By Gus Pirlot, Opinion Editor | City of Salomon, Mitchell County

Members of the Federalist Party discussed multiple party functions, including their platform, at the Mitchell County Party Caucus on Sunday, June 10.

A whole committee was devoted to deciding what topics to focus on and how the budget should be allocated.

As a Federalist myself, I have mixed feelings about the party platform. The party claimed they would protect citizens’ rights. My question is, how exactly will rights be protected?

Obviously, no party leader in their right mind would say they wouldn’t support citizens’ rights. The issue is that political leaders can swear to protect our rights, and then turn around and violate those same rights, making this agenda seem like a hollow promise.

This pledge needs more specificity and planning, in my opinion, so that voters know exactly how potential Federalist leaders will affect their rights.

Next, for information about budgeting, I talked to Jaron Valley, the Salomon City Clerk.

“I think that we’re focusing on a bunch of infrastructure and agriculture… we’re pulling money [from public safety] so that we can have something like a volunteer firefighter system,” Valley said.

Infrastructure and agriculture are certainly important to the new and growing 51st State of Badger Boys, so increasing funding to these areas is a smart decision. Depending on volunteer programs in lieu of public safety funding seems like a risky move, however.

Hopefully, this choice will undergo further development in the future.

In short, the Mitchell County Federalist platform has its faults, but it has potential to improve and be a truly dependable platform. I look forward to seeing where the party takes it next.