As someone who also has struggled with credit-card debt over the years, I'm certainly in no position to criticize or mock Kurt Daudt for struggling to escape the same hole in which I found myself ("House Speaker Kurt Daudt was sued by debt collectors," March 9). That's too easy, hypocritical and completely unfair to a political leader who is also a real person with real issues, just like any of us.
Where it becomes more than fair to criticize Mr. Daudt is being a person struggling with credit-card debt while using his position as leader of the self-proclaimed party of fiscal responsibility to connect with a lobbyist for free legal advice to help him find his way out of the hole. Thankfully for his family, he didn't have to resort to a second, third or fourth job to get out of debt. He didn't have to risk accruing thousands more in debt to obtain a new college degree to hopefully wind up in a position better able to pay off his debts upon graduation.
Oh, if only thousands of Minnesota workers and their families were such fiscally responsible leaders and able to consult with lobbyists for free help solving their financial problems. Our state would be much better than it already is.
Adam Skoglund, Eagan
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It's different rules for different fools. Someone who can't manage their own finances should not be telling me how to manage mine. It is sheer hypocrisy that a derelict spendthrift set a budget agenda that affects every Minnesotan. It is an anathema to our Minnesota fiscal values that such a person should be in such a high position of authority.
Benjamin Cherryhomes, Hastings
DISTRUST OF ESTABLISHMENT
Reason No. 1: Politically correct selective outrage by officials
On Saturday, two people were shot outside a store in Brooklyn Center in an apparent dispute over athletic shoes ("Bullets fly as new Jordan shoes debut; 2 shot," March 6). We have yet to hear anything from the governor, local congressman, senators, or the Minneapolis mayor and City Council (the crime took place two blocks from the city limits).
About 10 days ago, a broken window and burglary took place on E. Lake Street that in less than 12 hours prompted a visit from the governor and other major political officials ("Dayton denounces vandalism at mosque," Feb. 29). While we are told all lives matter, it is evident some are politically more useful than others. The political hypocrisy is astounding. Serious social problems will never be solved if this is all we can expect from our politicians. Our disingenuous leadership is the biggest reason why nonestablishment candidates like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are so unexpectedly popular.
S.W. Kania, Crystal
POLITICAL REVOLUTION
We don't need to upend everything — just this
To reclaim our government, we need nothing so elaborate as overhauling the Constitution ("Voters want a revolution. Here's what it would take," March 8).
Rather, we need to restore the principle of one person, one vote.
With campaign financing and special-interest lobbying, we have devolved to "one dollar, one vote." Unfortunately, in ruling on this issue, the Supreme Court seems to have confused the First Amendment right of free speech with the free market. Economics is not politics.
Now, money buys the airwaves, the Internet and print media. When the voice of wealth overwhelms the press, legislative discourse and actions, and classroom education, the general public suffers. We have allowed corpocracy to trump democracy.
Douglas Allchin, St. Paul
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
'Asking questions and listening' for feedback it prefers to hear
Minnesota Chamber of Conference President Doug Loon ("Keep state's business humming," March 7) extols his laborious five-month travels across the state to gain a reading of the current economic climate in Minnesota, "asking questions and listening." He notes that he has "talked with business owners and managers, community leaders, and, as always, local chambers of commerce." He further promotes a three-point plan of "key economic indicators [that size] up our business climate."
Mr. Loon, didn't you miss some folks who might give you a complete answer to your "questions and listening?" How about the Iron Range miner whose unemployment benefits have run out and is anxiously waiting to hear if the Legislature moves faster than a snail's pace and without an if/then ultimatum from a leading Republican? How about the welder, bus driver, assembler, loading dock worker, retail worker, truck driver, foreman, hair stylist or grocery clerk who have seen wages stagnate and benefits diminish or disappear? Could you have possibly worked them into your busy schedule? Did you "ask and listen" with them? No mention is given in your article.
The businesses that you promote and defend would not exist without the labors of the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who are invisible to your "chamber" agenda.
Pity you couldn't find the time. Or perhaps you weren't inclined to.
Gary Dunn, Andover
TEACHER LICENSING
Editorial missed the point. The problem is obvious. Look here.
Good idea ("Fix flaws in state's teacher licensing," March 9). Just how many of these out-of-state teachers are there out there trying to get a coveted Minnesota teacher license? Enough to fill the current and projected vacancies? Once again, the Star Tribune Editorial Board doesn't get it . The board's ideas are making the problem worse by not identifying the problem. Want to know what the problem is? See economics text 101. Stop coming up with answers that don't reflect the situation. You wanted a more free-market system in education? You want schools to compete with private businesses for employees? You got it! Where have all the teachers gone? Guess where and why? Thanks to cuts to our pay and the lowering teacher standards, I can just hear the state's colleges of education filling up as we speak. Sometimes it's a good idea to understand your subject matter.
Jeff Spaeth, Remer, Minn.
The writer is a special-education teacher.
