Letters to the Editor: We need a working congressman for District 4

In the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., Iowa is currently represented by four Republicans. Here in District 4, our congressman is Randy Feenstra. Where is he?

A few years ago, the federal government passed an Omnibus Budget Bill. It funded projects in Iowa and the entire country. Representatives could request money for much needed projects in their districts. This money was to be used for roads, bridges, low-income housing, childcare centers and the list goes on.

All three of the other (Republican) districts, asked for and received $114 MILLION to fix critical problems. If no requests were made in a district, that area loses its share. For three years in a row Randy refused to request anything for our area and we got ZERO dollars here in northwest Iowa. The bill expires Sept. 30 of this year.

I’m wondering who in our area told Mr. Feenstra that our district needs absolutely nothing? Just this morning, The Des Moines Register, stated that Iowa has been hit this year alone with floods, tornados and other extreme weather resulting in over $550 million in damages and counting. In Rock Valley, (that’s in your district, Randy) nearly half the houses in town were damaged by floods! One of the things the Omnibus Bill funded was water mitigation. How are you not seeing this? Do you ever travel through the area you’re supposed to be serving? Even if you are busy, I’d think someone on your staff could have clued you in.

Also, Mr. Feenstra often complains about our “crisis on the border.” He continually tells us about the criminals, illegal entrees and the drugs flowing into our country.

We all want secure borders — no argument there.

For months Senator James Langford, (R-Oklahoma) headed a bi-partisan committee working on our border problems. In February of this year, Senator Langford announced they had a deal resulting in a tough, new border security bill. It would:

• Increase the number of border agents and asylum officers
• Raise asylum standards
• Expand the number of detention beds
• Close the border once the encounters reach a certain threshold.
• Increase screenings for Fentanyl and other drugs.

The 18,000 border agents union supported this this bill and asked congress to pass it.

President Joe Biden also asked for its prompt passage. He said he’d sign it as soon as it hit his desk and it’d be put in effect immediately.

When Donald Trump got wind of this bill, he ordered his fellow Republicans to kill the bill. He wanted to use the border situation in his run for the presidency and he didn’t want this as a “win for Biden” in this election year. I guess the criminals and drug dealers will just wait for you at the border, Mr. Trump?

So, Mr. Feenstra, as well as most Republicans, refused to take the bill up and sign it — they killed it.

Days later, Mr. Feenstra released a heartfelt message to his fellow Iowans, saying, “I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to end President Biden’s border crisis and protect our national security.” Why didn’t you look in your toolbox Randy, find a pen and just sign the bill that was before you?

To add insult to injury, after refusing to pass the bill, Mr. Feenstra voted to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security because he claimed he “deliberately and willfully allowed the crisis on the southern border to reach an extreme state.” Huh? Aren’t you aware that Homeland Security ENFORCES the law. Congress PASSES the laws for Homeland Security to enforce. You have to pass a law in order for him to use it, Randy. If you’re unaware of it, I’d have thought your congressional staff would have filled you in. The bill was in front of you. We could have been well on our way to a better situation on our border.

The impeachment went nowhere.

This same bill was reintroduced a couple of months later, and you again killed it.

As a sidenote, are you aware that your fellow Republican, James Langford, was threatened by your own party after he introduced this bill? Senator Langford said that the “threats are working” — not sure what he meant by that.

I think most Americans, in both parties, are tired of the massive amount of money in today’s politics. Especially disturbing is the PAC money (dark money). Thanks to the Supreme Court overturning the Citizens United bill, the money flowing to candidates, in both partes, do not have to reveal who and where the money comes from — think big corporations, possibly coming from overseas. Who knows?

According to The Des Moines Register, Mr. Feenstra has raised $3,709,479. Will we ever know where it came from?

We have an alternative — Ryan Melton. He accepts NO PAC money and relies on small donors. He has raised $59,057. Be skeptical of all the ads on social media, TV or radio. They’re the best all that dark money can buy. It is up to us to decide if we want someone who works for his donors or for one who puts our district and the country first. In order to do this, understand who takes money from out of state and unknown origins. Then VOTE!

