As I write, we are in day 27 of the federal government shutdown. Meanwhile, at our house, we received the bad news that our health insurance premiums will skyrocket 30 percent, with substantial increases in deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and co-insurance. Ouch! But the worse news is for my neighbors who are recipients of food aid, not because they are lazy, but because they have low-paying jobs and costs like groceries are going higher and higher under Trump’s policies. They won’t receive their benefits starting in November. 
Meanwhile, the incumbents in the House of Representatives made sure that rich folks are getting more money. So, what have members of the House of Representatives like Pete Stauber been doing? Pete is on a taxpayer-funded vacation. 
The House has been on vacation for 85 out of the past 97 days with full pay, benefits, and gold-plated health care. So, we are paying Pete to hurt us at our expense, and he is perfectly fine with that. So are the rest of his Republican colleagues.
I don’t much care if it is a Republican, Democrat, or whatever, this is wrong. You have the power to make a change. We employ these people, and they are taking advantage of us. It is time to clean the House of Representatives and the rest of our government.
Kelly Dahl
Linden Grove Twp.