Readers’ Column for the week of March 23, 2025

You may call The Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or email comments to ReadersOP@gmail.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any messages. To assist, please limit your comments to 75 words or less. We tried to trim a comment last week and it altered its context (first comment below). Any comments that are excessive in the future will not be published.

CORRECTION: I am responding to a reader’s claim that the Village of Owego’s purchase of a foreign electric car is not the correct way to help make America great again. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 met the Village’s size, safety, and reliability requirements and comes with an exceptional warranty. In addition, Hyundai built an EV manufacturing facility in Bryan County, Georgia, that began manufacturing the Ioniq 5 in late 2024. Second, the claim that “electric vehicles are on their way out” is incorrect. Electric and hybrid vehicle sales, by the third quarter of 2024, reached a record 21.2% of new US car sales—a percentage that continues to rise as EV charging infrastructure expands. Third, the car in question is not a “take-home car.” Fourth, the car was funded through a NYSERDA grant awarded to the Village via the Clean Energy Communities program, not from Village taxes. In fact, it is only through this NYSERDA grant that the Village was able to purchase a much-needed vehicle for the Village fleet. As far as making America great again, electric vehicles serve our common good by reducing air and noise pollution, reducing the village’s carbon footprint, and reducing our dependence on imported oil.

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Show of hands, please! Who wants to go in on a class action lawsuit against NYSEG? The billing is ridiculous, if not outright fraud. In February, compared to January, my energy usage decreased by 47 kWh, which is equivalent to 54 fewer hours of running my hyper-efficient geothermal system. One would think that this would result in a lower bill, correct? Nope! Not with NYSEG. My bill went UP by $51. Make it make sense.

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I very much look forward to Aldi’s opening. I did some research on Aldi’s business model. Not only should they provide a square deal, but they should also bring down common grocery items in other grocery stores, which might use monopoly pricing practices.

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Special thanks to the Owego DMV. The service there is consistently outstanding. Very kind and patient. They are the best!

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I just hit the mute button on our remote again, and it’s getting more use than ever. The repeating commercials during the shows we watch are bad enough, but now the talk shows are selling products. 

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Why do people get cats to put them outdoors night and day? How much enjoyment do you get from your pet then? It’s also cruel to keep a domestic animal outside in freezing weather. I’ve been told by a cat lover that outdoor cats can be retrained to live indoors, and an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins reported that cats and dogs are susceptible hosts for the bird flu. She recommends keeping cats indoors. 

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I just saw on TV that even Pennsylvania is thinking about stopping the property tax. What the hell is wrong with New York? Put an end to it! Why should we have to pay tax on what we already own? That’s the way in New York State; you pay for everything, and if they think they can make money on something, they’ll make a new law. That’s just New York’s way.  

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If you are interested in getting an Easter Box from the Newark Valley Food Pantry, you need to sign up by April 1. They will be given out on April 15 from 3 to 6 p.m. To ensure a box, please call (607) 642-3339.

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In response to the question when the Apalachin/ Marshland yearly yard sales are, I don’t know. I do know the Tioga Terrace yard sales are on May 17 and they take place in the Terrace in Apalachin. It is huge, and there is a great lemonade stand at 22 Brookside Ave. West. 

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Last week’s caller was looking for help with their NYSEG bill. I have the phone number for the NYSEG Public Service Commission. It’s 1-800-342-3377, I used them for two problems with NYSEG and they solved both problems. The girl I worked with was Mary, but the others will be just as good; but you’ve got to follow through. 

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Calling about your electric bill won’t get you anywhere. Call the Public Service Commission and lodge a complaint, and I guarantee you will get action. Their number is 1-800-342-3377. If more people call, it helps them understand that there is a widespread problem. They will act on it, it’s their job. 

National Political Viewpoints

Inflation dropped unexpectedly in Trump’s first full month in office; this is good news for consumers. Prices are easing, a relief for consumers, thanks to lower gas and airfare prices that the Labor Department just reported. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.8%, down from 3% in January, showing progress in cutting costs for Americans.

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During his publicity stunt on Tuesday, Trump said he will label violence at Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism. On the other hand, if you violently attack the U.S. Capitol while Congress is in session, causing severe injuries to police and doing millions of dollars’ worth of damage to government property, you will receive a full pardon and be released from jail. Trump and Elon are one clown short of a three-ring circus. This is absolute insanity.

