So now the Republican Party is the party of populist pickup trucks? The same party that would refuse to give Massachusetts-style health care to the rest of the nation? Whose only new idea in the last decade was to turn Social Security into a Wall Street casino? The party that would have allowed two of the three greatest American automobile manufacturers to crash and burn in the midst of a deep recession? That squandered a $1.2 trillion surplus?
The irony of this would be merely funny if so much weren't at stake. Wall Street and its GOP dupes are laughing all the way to the bank.
JAMES P. LENFESTEY, MINNEAPOLIS
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Can you hear us now, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and the rest of the Minnesota congressional delegation? Because you all had better listen up.
With the election of Scott Brown to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Sen. Ted Kennedy, the people have spoken. People in Massachusetts, as well as all across the United States, do not like the way our government has been conducting itself.
We do not like the health care bill that is being rammed down our throats, and we do not like the special deals that were made to get the votes in the House and the Senate. We do not like the bailouts and the trillion-dollar debt.
We're tired of the partisan politics! Throw out this 2,500-page health care bill and start from scratch. Start working together on legislation that stands on its own merits. No deals for votes behind closed doors, no pork and no voting straight party lines. Address the real issue -- affordable health care.
And, most important, listen to your constituents. Focus on jobs!
NANCY MCReady, Ely, Minn.
