HEALTH CARE HYPOCRISY
Both sides sending inconsistent messages
In response to news that our absentee governor, Tim Pawlenty, has urged the attorney general to add Minnesota to the list of states questioning the constitutionality of the health care reform bill, I would urge Minnesotans to also push legislators to drop the mandatory auto insurance laws.
Is there something in the parallel of these two mandates that I am missing?
I happen to be in favor of both, but if one is found to not be within the Constitution, I would think that both would not be.
CHRIS CLARK, LAKEVILLE
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So some states want to opt out of the new federal health program. If states could choose which federal laws to obey, many of our citizens would still be living under slavery, or in some areas the proverbial lunch counter at Woolworth's would still be segregated.
RON HOPFENSPERGER, Minneapolis
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Does anyone else find it ironic that President Obama is on a cross-country tour to sell a bill that has already been signed into law?
PAUL NIEBELING, WOODBURY
St. Paul public works
Shovel-leaners also wear pinstripe suits
Now I know who to blame for the potholes: a bunch of public works loafers taking long coffee breaks ("Public works director resigns," March 23).
Funny, I thought the potholes were a result of a Republican governor and a Legislature that has systematically stripped investment in public infrastructure over the last eight years. Nevertheless, the road workers make for good TV and media entertainment.
Here's an idea for some more images: Get some pictures of business folks doing two-hour lunches at Manny's or Mission and writing it off their taxes as a "business expense."
Or how about some footage of pharmacy reps and physicians out at Vail or Aspen on "business expense" ski trips. Or attorneys billing clients as they "work" through lunch. Or account executives billing for "creative" hours over coffee. And how about some pictures of all the creative "work" done in recent years by the bankers and accountants in our finance industry?
Sure, I'm going to cuss the loafers every time I drive down University Avenue, but I'm also going to remember that pictures of the really big ripoffs never get on TV.
JACK SATTEL, MINNEAPOLIS
Vatican scandal
Release the records, let the truth be known
Predictably, the Vatican newspaper, Osservatore Romano, screamed foul, denouncing news stories that reported then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's lack of action in investigating and punishing a Wisconsin priest who abused deaf children as an "ignoble attempt" to smear the pope ("German abuse scandal draws closer to the pope," March 26).
How much better it would be if the Vatican would simply release all records related to how these cases were handled. Then people would know the truth. And the truth can never be ignoble.
ROBERT VEITCH, MINNEAPOLIS
U.S.-Israeli relations
Don't question loyalty of pro-Israel lobby
A letter printed on March 24 questions the loyalty of members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. I have contributed to this organization, and I am stunned that my loyalty is being called into question.
Should my loyalty be questioned because I also contributed to Haitian relief? What about sending money to help the refugees in Darfur?
If the letter writer is going to attack the "Israel lobby," why not go after the Saudi or Irish lobbies?
The foundation of the U.S.-Israel relationship is based on fighting common enemies, on intelligence sharing and on the mutual values of democracy and freedom.
This foundation is not strengthened by the writer's comments. On the contrary, it aids our common enemies. Now whose loyalty is questioned?
ARDIS WEXLER, EDINA
Buses on Nicollet
Restore bus stops to every street along mall
Limiting the bus stops on Nicollet Mall south of 5th Street to 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th Streets is catastrophic for the elderly, disabled, mothers with children and businesspeople with laptops and groceries.
Nicollet Mall is a central location for transfers. Baby boomers are the largest bus-riding demographic. The No. 5 bus is one of the most frequently traveled and serves four hospitals.
In the past week I wheeled an elderly woman in a nonmotorized wheelchair from 4th Street to 7th Street, and overheard another elderly woman with a walker at the corner of 7th Street discussing how difficult visiting the hospital had become with the extreme inconvenience of every-other-street stops along Nicollet.
When I called Metro Transit, I was told that the changes were imposed by the mayor and City Council. So I say to the City Council and mayor, enough congestion was removed from Nicollet Mall by moving express buses to Marquette Avenue. Restore service along Nicollet Mall to every street.
IZELA GAYLE, BLOOMINGTON
Arts Education
For kids' and society's sake, keep funding it
I taught art education for 32 years and experienced the fight to survive the budget cuts that all schools face today. Now retired, all I hear over and over again is "I wish I would have experienced the arts earlier in my education."
Many find the arts a release from the pressures of life, where they can be themselves in their exploration of creativity.
It should not be taken too lightly.
FRANK ZELLER, WHITE BEAR LAKE
