Your Letters

We're looking for the Republican Party. It has been missing now for several years. We fear it has been kidnapped. Seems a new entity called The Tea Party has infiltrated the traditional Republican Party, taken over its leadership and eviscerated the thinking of traditional Republicans....

Television commentator Ben Stein wrote several years ago, "The real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to the road north of Baghdad. He approached it and the bomb went off and killed him. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S....

It looks like we can look forward to a weekly letter from former Senator Dan Skogen. Just to keep things in perspective, the Minnesota Taxpayers League gave Skogen a four-year average score of 14 out of a possible 100. That leads me to believe that former Senator Dan Skogen is a...

In his recent letter defending his vote to eliminate the Homestead Credit, Representative Murdock implies that his vote to cut $538 million in property tax relief aid will not lead to higher property taxes. That is simply not true. Thanks to Representative Murdock, 95 percent of...

No matter how taxpayers slice it, local governments are to blame for raising levies. Local governments are in fact responsible for the costs of their governments, not the Minnesota Legislature. Nor is LGA available to many local governments because they do not qualify and because...

Halloween is but a few days away and there are still some who are wondering how they can scare their friends as though things happening across the country aren't scary enough! One doesn't know anymore if someone is wearing a mask for Halloween or equipping himself for a march on Wall...

I am a law abiding citizen and tax payer yet it seems I have no rights. My neighbor's cattle get out year after year and proceed to trash my garden. I have offered to pay for the electricity to run an electric fencer, I offered to buy some of the property along the fence line, I...

There are some things to clear up regarding homestead tax credits. The Legislature did not eliminate property-tax relief for homeowners and it also did not cause automatic property-tax increases. It seems confusion on these fronts has arisen after the Legislature overhauled the Market...

We all need your help from the dreadful whistles in all the small towns along the railroad. I've always heard that anything above 80 decibels is damaging to our hearing. A friend of mine used a meter and it was recorded at 130 decibels and when this person held her hands over her...

As you get ready to pay the second half of you Minnesota property taxes, take a look at the line on your statement called Market Value Homestead Credit (MVHC). Thanks to the 2011 Legislature, this program is completely eliminated and your property taxes will go up. What's more troubling...

Having grown up and spent most of my life in Wadena County - ever since I can remember - I admired the large white Mansion in Wadena (the now named "Miracle Mansion") and ached to go inside and see what it looked like. That wish was finally granted. On a recent trip to Wadena, having...

A week or two ago I read an opinion by a reader named Mr. Rod Broding titled "Imagining A More Perfect Nation." As I read his words I became concerned at his using the Bible to support a political position. Probably because in recent days we have seen more and more political posturing,...

I want to thank the County Board for passing a levy with no increase. I could be facetious and say it's about time but I won't. I'm glad they had the courage and will to hold the line on taxes. I also see that Sebeka is holding the line on taxes too. But what are the people of Verndale...

Morgan Freeman was one of the few Hollywood actors that I had respect for. Mr. Freeman recently said that the Tea Party wants to make President Obama a one term president because President Obama is black. Mr. Freeman no longer has my respect. How can Hollywood and the left claim...

Recently here at the Soil and Water Conservation District we've had quite a few phone calls on tree questions. Since it's drying out very quickly this fall we want to remind EVERYONE to please water your trees! It won't be long until they go dormant and won't require any more watering,...