Pipelines serve a common good; Shame on Biden for death of girl at border: Your letters
Your letters to the editor for May 28, 2023:
Nothing can be 'off the table' when it comes to debt limit standoff
By the time this is printed, the Debt Limit standoff in Washington may be resolved, but here’s what catches my attention in the week prior as the rhetoric heats up.
Both Democrats and Republicans are guilty - now and have been in the history of debt limit crisis debates – of political grandstanding more than problem resolution.
In fact, the evidence of that, to me, is what’s “off the table” in the search for bipartisan agreement. If you are really serious about solving the debt crisis problem in a way that approaches some degree of consensus – and you need consensus for a problem this systemic and this large – NOTHING can be off the table.
Listen to both sides at various stages of the back and forth banter: Medicare and Social Security – “off the table,” tax increases – “off the table”; Discretionary spending – ah, there it is but wait, Defense spending, the largest part of discretionary spending – “off the table.”
If half the federal budget is “off the table” or a “non-starter” in terms of debt limit negotiations, and if increases in revenue along with budget cuts are also “off the table," it begs the question of how much our congressional leaders really consider the federal debt as the Armageddon their rhetoric would suggest. Where partisan purity and rigidity dictates, bipartisan compromise is a pipedream and the country suffers.
−Bill Kubat, Sioux Falls
Changes to slot and perimeter rules at DCA will cause headaches for South Dakotans
Congress is considering changes to slot and perimeter rules that would create a travel headache for South Dakotans wanting to fly to Washington, D.C. For decades, a 1,250-mile perimeter has existed around Reagan National Airport (DCA) for non-stop flights. This ruling was established to keep DCA running efficiently, and to ensure smaller airports can access this important hub.If Congress follows through with changes to the perimeter rule, passengers flying to the nation’s capital out of Sioux Falls will likely see additional layovers on top of the ones they already deal with in Minneapolis and Chicago. This is because without slot and perimeter rules around DCA, airlines will likely prioritize longer flights from much bigger airports – sidelining the many smaller airports across the country.
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Instead, Congress should focus on finalizing the FAA Reauthorization bill and ensuring the current regulations at DCA remain status quo. A previous FAA Reauthorization bill considering changes to the slot and perimeter rules took nearly five years to pass and suffered 23 different extensions to the timeline, however, in an era of pilot and air traffic controller shortages, post-pandemic airline recovery, and increases in travel demand, we cannot afford a delay to the FAA Reauthorization bill.There are no commonsense reasons to eliminate slot and perimeter rules – especially because DCA is at capacity for incoming flights. I do hope that Sen. Thune, a member of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus, will pay close attention to this issue, and take the necessary steps to block attempts to change the rule. Those of us from South Dakota who want to visit Washington, D.C., and at times have important conversations with our legislators, should not experience travel headaches and multiple layovers just because our airport is smaller.
− Bill Cohen, Yankton
The death of the girl is on Joe Biden
I read with a profound sense of sorrow the story in the Tuesday, May 23 edition of the Argus Leader about the little girl who died at the border recently. Isn't it tragic that our current administration has chosen to invite people from all countries to cross our border essentially unrestricted? Shame on Joe Biden for encouraging a mother with a fragile daughter to attempt to enter our country outside the framework of our immigration policy. I sensed, in the article that the Border Patrol was being blamed for her death.First of all, the Border Patrol didn't invite her. Second of all, they didn't make the decision to make the dangerous journey, and lastly, it is their duty to keep people from crossing illegally into our country.A more appropriate path of blame might just lie in the mother for attempting to make this arduous journey with a frail daughter or one could put the blame where it really belongs and that is with the current administration for creating the chaos we currently have at our southern border.It is sad that adults make decisions that can endanger their children. I wonder what could have been so bad where they were that it was worth the life of their daughter to illegally attempt to enter our country. The young girl's loss of life is on Joe Biden. The Border Patrol was just trying to ascertain what their job was and do it.
