Readers’ Column for the week of July 12, 2026

You may call The Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2434, extension 2, 24 hours a day, or email comments to ReadersOP@gmail.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message. Please limit your comments to 100 words or fewer. We will not run comments that cannot be reduced to 100 words.

 

A big correction from my comment in last week’s Pennysaver: Doctor Gould is a traveling podiatrist (foot doctor), not a dentist. So sorry for the mistake.

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Be careful, people in Apalachin; it appears that the yearly band of gypsies going around trying to do roofing is back in town, and it appears they’ve got somebody already. They took their money and ran!

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I just went into my parents’ place, who live in New York. It’s so hot I couldn’t stand it. They won’t use an air conditioner because they’re afraid they can’t pay the electric bill. Thank you very much, Hochul, and the rest of you! They can’t afford it on a fixed income. What the hell is wrong with you people!

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Looking for a person to stack two full cords of firewood at my home. Will pay cash for having this done. You can call (607) 754-1247 and leave a message. I am located in the Town of Owego.

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For those of you who find it necessary to complain, moan, and groan about the trees being cut down at the Trout Ponds FOR FREE, here are a couple of suggestions. Offer to contribute, or grow up! Jared Martin not only did it for free, but look at what he saved the taxpayers, and, by far, not least, the safety of the people that visit. Thanks to all who helped!

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To the squirrel murderer mentioned in last week’s column: God said, “Where were you when I made the world?” Could you make a squirrel? How about if your poison killed something else, including someone’s pet (or yours), or even sickened a child who happened upon it? It ended up killing an endangered animal/bird (eagle, etc.) that feeds on the carcass. They are also an essential part of the ecosystem. For shame – thoughtless, heartless, ignorant, and cruel.

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Now that the July fireworks are a memory, it’s time for everyone who participated to donate to a local animal rescue an amount equal to what they spent on fireworks, in memory of all the domestic pets and wildlife that the fireworks dramatized.

 

National Political Viewpoints

Again this week in this column, not a thing about Governor Hochul. Isn’t it amazing? A lot of my friends are calling in every week because people have the right to know she shut down two power plants in the state of New York. That’s why your electric bill is so high; we’re buying elsewhere. But yet, you do not see it in this column. Isn’t it amazing? Freedom of speech, unless it pertains to the Democratic Party, they don’t print it. Apparently this paper loves them.

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It is not illegal for a sitting president not to receive a paycheck. So people out there who think Trump is doing his job for free. No, he’s getting a paycheck. I will give him credit, though; he does donate some money to this and that government agency, and that’s great. But hey, when you’re making $2 billion in one year, I guess you can afford that. We can’t really afford food, gas, insurance, cars, or houses. We gotta get these rich people out of office and get some poor guy in there who knows what the hell he’s doing.

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There wasn’t the Utopia that some suggest it was before the Pilgrims came to America. No, there were wars between the different tribes, and there was disease. It was not a perfect world.

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It’s our 250th birthday in this wonderful nation. I had already been informed that money had been set aside from Congress to have a national birthday party that brought us all together. But then Donald sniffed money and also knew he could insert himself so that it could be all about him. Once again, he spoils something that did not need to happen. Where did the money go? Because it certainly has not been spent on that God awful show in Washington, and he’s doing everything in his power to drive America further apart.

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This goes out to everybody who is an American patriot. You see the American flags ripped down, the Massachusetts Memorial Bridge ripped down twice. My opinion is that if they catch these people, they should put them on a plane and get them out of this country. They no longer belong in this country. If you have no respect for this country, get the hell out of here! A lot of men and women have died for this country. It’s a disgrace!

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Now they’re trying to pass something so you cannot even repair your own car. What really cracks me up is that they call the guy in the White House a dictator. Who thinks of these rules and these laws? If I own a car, don’t tell me I cannot fix it or take it where I want. So pay close attention, this is going to stop. You are a dictator and stay the hell out of our life. You weren’t elected to do such things. We’ll take our car where we want and fix our car anytime we want.

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I define socialism as a political and economic system whereby a government taxes its people in order to provide them with goods and services, such as education, transportation, and defense, to list just a few. As AI tells us, no country today operates on a 100% free-market or purely capitalist system. In reality, all modern economies are “mixed economies”; however, it’s not socialism you need to worry about, but rather authoritarianism that relies on ignorance and force to deprive those goods and services that are also necessary for the general welfare of we the people, as explicitly stated in our Constitution. Look it up.

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Mr. Trump’s tax returns show that this year he made $800 million from his World Liberty crypto firm, which he started two months before the election. He signed an executive order deregulating the crypto industry in his first month in office. He also made $635 million selling Trump meme coins to his followers. His family is up $2.3 billion this year, the same amount investors have lost. The graft and corruption are, as Trump would say, “Like nobody’s ever seen before.”

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The lowest form of life is a politician; the lowest form of politician is a Democrat. — George S. Patton

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With all seriousness, what is the difference between socialist and communist other than the spelling? Communists use guns and starvation as a means to their ends. Ninety-five years ago, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russia), with clear intent, starved 5,000,000 Ukrainians to death. The Ukrainian peasants killed and ate their cow or pig rather than let the socialist steal them. Don’t believe it? It’s called the Holodomor; read some history regarding the horrors of socialism.

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One last time. Pay attention, especially to supposedly educated people who are trying to make themselves relevant and only show ignorance: NO ONE OBJECTS TO LEGAL IMMIGRANTS!