|
Open Forum: Throwing away your tax dollars
Today we will find out if the Brainerd School District and its teachers' union will throw away $200,000 of your tax dollars.
You will note in the January 13, 2010, Brainerd Dispatch article, there is no information on what is holding up the agreement. Do the teachers' want higher wages, earlier retirement, better medical benefits etc.? Is the reason that the public would be outraged if they knew what the union wanted.
We all beleive that teachers' should be well paid and receive good benefits for the difficult job they do. But when does good pay/benefits turn into greed? The average cost (wages/benefits) for a goverment employee is $70,000 while the cost to a non-goverment employee is $40,000. What is the average cost of a teacher in the Brainerd School District compared to the average wage paid in Crow Wing County?
It is time for some light to be shown on what is the sticking point on getting an agreement. Also, hold the school board accountable for the final agreement.
Dale Domrase
Brainerd
Government, religion can co-exist
A recent letter writer from Pine River used a time-honored method to try and mislead people - if you can somehow criticize the person (Thomas Jefferson in this case) for anything, then his message must be invalid. This is a trick of the modern relativists to try and prove there really isn't anything called truth and that in this case religion and government are mutually exclusive.
Religion and government should be separate. I totally agree with that principle and so did Christ in saying "Render unto CaesarÉ." But religion and government are also complementary and can co-exist and be mutually supportive. Throughout history there have been significant problems when religion and government were too closely aligned. There are just as many problems when religion and government are too far apart. The problem arises when governments act immorally and moral citizens react negatively. Then all of the sudden religion becomes a problem.
The letter writer does not want to be governed by the Ten Commandments. Strange how much of the Constitution and our legal code are based upon Judeo/Christian moral philosophy, including the Ten Commandments. We are already being governed by many of them.
The letter writer also wants to remove the "glory" from "omnipotent" in our minds. Sorry, but that's impossible. He just doesn't understand, no matter how "open" his mind. As Soren Kierkegaard said, "If you think you understand, it isn't God."
On the other hand, God understands us all too well - and He still loves all of us.
Pete Abler
Crosslake
Conserving energy
When science was part of education (pre-Bush era), we learned about natural laws concerning conservation of energy.
Advertisements are now rampant for fancy electric heaters, some greatly overpriced, some deceptively marketed, claiming to save "up to 50 percent on your heating bill". Mostly hogwash.
One thousand two hundred watts of electric power gives the same heat whether from a heater costing $400, $30 from Fleet Farm, or consisting of 12-100 watt light bulbs. The difference will be in convenience, safety, fan distribution, or it "just looks so purty."
One 1,200 watt heater is about the most that can be safely plugged into a wall outlet. (Divide the rating, in watts, 1,200, by the house voltage, 120, and you get the current draw in amps, 10.)
One heater is about all that should be plugged into one circuit (breaker or fuse). Don't have a toaster, coffee pot, another heater, microwave, on the same circuit. Low power things: clocks or small table lamp, should be OK Many house circuits are rated 15 amps maximum, not continuous.
To find the cost to operate, divide the wattage by 1,000: this gives kilowatts. (1,200 divided by 1,000=1.2 kW.) Multiply this by the total number of hours you'll run it: for example, 10 hours. (1.2 kW times 10 hours=12 kilowatt-hours.) Multiply what your utility charges for electricity, say about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. (12 kWh times $.10=$1.20.) It will cost $1.20 to run this heater for 10 hours, whether it's a $400 heater, $30 heater, or a string of bulbs. This math works for almost any appliance.
By the way, in winter it's not much of a waste leaving a light on: all the energy used becomes heat. But do turn off in the summer, when your air-conditioner has to remove that excess heat!
A. Martin
Merrifield
Back to the old ways
I have a reputation for being rather progressive, however I sometimes feel like a conservative. The weather was a little chilly and I didn't go outside much so I spent some time remembering things. When I went to school we figured income tax this time of year in civics class. We didn't have calculators. We were given hypothetical incomes for families, farmers, bankers and we figured them out. Taxes were really complicated back then. We had true graduated income tax.
This was back in Eisenhower's time. We were paying off World War II and the Korean War and we maintained a larger Army, Navy and Air Force. With that graduated income tax we had a top rate of 92 percent on the last bit of the highest income. We still had people getting rich we had good employment and we didn't have the income gap between rich and poor that we have today. Now I know that there is a curve that economists use to determine where taxes are optimal for business growth, my old hiemers kicked in and I can't remember the name of the curve but it is inconsequential. The important thing is we have a grossly unfair tax system, we are going in debt and we are destroying our society by transferring all the wealth to less than 1 percent of our citizens. I would think that our true conservatives would want to get back to old way, as they hate change. Even if they can't go for that they should go for a windfall profits tax on bankers and stock traders That earn over $250,000, of 75 percent of everything over $250,000 until we get this war paid for and we get the country out of this financial mess that they were the major cause of.
