Letters From Our Readers 7-28-10

It's been a great experience My son played his first season on the Cuyuna Range Miners this summer who compete in the very competitive Victory League of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Association. He had an absolutely great time playing for head coach Jesse Smith and assistants Chris Olander and Russ Wicklund. He thoroughly enjoyed playing with each team member for many reasons. The dugout and on the diamond, was a place for team spirit, team building, much enthusiasm, and a very positive environment. Players and coaches always cheered on their teammates, celebrated their team contributions, practiced sportsmanship and also were there to offer support when things didn't go the way they wanted them to. It was nice to see many players giving it their all and leaving everything on the field.   As parents, my wife and I had a fantastic experience watching every game that Kyle played in. It was much fun traveling to games where ball fields were carved from farmland and the air was electric with the anticipation of town team baseball, played the way the game should be played, with wood bats. It was refreshing to see when team rules were followed and players who showed respect for their coaches, fellow teammates and the umpires. The Cuyuna Range Miners are doing many things right and providing a platform of participation in a positive environment. My son couldn't wait to play each week and we were excited to watch each game, and that's a testament to the players and coaches that made up this year's edition of the Cuyuna Range Miners. Memories made that are sure to last a lifetime. Kevin Hoffman, Aitkin We're trying to change attitudes My appreciation goes out to everyone who shared your 4th of July with us at the Aitkin Independence Day Tea Party rally. All of us felt a great patriotic spirit, and we accomplished our goals of celebration and education. Kudos, also, to the many who drove by with horns honking, especially those who waved signs from their cars! Aitkin School District has a deficit of $680,000. But, the district business manager said "a deficit is not a concern." The Aitkin County commissioners were told that the county had a several hundred thousand dollar deficit. But, the commissioners said "deficit spending is just an accounting problem." This is the attitude that the Tea Parties are trying to change. When Aitkin High School needs gym lighting, or Rippleside Elementary needs a boiler, why don't we raise the money ourselves, and save the money spent on professional grant writers? Tea Partiers see that Social Security has run out of money. The total amount of money being paid in has decreased to about the amount being paid out; but the amount being paid out continues to increase. Shouldn't that force something to change? But, it's not just Social Security that we pay into anymore. Since 1980, the federal government has been throwing everything it collects into one bag. Then the government tries to dole out to all of its expenses. When it comes up short, $1.2 trillion this year, the government just prints or borrows more. Printing money becomes a problem when people realize that it's only worth the paper it's printed on; which causes hyper-inflation. Borrowing money has the effect of giving up some of our sovereignty. We have surrendered to China's demand that we stop investigating the activities of their spies inside the U.S., because they threatened to call in their loan. What's so scary about the new health care law? If it's so great, why are we being forced to enroll? Why will we be fined and prosecuted if we don't? 30,000,000 more paying costumers sounds like a windfall for insurance companies. Unfortunately, for the insurance industry, the new regulations will declare most insurance plans unfit. So, most of that 30,000,000 will be left with no choice except government insurance, as will most of the rest of us. No, Medicare is not OK the way it is. But, first, repeal the new health care law, then make necessary changes to Medicare. Bill Maxfield, Aitkin Tea Party organizer 'Too soon old ... too late smart' Things are coming to a head. "ObamaCare" just got jammed down the throats of us citizens - 70-plus percent of whom opposed it. It's a shame that our elected representatives have so little regard for the citizens of Minnesota. They know our electric rates have increased about 25 percent, based on the governmental dictate that our co-op must buy a percentage of "wind-generated power" to satisfy the bureaucrats, a mandate that costs the co-op members three times more per kilowatt hour than coal-fired electricity. To get a feel for that, I was just billed $.1024 per kilowatt hour by Mille Lacs Energy; but comparing that to my XCEL energy bill for last month on a property in the Twin City suburbs is interesting: $.0736, plus .0036 (added environmental fee) comes to $.0772 per kilowatt hour. Options: None. It doesn't matter to the Obama Administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bureaucrats in Washington whether Cap & Tax passes: they've already announced a multi-billion dollar fee that will be charged coal-powered plant operators if the bill doesn't pass. Considering the above, and adding the recent dark of night ("recess") appointment of the new director of CMS (the Medicare and Medicaid Services department), Dr. Donald Berwick, who has publicly stated that he believes in "income redistribution" through medical programs, we now know what living in a dictatorship feels like. We're there folks, you're going to be "had" no matter what more than 60 percent of us (you) think. Sadly, if the current majority loses controL in November, there'll likely be a "Lame Duck" session and they will pass all of the above. But we're supposed to keep quiet and trust them, given their recent 11 percent approval rating. How about that old German saying: "... too soon old, too late smart"? Wayne Johnson, Aitkin Dallas Smith got it wrong In response to Dallas Kurt Smith's letter to the editor in last week's Age where he claimed that Obama wouldn't "waive Jones Act" or accept foreign aid in response to the BP Oil disaster: 1. Who is Jaime Dean? 2. The Joint Information Center (JIC) stated that "currently, 15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved in the largest response to an oil spill in U.S. history." JIC explained, "No Jones Act waivers have been granted because none of these vessels have required such a waiver to conduct their operations in the Gulf of Mexico." The press release also stated, "To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations' International Maritime Organization and the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre. In some cases, offers of international assistance have been turned down because the offer didn't fit the needs of the response." If you get your "news" from Fox you need to realize you are being fed Republican talking points that aren't entirely factual, and when you spread it, you are spreading lies and that is a sin. The latest lie is the Shirley Sherrod racist lie, then there were the "death panel" and public option lie, Acorn misinfomation. When people don't do the work to find the facts before they knee-jerk pass it on we get a country of upset people that are mad at the wrong things. There is plenty to be upset about, but let's get upset about true stuff and then we can do something about it. And to Bob Ihde, the military is a great example of socialism in action, you get government food, shelter and retirement if you're in long enough. The military is supported by taxes, or borrowed money (under the Bush administration). Has that model broken the military? And what specific examples of progressivism are you upset about and why? I would like to know specifics, just ranting about progressive/liberalism doesn't tell me what you find objectionable. Please give some specifics, you may change my mind that way. Bluster and name-calling doesn't convince me. Sanda Oslin, Sturgeon Lake Wednesday, July 28, 2010