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Republicans want the ‘Bad Old Days’
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To the Editor:
Just as they did with Social Security in the 1930’s and Medicare in the 1960’s, Republicans are saying ‘No’ to reform of our health insurance system once again!
Just last week 68 Minnesota Republican legislators urged state Attorney General Swanson to repeal the new health insurance law. They want to return to the bad old days of medical bankruptcies. They want to let insurance companies deny people’s legitimate medical claims and to deny care to those of us with pre-existing conditions.
Alliance for a Better Minnesota reported that in just one day, thousands of average Minnesotans had showered these legislators with over 140,000 letters. Their message? That working people don’t appreciate the Republicans putting insurance companies ahead of them yet again.
I just wish the Republicans would stop being against any and all reform efforts, and cooperate for once with the Democrats for some positive change.
Harrisen Ornes
Winona, Minn.
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People need to wake up to political games played
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To the Editor:
My goal as a candidate for the MN State Senate was to deal with the real issues of economic recovery for our state, getting people back to work and having our state government live within its means. I regret that the facts point to Rep. Walz and Sen. Ropes playing politics with people’s lives in regard to the Red Bulls. I am glad if our soldiers are finally getting the pay they deserve. Instead of getting the members of the DFL Media Committee to take “morally outraged” shots at me in local newspapers, I’d like to see letters from our soldiers. I’d like to see the Red Bulls thank Sen. Ropes and Rep. Walz for all they’ve done while the soldiers waited for three years for their promised pay. What about thanks for the good jobs they have waiting for them after their military service.
An important goal for my campaign was to make education a priority of the state budget instead of a matter that can be shifted. Sen. Ropes has gone to local school board meetings for years, but I don’t see evidence of her making use of the information she received. Instead I see a growing disparity between resources allocated to the Twin Cities and monies coming to our district schools. Why don’t the DFL Media Committee writers ever use specifics to prove politicians’ concern? Show me the facts. How much money will our local school board have to borrow or cut to make it through next year? Tax dollars need to be used to fund the priorities. My hope is that people will wake up to the political games that are being played.
Paul Ibisch
La Crescent, Minn.
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Please justify 5% salary increase
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To the Editor:
I would like the county commissioners and Human Resources Director Tess Arrick-Kruger to explain to the taxpayers of Houston County how they could justify a 5% cost of living increase to the people in the courthouse. People on social security didn’t get a raise. People in the private sector took cuts in pay and benefits to keep their jobs. I’ve got the salaries paid to county employees and I think they all are overpaid. This thing about comparable worth better start to take into account what people in the private sector make not just other government employees. Maybe they need to look and 2-tier hiring also.
Ted Hanson
Houston County Taxpayer
Caledonia, Minn.
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Bill to help Houston recoup LGA should not be political
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To the Editor:
I was quite disheartened in reading the letter from Doug Baker of Lanesboro regarding a bill that has been submitted on behalf of the city of Houston and the intentions of Senator Ropes and Representative Pelowski. I would like to respond and clarify some information in his letter if I may.
First of all, the intent of the bill that was submitted is to correct the census numbers that are being used for the city of Houston. If the current State Demographer numbers were being used for unallotments, the city of Houston would not have lost LGA revenue in 2009. In our appeal of this fact and as part of a chain of events dating back to June of 2009, a representative of the Governor’s office recommended that we, as a city, bring this issue to the Legislature.
Senator Ropes and Representative Pelowski heard our concerns and they were so kind as to present the bill to the Senate and to the House on our behalf.
Mr. Baker is correct, the state of Minnesota has huge economic issues, and those issues fall on the backs of every citizen of the state.
I would only hope that the bill that was presented on behalf of the city of Houston “to correct our census” would not be used as a political tool for one candidate against another.
Mayor Connie Edwards
City of Houston
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Thoughts on tea parties and taxes
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To the Editor:
Thousands of taxpayers have spent the past year rediscovering their 1st Amendment rights. If you go to a Tea Party, you will likely hear something to the effect that, “I vote every time, but this is the first time in my life that I have really gotten involved.”
Tea Party people represent a broad political spectrum, but the main areas of agreement seem to be fiscal responsibility, smaller government, and free markets, in other words, long-standing American attitudes of self reliance.
Since the original Tea Party was an act of tax rebellion, I think it’s only fitting and proper to raise the issue of tax reform, or in the case of the FairTax, tax replacement.
The FairTax does not pretend to address problems of deficit spending or burgeoning government growth. These are problems which require drastic discipline on the expense side of the public ledger. I would agree with those who say this is a top priority. When it comes to free markets, however, the FairTax offers a serious answer on the income side of the ledger. Here’s how it would work:
We know that a consumption tax smooths out the normal ups and downs of the business cycle. People must spend money to eat, clothe, and house themselves, even in the worst of economic times. They do that by either going into debt or dipping into savings.
On the other hand, income tax revenues suffer in tough times.
The key to putting Americans back to work is investment. Consider the effect of removing capital gains, corporate income tax, individual income tax, and taxes on savings and education. The end result would be to free up massive capital for investment.
It is estimated somewhere between 10 and 15 trillion dollars would come back to the U.S. from the offshore accounts which were set up in the first place to avoid taxes. Now that’s stimulus you can believe in, and the beauty is that it would be private money. The role of the government in that case would be to “get out of the way”!
Under the FairTax, individuals would determine with each purchase when, and how much tax they would pay. Because of the “prebate” no one would be taxed on living necessities. Instead of 1040s and worse, your tax gets collected (and spelled out transparently) with each register receipt. Done deal! The IRS would shrivel to a ghost of its former self. It’s been said that the FairTax would be the greatest return of freedom to the American people since the country began.
As a Tea Partier myself, I feel threatened by the constant barrage of expensive utopian proposals coming out of Washington these days.
As a FairTaxer, I appeal to the Tea Party to begin thinking about how we rebuild the economy without growing government.
David Boone
Houston, Minn.
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We need conservative values
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To the Editor:
It’s time to move back to conservative values. The Republican primaries are coming up soon.
Jeremy Miller is the conservative candidate you can believe in. We have known Jeremy since he attended Winona Middle School with our son. Many road trips were taken with Jeremy and his family in support of the boy’s basketball team.
We now know Jeremy as an entrepreneur. He knows how to make hard business decisions and how to make payroll. We know Jeremy to be hard working, honest, respectful and an excellent choice for us to send to St. Paul to represent us.
Please join with us in support of Jeremy Miller for Minnesota State Senator.
Ron and June Hawley
Winona, Minn.
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