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Letters To The Editor

Leave federal workers alone

To the Journal editor: How did federal employees become the enemy or the scapegoat for our nation’s problems, according to some members of Congress?   Federal employees are our neighbors who keep us safe at airports, protect our food and water supplies, predict our weather and manage our national parks, forests and wildlife refuges for the greater good based on laws and science. Federal employees are not becoming millionaires in their jobs; they are just average citizens. The starting annual salary for a GS-5 entry level position with most agencies is approximately $35,000. If ...

Shutdown reasons clear

As of this writing, the federal government has shut down. There are 2 main issues: 1. Health Care; 2. Congress’ constitutional power to set the budget and the president's constitutional duty to follow the budget. Re: Health care: Democrats are asking for an extension of tax credits for health care and reversal of Medicaid cuts. This is not new spending. It restores $1 trillion cut in the Republican budget passed this summer. Only middle and low income families are eligible. Undocumented immigrants are not/will not be eligible for Affordable Care Act coverage, Medicare or ...

Bergman missed mark on shutdown

I just got a letter from U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, that made me see red. He said that the government shut down because “Democrats blocked a straightforward measure.” Well, I suppose the measure is straighforward, straighforward in ceasing the Affordable Care Act subsidies that allow 20 million people health care insurance. Straighforward in its gigantic cuts to Medicaid. By the way, half the children in the country get health care through Medicaid. And Republicans have been straighforward in telling the Democrats that, yes, they will vote to maintain current funding for ...

Bergman and immigrants

To the Journal editor: Why does U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, have such a strange fixation on immigrants? I received an email survey from his office about the budget and the government shutdown. The only specific thing mentioned was that the Democrats want to increase spending on healthcare for immigrants. That is seriously weird and is not even true. Democrats want to restore subsidies for insurance payments under the Affordable Care Act and to restore cuts to Medicaid. Rep. Bergman failed to mention the big tax cuts for billionaires in the Republican budget. He failed to ...

Program helped people

I am writing ... to express deep disappointment over the decision in the FY 2025–26 School Aid budget to eliminate all $19.4 million in funding for the Great Start Collaborative and Family Coalition programs. This funding, part of the Great Start Early Childhood Block Grant, supported families with children from birth to age five across every Michigan county. Great Start helped parents find child care, early learning, developmental screenings, literacy programs, and home visits. It wasn’t a luxury—it was the backbone of early childhood coordination statewide. Because of this ...

Getting educated key

To the Journal editor: This administration is infectious. I’ve seen it with my own family members go from Biden voters to Trump voters. It is a malaise within their moral compass. Frankly, it is concerning how polarizing our two worlds are. For example, if I send my father a political video or vice versa, nine times out of ten we are not watching. We desire confirmation bias, not each other’s world view. We have to have honest conversations about our bubbles and what we’re paying attention to in order to make proactive choices in the future. Let’s try to be open to each other, ...