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Platteville Journal Letters to the Editor for Oct. 24
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Votes for Marklein

We are writing today in support of Rep. Howard Marklein for state Assembly. We are voting for Marklein because not only is he intelligent, honest and hardworking, but also because he shares our values and understands what is important to our family.

We are proud of our family farm in rural Lafayette County, which is more than 120 years old. Howard understands the importance of Wisconsin’s family farms because he was raised on a farm near Spring Green. Additionally, he has earned the endorsement of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau.

Our family also has a strong passion for hunting, fishing and the outdoors. Howard is also an avid outdoorsman and shares our strong belief in the Second Amendment.

Finally, as senior citizens on a fixed income, we are also concerned about property taxes. We were glad to know Howard voted for the first permanent property tax freeze in state history. He also fought hard to balance the state budget and eliminate the $3.6 billion deficit so that our children and grandchildren will not have to bear the burden of a large debt.

George and Camella Wand
Gratiot

None of the above

Have we had enough? Is there a reason we don’t have a budget? Of course there is; anything you should accomplish and can’t blame on someone else is not done.

Why no Farm Bill? But Congress can put through a Health and Lunch Bill before anyone hears them on the floor. If it took the farmer as long to put in our crops as it does the government to put through a Farm Bill, they wouldn’t need a leaner lunch program. You guys would all be eating very thin soup.

Without a Farm Bill, who will give the 47 percent “of jobless Mitt Romney mentioned” as 60-some percent of the food stamps comes from the Farm Bill. He wants your vote, but doesn’t know how to take care of it. Then he says the poor don’t pay taxes!

Nearly every time a purchase is made, we pay taxes. In my opinion, we all contribute to paying taxes and would like to see it spent fairly. A president should be fair to his people. Fairness is a skill that should be present in all elected officials and the press.

We deserve the truth America! Barack Obama lied about killing Bin Laden and about the Libyan Embassy. Read the book No Easy Day. It will make you think of how wonderful America could be.

When people say no one can clean up this mess, it’s betraying America. We’ve seen towns close and others flourish, all because of management. Choose your path! Make better decisions. Some educational systems are better than others all because of choices.

Darlene Mueller
Prairie du Chien

A vote for Obama

It is my opinion that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to return us to everything that caused this economic mess in the first place and that they do not care about us.

When President Obama got elected in 2008, the Republicans said they would make him a one-term President and would not cooperate with him and they didn’t. The middle class did not cause the deficit, and neither did Social Security or Medicare. If we increase the base and repeal the tax cuts, we will all be all right.

Paul Ryan’s health care plan is unaffordable. The President’s plan, The Affordable Care Act, will strengthen Medicare by eliminating the excessive subsidies of private insurance. There will be more benefits for seniors. The Affordable Care Act closes the doughnut hole for prescription drugs. It will provide a discount for brand name drugs. It will have more key preventive care offered for free. This is how we can help millions of Americans who are now uninsured to gain health care at a lower cost, instead of having a benefit for someone every weekend because they didn’t go to the doctor early enough because they did not have insurance and now they have a major crisis and can’t afford health care.

We cannot let Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan dismantle health care. They are not the solution; they are the problem. They are not worried because they have insurance. They are out of touch with most of the people today except for their millionaire campaign contributors’ agenda.

Patricia Hazen
Bagley

Christians vs. Obama

It’s a sad and tragic fact that in 2008 35 percent of Evangelicals and 55 percent of Catholics voted for President Obama.

But who could blame them? Didn’t the media tell us Obama was the Messiah; he was going to cure all our ills? And the biggest relief of all was we would not be seen as racist anymore. We were finally “set free” from our guilt.

Now if we vote for Obama again, he will have another four years to attack God’s church and the sanctity of marriage. It is up to Christians to make sure God’s house is holy and freer and the institution of marriage be protected from perversion.

This election isn’t just about politics; it’s about moral values and religious freedom. That’s why Christians have a deeper stake in this election, because our mission should be to insist that our political priorities reflect God’s priorities.

Now more than at any time in our history, we need our ministers’ voices ringing loud and clear, to awaken the conscience of the Christian voters. So when we ask people, “Are we still a Christian nation?”, there will be no doubt, we will hear, yes!

Because if the Christians will not stand up for the church and the sanctity of marriage, who will?

Sharon Richter
Fennimore

Not an NRA fan

I am wondering if any of your readers are swayed in your voting by the flood of BS coming to their mailbox and phones from the National Rifle Association.

I have been a hunter and fisherman for at least 60 years now and know that when I give $50 — like I do yearly — to groups like Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, Trout Unlimited and the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association that most of the donation is going to be used for habitat work and preservation and that it isn’t going down the toilet to a fruitcake right-wing nut group like the NRA.

We live in a country where gun violence, intentional and accidental, is out of control, and from groups like the NRA we get this extreme right-wing garbage. Seems to me that money sent to the NRA could be better spent.

Charles T. Steudel
Mineral Point

Baldwin ‘progressive’

We love labels — liberal, progressive, extreme — the media bombards us with them. There’s a reason we love them. They generate an instant reaction and serve to keep us from the tedious task of thinking.

A case in point is the TV ad that proclaims Tammy Baldwin too “extreme” for Wisconsin, too “progressive.” What, exactly, does that mean?

The progressive philosophy says that democracy depends on citizens caring about each other and taking responsibility for themselves and others. Does Baldwin fit that label? Well, for starters, she has always throughout her political career been honest and consistent about her political stands. She listens to people and works with people to solve problems. She led a bipartisan fight to impose strong tariffs on China. She has been a leader on the Buffett Rule to make sure that people with over $1 million a year income pay at least as high a tax rate as the middle class.

Once she’s in the Senate, we can count on her to fight against tax cuts for high income earners, to fight to return manufacturing jobs to Wisconsin, and to fight to keep Medicare from being turned into a voucher system. She has always been a supporter of equal rights, clean energy and health care for all. She is a staunch supporter of women’s issues.
Is caring about the middle class too “extreme” for Wisconsin? We need a senator who is working for the middle class, not one whose legislative agenda is prescribed by ALEC, Wall Street, or the Tea Party. That senator is Tammy Baldwin.

Marilyn Gottschalk
235 Virgin Ave., Platteville

On Beals’ “votes”

Like everyone else here in Platteville, we have been amazed by the mail we have received accusing Carol Beals of voting against the  citizens of this area. What is really amazing is that Carol is only running for office and not even in the Legislature. It may be a good time for her opponent to step up and do his own dirty work, instead of using a convicted felon from Brookfield to carry his dirt.

On Oct. 14, the Wisconsin State Journal stated, “Carol Beals of Platteville is smart, experienced and capable.” Families in this geographic area would be much better served by Mrs. Beals.

Larry and Shirley Bowden
960 Broadway, Platteville