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Articles by Charles Linderman
Letter: The problems in ag are bigger than 'paper cuts'
In the June 29 Agweek, a column from the Grand Forks Herald quotes North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring calling the current financial stress on farmers “death by a thousand paper cuts.” When I had my diesel fuel tank filled for spring work, it cost $1.50 per gallon more than last year, more than 50% increase. The nitrogen fertilizer, urea, I priced this spring cost $305 more per ton than last year, also more than 50% increase. It hurt more than a paper cut.
Confront the real problems with the current farm situation
A June 22 story in The Sun about financial stress on farmers quotes North Dakota Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring calling it “death by a thousand paper cuts.” When I had my diesel fuel tank filled for spring work, it cost $1.50 per gallon more than last year, a more than 50% increase. The nitrogen fertilizer, urea, I priced this spring cost $305 more per ton than last year, also more than 50% increase. It hurt a lot more than a paper cut.
Letter: Regulations aren't the problem
A June 22 story in The Forum about financial stress on farmers quotes North Dakota Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring calling it “death by a thousand paper cuts.” When I had my diesel fuel tank filled for spring work, it cost $1.50 per gallon more than last year, more than 50% increase. The nitrogen fertilizer, urea, I priced this spring cost $305 more per ton than last year, also more than 50% increase. It hurt a lot more than a paper cut.
Death of Renee Good is not a partisan issue
The Jan. 14 Sun has an opinion piece from the Las Vegas Review-Journal that comments on the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. There are several videos of the incident, including one taken by the shooter himself. The opinion piece claims the videos contain “enough ambiguity to fit the narratives of partisans on both sides”. I don’t think so. This is not a partisan issue, as much as some are trying to make it that. A young mother was shot to death for no reason.
Letter: Education is more than job training
A Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial published in The Forum Dec. 23 questioned encouraging young people to get a college degree when there are unfilled job openings that do not require a college degree. That treats education as simply job training. One’s job or occupation is certainly an important part of their life. But it certainly is not one’s entire existence. (Disclaimer. As a farmer, my occupation is mostly who I am.) If one has a 40-hour per week job, that totals 2,080 hours per year.
Letter: If Congress wants tax cuts, they need to reduce spending
The July 26 Forum has a letter to the editor and an opinion column touting the wonderful tax benefits of the "one, big, beautiful bill." Another letter warns us of threats of a financial crisis due to the increasing national debt, which the OBBB continues to grow. Actually, this discussion has been going on for several decades. Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump made it a big deal to enact a huge reduction of federal income taxes.
Letter: Robin Hood in reverse
“We all do better when we all do better,” said former Sen Paul Wellstone. Since the 1980s there has been a dramatic shifting of wealth from the bottom to the top in our country. The top 10% of households own 67% of our nation’s wealth. The top 1% own 30%. There are 900 billionaires. On the other end, half of households, the bottom 50%, own 2.5%. That is very extreme inequality. The U.S. Congress is now working on something called "one big, beautiful bill" or OBBB (yes they actually gave it that name).
Letter: Trump and Musk bring chaos to North Dakota
Co-Presidents Donald Trump and Elon Musk have brought their chaos to North Dakota. Federal employees nationwide have received an email offering pay through the end of the fiscal year if they resign now. A story in the Forum tells of concern that the Fargo Veterans Affairs Health Care System could be understaffed. Sen. John Hoeven and Sen. Kevin Cramer gave their usual spineless response, pretending there is nothing to worry about. This is an ignorant attempt to downsize government.
Letter: Are you better off under a Democratic president?
In a recent opinion piece, Cal Thomas expressed a desire to inform low-information voters, which he seems to define as those who vote for Democrats. He questions why people who are struggling financially would vote for Democrats. A nonpartisan think tank, Economic Policy Institute, recently released a report comparing economies under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents. Of course, causes and effects of the economy are complicated.
Letter: Democracy is on the ballot
“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” said Kevin Roberts, head of the Heritage Foundation and leader of Project 2025. He was telling opponents that if they just shut up, lie down, and let his cult have their way, everything will be peaceful. But if they push pack, violence will result and it will be their fault. That same type of bullying was instantly activated after the recent attempted assassination.
