Arrowhead Indivisible

“ Let me explain, with this semi-long post and video, why I joined 5.2 million people across the country yesterday to say that what's happening in our country right now is not OK and, specifically, how it's crushing the people in my own household. I can't remain silent while the futures of my loved ones and so many others are being shattered in front of our eyes.

The speaker in this video is Sean Ryder, research lab leader and PhD professor at UMass Chan Medical School, yesterday before 2,000 people gathered in Worcester, MA. He spoke about how much progress has resulted from Federal NIH funding (every $1 invested results in $2.50 economic stimulus!) and the severe impacts the administration's cuts are now having on medicine and science. The entire incoming UMass Medical School PhD class has been canceled, all offers rescinded. In-flight studies and trials have been canceled, staff laid off, hope and futures laid bare for people suffering from the multitude of conditions under study by institutions like his across our country.

Now let's bring this close to home. My wife suffers from constant, demoralizing pain from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and her quality of life has permanently changed. When she was diagnosed in 2012 there were only 4 treatments available, most with awful side effects. I know because I saw her trying them, to little avail and with much suffering from said side effects. Thanks to medical advances funded by the NIH and other Federal sources, today there are over 20 treatments available, with fewer side effects and infusions that are twice as effective as the medications she began with 13 years ago.

That said, ALL MS treatments, even now, only serve to SLOW the progression, not REVERSE the damage done, which is manifested by her body's immune system attacking her brain and nervous system. Current studies and experiments about regenerating myelin, the protective lining of the nervous system that gets destroyed by MS, offer some hope that someday she might experience less daily suffering than today's death by a thousand cuts. Without funding, this research and all of this progress is halting. As Sean says in the video, 99% of all new drugs approved by FDA in the past decade have been supported by NIH funded research.

Further close to home, our daughter is following a path towards science and medicine, a lifelong passion. Like Sean Ryder, she has been focused on research, first in a lab setting with rodents, and currently at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in a clinical setting treating patients with late-stage brain tumors. Her body of work, 20 publications and articles so far in top-ranked periodicals like Nature and the Journal of Neuroscience, one as co-first author and many as second author, transparently attest to her achievements. She's now observing incredible setbacks in both her research projects and clinical trials due to funding cuts. Further, with the cuts, her career outlook went from bright to bleak as it did for so many other bright minds working on cures for our illnesses.

Taking a step back, for the entirety of my childhood my parents encouraged me to continuously further my education so that I could have a better life. Likewise, my wife and I did the same for our children. We followed this path with curiosity and achievement, learning the scientific method early and honoring it throughout life. The entire point of the scientific method is to remove bias and force results and answers to be fact based and defensible through rigorous peer review.

Now, however, there's a wedge in my family, as in many of yours, and people like my wife, daughter, and I have been labeled the enemy, while our ideas, beliefs, and findings, all verifiable through fact and research, are labeled as fake, lies, or worse. I can't express how crushing this is, not only to our family unit but also our country, and now the world.

Has our country needed change for a long time to fix our problems and ultimately improve all of our lives? Absolutely it has; we are far from perfection and have had many setbacks. But in this one example, the United States has been a world leader in medicine, science, and engineering, thanks not only to our renowned colleges and universities and the funding mentioned above but also to the many brilliant minds from around the world that have come here because of our reputation to be classmates, lab partners, research co-authors, and ultimately co-workers to people like my daughter and me.

Perhaps the answer to our problems is not looking at this as us versus them, but a new direction where we can build upon our success rather than setting it back, and chart a better course for our country together.”

The Trump administration has profoundly affected relationships within my family. In my family, my mother and 2 of 4 siblings are republican and support Trump and Musk. They are solidly middle-class and Catholic. Since I view the current administration’s actions hurting the middle class and poor and only serving the wealthy 1%, I find it extremely hard to wrap my head around how my basically decent family can feel Trump and Musk’s actions and policies are good for the country, good for anything! How can you be “pro-life” and not care about health care, food security, the environment, education, immigration, etc.? Discussion is hard with people who “don’t want to talk about it."

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a national treasure. To remain pristine, the waters which feed into the BWCAW must be kept clean. As a Gunflint Trail family business owner, I am deeply concerned for all the resorts and outfitters which rely on preservation of the wilderness and the federal employees who monitor and protect Superior National Forest and the BWCAW. Sawtooth Mountain Clinic is a federally funded rural clinic. Losing the facility would mean a 2-hour drive for health care. Cook County's population, including Grand Portage, would suffer significantly without local health care.

My heart goes out to the LBGTQ and BIPOC communities. Just as rights have been established, those are being snatched away.

Possibly the most frightening is the hatred which has become acceptable, even promoted from the top level of US government. The message that some of people are better and more worthy of living is abominable.

Early Childhood Education Makes All the Difference!

Congressman Stauber, you have a youngster with a Disability, Down Syndrome. I’m sure you have plenty of resources to support your youngster without the Department of Education & IDEA. I’ve spent 38 years of my life either as a Speech Language Pathologist, Early Childhood Special Education Administrator, and Project Director for multiple federal and State Grants for thousands of children & families. And for the last 20 years as a volunteer in Cook County MN for School District 166, Grant Writer, Grand portage Head Start, Speech Therapist, or Home Visitor. I am weeping for the children who will benefit most from early intervention—children 0-5 who will be denied the money for services. Our youngest children who need the smallest amount of financial support & their K-12 education benefits the most long-term from early intervention. How can Congress eliminate the tiny amount of tax dollars spent for so much long term gain? I began my work in 1960 in Germany at an American School when my husband was with the Army Security Agency. I volunteered for 3 years to serve youngsters with speech & language delays. Then I spent 38 years professionally developing some of the most recognized early childhood services in the United States. I made just a regular school district salary but I was so gratified by the work that my hundreds of staff accomplished. Thousands of children thrived for all those years & have made money, had many types of careers, & even went to college. I am now 86 & the work of my life is being destroyed! I never made money, but my teams & I saved lives!

And I can only weep!

Sandy Taenzer

The quality of life in Cook County is what I appreciate most about my home. We have clean water, clean air, music and art venues as well as outdoor sports both summer and winter.

I fear the hostility I may experience due to the federal tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as a fear that the high tariff on goods from China will raise prices significantly or make securing parts for automobiles impossible.

Our county will suffer in tourism since Canadians will no longer cross the border to purchase goods and leisurely activities.