Jesse Nix
Emily
Opinion piece missed the mark
The recent Brainerd Dispatch opinion piece by Bob Lee and Al Quie, on the ELCA, gays, and the rank-and-file misses the mark for both analysis and suggestions.
At the August 2009 ELCA Assembly in Minneapolis, many of those voting were lay people. Lay members were part of the process to allow congregations to call as pastors gays and lesbians who are in committed relationships.
It is misleading for Lee and Quie to state as fact that most ELCA "members were caught off guard" by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly vote.
The large majority of active ELCA members knew this action would be considered at the Assembly in August. Some ELCA lay members, such as Lee and Quie, are against the action. Others, such as I, supported the decision to allow congregations to call homosexuals as pastors. The key issues are what is central to the Christian faith as understood by Lutherans and what is welcoming and outreaching to all people of that faith.
There is an alternative to ELCA congregations stopping all funding they send to the ELCA. Congregations could continue to send funds for the many programs of the ELCA that a congregation supports. Those programs may include outreach, starting new congregations, providing congregational resources, and global ministries.
Yes, as Lee and Quie state, within the ELCA, "it's up to us lay people." Our choice is whether lay people help find a way to move forward or whether we try to obstruct all of the effective programs of the ELCA
Phil Roe
Minneapolis
ELCA vote was no surprise
In their letter to the editor, Bob Lee and Al Quie claim the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America "turned its back on members of its churches É." While I do not agree with the distress of these writers and others over the ELCA's decision, I can understand it. What I cannot understand is how they, well informed as they are about the ELCA, can claim that "most members were caught off guard" by the ELCA's action at its August assembly. The fact is the ELCA provided much information on the entire range of human sexuality issues. Several studies and response mechanisms were available to congregations and individual members over at least a decade. If people were "caught off guard" it is because either they or their local leaders were not paying attention.
In addition, the writers object to ELCA Articles of Incorporation that "prevent us from voting." "Prevent" is charged language sounding as if there is a conspiracy designed to exclude members. The ELCA has been in existence under its current governance model since 1988. This model was adopted by congregations, synods and a 1987 churchwide assembly.
They also argue that individual members of the ELCA should be able to vote on nearly all churchwide matters. It is hard to imagine any organization the size of the ELCA under such a system. That model would make the ELCA a totally politically charged church body as well as lead to chaos. The ELCA seeks to rise above decisions that are only based on "one person, one vote" as does almost every other church body or, for that matter, our nation's system of government. God's will is not necessarily a matter of popular vote.
Rev. Gary F. Anderson, retired ELCA pastor
Retired ELCA pastor
Hugo
Motorists should drive carefully
Late last spring my wife and I were coming through Merrifield when we were stopped and detoured by an accident that had taken place. I found out later that the accident was the one that had taken the life of little Jack Larson. Since that time, each time I pass the spot of the accident, I take pause and say a prayer for Jack and his family. Lately signage that has been posted by Jacks family, only strengthens my sense of caring. I wondered this Christmas what it must have been like for the Larson family, to have that little boy missing from their lives. I wondered what it is like each day to get up to a new sunrise and try to pick up the pieces and go on. I am sure none of us who haven't experienced such tragedy will ever know the extent of their grief.
Many times in the last year I have taken notice of drivers who are always in a hurry. They crowd your back bumper when you are already going the speed limit. Some of them weave in and out looking for an opening so they can blow you off the road when they go by. All you can do is get out of their way and hope they don't kill someone before they get where they want to be.
If you are one of these people who are always in a hurry I ask you to go to Merrifield and look at the picture of that little boy on those signs and ask yourself, would you ever want to be the reason for someone to have to make signs like that to get people to drive sensibly? Don't ruin your life and someone else's. Drive carefully and within the law.
Mike Holst
Crosslake
A legislator should be available
A recent letter in the Dispatch said that former one-term representative Paul Gazelka's challenge of Senator Paul Koering for the Republican endorsement "is divisive and makes no sense." I agree. Gazelka should be running to take back the seat he lost.
He stated last September, at a well attended Morrison County Republican meeting, that he's not running for his former seat because he wants a longer term so he doesn't have to campaign so much. That's correct. I heard it and so did everyone else. He's running for office, but he doesn't want to campaign very much, yet he wants our support!
Does he think he only has to campaign when it's an election year? Does he think his only job is to be in St. Paul during the legislative session, and then he can go home and forget about his constituents?
That's not the way it works! Whether it's an election year or not, a legislator is expected to be available to his constituents at all times. He should attend parades, festivals, picnics, dinners and meetings of various organizations. If he's a "no show," people feel he doesn't care.
Maybe that's why Gazelka was soundly defeated for re-election in 2006.
Clara Kedrowski
Little Falls
To Subscribe to the Brainerd Dispatch, Click Here.
Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Brainerd Dispatch. Please read our posting rules in the terms of service policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the triangle alert icon.
|
|
Top Commented Articles