Letter: Trump and all of his cult followers have zero credibility on border security
The June 18 Forum has an opinion piece from the Boston Herald (second most read Boston newspaper) warning of terrorism risk related to our southern border. Opinion columnist Cal Thomas has written about the dangers of the “open border.” Several Republican candidates for North Dakota office have taken it up, telling us that security at our southern border, 1500 miles away, is one of the biggest issues in North Dakota. Of course, they give President Biden blame for it all.
Letter: You need to cut spending if you cut taxes
The United States Congress recently overcame obstruction by a few to get a last minute budget passed. There has been concern about the national debt (rightly so) expressed by some, including national columnist Cal Thomas and local opinion writer Bette Grande . They point to federal spending as the problem. Congress should certainly monitor spending programs and what we are getting for our money. However, if we want to solve the debt problem, we need to dig into the cause.
Letter: America is great!
For several years we have been served the MAGA “Make America Great Again” dogma. So, when and why did America cease to be great? America has access to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, making it easy to trade with the rest of the world. It is far enough south of the Artic Circle and north of the Equator to have a habitable climate. America has the world’s largest area of good arable soils and tremendous amounts of natural resources. America has the most vibrant economy in the world.
View of Burgum damaged by endorsement of Trump, false statements
Gov. Doug Burgum went to Iowa on Sunday to stand beside and endorse former President Donald Trump for another term. He admits he is the only other primary candidate to do so. I wonder why he opposed him in the first place. The reasons to keep Trump from the White House are so many more than can be recounted here. Consequently, a number of Republicans have had the integrity and commitment to democracy to publicly oppose Trump.
Letter: What happened to Gov. Burgum's integrity?
Gov. Doug Burgum went to Iowa on Sunday to stand beside and endorse former President Donald Trump for another term. He admits he is the only other primary candidate to do so. I wonder why he opposed him in the first place. The reasons to keep Trump from the White House are so many more than can be recounted here. Consequently, a number of Republicans have had the integrity and commitment to democracy to publicly oppose Trump.
Letter: I agree, enough with the political venom
An opinion piece by Mike Hulett is headlined “ Enough with the political venom .” I agree. Let’s start with a former president who, on Veteran’s Day, rather than honoring our veterans, verbally assaulted his political opponents as “communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country….” Several historians noted that similar language was used in the past by authoritarians including Adolph Hitler.
Even Trump's followers don't describe him like Scott Hennen did
When I started to read Scott Hennen’s Aug. 26 column , I thought he had taken up comedy. Donald Trump is charming, kind and listens well? Even his cult followers have not used those words to describe him. You are describing an egomaniac who engages in childish name calling, verbally assaults anyone who disagrees with him, and bragged about assaulting women.
Letter: The culture war could end if Republicans would let it
In the Saturday, June 24 edition of The Forum, Bette Grande laments the so-called culture war and takes issue with some she claims are denying its existence. Years ago when I was a teenager and young man, anyone who was gay was almost forced to ignore it and deny it, even to themself. Anyone known to be LGBTQ would be ridiculed, discriminated against, and even subjected to violence.
Letter: It's time to give Kevin O'Leary the boot
So, the state of North Dakota has contracted with a reality TV star, who calls himself Mr. Wonderful, to manage $45 million dollars of investments. Kevin O’Leary then tries to impress us by comparing Moorhead to Cuba and going on Fox Business to spout false population numbers to argue his point. Obviously, this is not someone we can take seriously. Fire him. Now.
Letter: The simple solution is to cut sales taxes
Complex competing proposals by North Dakota legislators aim to reduce state income tax and local property taxes. Rob Port advocates for making tax relief less complicated. There are lots of needs in North Dakota if we want to achieve Gov. Burgum’s goal of attracting more people to grow our population. Perhaps that should be the priority. Then decide if and how to have some tax reduction. North Dakota state taxes are already quite reasonable compared to other states.
