Letter: Finstad's position on debt limit will hurt his rural constituents

I have lived in Rochester for the past 15 years and have seen good changes and bad. With how the economy is going these days, I feel the need to speak my mind about what our congressman, Brad Finstad, is not doing.

The consequence of not raising the debt ceiling would be an economic disaster. Families are already struggling. Imagine now if we let him get away with not supporting raising the national debt limit. In the past 90 years, this is the second time Republicans have had the economy hostage as leverage; this is grossly unethical and abnormal.

Ironically, Rep. Finstad, who represents the 1st District of Minnesota, is challenging the debt limit because his constituents stand to lose the most — a gap in spending would decimate the economies of rural and agrarian areas, which obviously make up much of southern Minnesota.

In 2021 alone, Minnesota farms received over $500 million in federal subsidies.

But Finstad knows all this — he’s a farmer himself. He even campaigned on being one. So why is he risking the livelihoods of his people?

Maybe it’s because he’s joined a party that purports to help rural Americans, but just cuts taxes for billionaires.

Leticia Flores, Rochester