TO THE EDITOR:
Statement from Connexus Energy included a flyer that headlined GO ELECTRIC SAVE BIG. Apparent purpose—stimulate interest—it said, Go Electric. (My Air Source Heat Pumps costs me 30+% more to operate than N Gas, thus switch to N Gas. My previous Electric Water Heater cost me 20 -25% more to operate than present gas WH.) Other advertised rebates on Electric: Vehicles, Bikes and Riding Lawn Mowers. I asked myself what they have to do with upgrading our home? Why should John and Mary Doe get a rebate on them from money collected from the rest of us? Replies provided: the State wants more (so-called green energy, emphasis added) thus the push and incentives. In other words, their green is paid for by our green. (Money must come from somewhere to pay land leases, solar mfg and installation.) I have a problem with tossing out clean coal and even cleaner natural gas, especially as I see some of the greatest irrigated high production farmland now covered with glass, with energy costs going up. There is a place for solar but not at the cost of destroying prime agriculture land. Sad!
Tom Godlewski,
Clear Lake , MN
TO THE EDITOR:
A message to ICE and Border Patrol: If it’s legal, why is your activity such a big dark secret? Make the names and bios of the worst of the worst public, à la FBI’s most wanted list, and citizens will assist in their apprehension. But make that list current and accurate. Leave the hard working tax paying families who seek a path to citizenship in peace. They are victims of corrupt flawed U.S. immigration policy of the last 50+ years. You are treating our neighbors like Kristi Noem’s dog.
Connie Rutledge
Big Lake, Mn
TO THE EDITOR:
Imagine opening a tax return and seeing almost nothing owed year after year…as a billionaire. Here’s what one longtime billionaire reported paying in federal income taxes, according to records released by Congress and summarized by Associated Press: 2015: $641,931; 2016: $750; 2017: $750; 2018: ~$999,000; 2019: $133,445; 2020: $0. The filings show heavy use of legal deductions: business losses, depreciation, and carryforward credits. Tools available mostly to people with complex global business empires. Those numbers later became public after an illegal leak by an IRS contractor. That contractor went to prison. But now comes the twist. The taxpayer is suing the IRS for $10 billion, claiming reputational harm from the disclosure. If that lawsuit succeeds, the money would be paid by taxpayers. According to a 2024 report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid about $8,889 per person. That money goes to: SS, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, Federal income taxes, State and local sales, property, and income taxes And yet, those same workers are barred from collecting SS, Medicare, unemployment benefits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and most child tax credits. Who is this mysterious billionaire? Non other than President Donald J. Trump Who is really the tax burden? The 1% are.
Vanessa Davenport
Big Lake, MN