Letter: Wanting a tax system that is fair to all is not hate
Gov. Doug Burgum and Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, are proposing a greatly reduced flat rate state income tax. Their ultimate goal is no state income tax. This is promoted as a great benefit to working North Dakotans and a magnet to draw people to move to our state. The biggest beneficiaries of income tax breaks are, of course, the wealthiest people who need help the least.
Letter: Sales tax relief would help more North Dakotans than income tax relief
Gov. Doug Burgum has proposed giving North Dakota citizens “permanent, meaningful relief” by eliminating state income tax for 60% of us and enacting a 1.5% flat rate for the rest. We have needs for infrastructure, public education, including teacher shortages and child care. If we can meet these needs and have funds left over, tax reduction is in order. However, would it not make sense to enact tax breaks that benefit every taxpayer?
Letter: One of the biggest threats to our democracy is the right's attempt to discredit the mainstream media
In his May 21 opinion piece , Mike Hulett correctly expresses America’s need for free speech and unbiased media. He then names The New York Times and Washington Post along with several television networks that he claims are biased toward Democrats. I note that he did not mention the New York Post, Washington Times, and Fox News that are very obviously biased toward the right. A free unbiased media is essential to a democracy.
Letter: There's no 'Biden catastrophe'
It is certainly rich when an adherent to the Trump Cult, otherwise known as the Republican Party, pontificates about a Biden catastrophe as Wes Belter did in the March 30 Forum . Here’s my “liberal vomit” (Belter’s words): President Joe Biden has shown strong leadership during Putin’s attack on Ukraine. He has called out Putin, imposed sanctions, and rallied NATO allies to unite against Putin.
Letter: It's nice to see Tony Bender write something that's not dripping with sarcasm
By Todd Gross January 12, 2022 11:00 AM I would like just congratulate Tony Bender on the excellent article in Wednesday's Forum on Hunter Pinke . I had no idea he did anything except sarcastic, sometimes entertaining, columns. Well done, Tony. It was a pleasure to read and understand his plight. Todd Gross lives in Fargo. This letter does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.
Letter: The Forum needs to look at how they cover crime, addiction and mental illness
It’s is highly frustrating seeing journalists of The Forum doing stories about people that have struggled with mental health and or addiction issues. Over and over, they will post mugshots or write stories about people's involvement with the court systems but never a full updated story about that person. Recently we have seen a few examples of trash clickbait reporting. One uses a mugshot of a man to announce that he was acquitted of charges.
Letter: Our democracy is in grave danger
After January 6, 2021, we thought our national embarrassment named Donald Trump would finally be sidelined. Inciting a violent attack on the citadel of our democracy to stop the Congress and the vice president from doing their job and overthrow an election would end anyone’s support for him. In fact, condemnation from Trump’s own party followed. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said, “Count me out.
Letter: Liberals continue to flip-flop on COVID-19 policy
Remember when Pres. Joe Biden was running for office and supposedly got elected last year? He kept promising to not shut down America, rather to shut down the COVID-19 virus. "I will not shut down America!" he shouted, "I'm going to shut down the virus!" Talk is cheap and reality is cruel sometimes. Just the opposite has happened and even Biden now admits it. Remember when CNN had a daily death total on their screen of people dying from COVID-19?
Letter: Successes of 2021 and hope for 2022
Former Minnesota Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach Forum News Service file photo Despite increasing, disappointing partisanship in federal government, I was able to see what can be accomplished when both parties work together in my work on the House Committee on Agriculture. In 2021, we were able to pass several pieces of legislation that will benefit Minnesota’s 7th District and rural areas around the country.
Letter: North Dakota workers deserve a living wage
This week some of the lowest-paid workers in the Midwest will see an increase on their next paycheck, but not here in North Dakota. Montana, Minnesota and South Dakota all have minimum wage laws indexed to inflation meaning when inflation goes up, so does the minimum wage. Minimum wage workers will now receive $9.20 in Montana, $9.95 in South Dakota, and $10.33 in Minnesota. North Dakota's minimum wage has been stagnant at $7.25 for 14 years due to legislative inaction.
