Dear Editor: Paul Fanlund’s column about his weekend visit to his hometown of Rockford (“Rockford visit highlights Madison’s economic bubble,” Sept. 29) spoke directly to my heart. After 18 years in Madison, I continue to be amazed by its economic prosperity, insularity and astonishing ignorance of the challenges many Americans are facing.
During our annual road trips to visit family on both coasts, we pass through more than 20 states, including rural places such as New Mexico where citizens are struggling to obtain basic resources. Every time I visit my daughter in Decatur, Illinois, another once vibrant small city like Rockford that has struggled mightily, the pain of the lost American dream resonates…