COVID-19 toll soars past early estimates

September 17, 2020

Remember just a few months ago when some disease analysts who had been predicting COVID-19 would kill 200,000 Americans were being ridiculed by some people? For a time, it appeared the pandemic would claim fewer than 100,000 lives in our country. But on Sunday, the tally had topped 194,000. It appears early predictions of 200,000 coronavirus deaths may have been wildly optimistic. Still, we may be making some progress. Daily deaths have been declining in some places. Ironically, that may be only because so many people died in cities such as New York during the virus’ first wave, ...

Deficit epidemic hitting the U.S.

September 16, 2020

Members of Congress and the White House had no realistic option but to approve about $3 trillion in emergency spending to battle COVID-19’s devastating impact on the economy. Even more federal money may have to be appropriated for the purpose. But last week, we were reminded of another epidemic that threatens to harm Americans severely — of our government spending beyond its means. On Friday, the Treasury Department announced the U.S. budget deficit has hit an all-time high, of $3 trillion. That is just for the first 11 months of the fiscal year. Hundreds of millions of dollars ...

Voters can help ensure all ballots are counted

September 15, 2020

Concern over use of mail-in ballots for the November general election is building. Critics of the process fall into two categories: those who worry about vote fraud and those who insist many Americans may be “disenfranchised” by the system. Indeed, fraud is something of a concern — but it is one election officials in some states are taking effective steps to counter. Failure of many ballots to be counted, not just in the race for president but in many local affairs ranging from state legislators to local tax measures, is more worrisome. If it concerns you, take heart. This is ...

Hagedorn and misuse of congressional mail

September 14, 2020

Two weeks ago, we said Congressman Jim Hagedorn owes his 1st District constituents more details on the print-and-mail scandal that has embroiled his staff. We knew at the time that the first-term Republican had racked up the highest spending on taxpayer-paid printing and mailing in Congress and had burned through about half of his office budget in the first quarter of the year. We knew that some of the printing had been contracted to a firm owned by a part-time Hagedorn staffer. The ownership of another company, one incorporated a little more than a year ago and that received the ...

Short Takes

September 11, 2020

Peterson, Smith not seen in Lyon Co. THUMBS DOWN: Candidate Jason Lewis told Lyon County Republicans Tuesday it’s “game on” in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Tina Smith. During the Lyon County Republicans banquet Tuesday, he pointed out that several polls show the U.S. Senate race is now in a statistical tie. He feels his game plan of campaigning in Greater Minnesota, while his opponent campaigns in the metropolitan area, is paying off. It’s unknown for sure if his tactics will result in a win in November, but Lewis has shown his determination to earn votes in Lyon County. Both ...

Congress should act on COVID-19 aid

September 10, 2020

Partisan politics continues to delay enactment of a new coronavirus relief measure in Congress. Regardless of your political leanings, that is hurting millions of Americans. Even emergency action taken by the White House has been affected. After negotiators in Congress deadlocked over a new relief bill last month, President Donald Trump authorized release of some money to keep augmented unemployment benefits flowing to those who have been laid off due to the epidemic-related business slowdown. Under the White House plan, those who qualify can receive $300 a week in addition to normal ...