Opinion | The Daily Republic | Mitchell, South Dakota

Opinion: State of Union no more than a political pep rally

WASHINGTON — The increasingly puerile spectacle of presidential State of the Union addresses is indicative of the state of the union, and is unnecessary: The Constitution requires only that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union.”

Other View: Bunning a good pitcher, but a lousy congressman

In his playing days, Jim Bunning was a very good Major League Baseball pitcher. He’s a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. But as Republican Sen. Bunning of Kentucky, he’s been throwing wild pitches. Bunning’s latest bad toss was an attempt to block legislation that renews the National Flood Insurance program. He was making a statement, his staff said, about federal spending.

Letter: He asks only that we believe in Him

To the Editor: Our government has resisted most of what our republic was started for, Obamacare being the most recent. Once upon a time we the people were respected and the result meant something. Now we have made it clear that the majority is not in favor of this government takeover of such a private area of our lives.

Letter: What was your intent with article?

To the Editor: One might wonder what The Daily Republic was thinking when it ran a Washington Post article on Saturday, Feb. 27, “Abortion doctor’s day in S.D. begins on plane.” What was the paper's intent?

Letter: More access to alcohol is bad

To the Editor: Selling alcohol all night and on Christmas and Memorial Day may be doomed like making it illegal for 14- and 15-year-olds to text while driving. More access to alcohol will always cause more problems — worse than tobacco.

Opinion: Don’t choke on all these sweets

WASHINGTON — Skipping through the Candy Land of the health care bill, one is tempted to hum a few bars of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.”
What a deal. For deal-makers, that is. Not so much for American taxpayers, who have been misled into thinking that the sweetheart deals have been excised.
Not only are the deals still there, but they’re bigger and worser, as the bard gave us permission to say.

Letter: Questioning ‘God the Father’

To the Editor:
Why is this “God the Father?” Is this the same God who comes and impregnates young virgins? Jesus was an illegitimate child. This God fathered Jesus, and then sentenced Him to a horrific death. Jesus was a victim. This father did not raise Jesus. His father was a deadbeat. Is this “God the Father” to be listened to?

Our View: Tax rollback was right thing to do

The state Legislature decided this week that large tax increases for residents within a handful of water districts are unfair, especially in the current economy.
When a 2008 law allowed the districts’ boundaries to be redrawn, it meant the districts were considered “new,” which exempted them from the normal 3 percent limit on budget increases. Legislators this year say that was not their intent and some of them felt duped.

Opinion: A no-pretense guy bites the dust

WASHINGTON — This is not the way Sandy Levin would have wanted it.
The Michigan Democrat became acting chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee last week after its former chairman, Charlie Rangel of New York, stepped down — temporarily, he says — because he was censured by the House ethics committee for going on a corporate-financed junket.

Opinion: Free-flowing Missouri thing of past — and that’s good

Back on the farm, my folks tended to do their medical business in Chamberlain, but my aunt and uncle often traveled to Pierre to such appointments.
I can recall one year when I was invited to ride along with my cousin and his family. I was pretty excited, because a trip to Pierre seemed like a pretty exotic thing back then. My excitement was for nothing. Before the day of the scheduled appointment, the Missouri River flooded, and the bridge across the Bad River in Fort Pierre was closed to traffic. Whether the bridge washed out or simply went under water, I can’t remember. I just know I didn’t get to travel with my cousin to Pierre, and the flooded river was the reason.

Our View: Another star accused, another lie by someone

NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of assaulting a 20-year-old woman in a nightclub in Georgia earlier this month, marking the second time the Pittsburgh Steelers’ star has faced such an accusation.
Add him to the list of other professional athletes who have been accused of assault, boorish behavior or other degrees of hanky-panky.

Opinion: To preserve our freedom, we have to fight for it

As more Americans, especially the unemployed, come to rely on government to take care of them, we risk losing our independence.
The Washington Times reports American reliance on government is at an all-time high. This is not our Founders’ America. We seem to have declined from a “can-do” spirit, to “can’t do” — at least without government — and soon, unless we change our ways, “won’t do.”

Opinion: The storm isn’t ‘perfect,’ but it’s a storm nevertheless

It’s not a “perfect” storm per se, but you’d have a hard time convincing several dozen school superintendents of that this last week. Just as the state Legislature grows ever closer to giving schools as much as 1.2 percent and as little as a great big goose egg, the Board of Directors of the South Dakota High School Activities Association announces they will be sanctioning soccer as a new school sport.

Our View: Leave well enough alone with season

The state Game, Fish and Parks Commission decided last week that South Dakota’s pheasant season will remain the same as it was in 2009.
The decision came after some have proposed in recent years to expand the season or enlarge the daily bag limit.

Opinion: Hanson did what it had to against MCHS

Saturday’s District 10B title game was like nothing I have ever seen before. The game started out normal enough — Mitchell Christian got the ball and Jesse Tolsma was able to score inside. Perfectly normal.

View More Opinion Articles