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Ronald Hump sometimes wasn’t as clever as his little brain thought he was. Some people with real human-sized brains started pointing out the inaccuracies in what Ronald said. So Ronald’s little brain came up with a plan. If he was caught in a lie, he’d just deny having said it. If someone disagreed with him, he’d shout them down with his big, rich mouth. If a video showed him doing bad things, he’d claim it was fake news. In fact, it came down to a simple formula: Ronald Hump would disagree with everything that a person with a human sized brain said. Right was wrong, wrong was right, good was bad, and bad was good. Yes, sir, Ronald Hump had it all figured out.

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Isn’t it funny that for probably 40 years now, presidential candidates have talked about reducing spending, abuse, fraud, and waste; but the only one who appointed someone to specifically do just that is President Trump? But as soon as Elon Musk found fraud, waste, and abuse, Democrats went wild, going into the streets to whine and complain because it was done without their approval. Oddly, their problem is not how much of their constituents’ tax dollars are being frittered away and wasted; it’s who uncovered it. Unfortunately, they won’t stop acting like petulant children until they get rid of Trump and Musk by any means possible.

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To all of you Trump bashers: You INCESSANTLY call President Trump a liar. Who lied for and about Biden during his administration? Who was running the country? I repeat, STOP watching The View, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, NPR, etc. Try RealClearPolitics, NewsNation Now, and the NY Post. Get both sides!

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If Donald Trump were seen in a psychiatric emergency room, the differential diagnoses would be schizophrenia, narcissistic personality disorder, and depressive psychosis. Is this what you all voted for?

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Trump was right. The Russians are trying to take Svalbard from Norway. Svalbard is next to Greenland (part of Denmark) and has a population equal to Tioga County. 

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Consider Julius Caesar and the Ides of March. Power and prestige over principle.

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I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican so let’s get right to it. Remember when Trump said you are going to lose your country if you don’t do this or that? He was right. This man is taking it away from us, and it is obvious that the gutless Democrats are going to do nothing. We, the citizens, need to descend on Washington by the thousands. Who will commit to go? Respond to this column.

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It’s a peculiar sense of morality where individuals who enter our country illegally are welcomed with taxpayer-funded food, phones, and accommodations, but legitimate citizens who suffer enormous loss from hurricanes and floods can’t be adequately helped because the available FEMA funds were already inappropriately spent on those illegals. Or how about when enormous systemic fraud is uncovered in other government programs, but instead of applauding the whistleblower, he’s despised by the liberals who seem so blinded by their hatred for an individual that they don’t care how badly their country has been harmed? What did their mothers teach them? Decent people are always against corruption and evil. — Ponytail Scott

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If Trump can make a peace deal in the Ukraine-Russia lose-lose war, all parties, including Europe, will be unhappy; then you know he has done a good job. He will have given Putin an off-ramp rather than doubling down. This will avert WW3. Russia needs to be flipped to our side to contain China, just as Nixon and Kissinger flipped China in the 70s. In WW2 we allied with Stalin. Stalin killed as many of his own people as Hilter did all others. There are no choir boys here. Trump’s praise of Putin is flattery of a tyrant.

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“I tried something a little different this year. I set my clocks ahead four years. It didn’t work.” — Jimmy Kimmel

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March 15, 2025. Price of 1 dozen eggs in Ukraine, USD – $1.80.

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As a direct result of recent DOGE cuts to NOAA and the resulting staffing shortages, two more National Weather Service offices (one of which is Albany) have stopped launching daily radiosondes on weather balloons. The data collected from these balloon launches is fed directly into weather models and provides winds aloft data to pilots. Is this what “great again” looks like? Weather forecasting is a safety issue for air travel. 

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We have to be patient. Trump has done more in the last two months and will put us back on track. Let’s see. The stock market is crashing, continued increasing inflation, threats of WW3, conflicts with allies, a declining education system, Medicare/ Social Security cuts, veteran disadvantages, gas/electric going bye-bye, measles/ tuberculosis/ bird flu; and crashing planes! I could go on. Are we great yet?

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Our Democrat political representatives are spending their time on the streets ranting, raving, singing ridiculous songs, spewing extremely vile language, and doing everything but what they are being paid to do. For two reasons: one being that President Trump won, and the second, because President Trump appointed Elon Musk to root out waste, abuse, and fraud in government. Within days, Elon found numerous cases of abuse, waste, and fraud. Immediately, Democrats went crazy; why do you think that is?

