By Alissa Oppenheimer
Lanesboro, Minn.
I love this country. I love living in southeast Minnesota where I own both a home and land. Over the last 18 months in southeastern Minnesota, and the rest of the country, we have seen many changes: Mayo Clinic Health Systems closed six rural outpatient/primary care clinics, people are losing their Medicare Advantage plans, changes to SNAP benefits will impact as many as 34,000 residents of southeast Minnesota, mortgage rates are plus 6%, nationally, inflation is running at 3.7% with wages growing at 3.2%; and the ongoing conflict with Iran, which is driving up energy costs.
My question is: What do all these things have in common?
Did a natural disaster cause all this? Did a foreign country attack us? Did another pandemic sweep across America in the last 18 months? The common denominator is our elected officials: The people we sent to Washington, to Saint Paul and to our county and local offices.
When inflation outpaces wages or the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security, when we have fewer options for healthcare, when our ability to purchase food is reduced, when we can’t afford a mortgage or to pay our rent, we are on an unsustainable path. Add to this the inevitable increases in local property taxes, fees and assessments. These are not fringe culture war issues. These are bedrock issues that transcend party.
On November 3 we have an election. We are electing the people who will, in large part, set the course our lives take: The healthcare available to us, our degree of food security, our ability to buy a home or pay rent, the cost of energy.
Think about all of this when you vote.
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