Maybe we aren’t as divided as media continues to tell us. I feel Iowans in both parties want roads built and bridges fixed. Both would welcome much better border security.

I do not feel that Mr. Feenstra is helping our district. However, I do wish him well. I just hope that after Nov. 5, he’s looking for another job.

Patsy Halbur, Manning

Don’t listen to the Democratic rhetoric

I just have to write to all the fellow Republicans, Independents and disgruntled Democrats out there. I know how frustrated you are if you get this paper for local news, or HAVE to use it for advertising for lack of other options. I have talked to many of you.  It would be nice to have a paper representing everyone. In the meantime, just know we are the silent majority and nothing they print will change our minds. Most of us out here aren’t stupid, still have common sense and see and feel just how devastating these last 3.5+ years have been to our country. Kamala’s father, a proud Marxist, is estranged, but the saying she repeats over and over “To be unburdened by what has been” is very Marxist. Her ideas of price controls are Communism 101. Sorry Kamala, we love our freedom! That is the reason everyone wants to come to the U.S.A, and they can and have always been able to, legally. 

We know our government, Republicans AND Democrats, are compromised, it IS a UNIPARTY and we aren’t being represented. We are every color and religion and despite how they try to divide us, many see through it and it won’t work. United we stand, divided we fall, remember that. So many of the lies they have told and tried to call “conspiracy theories” are proven true already and with more to come. I’ll stop there, but I could go on. Make sure you  ALL get out and VOTE, farmers and Christians especially, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT election we will see in our lifetime. Take like-minded friends and neighbors or vote early in person at the courthouse when voting opens, if you can, because chances are they will try to pull something on voting day again!

Also, just so people aren’t pushed into believing the “Agenda 25” lie and propaganda posted by an out-of-stater in a previous letter to the editor, here are Trump’s Plans right from his website: DonaldJTrump.com. He even expands on all these at this website. Read for yourself, don’t listen to other’s rhetoric.

AGENDA 47:

1. Seal the border and stop the migrant invasion.
2. Carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.
3. End inflation and make America affordable again.
4. Make America the dominant energy producer in the world, by far.
5. Stop outsourcing and turn the United States into a manufacturing super power.
6. Large tax cuts for workers and no tax on tips.
7. Defend our Constitution, Bill of Rights and our freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to keep and bear arms.
8. Prevent WWIII, restore peace in Europe and the Middle East and build a great iron dome missile defense shield over our whole entire country, all made in America.
9. End the weaponization of government against the American people.
10. Stop the migrant crime epidemic, demolish the foreign drug cartels, crush gang violence and lockup violent offenders.
11. Rebuild our cities, including Washington, D.C., making them safe, clean and beautiful again.
12. Strengthen and modernize our military, making it, without question, the strongest and most powerful in the world.
13. Keep the U.S. dollar as the world currency.
14. Fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, including NO change to the retirement age.
15. Cancel the electric vehicle mandate and cut costly and burdensome regulations.
16. Cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content to our children.
17. Keep men out of women’s sports.
18. Deport all pro-Hamas radicals and make our colleges safe again.
19. Secure our elections, including same-day voting, voter identification, paper ballots and proof of citizenship.
20. Unite our country by bring it to new and record levels of success.

Lori Nehring, Alta

Destroying the Capitol

Sept. 11, 2001: Cruising smoothly at 36,000 feet somewhere over the North Atlantic. Halfway home after a busy week in Central Europe. Relaxing after the inflight meal on United/Austrian Airlines.

Quiet broken by static from the overhead intercom. “This is the captain. We have been informed that U.S. airspace is closed. There has been an attack in New York City. And the Capitol has been destroyed. We are returning to Vienna.” Swooping U-turn. A quick look around. No, I am not dreaming. Everyone heard the same message. Stunned and confused looks everywhere.

“The Capitol has been destroyed,” kept repeating in my head. Is it the Capitol building or did someone drop a nuclear bomb on Washington? Is the government wiped out? Is there no country to go home to? Are my wife and kids OK? Are they alive? What else has been destroyed?

