempt to apologize for their behavior and try to make up due to fear that their partner may leave them. They may claim that they will fall apart or kill themselves if they lose their partner.

Different tactics are used to get their partner to believe them such as charm and/or manipulation. The abusive partner may believe and express he/she has total self control and will never cause them harm again. They may end up convincing their partner they are truly sorry. The couple has now come back to a place where they feel they can stay together and everything will be as it once was.

Unfortunately the cycle is cyclical, meaning it is only time before more tension arises and the abusive partner who is unable to healthily manage the tension will use abuse such as physical, sexual, emotional, verbal and financial to control their relationship and deal with stress. It is not uncommon for the honeymoon phase to fade leaving the abused partner going back and forth between tension and explosion.

So how do perpetrators use the different types of abuse? Why do they do it?

Look for the second piece in this series tomorrow on Lake Tahoe News.

If you have any questions about domestic violence, contact South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center at (530) 544.

2118. The Women’s Center Business office was financed through a low-cost loan from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation.

Liliana E. Sanchez is outreach advocate for the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center.