Here are this week’s letters to the editor of the Oshkosh Northwestern. See our letters policy below for details about how to share your views.
Better solution to redistricting requires your engagement
Texas redistricting intends to result in five more Republicans in the House. It has set off a race to the bottom.
California passed a redistricting bill of its own. The difference is California’s bill will need a majority of California voters in November, unlike the Texas bill that just needed the support of the party in control.
Other states are considering redistricting. Our Founding Fathers gave the individual states responsibility to decide their district boundaries. Likely, they understood parties in power would try to strengthen their holds through gerrymandering. What they couldn’t have foreseen was how effectively consultants could deliver results using big data and big computing power. The founders would have needed a time machine to see this threat to democracy.
The Campaign Legal Center reports 22 states have redistricting commissions in place. They vary in how commissioners are selected, independence from political influences and final map consensus.
A grassroots effort in Wisconsin to put in place a better solution is being led by the League of Women Voters, The Fair Maps Coalition and concerned individuals. You can learn more at https://www.fairmapswi.com/draft-proposal.
It’s time to stop political parties choosing winners and losers. Their cowardice is reflected in the redistricting maps where they use “cracking” and “packing” of the minority party voters to gain seats and tell us how they will govern versus having to pay attention to what voters want.
We can free Wisconsin redistricting from political bias and ensure everyone’s vote counts, but we need your engagement!
Jerry Tribbey
Town of Oshkosh
Don’t support 0.5% county sales tax proposal
I do not support the county sales tax proposal. I wouldn’t give 5 cents for DJ Nichols’ rationale on increasing our 5% sales tax by an additional half a percent.
Nichols states a $20 purchase only costs 10 cents. How about the tax on the purchase of a car? For a $40,000 car, the 0.5% tax equals $200.
All items in the thousands of dollars are very tax costly, plus the current 5% tax.
Many seniors live on fixed incomes and don’t need more money extracted from them!
Typical politician — always wants to get their hand in your pocket for more money.
David J. Schettle Sr.
Oshkosh
Hungry in Oshkosh
The Oshkosh Northwestern’s article on Aug. 31 (“Oshkosh Area Community Pantry is seeking partners after losing $120K worth of food from federal cuts”) states the federal government “cancellation of the Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program resulted in the loss of around $120,000 worth of produce” to our Oshkosh Area Food Pantry.
I volunteer regularly at the pantry. We have always been busy, yet now we see even more people each week averaging 2,800 families per month. The need is growing and will continue to grow as cuts to SNAP and other federal program cuts are felt by those most in need.
Why the cuts? It appears to fund billionaire tax cuts and for mass deportations of mostly our neighbors and non-criminal immigrants, which is illegal without due process, per the 14th Amendment.
We are part of “more than 50,000 entities, including schools and other food banks, severely impacted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture ending two federal food programs in March. It’s estimated the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement provided … funding that food banks like OACP use to buy fresh produce from local farmers to feed their guests.” Local farmers had already planted and now lose as well. Why?
Thanks to all who donate to our local pantries. Please speak up by phone, email or on their websites to our elected officials in Washington, D.C., and in Wisconsin to get the funding reinstated or another funding source identified as soon as possible. Here’s where to find contact information: https://legis.wisconsin.gov/; https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm; or https://www.congress.gov/contact-us.
Deb Martin
Oshkosh
Our letters policy
Letters to the editor are published in the order in which they are received and letter-writers are limited to having one letter published per month. Letters can be emailed to oshkoshnews@thenorthwestern.com and Editor Brandon Reid at breid@gannett.com. Letters must meet specific guidelines, including being no more than 250 words and be from local authors or on topics of local interest. All submissions must include the name of the person who wrote the letter, their city of residence and a contact phone number. Letters are edited as needed for style, grammar, length, fairness, accuracy and libel.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh letter-writers address redistricting, a proposed 0.5% county sales tax and hunger
Reporting by Oshkosh Northwestern / Oshkosh Northwestern
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