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Letters to the Editor

Throw off shackles of tax slavery

Steven Moen, Minot I find it incredulous that some prominent property rights advocates who are so called champions of people’s property rights miss the most egregious attack on property rights which is property tax. Property tax affects every citizen in the state, not just the property owners who are fighting the CO2 pipeline. Property tax increases operating costs for all businesses and farmers which causes the prices of goods that we all buy to increase also. It also reduces the buying power of all citizens as we have to pay the government for the privilege to live in the homes ...

Lesson of Watergate still timely

M L Berg, Minot Fifty years ago, in the summer of 1973, congressional hearings were being held concerning the Watergate scandal that occurred on the orders of then President Richard Nixon. A break-in had occurred at the Democratic National Committee’s offices at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972. As a result of congressional investigations, 69 people were indicted and 48 were convicted. During the same year, Charles Reich wrote a newspaper article for the New York Times giving his take on this scandal. Charles Reich was a law professor at ...

Where will city’s 85% come from?

Edana Kitzmann, Minot On June 10, 2023, there was a statement made that 85% of budget money (I believe from property taxes) goes for emergency services, such as law enforcement, etc. Where will that 85%, dollars, come from (if not from property taxes) to cover the line item of emergency services? If you believe a volunteer (without pay) for budgeted emergency services works, I would like you to cite any principality in American that has one like that and that it works for the common and greater good of the people who live or visit that principality or rural area. My belief is ...

Servant leader will be missed

J. Patrick Traynor, Executive Director, Dakota Medical Foundation, Fargo The Fourth of July was a bittersweet day this year for all of us at Dakota Medical Foundation. While we were celebrating Independence Day with friends and family, we got the news that our region lost one of its most outstanding servant leaders. Sister Mary Louise Jundt passed away at the age of 92 following a lifetime of service to others. I looked up to her from the moment I met her. She personified everything good in the world and so much of what I believe society lacks today: devotion, sacrifice, ...

Primary enforcement will save lives

Ron Henke, Director, N.D. Department of Transportation Col. Brandon Solberg, N.D. Highway Patrol, Bismarck Seat belts save lives. That’s the reason North Dakota’s law is changing from secondary enforcement to primary enforcement on Aug. 1. Seat belts are the single most effective safety device to prevent death and injury in a motor vehicle crash. Research shows having a primary law over a secondary law can result in a 10-12% increase in observed seat belt use and reduce passenger vehicle driver deaths by 7%. Those statistics are important because the number one ...

Statistics, polls create liars

Ron Schmidt, Tolna Lies, damn lies and statistics. Mark Twain, HL Mencken and George Orwell, where are you now when we need you. Numbers, numbers, numbers. 7-12-23. More numbers. CNN: according to a poll, 61% of Americans support abortion in most or all instances. Really! The same statistic cited as a fact for two different criteria. My understanding of the term “all” means without exception. “Most” does not mean without exception. With reservations, I’ll grant that 50+ qualifies as most. As a single, old man, I’ve never found babies to be a blessing. They are ...