Trending
Magic Penny
Editor:
The election is over. Whoever you voted for, Washington will likely stay chaotic, and its decisions will keep landing on small towns like ours from far away. But there is one vote we cast every day, right here: we vote with our wallet.
Turn off the news for a minute and look out the window. Some storefronts that were open a few years ago are empty. The Hancock hospital and our electric utility now answer to investment firms far from Copper Country. But Sunflower Books and Coffee in Hancock has five years in business. Local still works when we show up.
The empty storefronts didn't happen in one decision. They happened one purchase at a time. A lower price and free delivery are hard to pass up, and sometimes the big store is the only place that has what we need. That is real. But every time we save a few cents that way, we are picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. The savings are small and easy to see. The cost is large and hard to see, and the profit goes to Seattle and Bentonville.
There is another cost: distance. Employees might remember walking down the hall to HR to get a mistake fixed. Then it became a 1-800 number. Now it could be a chatbot. Customers have watched the same thing happen. You can't argue with a big company because it won't even talk to you. At a local store, you can often talk to the owner.
This is not a case against big business. It is a case for local business. Local stores and local jobs keep a town alive. Money spent here circulates here. It pays a neighbor's wages, sponsors the ball team, and fills the penny jar by the register so the next customer is never a few cents short.
There is an old song about a magic penny. Its idea is simple: what you share comes back larger than what you gave. A town works the same way.
Many of us would like this to be a place where our grandchildren can grow up and live. So the next time you need a gift, food, or a repair, try the store down the street first. We just voted. Now we keep on voting with our wallet.
Brendhan Givens
Houghton, MI
Democrats’ Agenda
Editor:
Democrats have been entrusted with a unique opportunity to give life to the promises that persuaded voters to put them in charge of both houses of Congress.They should not be distracted by a desire for revenge, nor is it necessary to dwell at length on exposing corruption, much of which occurred in plain view. Legislation should be directed at lowering the cost of health care, housing and education, shifting the tax burden from middle and working class families to wealthy corporations and the super rich and getting dark money out of politics.The threat of presidential vetos should not be a deterrent. Obstruction cannot prevent the laying of a foundation on which Democrats can continue to build following the next presidential election. Let the opposition show its colors and pay the price two years from now.
Nino Green
Escanaba
Last Chance
Editor:
It seems to me, if the Republican Party collectively had half a brain, they would impeach and remove Trump themselves, while they still control Congress, between now and January. That way they could have at least a weak claim to have cleaned up their own mess, in the history books. And it would give J.D. Vance the opportunity to either establish himself as an effective president, or cleanly reveal himself as an unpopular failure, before the 2028 presidential race starts to solidify.
The Republicans could take their pick of many different grounds to impeach on … Trump has violated, or attempted to violate, many different laws over the last 10 years.
John Loosemore
Hancock