Letters to the Editor Saturday, Aug. 20

Inflation bill is all smoke and mirrors

It was a shake my head moment as I watched Biden, Pelosi, Schumer et. al. wax poetic about the prescription cost savings under the Inflation Reduction bill.
The $2,000 prescription cap for Medicare beneficiaries does not go into effect until 2025. Allowing the feds to negotiate drug costs does not begin until 2026 and applies to only 10 prescription drugs. It goes up to 40 in 2029. Smoke and mirrors. Of note, there are over 20,000 different drugs being prescribed in the United States.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, a Penn-Wharton study and hundreds of economists concluded this bill will not reduce inflation. And it is pork laden; for example: $2 million for the wealthy township of Middleburg, Va., population 539, for a new town hall. The powers that be in Washington apparently know more than the economic experts.
Joanne Holland
Cohoes

Stefanik shows support for military

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Education and Labor, succeeded in including her Servicemember Parents Bill of Rights in the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act for 2023.
The Servicemember Parents Bill of Rights was included following a 39-19 bipartisan vote in the committee.
After being passed by the House the act will need to be reconciled with the Senate-passed version before being voted on by both chambers.
Stefanik introduced this amendment after listening to the concerns of service member parents. This act is a stand taken by Stefanik to ensure service members are informed and involved in their children’s learning experience.
The act forces more transparency from Department of Defense Education Activity schools about what the children of some of the most important members of our society learn in their schools.
As Stefanik made clear, this should not be a partisan issue, and the 39-19 vote makes clear that it is not, yet still introducing this amendment is a strong example of Stefanik’s support for all American service members.
Sylvia Rowan
Herkimer

Grifters remaking America for worse

Our present government is all a bunch of grifters. Instead of addressing the problems of our people, they are on a quest to redo our country.
Law and order no longer prevail. Male and female no longer prevail. Reading, writing and science no longer prevail.
Thirty heavily armed FBI agents break into a home at 6:30 a.m. but it’s not a raid.
The latest fiasco was the imminent threat presented by Pelosi going to Taiwan. Shots were  fired, planes were in the air, but our valiant Democratic leader went ahead.
Five members of Congress recently went to Taiwan. But what, no war?
Obviously, this was all staged with the Democrats’ friends in China.
Did we not give them oil and drop the tariffs?
Geraldine Krawitz
Saratoga Springs

St. Clare’s retirees continue to suffer

I wouldn’t change the St. Clare’s Hospital retirees for the world, but I wish I could change the world for the St. Clare’s Hospital retirees.
Do you remember back in 2018 how the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany betrayed the employees by giving the exemption to the St. Clare’s Hospital? I do!
That’s when roughly 1,100 former St. Clare’s Hospital employees’ pensions were reduced or eliminated.
That’s when our wonderful politicians sprang into action to help the scared and helpless employees.
They put politics aside and worked as a  team to get the state Attorney General’s office to investigate.
These are former hospital workers who nobly served their community and cared for the sick, elderly and the vulnerable. But when they retired, they were left with nothing.
These are employees who are almost four years older who are dealing with the covid pandemic, rampant inflation and without a big chunk of the retirement income they’d been counting on.
Their future does not look brighter either with colder weather, higher heating bills and the holidays coming. The retirees are not in the best spot to enjoy their lives with all this stress.
If only the retirees had someone they could have trusted to manage their pensions all their lives, this situation would have been so much different.
Walter “Neal” Brazell
Rotterdam

FBI’s ‘foot soldiers’ bear brunt of blame

The righteousness of the FBI is gone. The United States is plagued with corrupt alphabet law enforcement.
People who defend the FBI say “the rot is at the top.” That gives the foot soldiers’ a pass. “I was only following orders” is a familiar refrain.
In a conversation with two German men, World War II came up. The men stated their grandfathers were Gestapo, not Nazis. That is a fine distinction.
If you were a Jew being arrested by a Gestapo officer who was not a Nazi, that didn’t make it nicer.
The FBI is targeting domestic terrorists; that is good. The FBI uses the targeting to shut down certain groups.
Activist soccer moms who resist having their children brainwashed get a closer look. Anyone on the right can be labeled a terrorist, while the left burning down cities is acceptable.
The mission of the FBI is to serve the state, not the people.
It is an illusion that the people and state are one. The mission of an FBI agent is to protect their career. If the FBI does good, it is collateral good.
If you have an encounter with the FBI, tell the truth in the presence of a lawyer, then take a shower.
It is FBI field agents who visit you, not the rot at the top. Like the Gestapo guys, FBI guys follow orders.
Edmond Day
Rotterdam

