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Readers write for Monday, Nov. 9

Last update: November 8, 2009 - 1:48 PM

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RYBAK FOR GUV

Will the Democrats get off Pawlenty's back now?

Mayor R.T. Rybak was reelected to another term as mayor of Minneapolis, and within 48 hours of winning that race he announces his intent to run for governor of Minnesota.

My question is this: Will those who are currently complaining about Gov. Tim Pawlenty running for president also complain about Rybak actively running for governor?

My suspicion is they won't.

MIKE MCLean, Richfield

BACHMANN AND HEALTH CARE

Actions speak louder than her words

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has once again leveraged her office to create a frenzy of misinformation in front of a camera ("Bachmann leads rally opposing health plan," Nov. 6). She needs to resist the compulsion to blurt out wild accusations and focus on the facts.

I also think she needs to start walking the talk. And, if Bachmann really opposes government involvement in health care, she can take the following steps:

• Give up her generous and government-funded health care plan.

• Plunge into the private market and apply for health care as an individual (probably with preexisting conditions, like the rest of us). See how she likes family premiums of $1,400 a month, "low" deductibles of $1,000 per person, rising copays and capped coverage.

• Refuse that government pension offered to all members of Congress. Most people in the real world work for 20 and 30 years at far lower wages than Bachmann to be eligible for what is by comparison a modest pension. After 30 years of driving a truck, for example, my dad benefits from a "generous" $400-a-month stipend.

• She should give back her government salary. Former Sen. Mark Dayton did and without fanfare.

• And she should propose we abolish Medicare. After all, this is a government-run health care program. What does Bachmann really think about Medicare?

So walk the talk, focus on the facts, or refrain from commenting.

MARY COSGROVE, PLYMOUTH

•••

Our current health care system is not perfect. Reform is needed. But there are many, many ways to improve our health care system without putting the government in the middle of it. And that is what the reform making its way through the Congress is doing. It is setting up our entire health care system to be dependent on the federal government, on taxes it collects from you and me.

Everyone in America will have a more difficult time getting health care because of this reform.

I urge citizens to call their representatives and demand that they stop now and consider all reform options. Demand that they keep the government out of health care.

KARRIE SHROYER, VICTORIA

'SURRENDER BARACK'

Sack cartoon reveals Obama's new reality

I want to thank Steve Sack for his Nov. 4 editorial page cartoon portraying moderate Democrats fleeing from Obamacare.

Sack has exposed President Obama for the far left-wing liberal that he is. New Jersey and Virginia are the first two states to express buyer's remorse.

GEOFF DODD, WAYZATA

'GREEN' POWER

Don't create it at the expense of our rivers

I disagree with state Sen. Scott Dibble that hydroelectric power "is what the green economy is all about" ("Hydroelecric plant will make enough to power 7,500 homes," Nov. 6). Dams are not green -- they kill rivers.

Where are the big native fish -- like sturgeon, catfish and paddlefish that were in the Mississippi River gorge before the dams? A hundred years ago, those fish were common here. I've heard the gorge was a major spawning area for the sturgeon. Below the falls the narrow limestone and sandstone gorge took a 111-foot drop in eight-and-a-half miles -- providing rapids and pools fit for spawning.

In our rush to "green" power, let's not rush to build more dams and destroy more rivers with hydro power. Maybe we should even think about restoring a few unique river sections like the only gorge on the Mississippi River?

WILLIAM F. BARTON, ST. PAUL

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