Apparently I have lost. You can’t beat city hall, so to speak. My garden inadvertently was in wetland that I bought and pay taxes on but I cannot use any of it for anything whatsoever unless I pay by the square foot for the use of my land. For  900 square feet I’ll have to pay well over $1,000 to have a garden. Not believing and inquiring around on the phone I was told I might be eligible for food stamps. Is this the attitude of our government? Are they trying to force me to go on the dole? Congressman Cravaack at the town meeting I attended believes by lowering the taxes on our corporations they’ll  return providing jobs for our people. Why did our government allow them to leave? Most likely our country would not be on the verge of financial collapse had they stayed. It’s hard for me to believe the people that we vote for did not know the consequence of allowing corporations to seek cheaper labor in other countries. Charging people for use of their own land, forcing them to pay taxes on land they’re not allowed to use. How far ahead do they think?

I believe we the voters should clean house. Vote out the bunch of the so well established representatives that allow lobbyists to guide them. Lobbyists are highly paid, hired by corporations, etc., to persuade our representatives to vote their way. Some believe they’re nothing but bribers. I’m going down the list of people that represent me and vote for any new ones, doing my share of house cleaning. Surely some old ones are good honest people. Anyway, something is wrong. We need a new bunch that can think ahead for themselves. Mandated shorter terms might be a good idea.

James Gordon

Rural Brainerd