Letter to the Editor
Take care of the little things PDF Print
To the Editor:

I don’t know about you but I want a president that knows the difference between serving the people and killing the people.

I will never forget what my 10 year old son said as we were driving in New Jersey.

He said, “Mom, if this country is under God why are we killing the babies?” Out of the mouth of babies.

That same son served in Iraq with honor. He had a choice to join the military or not. The babies that are brutally killed by abortion do not have a choice.

The war in Iraq is nothing compared to the war being waged against the infants in the womb. Nothing comes before the sanctity of life and if you can’t get that straight, how can I trust you with anything else?

Our taxpayer dollars are being spent for abortion through Planned Parenthood (that supports Obama).

If Obama gets in he will elect pro-choice judges and the killing will go on.

My dad used to say, “Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.”

A child in the womb is as little as you can get and if you don’t do anything about that, then nothing else will matter.

Joan Becker
Caledonia, Minn.


 
Response on election issue letter PDF Print
Editor’s note: This letter to the editor is not run in it entirety last week. We are re-running the entire letter.


To the Editor:

I feel compelled to respond to the letter titled Abortion, an election issue (July 16, 2008).

Of course it is! Again! It is the most divisive issue in America in 50 years.

I cannot criticize the writer, as I know the writer to be a caring, loving person. We have worked together to prevent abortions in the past (abortions are the taking of an innocent, helpless human life.) I believe life begins at conception.

As a ‘pro-life advocate’, I cannot let my concerns stop there. Respect for life extends far beyond birth. I includes supporting unwed mothers who may need our help, so abortion will not be their path. It means teaching young people to respect and value their own bodies, and the benefits of abstinence. Helping, when necessary to make sure children have food in their tummies each night; to assist the elderly, the sick and homeless. Educate our children. It is shameful they way we treat our veterans; many are homeless; many have inadequate health care.

Consider too the lives lost in Iraq. Over 4000 troops, as many as 30,000 injured, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed and wounded.

Human life is human life, all over the world, not just here in America. They are all God’s children. So, yes we do have to consider who a candidate stands on other issues.

We have reduced the number of abortions by 25 percent. But, still 75 percent to go. We must continue to educate against abortion.

But dividing this nation into Us and Them has not bettered America or God’s world. (Remember, God created the world.)

This must not be a single issue election again. For eight years many have waiting for Roe vs. Wade to be overturned. Six of those years the same party controlled the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the presidency, and also had a favorable advantage in the Supreme Court. Yet many are still waiting for that promised reversal.

Our nation needs a change in direction on so many issues. The war in Iraq. The economy, jobs and rebuilding our infrastructure. War and peace policy, education, respect for all citizens. Affordable, transferable health care. Shared responsibility, not just government, but the people themselves.

About that terrorism implication and Freedom of Choice Act quote. Please go to barackobama.com and check his policy on this and other issues. (barackobama.com/click on issues/then women)

Remember, God also commanded (no. 8) Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.

Julia Massman
Caledonia, Minn.


 
Land use planning in Houston County PDF Print
To the Editor:

This letter is being published to inform all Houston County residents of some facts surrounding land use and agricultural zoning. First, a little background: discussion of an original land use analysis started in 1964 and culminated with the first Houston County Land Use Plan that was approved by the Houston County Planning Commission and County Board of Commissioners in March 1965.  Original planning board members were:  Elling Solum-chairman, Orson Hempstead, Harlie Larson, Virgil Johnson, H.M. McLaird, Chester Lacheke, Arnold Ideker, Nels Gulbranson, Frank Haar.  County board members were:  Joe Wieser, Bernard Orr, Virgil Johnson, John Goetzinger, Sigurd Evenson.

A subsequent zoning ordinance was approved and published in Aug. 1967.  During the process of drafting the original plan a community planning consultant was hired by the county to give advice and public input was taken in order to get a vision for what the public would like to see in the future of the county.  Future growth areas were noted, environmentally sensitive areas of the county where discussed and economical opportunities were high lighted. 

The residents of Houston County, at that time, were concerned enough about the future to develop some guidelines that would lead to a rural landscape that is cherished by a majority of the public today.  These first planners developed a set of priorities and goals that have lead to a county that, over the years, have preserved the environmentally sensitive areas of the county (bluffs, streams, wetlands, etc.) while allowing farmers to continue making a living on the land with limited conflict  from non-farm development and still allow for some additional housing in suitable areas.  They also took into account basic planning considerations for trends in commercial and industrial areas (rock quarries and other industrial and business areas), recreational activities, traffic, and retaining the natural beauty and scenic character of the area.  It was a big step, at the time, but one that resulted in a county that is noted for its farming practices, beautiful bluffs, streams, and overall rural beauty.

Land use and zoning, in Houston County, has evolved several times from the original plan since 1965.  For instance, in 1978, it was felt that a typical farm was a tract of land that should be at least 40 acres in size and that density levels for housing should limit non-farm housing to one dwelling per quarter, quarter section of land (square 40 acres) in the agricultural district.  The last update of the Land Use Plan was in 1998.  State statue requires that county land use plans are updated every 10 years so two years ago the process of public input was started again. Townships have been involved along with Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisors, local cities and the general public. 

Please call the Zoning Office if you have any questions and/or ideas for Houston County’s future.  The number is 725-5800.


Bob Scanlan
Houston County
Zoning Administrator
 
Response on election issue letter PDF Print
To the Editor:

I feel compelled to respond to the letter titled Abortion, an election issue (July 16, 2008).