− Randy Amundson, Sioux Falls
We're playing youth for fools with veteran compensation
Our disabled veterans are grossly under compensated. They've been asking various Congresses and Administrations for fair and adequate compensation since the end of WWI in November 1918, 104 years ago.In FY2023 a totally disabled veteran with no dependents is compensated at the ridiculous rate of $43,463.40 dollars annually. The National Average Wage Index (NAWI) for 2021 was $60,575.07 dollars per annum and the median income for 2021 was $70,784. The per capita GDP in 2021 was $69,288 dollars, among the highest in the world.They are only compensated for projected lost wages and not including a ‘loss of quality of life’ payment. U.S. courts now routinely award quality of life payments in any judgment concerning personal injury cases.Disabled veterans realize that they are being manipulated by our tax evading Elites who use campaign donations to Congress people in order to keep veterans' compensation low so as to ensure a low tax rate for themselves. It is open but legal theft from the poor and disabled by the rich and powerful by the Investor Class of wealthy Elites who constantly get something for nothing from a willing Congress.So…We can levy at least a penny tax on every dollar traded on the stock market to pay for the compensation due to our disabled veterans. This would be above and beyond the 1% tax on stock buy backs recently legislated and would apply to entire stock market. The New York Stock Exchange alone traded about 1.46 billion shares a day in 2019. There are presently 13 separate stock exchanges operating in the USA.This is now a national security problem.Once our youth fully understand that should they enlist in the armed forces and subsequently be seriously injured or sickened in the line of duty then they are looking at a lifetime of near poverty as disabled veterans and this realization among our young people will cause the armed forces to collapse quickly. In fact, this has already started. Enlistments are dropping precipitously. Our youth refuse to be victims.No one wants to be played for a fool, not even a young person. And that is what we are doing here, playing our youth for fools.We have no right to expect our young people to make a lifetime sacrifice like this so that our Elites can evade a fair level of taxation as they have for several decades at least now. Congress must act in 2022 to correct this injustice.If Congress does not act then we must prepare ourselves as a Nation to live without a viable armed forces for many years to come. Needless to say, that would be a great danger to all of us.
− Dane Keller, Sioux Falls
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Pipelines serve the common good
Most farmers across the Midwest understand the necessity of preserving the ethanol industry since so many sell corn to ethanol producers. Over the last few years, we've learned that utilizing carbon capture technology is key to protecting this vital industry. Companies like Summit Carbon Solutions have proposed a carbon capture project that will extend across the Midwest to help lower the carbon emissions of ethanol plants, creating a low-carbon fuel that will bolster the demand for midwestern corn.Nearly every ethanol plant in South Dakota has signed on with a carbon capture project because it is clear that the industry must adapt to low-carbon standards. However, an organized campaign is attempting to create a false narrative about this project, and the reality is that many of these opponents want to see the end of ethanol production and agriculture as we know it.Historically, pipelines have been used for various purposes to support our economy. It seems highly unlikely that the narrative of public outrage over these pipelines is accurate. Aside from a small minority, support for ethanol and critical infrastructure like pipelines is generally high across party lines.I urge South Dakotans to see past the antics of those who want to see the end of agriculture as we know it. Carbon Capture projects are essential to the Midwest agriculture economy and present a bright future for our state.
− Jon Olson, Sioux Falls
Reject the work requirement policy for Medicaid
Our leaders in Washington are currently discussing how to avoid a default on the nation’s debt. Included in discussions are some concerning provisions that would directly impact lung health here in South Dakota, including ones that threaten healthcare and air quality.145,612 South Dakota residents rely on Medicaid to access quality, affordable healthcare. One provision under discussion would add barriers to healthcare called “work requirements.” According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 91% of individuals in the Medicaid expansion group are either workers, caregivers, students, or unable to work due to illness. These requirements aren’t about work, they are about adding unnecessary and burdensome paperwork that results in people losing their coverage due to red tape.Other provisions under discussion would repeal tax incentives for clean energy, or would open the door for building more polluting energy sources like coal and gas while weakening the public’s right to engage in those permitting decisions. More than 1 in 3 Americans live with unhealthy air. Adding more pollution will exacerbate health challenges.As the Advocacy Director for the American Lung Association, I know firsthand the importance of healthcare and clean air for people living with chronic diseases like asthma and COPD. If these provisions went into effect, many more people could face poor air quality or the loss of their healthcare coverage, leaving them unable to manage their chronic lung disease, which results in more dire, costlier care down the road.These provisions would especially harm people with disabilities, children, individuals who are pregnant and seniors in nursing homes. I ask that Senators Thune and Rounds reject the “work requirement” policy for Medicaid and the buildout of additional polluting energy to better protect the health of all South Dakota residents.
− Molly Collins, Advocacy Director for Wisconsin and South Dakota at the American Lung Association
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Pipelines serve a common good; Shame on Biden for death of girl at border: Your letters
