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Letters

Nine concerns on Trump Administration

To the editor: I am 75 years old and have voted Republican my entire life. That is about to change. President Trump is out of control, and the Republican Congress is allowing him free reign. Here are some of my concerns: 1) Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol building. Trump calls it a “Day of Love”. That is an insult. There were 140 people injured, seven died, three were law enforcement officers. Trump pardoned over 1,500 of the insurrectionists. 2) Trump and Elon Musk gut most of our federal agencies with no basis, cutting billions of dollars of essential services ...

Offering three thank yous

To the editor: In the spirit of the Journal’s weekly “thumbs-up/thumbs-down,” I have three acknowledgments to share. First, thank you to the New Ulm Journal for a delightful article about the beloved Rick Apitz. I did not know Rick well, but like many of you, we knew each other. What others said in the tribute to Rick, I can wholeheartedly echo — he truly was a kind and generous. Whenever we had a chance encounter around New Ulm, I never rushed away. I’d let our conversation continue until he said, “Well, I gotta run.” Blessed be his memory. My second thank you goes ...

Crops coming in, but nowhere to go

To the editor: I wonder how farmers are feeling about this fall’s harvest as this year’s bounty is being tariffed into a purgatory of the current administration’s action and the do-nothing legislature’s inaction. The supply appears to be bountiful, but Trump’s hokey-pokey with his ever-fluctuating tariffs has left demand precariously vulnerable. You’d think that a fourth-generation family farmer with a modicum of political acumen would have fought harder to get a farm bill passed for farmers in his district and farmers in general. We can’t count on Michelle Fischbach ...

Listen to your child when it comes to shootings

To the editor: What will it take to influence gun owners to give up their assault weapons? Attack or death of their own child? I think that something so dreadful as that is unthinkable isn’t it? It could happen. Your child is going through drills at school just like everyone else, just as vulnerable as anyone in the classroom. He or she is scared to be there wondering when a shooter is coming for them. A friend told me yesterday that his grandson asked his parents to let him stay home and be home schooled. “I’m scared to go to school. How many other children are saying this to ...

The value of public power

To the editor: Did you know, if you live in New Ulm, you are served by a locally owned and operated electric utility? This week, we celebrate Public Power Week, a time to highlight the value of community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities. Public power communities, like New Ulm, offer five distinct advantages. Accountability and transparency means citizens participate in the governance of the utility at the ballot box and through city council meetings. Utility business is conducted in the open, subject to open meetings, public records laws and local scrutiny. Public power ...

Semantics don’t change the facts

To the editor: Politicians on the right in the U.S. House want to call dissatisfied constituents anything but what they really are. They refer to them as “a vocal minority,” “special interests,” “Antifa” (see Jan. 6), “outside agitators,” “paid protesters,” etc. In order not to meet with these real people with real concerns about the real direction of our country, especially in light of the big bad bill, which is many things, but beautiful is not one of them, these cowardly lions (Maybe they could blame their failures to meet and greet on “bone spurs.”) hide ...