Trump’s treachery has run rampant

At the time of this writing we are just a week away from the most important elections in our lives and I don’t know if there is time for this letter to be published in Reader. Yet we have seen Governors and State Supreme courts, as well as local officials hinder the voting process based on nothing substantial at all! The courts are supposed to act fairly in this matter, yet an appointee of Trump’s has removed mailboxes and dismantled machines used to process mail-in ballots during our elections. His wrist was slapped, and he promised to be a good boy, yet the damage he caused during our voting process continues to negatively Jeopardize our free elections.

The City of Milwaukee  which usually  has 182 in-person polling places, cut the numbers down to only 5! And in Green Bay which typically has 31 polling places, only 2 were left open during the state primaries!  In Pennsylvania’s June primaries, 18 polling places in Philadelphia were consolidated into 1! And the usually 80 voting locations in metropolitan Atlanta were closed! While in  Fulton County (where Atlanta is) officials consolidated 16,000 voters into a single precinct. And Fulton County Georgia officials also failed to send 2000 absentee ballots that voters requested.

All of this dirty dealing was recently topped off by the Usual October Surprise. NY Magazine tried in desperation to save President Trump from losing by circulating a bogus story supposedly retrieved from what was once  Hunter Biden’s laptop—including emails, photos, and videos attempting to prove that Hunter Biden’s position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company was sought specifically to elicit Joe Biden’s help in order to forge a dirty deal with the Ukrainians, However, recently 50 former Intelligence officials signed a letter saying that Hunter’s supposed laptop, reeks of a “Russian information operation.” And the Post obtained its information from Rudy Giuliani, the famous word spinning lawyer, tasked with finding this bogus info. In truth, Hunter was hired by Burisma in the hopes that he would be able to influence US policy in the Ukraine. But Joe Biden instead, pushed to crack down on corrupt companies like Burisma!

Two US GOP-led Senate committees recently found no wrongdoing by Joe Biden, and intelligence officials say it’s common for Russian Hackers to mix in forged documents with real ones. Forensic experts have already flagged “typographical anomalies” which suggest they are fakes!

So what do Trump’s lies and dirty dealings suggest?—the fact that Trump fears that even a manipulated election will not guarantee his re-election, and so he is once again using false facts and constructed conspiracy theories to portray himself as the recipient of unfair treatment. And, when his spoken treachery and propaganda just won’t do it, he resorts to outright lies in the hopes that they will deliver victory to him again!

Peter W. Johnson
Superior

Climate reality

While we ordinarily may not consider ourselves single-issue voters, this year we might want to make an exception as it’s becoming increasingly clear that one issue outweighs any other.  This is the threat posed by the disastrous, costly, and irreversible consequences of climate change or, more accurately, our climate crisis or climate chaos.

Fortunately, there are familiar policy approaches for mitigating and adapting to our new climate reality, tools used successfully in addressing past national challenges. First off, we can make markets work better—more efficiently and fairly—through using taxes and subsidies to give individuals and businesses market incentives to reduce fossil fuel usage.  A carbon fee and dividend is an example of this market-based approach, and a version of it is now in Congress (H.R.763).  Alternatively, carbon taxes and cap-and-trade emission programs could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they’ve been used to reduce air and water pollution.

Second, if changing market incentives is not practical, the regulatory powers of government can be called into play.  Voters need to recognize that the Trump Administration has weakened and even eliminated key environmental and efficiency standards for vehicles and power plants put into place only a few years ago.  This is part of a broader environmental assault aimed at keeping us locked into a carbon-based economy for years to come. We need to return to the idea that regulatory policies are based largely upon science, and designed and enforced for the common good rather than the vested interests of particular groups or individuals.

A third policy lever for addressing our present economic and ecological crisis is investment in public infrastructure: a Green New Deal.  A federal commitment to undertake significant levels of capital spending on green projects, along with subsidies for such investments by the private sector and state and local governments, is not only strongly warranted, but financially very sound given the Fed’s commitment to keep interest rates at their historically low levels through 2023.  Aside from the immediate job- and income-creating effects of this investment spending, and its multiplier effects elsewhere, we would be laying the foundation for future growth and global competitiveness in the post-carbon era.

