Letters to the editor for Friday, Jan. 30, 2009

President Obama was able to pass his stimulus plan without a single vote from the Republican Party. It appears that when he stated in his inaugural speech "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist," he should have added, "and that includes the Republican Party."

DOUG WILLIAMS, ROBBINSDALE

•••

Many conservatives in Congress are against the economic stimulus bill because of its $900 billion price tag. They say they are worried about excessive spending. But why don't we see this same outcry over the defense budget, which now exceeds $1 trillion per year? And defense spending goes up year after year, while the economic stimulus bill is one-time only.

JIM DAHLGREN, CRYSTAL

Wishing President Obama will fail? Of course I do not wish him to fail.

I hope he has complete success in outlawing abortion of viable babies and in ensuring that all Americans can freely exercise their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms without undue restrictions. I want him to succeed in protecting our founding values by making marriage between one man and one woman the only option throughout the land. I want him to bring about the dream of Martin Luther King where all Americans are judged by their actions and qualifications, not the color of their skin, by ending affirmative action and minority contracting preferences. I wish him all the best in protecting the right of individual workers to have a real, secret ballot vote on whether they unionize or not. I want him to successfully make America independent of foreign oil by drilling for our own and building hundreds of nuclear power plants to save the Earth.

I do not wish Obama to fail, as it could mean the failure of my country to survive, but I do wish him to fail in many of his and his party's special interests. Failure to achieve those goals will keep America stronger.

BILL GAMBLE, HOPKINS

A Jan. 27 letter writer mentions cutting the size of the Legislature to save Minnesota a lot of money. That is a start. But I would suggest that citizens should consider reducing other governmental bodies as well.

For example, California (the state used for comparison purposes) has 58 counties, Minnesota 87. Why not consolidate counties as we have school districts? Or consolidate our township governmental units?

Consolidation is rarely popular, but can we afford not to consider it as a means to resolve the budget shortfall?

•••

Let's go a step further and have citizens vote for term limits of our elected senators and representatives. Let's overhaul their pension plan that carries a payment that matches their annual salaries.

Wow, wouldn't the private citizens like a pension plan of this type? The way the economy is going we can no longer pay this expensive plan. Millions of private citizens have either lost their pension plan, or have reduced payments after working for many years.

DOREEN MACHIN, LAKEVILLE

I admire the doctors and researchers who are working to find answers and cures for diabetes ("Diabetes cure may be homegrown," Jan. 25). But why don't we hear more about the link between our culture's overprocessed, high-sugar diet and the soaring rates of diabetes?

MOLLY ROSENBERG, ST. PAUL

In response to the Jan. 29 letter about Coleman voters: 226 more voters did vote for Norm Coleman -- they just weren't counted.