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Show Page The Ogden Valley news Volume XVII Issue X November 1, 009 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745- 688 Fax: 801-745-006 Cell: 801-791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@att.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 801-745- 879 Fax: 801-745- 879 E-Mail: crwendell@att.net crwendell@msn.com Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The Ogden Valley news. guidelines for Letters to the Editor Letters should be 300 words or less. Letters must be signed and the address of the writer submitted. The Ogden Valley news reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Announcements Sought As a community service, The Ogden V alley n ews will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell & homecoming and Eagle Scout announcements free of charge. We invite residents to send their announcements to: The Ogden Valley news PO BOX 130 EDEN UT 84310 If you would like your submitted items returned, please send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The Ogden Valley news , while respecting all property received, will take no responsibility for lost or misplaced items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of The Ogden Valley news welcomes the submission of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical accounts or biographies, articles pertaining to contemporary issues, and/or other material that may be of interest to our readers. We also invite you to submit to the paper, or notify the staff of local events. Awards that have been earned by the reader, family members, neighbors or friends are also sought. While the staff of The Ogden Valley news invites the submittal of information and articles, we reserve the right to select which material will be considered for publication. All material, to be considered, must be submitted with the full name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the material. Letters to the Editor Misdirected Mail Can Be Important—Make sure rightful owner receives it At some point in time, everyone gets a piece of mail that doesn’t belong to them. Before delegating it to the round file, stop and think—it could be an important piece of mail you’re about to throw away forever. It could even be something that someone is waiting for, something important like a driver’s license renewal form or even a driver’s license. Instead of throwing out mail that you receive that doesn’t belong to you, give it back to your mail carrier and have them deliver it to the right person. Or, better yet, take time to actually call the person whose mail you received and arrange for it to be picked up by them. Cindy Maher, Eden Huntsville Requests Photos of Previous Eagle Scout Projects Many upgrades to the Huntsville Park and other properties in Huntsville have been completed by our dedicated Eagle Scouts. To that end, we are pleading to all scouts, former scouts, scoutmasters, and parents of Eagle scouts to submit photos of their projects, preferably with the scout posing next to or with the project. Our plan is to create a virtual hall of fame of sorts on the town’s web site. Please dig through your photo albums, shoe boxes, or wherever else you store photos and email them to <rsor@msn. com> In the subject line, please list “Huntsville Eagle Project.” You may also mail them to: HunTSvIllE TOwn ATTn COunCIlMAn SOrEnSEn P O BOx 267 HunTSvIllE uT 84317 Be sure to include the scout’s name and approximate date of the project. Richard L. Sorensen, Huntsville Issues Regarding the Middle East Beg Questions On September 11, 2001, Arab hijackers from al Qaeda led by Osama bin laden sliced eight pilot’s throats and used the commercial aircraft to attack America. The DJIA closed down 7 percent at 9605.51 as a result. On October 7, 2001, the “shock and awe” campaign in Afghanistan began; eight years later, Osama is nowhere to be found and on September 11, 2009 the DJIA closed at 9605.51 again. On January 5, 2008, Barack Obama was interviewed on Chicago radio by roland Martin and asked the first thing he would do as President. He said, “I will bring the troops home in a responsible manner, and initiate negotiations between Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds toward peace.” In June 2009, Obama, raised Sunni Muslim, now a professed Christian proclaimed a new beginning for Islam, accepted Sunni Islam’s highest award “King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit” and watched on as Mossad Chief Meir Dagan received approval from the headquarters of Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia, for Israeli attacks through their airspace on underground uranium enrichment facilities at Qom, which happens to be the holiest Shiite Islam Shrine in Iran. Afghanistan’s leader Hamid Karzai, a Pastun and Iran’s leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (birth name is Saborjian, which is Hebrew for “cloth weaver”), both claim to be descendants of tribes of Israel, yet are adherents of Sunni and Shiite Islam respectively, and both men are now being investigated for recent vote fraud. Some want Obama investigated for eligibility to hold office, 25 percent of u.S. sorties in Afghanistan are now being flown remotely by pilotless drones as some say the commercial jets on 9/11 were, 96 percent of the world’s heroin is coming from Afghanistan and Obama is asking Congress for 40,000 additional troops. Anything wrong with this picture? Howard Ratcliffe, Huntsville Suggestions to Reduce Health-Care Costs Listed Since the Obama administration is now raising the intrusion of the federal government to unprecedented levels by threatening to punish health care providers for simply communicating with their clients, and proposed health care legislation is also calling for mandatory health care coverage, the timing may be perfect to add other changes that would reduce health care costs by billions of dollars in the united States every year. 1. Ban smoking for all Americans in this country. Any citizen found smoking should face an automatic one year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine. If we can punish anyone who fails to buy medical coverage, why not really sock it to one of the biggest health risk factors and the users? 