Jamestown should be in one legislative district
Letters Concerned citizens of Districts 12 and 29 must take a critical look at what is being proposed. Written By: By Charles Linderman, Carrington, North Dakota | 7:00 am, Oct. 18, 2021 × In the Oct. 9 Jamestown Sun, Keith Norman does an excellent job of explaining the current North Dakota legislative redistricting process. Now the concerned citizens of Districts 12 and 29 must take a critical look at what is being proposed.
Letter: Armstrong should have stood up for democracy
Letters Linderman writes that Armstrong could have chosen to serve on the U.S. House committee to investigate Jan. 6th with Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney. Written By: Charles Linderman | 12:00 pm, Aug. 2, 2021 × Mike Jacobs (July 30 Forum) is disappointed that North Dakota’s Congressman Kelly Armstrong is not part of the U. S. House committee to investigate January 6. He blames a “tiff” between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Letter: ND redistricting committee does not accurately represent the population
Letters The redistricting committee should represent the people. Instead, it is organized to protect the turf of incumbents. Written By: Charles Linderman | 5:00 pm, Jun. 15, 2021 × Sixteen North Dakota legislators have been appointed to perform the once a decade task of the legislators choosing their constituents. Since the oil boom resulted in a population increase unseen in modern times, some legislative district boundaries will see considerable change.
Letter: America's 'greatest terror threat' is misinformation
Letters First of all, now that President Joe Biden has demonstrated true leadership, you can stop the lies about his mental health. We now have a president who does not govern by tweets, who does not engage in schoolyard bullying and childish name calling, and can speak in complete sentences. Written By: Charles Linderman | 7:00 am, Mar.
Letter: Republicans are attempting to steal the election
Letters We knew from his previous behavior that Trump would refuse to accept a loss. The most concerning thing is the number of Trump followers who are so willing to believe, without evidence, that the election was stolen. Written By: Charles Linderman | Dec 15th 2020 - 7am. × I agree with Bette Grande that it is not healthy for our country when many citizens do not accept the legitimacy of our elections (Dec. 12 commentary).
Letter: Comparing 2016 and 2020 elections
Letters Too many Trump supporters buy into the lies and distortions. Dictators and autocrats all around the world run this exact scam. If they can discredit free elections, they can have elections but they always win, e.g. Vladimir Putin. Written By: Charles Linderman | Nov 15th 2020 - 12pm. × As the election news came in on the evening of Nov.
Letter: Republicans against Trump
Letters Written By: Charles Linderman | Aug 18th 2020 - 3pm. × Current political polls are very encouraging for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. President Trump and his supporters are understandably worried. However, their responses seem unhinged. That includes some Forum commentators. In his letter Aug. 14, Mike Rachow tells us that the Democrats are doing everything possible to make Trump look bad. (He forgot to include the liberal media.) Actually, Trump didn’t need help from anyone to look bad.
Letter: Trump is a threat to America
Letters Written By: Charles Linderman | Jul 7th 2020 - 4pm. × Forum opinion writer Mike Hulett and President Donald Trump must follow the same conspiracy websites. They both observed Independence Day by telling us about a fictional serious threat to America.
Letter: Democrats are not 'rejoicing' the coronavirus pandemic
Mike Rachow’s April 9 opinion column demands correction. It is one thing to defend Sen. Kevin Cramer’s use of the R-word, although many of us were not surprised, since Cramer has often embarrassed himself. Even the Forum opinion column in 2018 endorsing Cramer for the Senate acknowledged that he sometimes speaks before he thinks. The first item that really hit me, however, was Rachow’s complaint about supposed name calling that President Trump has received. Really?
Letter: All Americans should be concerned by foreign interference in our democracy
In his Feb. 28th column, Cal Thomas disparages the work of our American intelligence agencies and claims it is something being promoted by Democrats. In fact, these intelligence officials are career professionals who worked under presidents of both parties. They are the experts to whom we should listen. There has been much evidence of Russian attempts to influence our elections. The Mueller report is full of examples. (I have a copy.) Robert Mueller, a decorated Marine and former U. S.
