Readers Write (March 2): Steve Sviggum, Rick Santorum, Mitch Pearlstein, cigarette tax

I was surprised that Steve Sviggum chose to defend himself from conflict-of-interest charges with a "legal opinion of his own, by an attorney he has not named" ("Lawyers: Sviggum's two posts pose a conflict," March 1).

I can think of two reasons for an anonymous legal opinion: 1) The lawyer doesn't want to tarnish his reputation by being known as the author, or 2) the writer isn't a lawyer. Either way, not a winning defense.

As a University of Minnesota alumnus, I wish that a bit more care had been taken in appointing Sviggum as a regent -- but then again, the current Legislature has had other personnel decisions that didn't pan out, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised with how this appointment is developing.

DIMITRI M. DREKONJA, MINNEAPOLIS

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"Evil prevails when good men fail to act" -- I've been thinking about that quote as I've watched Rick Santorum's venom being thrown around daily on TV. The man attacks all that is sacred to America -- a secular society created so that people could follow their own beliefs.

Santorum calls President Obama names like "snob" and "elitist" because Obama believes every child deserves a chance to go to college. What next, Mr. Santorum? Will you have us burning books? Or destroying the Library of Congress?

CHAD DELEY, BROOKLYN PARK

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A March 1 letter, accusing Rosenberg of bias, says that "most educators at all levels are Democrats [and that] it doesn't take a rocket scientist to start asking questions about why that is."

The recent annual Conservative Political Action Conference meeting, attended by Republican presidential hopefuls and other conservative leading lights, answers the complainer's suspicions.

This lovefest included those that have supported racism; homophobia; anti-science views of both evolution and climate change; misogyny, and even a sprinkling of anti-Semitism.

BYRON D. DANELIUS, PLYMOUTH

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Mitch Pearlstein ("The American mind is open," Feb. 27) painted a picture of a diverse American populace where we "have more than enough respect ... for each other's religious commitments."

What Pearlstein failed to mention is that religious Americans do not extend the same generosity and warmth to nonbelievers as they do to fellow believers.

While the Constitution forbids a religious test for elected office, 53 percent of Americans would not vote for a well-qualified atheist presidential candidate (Gallup poll).

Prejudices fade when people get to know each other on a personal level. Until believers and nonbelievers can talk openly and civilly about their respective worldviews, I am afraid that the American mind will not be as open as Pearlstein would have us believe.

GARY J. FREITAS, WACONIA, MINN.

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Patrick Fleenor ("Minnesota's cigarette tax: Trouble from the beginning," Feb. 29) argues that a $1.29 cigarette tax increase proposed by two Rochester lawmakers will cause more problems than it solves.

He omits the most compelling piece of the argument. Extensive research shows that price increases are the most effective way to prevent youths from smoking and to motivate smokers to quit.

The health benefits of this are obvious, but what might not be as apparent is the savings Minnesota would receive from the resulting reduction of health care costs. A $1.29 increase would save us $1.17 billion -- not million, but billion.

Fleenor is affiliated with the Cato Institute, a historic ally of the tobacco industry. His article talks about cigarette smuggling and tax evasion, two bogeymen the industry likes to trot out whenever price increases are proposed.

The fact of the matter is this: Every state that has ever imposed a tax increase on cigarettes has seen its tobacco tax revenues go up, not down. In the past 10 years, 47 states and the District of Columbia have passed 105 separate such increases, and the result has hardly been the second coming of Prohibition.

In Minnesota, a series of price bumps and the implementation of smoke-free worksites helped reduce our adult smoking rate from 22.1 percent in 1999 to our lowest-ever rate, 16.1 percent, today.