2. Shut down all tobacco companies in the united States and forbid the importation of tobacco products to protect the citizens from this proven disease causing agent. 3. Mandate that all people who purchase liquor, wine, or beer pay a hefty excise tax for the health damage from liquor consumption. This would include a federal financial restitution plan for those injured or killed by drunk drivers. 4. Mandate a federal excise tax for high-fat foods. Everyone buying a high fat food that exceeds the federal guidelines would pay an excise tax to help curb the obesity increases we face today across the nation. 5. Mandate that everyone must drink milk since it is found to have so many health benefits. Anyone not drinking milk could be subject to a fine and/or imprisonment for not following the law. 6. Any member of Congress not selecting the Public Option for medical coverage will be removed from his/her seat in Congress. Add a mandate that all administration and government employees use the public option as well. This mandate would allow the government employees and Congress to lead by example by showing how terrific any public option will be for Americans. If Obama is serious about reducing health care costs, these six suggestions (there are others) could be a helpful beginning. Larry Zini, Huntsville RINGS TRUE Tax Reform Petition Resubmitted to Utah Lt. Governor The public may be confused about the intentions of a citizen’s coalition called rInG TruE, which stands for reestablishment of Income Tax Based on Graduated System for Tax rebalancing and upholding Education. we are not advocating for a return to the old utah income tax policy. The old utah income tax policy and the new single rate tax policy are very similar because they both tax income at one single tax rate. Instead, we are in favor of a true multiple rate tax system. we want taxpayers to know that the GOP tax-policy makers refuse to clearly acknowledge that the current marginal tax rate of the middleclass is 25% higher than the marginal tax rate of the wealthiest taxpayers. Basically, the $75,000 taxpayer is being taxed at a 25% higher rate than is the millionaire. Ironically, we are calling for an income tax system that levies a 25% higher marginal tax rate on the very wealthiest, instead of the current tax policy that does just the opposite. Our proposal, with its higher top rate, will serve utah better than the Huntsman tax that lowers the top rate in an attempt to attract high earning professionals to our state. Our proposed higher tax rates are in-line with many other states. we are also calling for a new tax policy that incorporates an earned-income tax credit (EITC). This would stop the taxation of a very small amount of taxable income earned by workers very close to the poverty line in these troubling financial times. Estimated tax revenue loss from EITC is $15 million per year. The Huntsman tax reform ink hasn’t dried yet and already the GOP has reversed itself on one of the key provisions of the 2007 tax reform—the removal of sales tax on food. The reinstatement of tax on food would add 140 million dollars each year in cost to, mostly, middle-class utahns. Therefore, we advocate for a 140 million dollar income tax reduction for the middle class. Our proposal does just that. It shifts 150 million in tax burden to the higher earning taxpayers simply by using multiple income tax rates. Finally, we advocate for the increase in income taxes because of enrollment growth at our colleges due to the economic downturn and because our public school population is also growing. The current income tax policy removed an estimated 220 million dollars in revenue at a time when the GOP talks of cutting 850 million in critical public services. we are in favor of a multiple-rate system because, instead of removing 220 million, it would add that plus 100 million dollars more for utah education systems. Matt Frandsen, Huntsville The Ogden Valley news’ liability on account of errors in, or omissions of, advertising shall in no event exceed the amount of charges for the advertising omitted or the space occupied by the error. The Ogden Valley news does not endorse, promote or encourage the purchase or sale of any product or service advertised in this newspaper. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The Ogden Valley news hereby disclaims all liability for any damage suffered as the result of any advertisement in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news is not responsible for any claims or representations made in advertisements in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news has the sole authority to edit and locate any classified advertisement as deemed appropriate. It also reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Note: The contents of The Ogden Valley News are copyrighted. To protect this publication and its contributors from unlawful copying, written permission is required before any individual or company engages in the reproduction or distribution of its contents, by any means, without first obtaining written permission from the owners of this publication. The deadline for the OVN November 15 issue is November 1. High Altitude Fitness is now enrolling for preschool, classes, and daycare! EXCITING AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS Art Theater Dance Tumbling Karate Gymnastics HAF now offers theater and Spanish classes! |