Letter: Trump trolls contributed to Iowa caucus challenges
In his Feb. 11th column, Mike McFeely expressed concern about the Democrats chances in the 2020 presidential election. He mentioned the problems with the Iowa Democratic caucuses, which the news media have been eager to report. I just visited my daughter in Cedar Rapids and got firsthand information on what happened there. My daughter and son-in-law chaired the Democratic caucus in their precinct. They had excellent turnout and registered 150 new Democrats.
Letter: It's not just angry Democrats who oppose Trump
Letters Written By: Charles Linderman/Carrington, N.D. | Dec 24th 2019 - 7am. Our North Dakota congressional delegation, along with several Forum columnists and numerous letter writers continue to spout falsehoods and distortions about the impeachment process. They use terms like “circus” and “sham." They say that angry Democrats hate Trump and are trying to undo the last presidential election.
Letter: Trump is his own biggest problem
Letters Written By: Charles Linderman | Oct 14th 2019 - 10am. Mike Hulett’s opinion piece published Oct. 12 contains so many falsehoods one doesn’t know where to start. Here are a couple things: He says Democrats who hate President Trump are engaged in lies and false accusations. The fact is the concerns are not false and it is not just Democrats, but everyone who is paying attention and using their brain. Even a few Republican members of Congress are carefully expressing their concerns about Trump.
Letter: Ballots, not bullets
Letters Written By: Charles Linderman | Aug 16th 2019 - 7am. We have a God-given right to defend ourselves, according to Austin Culp in his Aug. 15th letter. That is why many people want to defend their lives by getting assault weapons off the streets of America. Some ask, do we disarm honest and innocent people? Well, honest and innocent people have had their lives taken. Assault weapons are designed to shoot and kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible.
Letter: The Republican disinformation team
The Republican campaign strategy for 2020 includes manufacturing an evil they call “socialism” and then demonizing all Democrats as socialists. It is time to call out their disinformation and lies. The disinformation team, including Forum columnist Rob Port, lumps socialism, communism, fascism, Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea and every evil dictator in history together as one big socialist tragedy.
Letter: Sen. Cramer, Fisher Industries and the border wall
Sen. Kevin Cramer has recently given lots of attention to President Trump’s proposed wall at the Mexican border. In a recent opinion piece, he was very critical of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and a construction firm they contracted. I was not sure why that was something of vital interest to the North Dakotans he represents. A Washington Post news story published in the May 26th Forum explains it.
Tax cuts should be progressive, not regressive
By Charles Linderman from Carrington, N.D. Today at 6:58 a.m. State Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, has resurrected his bad idea. The North Dakota Legislature is again considering using the Legacy Fund to eliminate the already minimal North Dakota income tax. It seems strange to talk about reducing taxes after watching the current session cutting various budgets. It has always been a consensus to favor a balance of income, sales and property taxes, otherwise known as the “three-legged stool”.
Letter: Cramer's job is to serve ND citizens, not the president
Letter: Cramer's job is to serve ND citizens, not the president Written By Charles Linderman Jan 2nd 2019 - 8am. Share The Forum has named Kevin Cramer’s Senate win and President Trump’s Fargo visits as top news stories of the year. I can imagine the mixed feelings as The Forum, which almost always endorses Republicans, pointedly would not endorse Trump in 2016 and did endorse Cramer in 2018.
Letter: President Trump did not turn around America's econom...
It is one thing to claim credit for a good economy, but it is egregiously dishonest to claim credit for a turn around that happened nearly a decade ago.Another thing Trandem might do is talk to some farmers who grow soybeans. The current prices are terrible. Adding Trump's trade wars to the problem makes for a disaster. The futures price for soybeans has fallen over the summer from the mid $10 per bushel area to mid $8.
Letter to the editor: Tariffs and trade wars are not the solution to problems
Rob Port, pursuing his anti Heidi Heitkamp obsession, tries to paint objection to the Trump tariffs as partisan desperation by Sen. Heitkamp and Democrats (July 30 Sun). He is wrong (again).Some time ago, President Trump stupidly tweeted “Trade wars are good and easy to win.” More recently, he compounded the stupidity with “Tariffs are the greatest.” I am sure no sane economist on planet Earth agrees. Objection to Trump’s tariffs and trade wars is not coming only from Democrats.
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