Four hours of mostly dreadful silence and desperate requests for more information from the flight crew. Nothing. Landing in the dark, literally and figuratively. Ushered to an airport lounge. Given a sandwich and drink. Still no details. Bussed to a nearby hotel. Finally, after six hours, turning on CNN and watching the Twin Towers crumble over and over again and the smoldering Pentagon crash site. Thankfully, as tragic as the situation is, the initial announcement was not completely true. The Capitol is still intact. I have a country to go home to.

Jan. 6, 2021: Watching CNN again as thousands of misguided U.S. citizens attack our Capitol, trying to accomplish what the 9/11 terrorists had not. Would the breaking news tomorrow be that haunting message once again echoing in my head? “The Capitol has been destroyed.” Heroically, the attack is thwarted. The government survives.

The latest attempt to destroy the U.S. Capitol, and, more specifically, the government that it houses, is not coming from a group of 19 hijackers or a mob of thousands of insurrectionists led by a would-be dictator. The threat is coming from a group of wealthy power-hungry ideologues who have laid out a 930-page plan describing exactly how they intend to destroy our democracy, one step at a time. Their Project 2025 manifesto makes it perfectly clear how they plan to make our government crumble like the Twin Towers. 

Nov. 6, 2024: The morning after the election, I expect to once more watch CNN. I hope to learn that those now quietly attacking our country, and their enablers, have been defeated, this time at the ballot box. I want to erase that nagging phrase, “The Capitol has been destroyed” from my mind once and for all. I hope my fellow Americans, including my children and grandchildren, never hear it. I hope they always have a free democratic country to call home.

I urge my fellow citizens to pay close attention to candidates in the upcoming election. Look beyond the slogans and catch phrases. Look beyond short-term grievances and issues like inflation and the border. Vote for those who will defend our democracy, not plot to destroy it.

Tom Cook, Iowa City

Improving access to Emergency Services for Seniors Act (H.R. 8977)

The U.S. public expects EMS to be accessible and resourced, and to provide appropriate, quality care. Medicare currently reimburses EMS providers only for its services when an individual is transported to or from a hospital (traditional or critical access), a stand-alone rural emergency department, or a skilled nursing facility upon calling 9-1-1. This policy leads to overcrowded emergency departments (ED) and depletes essential EMS and ED resources, potentially leaving the beneficiary with a burdensome bill and an unsatisfactory experience for a determined non-emergent condition.

In early 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport (ET3) Model, originally set for implementation in 2020 through 2023. The purpose of the model program was to gather data on the most appropriate emergency service at the right time and place, aiming to improve quality care and lower costs by reducing avoidable transports to the ED. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the program’s start was delayed until June 2021. On Dec. 31, 2023, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) terminated the program, two years before the performance period end date, due to lower-than-expected participation, a symptom of flawed procedural issues. The program’s unforeseen termination by CMMI imparted a significant delay in determining the actual cost and value of our nation's emergency medical services and left the aging Medicare-recipient population with limited access to appropriate care.

The Improving Access to Emergency Services for Seniors Act (H.R. 8977), introduced by Congressman Carey of Ohio and supported by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the American Ambulance Association, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the National Association of EMS Physicians, would create a five-year model payment program to test a treatment-in-place model to improve aging Medicare beneficiaries’ access to EMS services after calling 911. These beneficiaries are about 40% of patients treated by EMS and between 12.9-16.2% of the Medicare-covered 911 transports involving medical conditions that do not require a hospital ER visit. CMMI will administer the treatment-in-place model under Medicare, generating valuable EMS and patient care data. The pilot program will test an advanced healthcare system model, leading to a higher quality and satisfaction of patient care and an economy of scale.

Kevin Miller, Sheldon

Libertarians

Given the price of corn, pigs and beans, Iowa leadership should be doing something other than suppressing voting. It could be that the Libertarians have some ideas that could be helpful to Iowa in the long run. Those who control our politicians seem to have tunnel vision. Many of the young people that are still living here would prefer a healthier state. Now that food production is in the control of major monopolies from Koch to Chinese WH there should be an opening for alternatives to corn, beans, chickens and pork. 3% of Iowans are farmers. Seems strange that agribusiness controls state government so completely. The consequences of that have been serious for our health and outdoor recreation. Now comes a CO2 pipeline.

Mike Delaney, Windsor Heights