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Open Forum Making issues out of non-issues
Michelle Bachman, Minnesota's Republican U.S. representative from the Twin Cities area, has picked up the banner for her party's attempt at creating an issue out of a non-issue. She is on television encouraging the U.S. House to pass legislation which would allow Big Oil to drill in the ANWR wilderness as well as increase offshore drilling. Can we ask Michelle to find her own planet and drill in her own wilderness and leave ours alone? The irony is, increasing the number of barrels of oil won't lower the price at the pump for at least 10 years. It's not a supply problem! It's a Big Oil Profits issue! John McCain has recently flip-flopped on this issue as well, citing that off shore drilling is environmentally safe. The fact is, there have been 80 spills in the last several years and there is no way to predict what the risks may be.
The biggest loss would be the recent momentum towards non-petroleum based transportation. You would think the Republicans would be happy to see the free market system succeeding in this area with new electric and hydrogen based vehicles hitting the news every day! What an exciting proposition to be free of our dependence on oil and have a cleaner planet to look forward to! If gas prices did drop back down, all of that momentum would be out the window.
What I think the Republican party is really afraid of is the fact that Barack Obama is honest, thoughtful, intelligent and not letting himself be smeared by their rumors and attacks so they need to create issues out of non-issues because that is the only thing they have left to campaign on. I'm not fooled.
Rachel M. Johnson
Brainerd
A Democratic blunder
I must take issue with the Dispatch article "Our Shrinking Middle Class."
The author of that letter is one of my good friends but our political leanings are a bit different. I prefer to stick to facts not emotions. History has shown for every dollar increase in taxes, Congress has spent $1.38 of new spending. The writer should do the analysis as to how much the additional revenue would be brought in by raising taxes on the rich. Democratic solutions have always been "just raise the taxes as long as I don't have to pay."
Instead, let's look what effects are caused by high petroleum prices on our economy. Everyone is probably paying an additional $100 per month for high gas prices. One week of high gas prices will offset an entire year of tax increases on the rich. The high price of gas has more negative effect on the poor or middle class than on the rich. Oil prices have increased the cost of food, transportation and almost every other commodity.
The high cost of gas can be clearly be put on the Democratic door step! As you fill your gas tanks you should cuss the Democrats and see what each presidential candidate has to offer to get us energy independence. The negative Democrat action began when President Carter signed a bill to prohibit reprocessing of spent nuclear waste - the sky is falling mentality. The Democrats have consistently voted to prohibit any new U.S. oil drilling or any new oil refineries. In 1995 President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have given us over one million barrels of oil per day.
The high cost of gasoline and the corresponding effect on our economy is very clearly a Democratic blunder and let's not try to spin it any other way.
Robert Olson
Ideal Township
Thoughts on the national debt
1. What is the national debt?
2. What is the next number?
Do you realize Uncle Sam has reached this number nine times? He's going for double digits.
Sherman Sheets
Staples
Pelosi Premium at the pumps
Assistant U.S. Senate boss Dick Durbin was questioned recently by Campbell Brown of CNN on why the Democratic congress hasn't done anything about rising oil and gas prices. His evasive, clueless response was to "elect more Democrats." Really?
Some in Washington, D.C. are calling the huge increase in oil prices since Democrats took over in 2006 as the Pelosi Premium" (Washington Times, June 2). Why? Because the U.S. House speaker's Democratic caucus has consistently voted against boosting U.S. oil and natural gas exploration. Instead, subsidies for environmentally friendly resources such as switch grass and wood chips have been expanded. The problem is my wife's car doesn't run on switch grass or wood chips.
John Holley
Ironton
Emphasis placed on 'teacher'
I take issue with your Sunday article headline, "LF (Little Falls) teacher arrested in Reed's thefts." To me this implies that his also being a teacher played a role in his stealing of approximately $140,000 in Reed's merchandise over the last five years.
I think that a more accurate and appropriate headline would have been simply, "Long-term Reed's employee arrested for stealing company merchandise."
P.S. Also note that the continuation of the front page article was, "see teacher, Page 5A" with teacher in very bold print.
Duane Welch
Crosby
Beware of pro-life politicians
Beware of politicians who claim to be "pro-life," but want to starve government programs that improve life. They say government should stay out of our lives, but want to force women to carry a clump of dividing cells to term, regardless if they can care for a child without abuse or neglect. When the fetal alcohol, meth and crack babies reach school age, the politicians can then blame the public schools for failing to teach advanced algebra to the brain-damaged children under No Child Left Behind.
If we do what is right for the common good, we all benefit from a healthy community and economy. Bill Gates, Sr. has told us from a business perspective: "There's no way to run this country without taxation." One of our former governors, Elmer L. Anderson, gave us sage advice for smart investment. He advised that "taxes put money into the economy, into essential services." His recommendation for future political leaders is to "get back to the traditions of Minnesota as a progressive, thoughtful, sensible community of people that address issues as they come up in a bipartisan setting and with due regard to economic stabilization and a caring concern for future generations and the ultimate well-being of those less able to compete."
In recent years, voters have elected candidates who campaign on "pro-life and no taxes" without seeing the hypocrisy in their policies. We need leaders who have diplomatic skills to keep us out of wars, creativity to encourage investment in alternative clean energy technologies, and ability to keep their focus on raising revenue to fund our shared infrastructure needs, schools, Social Security, and health care for the common good.
Dr. Robert O. Uppgaard
Pequot Lakes
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