Viewpoints

To the Editor:

It is unusual for members of a political party to criticize members of their own party. And yet, that is what highly respected members of the Republican party are doing, warning of the danger Donald Trump represents. Included in this group are Mitt Romney, John Kelly, John Bolton, Stuart Stevens, and J. Michael Luttig.

Liz Cheney, daughter of Dick Cheney, warns in her new book, “Oath and Honor”, that Trump poses a threat to our very democracy if he becomes president again. As she says, “We will be voting on whether to preserve our republic. . . . As a nation, we can endure damaging policies for a four-year term.

But we cannot survive a president willing to terminate our Constitution.”

Trump has railed against his perceived enemies calling them “vermin” and claiming that undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.” Such language harkens back to white nationalism and fascism. He promises to root out his enemies.

To the Editor:

In the last three years, $773,383,868 has been invested in the 22 Iowa counties that make up Iowa’s Congressional District 2.  This includes 797 projects in childcare, broadband, education, healthcare, transportation, environment, and others, all huge job creators and economic drivers for local economies and governments, non-profits, etc. that provide a myriad of local services.

These are the kinds of investments that make a huge difference in the everyday lives of Iowans. Anyone can see for themselves by going to www.iowaatwork.com. The website is interactive by clicking on the individual projects in the various counties and finding project-specific information.

To the Editor:

In Allamakee County, we care about our neighbors and come together to help when we can. It’s a good place to live. Unfortunately, some of our neighbors don’t always have enough to eat. Food insecurity is an issue facing one in 14 seniors right here in Allamakee County.

Our older Iowans deserve to live their lives with dignity. Programs like Meals on Wheels try to meet the needs by delivering hot daily meals, but the waiting list for meals is increasing and the funding is decreasing. Seniors struggle with securing SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) due to the legislation Gov. Reynolds, Anne Osmundson, Michael Klimesh, and Republican legislators passed. These politicians have created red tape barriers. Online applications and recertification requirements make it difficult for seniors to get the food assistance they need.

Have a holly jolly Christmas! Um. No.

There’s lots of holiday cheer right now but if you’re grieving, you can’t join in the merriment. In fact, this season - with so much focus on joy and togetherness - can actually make you feel worse.

I’ve experienced a lot of grief myself. I remember Christmas the year my mom died. I refused to put up a tree, decorate, go to parties or send out cards. I just couldn’t stand how Mom’s absence upended all our family traditions. How could it even be Christmas without her? It’s gradually gotten easier over the years but this time of year still tugs at my heart and sometimes overwhelms me.

If you’re feeling this way, please know that you’re not alone. So many of us struggle as the holiday season approaches. It often feels impossible to carry the weight of our losses, especially in the face of overwhelming cultural pressure to enjoy the holidays.

To the Editor:

The Democrats in the House all supported the Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the U.S. government open while some of Johnson’s, Speaker of the House, Republican party opposed it. This stop-gap measure includes funding for the military, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant, and Children (WIC). Democrats put people over party.

However, the Continuing Resolution does not include additional funding for WIC, which is seeing increased enrollment as food prices rise. Food Stamp enrollment (SNAP) has been curtailed following the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) and further reduced due to the Iowa bill that adds wealth limits, work requirements, and additional paperwork for participants.

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to some of the Pat Ward letters to the editor.

I would like to hear of one thing that is better under Biden’s Democratic presidency. From the Afghanistan debacle to the open southern border, millions of illegals, thousands of drug deaths, high interest rates, higher prices for everything, including gas, groceries and other goods, I just can’t see the positive side of these. At least the people in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco are enjoying all the crime, homelessness, filth, and high taxes in their Democratic run cities.

In all the pictures I have seen of the “big insurrection” at the capitol, I didn’t see a single one with Trump leading the protesters. I heard that Trump told the people to protest “peacefully”. Even the way it turned out, it was a lot more peaceful than the riots of the George Floyd era, which the Democrats called “peaceful”.

To the Editor:

In his letter to the editor in the November 29 issue of The Standard, it appears that Pat Ward cannot get over the fact that the Trump presidency made the United States better off than any time in the past 20 years. He is obsessed with trying to deride everything good that was done during the Trump presidency and attempts to discredit Mr. Trump’s effort at re-election. He is unrealistic thinking that what I have previously reported in my letters is fabricated.

A blessed, fruitful and happy Advent to everyone! Next Sunday we begin the season of Advent. The word advent comes from the Latin “Adventus” meaning “coming”. It is to be a time or season of spiritual preparation: preparing for the coming of the Messiah. Thus, we enter the weeks of advent as a time of anticipation and expectation, of hope and of joy, of light and of peace, of waiting and of promise fulfilled.

Pope John Paul II [pope from 1978-2005] said: “Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.” Therefore, my friends and neighbors, let us prepare the way of the Lord into our hearts, our souls, and into our daily lives. The advent season invites us to discover anew God’s presence with us; we are to learn the ways to be “on the lookout” daily for the Lord.

To the Editor:

No matter our background, faith, or race most of us want the same things, to make a good living so we can provide for our families, to live in safe communities that thrive, and strong public schools where our children get a good education. Those in rural areas living on family farms want to be able to hand them down to the next generation.

We know our small businesses on Main Street create jobs in our communities. We rural Iowans know we have more in common with one another and share many of the same values than some others would like us to believe.

To the Editor:

I don’t want to get in a game of words. I don’t make up words, my words are factual and real. I’ve lived my words, as I can ask any MAGA or insurrection member of the former party of Lincoln which no longer exists to just name me one Democrat or independent leader of any party in our nation’s history - besides the 45th former President of these United States - that lost in a fair election and tried and failed to overthrow this democracy, and who is currently making up words of lies. As for Mr. Engle and is his words, he repeats the very same words that his fearless insurrection MAGA leader is campaigning on.

Again I’ll write what Grassley wrote and stated about our current president Joe Biden that he would knowingly put out false documents for all to see even when he knows that the documents were false and untrue. How honest is this guy as a member of this current party of insurrection or MAGA?