Category: VA7

Matters concerning the 7th Congressional District

Help for Farmers

Those of us who count on the productivity of the soil for our livelihood could use some help. We want to implement practices that make our soil healthier and stave off some of the effects of the severe weather we have been having. We know that this will increase profitability by making the soil more resilient in the face of erratic rainfall and extreme temperatures, and better able to support our crops We choose the best soil conservation practices we can afford.

But that’s the catch. Many of these healthy soil practices are out of reach financially for farmers, especially those with smaller operations. Farming is already capital intensive and we often don’t have enough cash left over to do what we know is right.

A couple of weeks ago our congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, came to Louisa County to discuss this issue. She visited a farm owned by Dustin Madison, just north of the Town of Louisa. While there, she announced a new bill to help farmers use more conservation practices. The Healthy Soil, Resilient Farmers Act of 2020 aims to ensure that FSA loans are available to all farmers who want to do what we know is the right thing.

Her opponent, Nick Freitas, courts the support of the Farm Bureau. I’m wondering what he may have actually done in his current position to deserve that. Nick talks ideology, while Abigail is out here working for us. It looks to me like Abigail is the one walking the walk. A member of the House Agriculture Committee, she is using her position to help Louisa’s farmers. I’m voting for Abigail again in November, so she can continue her good supportive work for us.

Pam Dawling

Printed previously in The Central Virginian and reprinted here with the permission of the author.

Payroll Tax Cut Imperils Seniors

Older Americans like myself depend on the Social Security checks we receive every month. For the past 85 years, the Social Security program has enabled us to retire with dignity. It’s our insurance policy. We paid into it. We count on it. Even so, the president made an announcement last Saturday that if re-elected, he will seek permanent cuts to the payroll tax that funds Social Security.

Our 7th district Congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, has consistently worked to keep Social Security and Medicare functioning, pushing back against such threats. She has always focused on working with both Republicans and Democrats to maintain the benefits that employees have earned. We must support her efforts in the upcoming election.

Mary Kranz

This letter was previously published in The Central Virginian and is republished here with the permission of the author.

Congresswoman Focused on Internet

I have an internet-based business and two children in Louisa County Public Schools. Like many in Louisa, I struggle daily with slow internet speeds. I hear a lot of talk locally about what might be done, but there is now progress at the national level.

Rural America still might not have electricity if it had not been for the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. Now we need that for internet for the same reasons. Private business is not going to invest when they can make more money in more densely populated areas. Electricity and internet are just as essential in the way of infrastructure as roads and bridges.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Moving America Forward Act. This act includes the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act, which Abigail Spanberger, our own Congresswoman, helped introduce. This bill includes her priority of expanding high-speed internet in Central Virginia’s rural areas.

Spanberger listens to her constituents. She is focused on our interests and advocates for us. Re-elect her in November.

Sara Macel Louisa
This letter was previously published in the Central Virginian and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

Corruption is Our Real Enemy

When I heard a month or so ago that at least one member of the US legislature had profited hugely by selling stocks using “insider information,” I was shocked. These lawmakers are not working for the benefit the people who elected them. Not only are they enriching themselves, but they are making laws on behalf of the corporations they own stock in. No wonder people don’t trust the government.

Whether you identify as Democrat or Republican, left or right, this kind of corruption is the enemy of every one of us.

A new bill, co-sponsored by our Congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, would help correct that situation. HR 7200, nicknamed the TRUST in Congress Act, is subtitled “To require Members of Congress and their spouses and dependent children to place certain assets into blind trusts.” What this bill aims to do is to separate the ability to buy and sell assets from the Congressperson’s direct control. Of course each legislator would be able to choose their own trustee, and no one would be required to, for instance, liquidate their holdings. (After all, who would run for offices, if it meant impoverishing themselves?)

Maybe there are issues that are nearer and dearer to our hearts right now, but wouldn’t it at least be nice to know that our government folks are not simply enriching themselves at our expense.

Rebecca Sue Rayburn
Louisa

This letter was published in The Central Virginian  and is reprinted here with the permission of the author.

 

 

 

Should the U.S. Deport Illegal Immigrants?

To the editor:

In this time of change and corrections, sometimes our government needs a little help in order to help us.

Those stimulus checks, for instance. Last month, I went on the IRS.gov website to find out if mine was on the way to me, but the tool could not find my information. Each time I tried, it helpfully told me I needed to wait 24 hours before trying again. Also, basically, “Don’t bother to try telephoning.”

It turned out that my problem was the same as many people had, and it has been fixed, apparently. But some people have not received their money. Even if you did not need to file a tax return recently, news reports say you have until Oct. 15 to use the IRS.gov website to sign up for a check.

I don’t think we can blame this delay all on the IRS, since the agency has been forced more than once to reduce employees. But I hear that our Congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, has led efforts to increase the number of workers available to get the payments out, and, according to reports, the IRS has hired 3,500 more people to do so. You would think it would be obvious that a government that “should run itself like a business” would want to make sure to take care of the arm that brings in the cash … and in this case, sends it out to us.

It sounds to me like Rep. Spanberger understands that, and has the drive and ability to see that the government fulfills its promises to us.

Sara Elder

Louisa

Originally published in the Central Virginian and published here with the permission of the author.