Taken together, these three policy approaches—changing market incentives, regulating market behavior, and investing in green infrastructure—will encourage us to put existing resources to more efficient and better use, lessen our growing income inequalities, and put us on a sustainable path for economic growth over the next decade.  An economic trifecta!

I urge voters to find out where candidates for public offices stand in regard, first, to the magnitude of the problem, one that appears existential to some of us, and secondly the necessity of using policies like those suggested above in addressing it.  This should give you some idea of whether these candidates are operating in the real world or in a world of their own fantasies.  I suggest that we vote for the real world operatives.

Robert Schlack
Bayfield

Combine, combine!

We have a clear choice between Ashley Grimm and Joe Macor, candidates for District 3 St. Louis County Commissioner. Macor claims that he will remember who is spending our money.  Yes, he should remember, because he is spending taxpayers' money he gets for his adult foster care.  What he does not seem to know is if federal and state governments do not send local governments - counties, cities. school districts and townships adequate aide, they have to cut Joe's tax funded "business" or increase real estate taxes.

I see that Joe's lawn signs are with Trump and other Republicans. He does not seem to know that the reason our property taxes have increased is  because Republicans have reduced progressive income taxes in Washington and St. Paul.  From Reagan to Trump Administrations rich people's income taxes have been cut by 79%. Similarly, in Minnesota whenever GOP gained majorities in the legislature and governorships - they decreased income taxes. Minnesota lost around $10 billion of its budget. That is why our state does not have enough revenue to fund education, which is half of state's budget. College tuition has risen and our children and grandchildren are in debt. Minnesota local governmental units and schools are not receiving enough to fund education and other services, so local elected officials do not have adequate funding for our schools and other services and have to increase the regressive real estate taxes.

Seventeen states and many local governments have combined administrative services to reduce duplications and saved millions of dollars. I hope our candidates and incumbents will do this.

Western Duluthians, let us elect Ashley Grimm?  She will represent us well.

Mike Jaros
Duluth

Trump and the economy

As of October 21, you should know that America’s richest 1% now owns half the value of the U.S. stock market. The richest 10% own 92%. So, when Trump talks about the “booming economy,” remember that he is not talking about you. – Tax The Rich blog.

Jim Wright in Stone Kettle writes: Trump says “Stock Markets will hit new highs if President Trump wins. Tremendous growth like never before. If Biden wins, it’s strangulation. Not good.”
This is everything wrong with the modern Republican Party, with what the Conservative mindset has evolved into. Profit hits a new high. Yay! You never see a modern-day Republican crowing about how WAGES hit a new high. Or how the standard of living for the middle class is growing like never before. They never talk about how more people have healthcare, or enough to eat, or a decent place to live. The president never tweets about how poor people are getting a quality education to help lift the next generation out of poverty.

They never tell you how we saved a species from extinction, or lowered the increasing temperatures which are driving more and more powerful storms, and destroying croplands and giving rise to new and virulent diseases. They never talk about how they’ve balanced the budget, or just passed a sustainable energy policy, or achieved Peace In Our Time. Nope. It’s ALWAYS profit.

That’s the only thing which matters to them. Money. Rich people get richer. Wealthy companies get richer. The stock market is up like never before. Nothing else matters. Nothing. “Stock Markets will hit new highs if President Trump wins. Tremendous growth like never before. If Biden wins, it’s strangulation. Not good.”

In the early ‘70s, I read this: It’s the top of the ninth, and “Mankind” has been hitting “Mother Nature” really hard, and scoring almost at will. It’s important to remember, however, that Mother Nature ALWAYS bats last. Nothings changed since then. It’s still the top of the ninth, and Mother Nature’s still getting creamed.

Donald Trump and his swamp cronies NEED you, are desperate for you to believe it’s all about the economy. You think it’s about the economy? Try holding your breath while you count your money. See how well you do.

Gary Burt
Marble