TO THE EDITOR:
Who’s really paying our politicians? It’s easy to forget, but every member of Congress, including Representative Emmer, works for us. His $174,000 salary comes from taxpayers. That makes him, in plain terms, a public employee. Yet campaign records show most of his support doesn’t come from everyday Minnesotans. In the 2024 election cycle, Emmer raised $8M, according to OpenSecrets.org. Of that, only 6.1% came from small individual donations. The other 93.9% came from PACs, corporations, and large donors. His largest single contributor was the AIPAC, a major political lobbying group that directs funding toward candidates who align with its foreign policy priorities. Other top backers included investment firms, stock brokers, financial managers (the people who make money by moving other people’s money), insurance and real estate, which have deep stakes in federal rules and regulations. These groups aren’t designed to serve the public; their duty is to advance their profits. When their dollars fill campaign accounts, influence follows. That’s why our most powerful vote happens twice, at the polls and again at the register. The first picks our leaders; the second tells them who’s really in charge. So the next time we spend, we should ask: Is this dollar working for me, or against me?
Vanessa Davenport
Big Lake, MN
TO THE EDITOR:
It’s disappointing that some people erroneously believe that Tom Emmer is responsible for the recent government shutdown. As a representative, he voted for a clean CR (Continuing Resolution) to keep the government operating until the completion of the full budget bill. With Representative Tom Emmer’s help, the House of Representatives passed the CR. However, the Senators, including Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, closed the government by refusing to pass the CR in the Senate. The Democrats wanted to add $1.5 Trillion to the clean CR (called “clean” because nothing new had been added to it). So, the blame for closing the government can rightly be placed on our two US Senators from Minnesota, not on Representative Tom Emmer. I agree with Ms. Rutledge who wrote in the Patriot last week indicating that Congressmen should not receive pay when Federal workers are not receiving paychecks. Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana proposed a bill to that effect. However, both Republican and Democrat Senators rejected the bill. To his credit, Senator Kennedy has not taken a paycheck since the shutdown.
Marlene Schultz
Big Lake, MN
TO THE EDITOR:
My Plea to Congressman Emmer: I write to you as a constituent who resides on 10 acres of beautiful oak savannah and wetland in the far NW corner of Sherburne County. I volunteer as a nature education assistant at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, assisting with elementary school student visits from the neighboring districts of Princeton and Zimmerman. The fall visits were all cancelled due to the shutdown. I speak for many of your constituents when I say that your rhetoric over the past several months has been nothing short of despicable. I had not planned to attend the No Kings rally until you called those participants violent left-wing radicals, Antifa terrorists, and Hamas supporters. You know in your heart that the vast majority of your constituents are good, law-abiding folks, many of whom have been hurt by this administration’s illegal tariff actions against small business owners and local farmers. I’m deeply ashamed to be represented by someone who cares more about sucking up to a demented, corrupt liar than serving the people who entrusted him to serve and protect their interests. It’s never too late to do better. I hope you reach that conclusion.
Debbie Russell
Clear Lake, MN