Of course it is! Again! It is the most divisive issue in America in 50 years.

I cannot criticize the writer, as I know the writer to be a caring, loving person. We have worked together to prevent abortions in the past (abortions are the taking of an innocent, helpless human life.) I believe life begins at conception.

As a ‘pro-life advocate’, I cannot let my concerns stop there. Respect for life extends far beyond birth. I includes supporting unwed mothers who may need our help, so abortion will not be their path. It means teaching young people to respect and value their own bodies, and the benefits of abstinence. Helping, when necessary to make sure children have food in their tummies each night; to assist the elderly, the sick and homeless. Educate our children. It is shameful they way we treat our veterans; many are homeless; many have inadequate health care.

Consider too the lives lost in Iraq. Over 4000 troops, as many as 30,000 injured, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed and wounded.

Human life is human life, all over the world, not just here in America. They are all God’s children. So, yes we do have to consider who a candidate stands on other issues.

We have reduced the number of abortions by 25 percent. But, still 75 percent to go. We must continue to educate against abortion.

But dividing this nation into Us and Them has not bettered America or God’s world. (Remember, God created the world.)

This must not be a single issue election again. For eight years many have waiting for Roe vs. Wade to be overturned. Six of those years the same party controlled the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the presidency, and also had a favorable advantage in the Supreme Court. Yet many are still waiting for that promised reversal.

Julia Massman
Caledonia, Minn.


 
Think, learn and question before you vote PDF Print
To the Editor:

In defense of State Representative Ken Tschumper, I know as a former farm girl, that cows get out on an average of once or twice a year. My dad’s did too. No farmer wants his cows going astray. That’s lost income if he loses them, and even more if he has to reimburse someone for damage. The difference is my dad wasn’t in politics and his neighbors called  him when the cows were out, rather than calling the sheriff.

In relevant issues, like public health, which affects us all, Rep. Tschumper has been working very hard to keep dangerous chemicals like atrazine from getting into our air and water. He is a strong believer in a safe environment. Among other things, he has also gotten  more aid for people with disabilities, for education and transportation to fix our roads and bridges, which are the worst in Minnesota.

On abortion, if the Republicans are so against abortion, why with a Republican president, Republican majority in the Senate (and until two years ago Congress) and Supreme Court did they do nothing about ending abortion? Isn’t it odd that nobody complains about abortion until election time, when the Republicans want votes? In my view, we can’t depend on the government to solve that problem. Rather than condemning the women having abortions, wouldn’t it be more effective and Christian to stop these distressed women from aborting their unplanned babies by instead asking them, “How can I help you?”

Think, learn and question before you vote.

Donna Huegel
La Crescent, Minn.
 
FairTax bill is a change that is possible PDF Print
To the Editor:

Upon telling folks about the FairTax bill, they frequently say, It’ll never happen.” This has been the common reaction to every big idea ever proposed in the history of man. If the FairTax plan is such a great idea, if it is much needed, then why will it never happen?

Have we become so cynical that we cannot believe that much-needed change is possible?

Have we come to accept the current tax code as a permanent, immutable part of our lives?

The FairTax bill would repeal all corporate and individual income taxes, payroll taxes, self-employment taxes, capital gains taxes, death taxes and gift taxes. They would be replaced with a revenue-neutral, 23% personal consumption tax. Americans would receive their entire paycheck. They would have the power to choose exactly when and how much to pay in taxes.

The FairTax achieves this by offering to every household of American citizens a tax prebate. The prebate will amount to 23% of the money they spend up to the poverty level. Families that spend only to buy basic necessities will be tax free because the prebate will cover their taxes every month. When a rich man decides to buy a new private jet, 23% of the purchase price will enter the federal treasury. America will return to taxing wealth instead of wages.

There are many reasons why changing the way we fund our federal government is necessary. Here are three of the most compelling:

1) Our current code is taxing American businesses into a severe disadvantage in competing in the global economy. Because of corporate, personal and payroll taxes our businesses have a 22% embedded tax in every good they produce. Foreign goods do not have this burden and have a leg up on American industries. The FairTax will give our industries the best business cost structure in the world.

2) Our current code punishes productivity. On average, Americans lose 33 percent of their wages to taxation. The FairTax will unleash the power of the American worker and greatly increase their spendable income.

3) Our current code violates the right to privacy of Americans. The FairTax will restore the privilege of anonymity long cherished but long denied. Under the FairTax, there will be no more IRS and no reason for the government to know how much you earn and how you spend it.

The FairTax bill was introduced in Congress in 1999. It is a big idea and big ideas take time to establish. Gaining momentum is the greatest challenge to the enactment of the FairTax bill, and there is no greater momentum killer than Congress. The only antidote to the failure of Congress to act is to let them know the will of the overwhelming majority of American voters. In just nine years, a grass-roots force of over a million FairTax supporters has been mobilized. FairTax rallies of over 10,000 Americans have been held, and 72 members of Congress have been persuaded to co-sponsor the FairTax bill. Most Americans have not heard of the FairTax bill and most politicians probably have not read the bill. Only by spreading the word on it will the FairTax bill be passed.

Ronald Reagan touches on the greatness of our country when he stated that the American people have always had the capacity “to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this greatest bastion of freedom.” We will do this; we will do it because we must if we are to preserve the greatness that generations before us created. To those who say, “great idea, it will never happen,” imagine the dinner table talk when John Kennedy told America we were going to send men to the moon.

David Boone
Houston, Minn.


 
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