THE CITY OF ST. PAUL
False vibrancy
St. Paul's mayor and his colleagues on the City Council have created an unfriendly business climate, exemplified in a variety of policies ranging from excessive taxation to limits on the types of activities that can occur in a privately held property (smoking).
This has worked so well for them that in order to save their image when St Paul is on the national stage during the Republican National Convention, they are funding businesses to temporarily open shops in vacant spaces around the downtown St. Paul area.
I have an idea: Why not get your noses and thieving hands out of private businesses and create more than temporary change? Permanent businesses actually contribute more than the feeble, false-facade, temporary businesses that you are funding to make it look like St. Paul is a vibrant business community.
JAY HUYCK, ST. PAUL
KLINE TAKES ON EARMARKS
At long last
Regarding Rep. John Kline's Aug. 20 column "Earmarks waste our hard-earned tax dollars": As a three-term congressman, Kline had six years to raise the issue of earmarks. The first four of those years Kline was a member of a Republican congressional majority with a Republican president.
Perhaps in his next guest column Kline will explain why it took six years and Democratic majorities in both houses for him to become so passionate about earmarks.
DANIEL SHAW, MINNEAPOLIS
An election weapon Let's stop calling this special form of spending "earmarks."
Like much of government spending they are in effect reelection funds for members of Congress. They take the money from Dick and Jane and spend it on Tom, Betty, Joe, Grace, Stephanie and George. They may lose the vote of Dick and Jane, but they probably pick up the vote of the six on whom they spent the money.
Of course, the best part is it didn't cost the congresspeople a cent of campaign funds.
Yet, who can blame them? It's the best job they've ever had, so they'll do whatever is necessary to be reelected. It is sad, but a truism, that a politician thinks of the next election while a statesman thinks of the next generation.
JACK SJOQUIST, BLOOMINGTON
As has McCain Congratulations to John Kline for his campaign against the "earmark" requests that Congress votes on without discussing. As he says, this is not a partisan issue. Republicans helped themselves when they controlled Congress, as Democrats have done more recently, and now some Democrats are joining with Republicans who reject the practice.
But with two sitting senators running for the White House, earmarks may be an issue for the presidential campaign. John McCain is known for his long-standing refusal to put in earmark requests for his state. Can Barack Obama say the same?
DENISE SHEEHY, SHOREVIEW
THE LEGISLATURE FIDDLED
While many lost jobs
With unemployment at a 25-year high in our state, it is so sad that the Democratic majority of the Minnesota Legislature could only think about raising taxes and not addressing the issues that really mattered.
Along with a weakening economy, rising fuel and food costs, and the housing market spiraling out of control, the speaker of the House and the majority leader of the Senate only focused on their agenda, to raise taxes. With 171,500 unemployed people who cannot pay those imposed additional taxes, what are we supposed to do?
The state legislators need to become unemployed and the unemployed need to become state legislators. Maybe then we wouldn't be in such a sad state of affairs.
RON SARAT, BLOOMINGTON
MCCAIN-PAWLENTY?
A gain for Minnesota
So many strong ideologists in the Republican Party appear to be crossing off Gov. Mitt Romney as a vice-presidential running mate for John McCain. These Republicans are saying that "they might be more open to potential candidates like Gov. Tim Pawlenty." Well, good! If Pawlenty is the choice and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is chosen by Barack Obama, then both vice-presidential candidates would have been born in St. Paul.
As to the duo of McCain and Pawlenty, their agenda will more likely be one of continuing President Bush's ill-conceived Iraq war, costing $10 billion a month, and borrowing policies causing a huge $9 trillion national debt, and climbing. They would continue to allow the wealthy to receive large tax cuts, while the middle/working class and "Sam's Club Republicans" will pay more than their fair share. This also hurts the working poor and the rest of us.
When Pawlenty returns after solidly losing this fall, most Minnesotans will finally realize that he is just another pretty face, who abandoned his working-class roots to pander to the wealthy and promote continuing the Iraq war/occupation for political gain. This will, in the end, be a gain for Minnesota, as he will, then, be voted out of office in the next gubernatorial election.
GARY THOMPSON, ST. PAUL
RUSSIA-GEORGIA CONFLICT
Media are remiss
Kudos to Olga Ivanova for her pointed commentary on the painfully one-sided coverage the American press has provided on the Russia-Georgia conflict to date (Aug. 16).
Despite a few lapses in facts (the inflated figure of 2,000 casualties in Georgia's initial attack on Tskhinvali having been disputed by no less a source than Human Rights Watch, among others) and her insupportable comparison of Georgia's attack on South Ossetia with Hitler's invasion of Russia in 1941, the basic thrust of her article merits attention.
Why do we not hear about the effects of this conflict on the displaced Ossetian families left homeless in Russia? Why has the American public seen so little objective discussion of the motivations behind Russia's actions over the past week? While I certainly do not condone the invasion and occupation of Georgian territory by Russian military forces, I think we would be wise to ask (and, indeed, expect) our news media to give equal voice to both sides of this tragedy, so that we might better combat the chilling Cold War mentality that has already begun creeping its way back from the grave.
JENNY HOLM, MINNETONKA;
2007-2008 FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR IN RUSSIA
