Letters to the editor, Nov. 4, 2009
Sauk jail should not be fully staffed
If the school system operated like the Sauk County jail, it would fully staff all physically available classrooms, which would be only about half full of students. The public wouldn’t allow this to continue. The public shouldn’t allow the jail to do this.
When jail pod A was opened (reducing the jail tax burden was the justification), the jail went from fully staffing two jail units, which were about half full of inmates, to fully staffing three jail units that have been about half full of inmates. The 2010 Sauk County budget proposes a continuation of this practice, which makes county taxpayers about a million dollars worse off per year than necessary.
Tom Kriegl, member of the Sauk County Board representing the Town of Greenfield, most of the Town of Fairfield and part of the Town of Baraboo
Volunteers thank Chiquoine for work
We, some of the many volunteers who serve the Sauk County Humane Society, are writing to express our deep appreciation and congratulations to Eleanor Chiquoine for her outstanding years of service as our volunteer coordinator and the educator and community outreach coordinator of the Sauk County Humane Society.
She has proved nothing less than the hardworking, dedicated and loyal professional she is, as well as a strong advocate for the Sauk County Humane Society. Who else would get up at 3:30 a.m. every Monday morning to drive to the shelter, prepare a dog or cat for the long drive to a Madison TV station in order to give that animal exposure and a chance for adoption? Upon their arrival at Channel 15, she needed to go live with an excited dog or cat by 5:30 a.m. and then return to the Sauk County Humane Society in Baraboo for a full day of work.
She is a strong team role model for the shelter’s staff, volunteers and service to our animals and our Sauk County communities as well. It has been our privilege to have had such a wonderful mentor!
We love your enthusiastic approach for your job and in all you do, as well as your concern for each of us. Your work ethic and approach to your duties — and ours — along with your creativity, made it fun to be volunteers and has been such a gift, not only to those of us submitting this letter, but to all volunteers at the Sauk County Humane Society. The shelter has grown so much during your time there, in many ways, and so has our volunteer team.
Best wishes and our continued support goes with you as you pursue other professional opportunities and directions that lay ahead of you! Life at the shelter just won’t be the same, but we promise to continue to do our best, in a way that will honor you. Good luck and please don’t forget us.
Volunteers of the Sauk County Humane Society: Mary Kathleen Broerman, Wisconsin Dells; Kay Bongers, Prairie du Sac; Meredeth Selden, Sauk City; Sharon Wallace, Reedsburg; Faith Bidgood, Reedsburg; Barb Fearn, Baraboo and Michelle Olson, Wisconsin Dells
Children can get BadgerCare now
Recent reports about a waiting list for Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus program for adults without dependent children have caused much confusion. BadgerCare Plus, Wisconsin’s public health insurance program, is actually a combination of many programs. One is for children and families. Another is the new program for “childless adults.”
Only the childless adult program – called BadgerCare Plus “Core” – has a waiting list. All other BadgerCare Plus programs are still enrolling people, including the one for children and their caretakers.
The Core program began to enroll childless adults this past summer. As part of a special waiver from the federal government, Wisconsin had to set a limit on the number of people who can actually receive health benefits through Core at any one time. Because the program had been so popular in its first few months, this limit was quickly reached. The state is putting applications received after Oct. 9 on a waiting list.
This change in the Core program has led many to believe that all BadgerCare Plus programs have been put on hold. To be clear: the program for children and parents or other caretakers is alive and well, taking new applications and enrolling uninsured Wisconsinites everyday. All Wisconsinites who are uninsured or do not have access to affordable coverage should apply for BadgerCare Plus. It is easy to see if you or your family members may be eligible by going to www.access.wisconsin.gov. Parents with children can begin to receive health care almost immediately. Those without dependent children can at least get on the waiting list.
Michael Jacob, project coordinator, Covering Kids & Families, Madison
Feingold unveils fiscal responsibility
Championing fiscal responsibility is something that many politicians like to talk about, but few take action on it. Recently, our U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold unveiled a fiscal responsibility plan that will save taxpayers billions of dollars. I congratulate him for making a big step in the right direction toward a more sustainable government.
A major component of his new plan includes slashing into corporate welfare. For too long, large companies such as CitiBank, Pfizer and Monsanto have been given huge government subsidies. These are the same companies that have gotten us into the current recession. Instead of handing money over to these greedy companies, we should be giving a break for the working class.
Handing out public money to large corporations is never a good way to get our government budget on the right track. It is especially a bad idea now in America’s history when health insurance costs are skyrocketing due to greedy insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and workers’ wages remain stagnant.
In 10 years, Feingold’s new Control Spending Now Act will save an estimated half trillion dollars of our tax money by ending America’s system that benefits the rich the most. It’s about time we get a return from our government. We can start by guaranteeing health care for all rather than welfare for a few, greedy corporations.
Eric Rosenquist, Eau Claire
Farm Bureau opposes climate change bills
The climate change bills in Congress will have a negative impact on agriculture and the entire U.S. economy.
The House and Senate climate change bills would impose higher energy and food costs on consumers, raise fuel, fertilizer and energy costs for farmers, and shrink the American agricultural sector, resulting in reduced U.S. food production.
Under the cap-and-trade bills, families will pay higher energy costs, which, according to the Department of Energy, could grow by $1,870 per household. Combined with higher costs for food, the additional yearly hit on families would total about $2,300 per household.
Our farmers will be faced with making the choice of converting farmland into forests for greenhouse gas reduction or providing food for this country and the world.
This shift in land use will hurt consumers at the grocery store. Food costs could rise by up to an average of $33 billion annually by 2020 and up to $51 billion annually by 2030 as a result of this legislation.
“Don’t Cap Our Future” is the message that Farm Bureau members across Wisconsin will be sending our U.S. senators because the climate legislation is a bad deal for our country.
Mike Weyh, Columbia County Farm Bureau president
Downtown is dying and costing taxpayers
Why should the city of the Dells raise taxes when it has empty stores downtown that could provide extra taxes if they were filled?
Maybe if these building owners would lower the rent they would be full and more taxes could be collected that way. That would be too easy an option, but let’s keep them empty and worry why people are not coming downtown more. Why should they when they see empty store fronts? Face it, the downtown is dying, and I don’t see it getting better anytime soon, so that means more taxes for the rest of us.
Tim Hankins, Wisconsin Dells