Vote against liberal progressive Putorti

In my spare time, I pick apart commercials. The campaign ad from Matt Putorti, which is focused on Trump’s (rear end), is very misleading.
In the ad, Putorti says that when he was growing up in Whitehall, he worked at his family’s grocery store where they “served others, not ourselves.”
The only way that is true is if the grocery store was not-for-profit.
They opened it to make money and support their family, which of course, is the American Dream.
Why run from that and lie?
Although I am not her constituent, I support Rep. Elise Stefanik and she is going to send this progressive liberal back to New York City in tears.
Make the smart choice and vote for Elise Stefanik for NY-21 and keep common sense in Congress.
Jonathan Liptak
Kinderhook

Take time to get screened for cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in New York State.
Finding cancer early when treatment works best or before some cancers even start can save lives.
The NYS Cancer Services Program (CSP) provides breast and cervical screenings to women 40 and over and colorectal cancer screenings to men and women 45 and over at no cost to people without health insurance.
The CSP of Fulton, Montgomery & Schenectady Counties has provided these services to so many individuals who otherwise might not have received these critical services, people who may be your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
The pandemic caused a huge drop in cancer screening rates across the United States and health inequities have become more apparent than ever.
The number of people served by the CSP was impacted as well and continues to be below our normal average.
The CSP of Fulton, Montgomery & Schenectady Counties is working hard to find people who are due or overdue for screening and may have trouble accessing health care.
The CSP stands ready to serve, but we need help from our community.
Spread the word about the CSP of Fulton, Montgomery & Schenectady Counties and encourage people who do not have health insurance to call 518-841-3726 to find out if they qualify for free cancer screening.
Suzanne Hagadorn
Amsterdam
The writer is a program manager at Cancer Services Program of Fulton, Montgomery & Schenectady Counties.

Tedisco is dedicated to serving the public

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with Sen. Jim Tedisco for many years. Jim has been a highly effective representative for our town and for Saratoga County first in the Assembly and now in the state Senate.
Jim is a great listener and advocate for the unique needs of our northern Saratoga County town, which is nestled in the Adirondack Park along the Great Sacandaga Lake.
He has always been a strong defender of our quality of life and fought to return tax dollars back to our town and county.
Sen. Tedisco secured a $100,000 state grant for the town of Edinburg to purchase a John Deere wheel loader that has greatly benefited residents and taxpayers by helping save money on town construction projects, allowing for enhanced plowing during snowstorms, and enabling the town to better respond to emergencies.
Jim Tedisco is truly a dedicated public servant and outstanding leader for residents in the state Senate and I am proud to support him for re-election.
Jean Raymond
Edinburg
The writer is the town of Edinburg supervisor.

Denial of ballot access is a disgrace

The Libertarian Party of New York and its statewide candidates —  including our gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe — were able to submit petitions to get on the upcoming November ballot.
Those petitions were challenged by the Republican Party of New York, which has not been able to win a statewide election in New York in over 16 years.
Sharpe was denied ballot access by the state Board of Elections. The Libertarian Party was able to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court in Albany, which then denied it. It’s unclear at this time whether the LPNY and the Sharpe campaign intends to appeal.
This is a disgrace for the freedoms our forefathers fought so hard for during the Revolutionary War.
Michael J. Long
Johnstown
The writer is secretary of the Fulton County Libertarian Party.

Tedisco will be a fighter for our rights

Inflation has hit hard in our area and unless things change, more people are going to move out of this state.
Our current leaders and governor seem to not care as they continue to spend state tax dollars while giving small businesses a huge “assessment” to pay the state’s bill that is due to the federal government regarding its pandemic loan. Talk about passing the buck.
Jim Tedisco is fighting back against this ill-conceived plan, as businesses cannot afford this new tax and will either close shop or pass it along to us, the consumers.
We are also having a challenging time financially in this state, as the governor would rather give $2 billion to undocumented workers than give real tax relief to all New York state residents.
Sen. Tedisco has been a strong and outspoken voice about spending our hard-earned tax dollars on providing special benefits to those here illegally.
Vote Jim Tedisco for Senate and he will fight for our rights!
Kathleen Kniskern
Stillwater

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Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion