I recently came across a news item that Kohler now offers a toilet (the Numi model) which sells for $6,400.

This is not a product with any special capabilities to assist the handicapped; it is a toy for the rich. It has all sorts of high-tech features to minimize the unpleasantness of one's bathroom experience.

I don't care how smart, hard working, or plain lucky you are, if you can spend $6,400 on a toilet, you are simply too rich.

People who buy this type of thing can afford to contribute a little extra (amounts they would barely notice) to help get our state out of its current financial mess. A mess, by the way, that can by no means be laid primarily at the feet of the DFL.

In refusing to even consider Gov. Mark Dayton's high-end tax increases, the Tea Party faithful and their representatives are digging in their heels to protect the interests and dominance of a group they have little in common with: the extremely wealthy.

PETER LANGWORTHY, ST. PAUL