Opinion

In the heart of America, small towns are dying not from lack of will or work ethic, but from the steady erosion of their economic foundations. Among the most critical losses is the disappearance of independent rural grocery stores — once vital community hubs that now struggle to survive. While many blame market trends or consumer preference, there’s a more insidious culprit that too few are talking about: the government’s failure to enforce the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA). This law was designed to protect small retailers from unfair, discriminatory pricing practices.

As doctors and nurses in North Dakota we have grave concerns about the unprecedented chaos and collapse of critical programs at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the nation’s premier public health agency. For over 75 years CDC has protected generations of Americans. Now however, CDC’s capacity has been degraded through actions taken by Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy. We urge the state’s congressional delegation to act immediately to prevent further destruction of the nation’s public health system that is critical to protecting the health and security of North Dakotans and all Americans.

Dear Editor,

Everyone needs to understand if not for a concerted effort by the Republican Party to suppress voters throughout the country, Donald Trump would likely not have won the 2024 election. Also, claiming a mandate when winning the election with less than 50% of the vote is totally bogus. Voter suppression efforts have been taking place by the Republican Party, rarely, if ever, by the Democratic Party, for decades as a campaign strategy to eliminate voters, particularly younger and minority voters, who would most likely vote for Democratic candidates.

Legislation has passed Congress and was signed into law by the president, ironically named the “Big Beautiful Bill” that harms millions of Americans while greatly benefiting a few thousand. Among the various cruel and harmful program cuts will be the $900+ billion being cut over time from the Medicaid program. These crafty, extreme conservative politicians were wise enough to have most of the Medicaid cuts take place after the upcoming 2026 mid-term elections. They hope their voters won’t feel the pain until after they have hoodwinked them into voting again for them by downplaying the pain that will be primarily inflicted on their lower-income voters but will impact most Americans.

Dear Editor,

I remember the census worker talking with my mother. The census worker read income categories for upper, middle and lower classes. My mother was asked which category our family was in.

I recently read a few news articles focusing on lower-income people who continue to fully support the current president, regardless of how negatively his policies and edicts impact their lives. Somehow, based on no real evidence, they believe that morbidly rich Donald Trump and his morbidly rich cohorts care about their lot in life. The morbidly rich only care about how wealthier they can get, exploiting the middle- and lower-class households. Middle- and lower-income households increasingly hold the Democratic party in contempt because they believe the Democratic party has deserted them, and the party of big business, the wealthy, and anti-labor better represents their interests.

Dear John Hoeven, and the other two in DC.

Constitutional conversations about the Supreme Court often begin with Alexander Hamilton’s famous description of the judiciary in Federalist No. 78 as the “least dangerous branch,” precisely because the judicial branch lacks both the legislative power of the purse and the executive power of the sword. An ardent revolutionary, Hamilton had denounced in 1778 the behavior of English judges and “the trackless imaginations of their minds,” but in 1787, as a defender of the newly-minted Constitution and the newly-minted Supreme Court, he explained that there was little to fear from the Justices, who would not impose on the nation their views, values and prejudices, because they were but a mouthpiece for the Constitution.