Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Governor Branstad turned over $5 billion to private for-profit insurance companies in 2016 to manage the Medicaid program. Since AmeriHealth and United Healthcare took over, healthcare providers have been underpaid or not paid at all for the services they provide to Medicaid recipients. These complaints continue today.

Rural hospitals are paying the high price for the privatization of Medicaid. Adding to the reimbursement problems is that Governor Branstad and his party who controls the state house and state senate sought exemptions from the Affordable Care Act. This resulted in the removal of the requirement that Medicaid retroactively pay for care from the time of application.  Consequently, rural hospitals have had to absorb the cost of care provided prior to approval. One rural hospital in northeast Iowa reported that the managed care company refused to pay claims using the excuse that  this hospital was not credentialed.

To the Editor:

I love kids, so I have a passion for public education. I believe public education is the best hope for our children, our community and our country to thrive.

The irresponsible economic practices of the current state government have caused the funding of education in our state to become inadequate. Our local schools are struggling to hire teachers, and families are struggling under the burden of increasing costs of community colleges and state universities.

Do not be misled by the claim that school choice or vouchers are the answer. Public funds need to be used for public education. Give all kids a chance. Keep schools strong and affordable by voting out the party in control of our State money.

Do not weaken our schools and our state with your vote. Give all kids the opportunities they deserve! Vote wisely!

Kathy Hannum
Waukon
 

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that the fuss over the need for a seventh FBI background investigation for a supreme court nominee caused me to remember when 1 underwent an investigation while in the Navy.

I don’t know what sort of classification I held while on the staff of the air group aboard the aircraft carrier. I was communications officer, and we sent two low classification “confidential” messages in that time, once to note the need to offload one squadron on Guam because of parts recall, and the other to report that all jet aircraft were inoperative until repairs were made to a catapult.

But after being named classified materials control officer for the newly-formed replacement air group training squadron, someone felt it was necessary for me to acquire a Higher clearance, and so FBI agents visited my home town.

Sanctification (holiness) and Good Works

Not the Law and the Commandments, but the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins in Christ, is the mother of sanctification (holiness) and good works. This is seen most clearly in regards to keeping the First Table of the Law, love for God (Matthew 22:37-39).  It is impossible to have any love for God without first knowing and believing that all our sins are forgiven in Christ.  Without knowing and believing that all our sins are forgiven in Christ, we remain in our sin and guilt, and in a state of dread and terror of God, the opposite of love for Him.  But when we know and believe the Gospel, that Jesus suffered and died on the cross for our sin in our place, and now in Him we have the forgiveness of all our sins, then our spontaneous response is to begin to love God from the heart, the First Table of the Law --- The starting point for sanctification (holiness) and good works.

To the Editor:

Instead of strengthening access to health care, our current governor has limited access to health care. For Iowa’s most vulnerable, the privatization of Medicaid has been a disaster, a disaster that the governor has refused to fix. Sharing the responsibility for this disaster is our state representative and the state legislators who are from the same political party as the governor and who are in control of the state house and state senate.

To the Editor:

For the past couple of years, I have wondered what the heck is going on in federal and state government. But I haven’t had to worry about the government of Allamakee County.

In Washington, D.C. and Des Moines, the same party controls all three branches of government. These politicians have rammed through their agenda and have made no effort to work with the other party and no effort to listen to their constituents. As a result, we the people are the losers. I’m thinking, in one major instance, of how our state representative and other legislators voted to close health care clinics and leave thousands without access to health care, especially in rural areas.

To the Editor:

I have told this story to most people. However, I will tell it one more time.

When I first interviewed in Waukon, it was such a wet and foggy day that the road from Rockford, IL seemed to be endless. I was driving with my wife and my five-year-old daughter. We had left two small children behind with my mother-in-law, and Angeline was six months pregnant.

I got discouraged from the driving as it was getting late and I told Angeline that I wanted to turn the car around and go back home. My wife said, “They are waiting for you, we are going to find Waukon”. In my frustration, I had lost interest.

I pulled into a house and asked for directions, the older gentleman looked at me like an alien when I asked, “Am I going in the right direction to Waukon?”. He just pointed towards the sign on the other side of the road and said, “It’s right there”.

To the Editor:

In the matter of the petition about dust in Irish Hollow:

According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, a mine operator is allowed to move 5,000 ton of product or roughly 333 loads without dust control measures per project.

Depending on how many trucks you have, it may take days, weeks or months. The people on the petition and others should do a little fact finding before wanting to contact a mine operator about dust control.

If you don’t like the dust, maybe you shouldn’t live on a gravel road or do something about it yourself.

Terry Riehm
Mine Owner
New Albin
 

To the Editor:

It’s time for all individuals who are drawing their IPERS and those who are paying into IPERS to call their state Senator; Mike Breitbach can be reached at 563-920-7399.

Senate File SF45 (Google this) is a bill introduced in the Iowa Senate last session. It will be brought up again in the next session (2019). If this bill passes, it will end IPERS.

What the bill calls for is that on July 1, 2019 all new State, County, City, hospital and any other new public employees can opt out of paying into IPERS and do a 401K. This may sound good, but if they do not contribute to IPERS, IPERS will run out of funds to pay benefits which we have all contributed. Your IPERS monthly payment will be reduced or end altogether in time.

To the Editor:

November 6, Election Day, I’ll be 92 years old. A year ago, I could not write very well because of my weak right hand. It’s much better, thank God. It takes energy to write, but here goes.

I could not in good conscience let this pass without asking for a good, honest debate on such things as Planned Parenthood, police and military support, Christianity, English only in our schools, unprotected borders, terms limits, a balanced budget and tax breaks for middle America.

Now, when Trump ran against 15 highly respected people, my thoughts of Trump were not the greatest, but now I can see clearly, hands down, he is far superior than the others, a true Godsend. In our 2016 election, Trump carried Allamakee County big (by more than 1,600 votes). He was voted in by a mixture of support from each of the main political parties. He has done more for our country in two years than any other president.