Letters to the editor for Monday, Oct. 13

It's nice to see the federal government acting so zealously to bring Tom Petters and his accomplices to justice for defrauding investors of $3 billion.

I only wish that same federal government would be equally as persistent in holding its own FDIC accountable for costing investors billions of dollars by suddenly and unnecessarily seizing Washington Mutual on Sept. 25 and selling its assets to J.P. Morgan Chase for pennies on the dollar. That opinion comes courtesy of a hardworking, responsible citizen who went to bed with $38,578 in his brokerage account and woke up with $3,623 remaining.

Perhaps the federal government can remember me when it comes time to disburse the funds taken from Petters' bank accounts.

KARL KLASSNER, LAKEVILLE

Don't expect economic recovery if our leaders continue to ban drilling and exploration for oil and natural gas. Stoking the drilling ban is Barack Obama, who claims that "we have 3 percent of the world's oil reserves." His numbers are totally obsolete.

He doesn't take into account the estimated 200 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Formation in Montana and North Dakota -- or the 1.2 trillion barrels of shale oil in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, or the 130 billion barrels in offshore oil reserves.

Canada is now ranked second in the world oil reserves behind Saudi Arabia. So why is Obama denying our children the good jobs, strong economy and wealth creation available to children to our north? We must unleash the natural resources here on American soil. Now, let's get drilling!

In response to Monte Bute's lawn sign commentary (Oct. 9): I don't have an Obama sign in my front yard. But you know what the Obama campaign did? Gave me a list of neighbors to talk to, and I've had the most interesting conversations with my neighbors, even the ones who are voting for the Republicans (though not many exist in my neighborhood). We've gotten to know each other a bit better. We've looked for opportunities of connection rather than division.

When I talk to my neighbors, I gain support for Obama as well as make my neighborhood more secure and, quite honestly, more neighborly.

Which is a better investment of my time? Shouting to the world about what I believe by putting up a sign or creating relationships with the people around me?

N. JEANNE BURNS, MINNEAPOLIS

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Monte Bute may be correct that signs play a role on campaigns, but he is wrong that it is difficult to get one, at least in Minnesota. Just drive around the Twin Cities, and you'll see.

ERIC HAUGEE, ST. PAUL

Despite Andy Brehm's defense of it (Oct. 8), what's wrong with the Electoral College is pretty obvious: California has a population of 36,553,215 and 55 votes in the Electoral College; North Dakota has a population of 639,715 and three electoral votes. This means every 664,604 Californians have one electoral vote while every 213,238 North Dakotans have one electoral vote.

The standard is "one person one vote," not one North Dakotan, three Californians.

I doubt that the nearly fourth-fifths of Americans who think the country is going in the wrong direction would agree that the difference between eight years of George W. Bush compared with Al Gore is so trivial that it can be ignored in the interest of protecting a relic of the 18th century.

On Nov. 4, Hennepin County residents will vote to fill an open judicial seat on the county bench.

I urge voters to select Jane Ranum as the best candidate to fill the open seat in District 54. A former elementary teacher and civil attorney, a state senator for 16 years and an assistant Hennepin County attorney for 26 years, Ranum has also been a community activist throughout the time she has lived in south Minneapolis.

Ranum has carried major legislation that has streamlined communication between law enforcement agencies. She has been an advocate for law enforcement and the courts. No one understands the many sides of the court system the way Ranum does.

DOUG ERNST, PLYMOUTH

The winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Martti Ahtisarri of Finland, is someone our leaders could learn from. If one man can negotiate peace agreements throughout the world, why can't our powerful government do the same? He is a great example that power does not have to come from military might.