Factually correct information

To the editor

Under Viewpoints in the January 12, 2023 issue of the Hastings Journal an opinion piece “Kevin McCarthy, President Biden and Congress must work to solve problems.” While the article is an opinion piece the author presents information that is not factually correct.

For example, the article says Biden wants to mobilize 85,000 IRS agents who will audit tax returns to try to “squeeze out of your pocket” as many dollars as they can or perhaps even seize your property. First of all many thousands of the 87,000 new IRS employees Biden wants to hire are not being hired to audit tax returns. They are being hired to provide service to people who phone the IRS to ask questions related to taxes, others are being hired to bring the IRS into the modern computer world and others are being hired to do the normal process tax returns as the IRS is well behind in processing returns. It is estimated that because Congress, particularly because of Republican opposition, has not funded the IRS personnel needs for about the last 20 years something on the order of 500 to 600 million dollars of taxes annually are owed, but not collected because there are not enough auditors to catch the tax cheats. I believe to be a good citizen one has a duty to pay their taxes and I think most US citizens agree with this.

The article then states “Arizona has been patching holes in their border with containers which is working.” Biden ordered that the containers be removed because these containers were installed on federal land and the governor of Arizona did not have the right to install containers on federal land. The article then says that over one million undocumented people have crossed into the US through the Arizona during Biden’s presidency. What the article did not tell you is that many of those crossing the border illegally are repeat offenders, some have been caught and returned 4 to 5 times, so the actual number of different people who have crossed illegally is a good bit less than over 1 million. Besides that the containers did a very poor job of preventing people from crossing the border as admitted by a Governor Ducey spokesperson who is quoted as saying, “We don’t know what we stopped”. The governor of Arizona spent about 120 million dollars placing the containers along the border and after losing a lawsuit to the federal government and being forced to move the containers off federal land will spend something on the order of another 35 to 40 millions dollars. I have not see an estimate for the cost to repair the ecological damage done placing the containers, but it will likely add some 10 ‘s of millions of dollars to the total cost of this ill advised failure to prevent people from crossing the border.

I do agree with what the title of the article says, “Kevin McCarthy, President Biden and Congress must work to solve problems.” I just wish the author had presented information that was factually correct so that the article could be more effective in presenting what problems need to be solved.

Gary Kordosky

Going back on promises

To the editor:

A few months ago, Minnesota voters determined that the DFL deserved to lead in St. Paul, giving them the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s seat. They attempted to appeal to independents by promising tax relief, fiscally responsible policies, and looking out for their fellow Minnesotans.

That’s how DFLer Judy Seeberger won the Senate District 41 seat by just 300 votes. These campaign promises helped politicians like her get elected. Sadly, the DFL appears to be already abandoning these promises.

In an interview with TPT, DFL Governor Walz, seemed hesitant to eliminate the social security tax on seniors – despite the state bringing in a $17.6 billion tax surplus. Minnpost reported that House Speaker Hortman and Senate Majority Leader Dziedzic also backtracked on this same promise.

It is disappointing to see that Democrats have gone back on their promises the moment they have power. In 2024 and 2026, voters need to remember that they were lied to by the DFL.

Lee Miller Cottage Grove