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Trump’s hatchet man, Musk, is now trying to break our Social Security system to privatize it, liquidate it, and steal a portion or all of its $2.7 trillion in the trust fund. Republicans need to join with Democrats to not let this happen. We all must act now by letting our congressmen, senators, and the White House know that this attack on Social Security is NOT what you voted for. Act now, before it’s too late!  

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As I speak for the millions of people who voted for President Trump, no, we have no regrets. We trust Trump. 

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Three days in a row, the stock market’s been dropping. Uh, he’s talking about a recession. I believe we’re just going straight to a depression if he keeps this up, and I’m sure he will. So, have you got buyer’s remorse yet? Are you going to take down your Trump flags? Are you still so proud of this guy? Good luck to you. You got what you have coming to you. You deserve it. 

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Ronald Reagan opposed tariffs, and as I recall, the economy wasn’t good at all under Carter, and it started getting a whole heck of a lot better under Reagan. And keep in mind he opposed tariffs. Now comes Donald Trump, and of course, we all know how he feels about tariffs. So, how is your 401K doing? How are your individual retirement accounts doing? You know it’s all hooked to the stock market. Good luck. Stay the course, as Ronald Reagan used to say. 

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While I’m struggling, can anybody, any Democrat, explain to me the Democratic thinking? When Biden and his administration were in office, all he wanted was electric vehicles for everybody. That was the way to go. Well, they’re no longer in power, and now they’re setting the Tesla factories on fire. Do they realize they make electric vehicles? I just don’t understand these Democrats and their thinking. Please help me understand! 

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“The Atlanta Fed issued a Trump session warning; growth in the current quarter was a stunning negative 2.8%., signaling that the GDP is shrinking at the fastest pace since the pandemic lockdown. In the first Trump term, it took a disease to destroy the economy. This time, he is the disease.” — Stephen Colbert 

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When is someone going to grow some balls and remove this guy from the White House? If we don’t get him out, he could destroy this country! I think he’s doing it for Russia anyway. And you talked about Biden. I would take Joe Biden on his craziest worst day over this guy’s best day, and I’ll bet you about 300 million Americans feel the same way right about now. 

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Democrats, the party of love, are now vandalizing Tesla and trying to burn down the dealerships because they don’t like Elon Musk because he’s catching them with their hands in the cookie jar. How pathetic the Democratic Party has become, yet they claim to be peaceful. What a bunch of crap that is. 

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Kathy Hochul, Chuck Schumer, and AOC, please resign from politics so New York State has a chance. 

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If you don’t like the guy, so be it. 

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How can you have regrets when the price of gas is coming down, eggs are coming down, and the overall inflation rate is starting to bump down?  

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Well, our president went down to the Justice Department yesterday, supposedly a totally not partisan part of the government, unbiased, but he has put all his henchmen in there, and then for several minutes, because he doesn’t know how to stop talking, he lied about how the election was stolen, how his family was attacked by the FBI. He’s going to seek retribution upon anybody that was against him. They will be put in jail. It ended with the song, YMCA. What a class act. We should be so proud.  

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Trump has mental issues due to his age, just like Joe Biden has. We should have a law surrounding mental issues and running for president. This is just common sense, but we got what we got. I have buyer’s remorse; I don’t know about you people. I’m so sorry I voted for that sick son of a gun.

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Trump has successfully destroyed governmental integrity to the detriment of it. Trump has ensured our government no longer works for us, we the people. It only works for him. Dictator Trump is working fast and hard to grab as much power as all dictators strive for. Sadly, we are rapidly losing our republic’s democracy as we are being coerced by Trump’s unethical tactics. True Americans, even the MAGA voters who made this mistake happen, will miss our freedoms and previous way of life. 

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In 2016, we will build a wall, and Mexico will pay for it. In 2020, the election was stolen. In 2024, tariffs are attacks on other countries. All lies!  

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Thank you for doing the job you’re doing. You are the best president we have had in ages and keep doing what you’re doing and showing how the Democrats are such fools. Thank you. 

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The Democrats are melting down because Trump is deporting killers and gang members. Really? And you wonder why you’re not in power anymore? Does anyone have common sense anymore? What’s wrong with you people? Killers, gang members, rapists, and you’re protecting them and trying to allow them to stay here. Wow! 

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If any foreigner has $5 million or more they can purchase a gold card from Mr. Trump so they can come into our country, but God help you if you have a green card.