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Letters To The Editor

Bergman unresponsive on critical commitment to democracy

To the Journal editor: U.S. Rep Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, is difficult to get a public position statement (on) any major national issue and he refuses to appear in any open public town hall to be questioned. By his voting record, he supports Trump’s Iran excursion (war), Trump’s Canadian 50% import taxes (including hockey equipment), masked immigration agents assaults on US citizens and huge increases in the U.S. deficit due to tax breaks for the very wealthy and corporations. However, even more concerning is whether his loyalty to Trump will overcome his acceptance of the will ...

Backs Ishpeming library millage

To the Journal editor: Andrew Carnegie – who would become a celebrated steel magnate and the richest man in America – emigrated at age 12 from Scotland to Pennsylvania with his family in 1848. Carnegie’s family was poor. They borrowed money to come to America seeking a better life. Andrew got a job at a Scottish-owned cotton factory as a bobbin boy. He worked 12 hours a day, six days a week, changing out thread spools of thread at a starting wage of $1.20 a week. Something happened during this time that Carnegie often recalled as a life-changing experience. He was given access ...

Election fraud typically a fraud

To the Journal editor: The Heritage Foundation, a right wing organization, conducted a 25-year study of alleged voter fraud and found less than 100 cases. Our Republican state senator investigated voter fraud claims in 2020 and found that our elections are secure. Look it up. I vote absentee because a ballot is mailed to me well in advance of the election, giving me plenty of time to look into the proposals and candidates on the ballot. If you're concerned about slow mail, you can drop in your designated drop box or bring it to your polling site. If you have questions, your county, ...

Imprinted, accompanied and entrusted

To the Journal eeditor: Every week, standard news cycles and social media algorithms urge us toward outrage, division and seeing those with whom we disagree as adversaries. In our deeply polarized culture, where everyone seems to be shouting and few are listening, we are constantly tempted to reduce our neighbors to political factions, demographics, or voting blocs. As a middle school literature teacher, I begin every lesson with an "I Can" statement—a clear, daily practice my students can carry out the door. Amid today’s political tension, our entire community could benefit from ...

America: Privately-owned or employee-owned?

To the Journal editor: I believe in a free-market capitalist democracy powered by the people, based on protecting everyone’s human rights, and not driven by profit/loss statements or winners/losers. Using a business metaphor, this November the American people will decide if our government becomes privately-owned or remains an employee-owned democracy. One person, one statement doesn’t threaten democracy but I took notice of Binance crypto founder Changpeng Zhao’s interview with David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times. Zhao stated: “Democracy has been hailed as, like, the ...

Politics clouds issue

To the Journal editor: A recent large political postcard reminded me of something I learned many years ago in a statistics course.  The statistic you get depends on the facts you use. The particular postcard was from the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee. It purports to list items where State Rep. Karl Bohnak, R-Deerton, has increased our costs of living. The item that stood out was increasing the Michigan gas tax by 64 percent, hard to believe. But apparently he did vote yes on a bill, in a package of bills, that raised the state gas tax from 31 cents a gallon to 51 ...