Letters to the editor for Saturday, Dec. 27

The Christmas Day story on farmers cutting down trees due to a property tax law change was sickening. The immediate solution is for the Legislature to pass a credit against paying 2009 taxes to stop this problem. I chair the board of 1000 Friends of Minnesota, a nonprofit focused on how Minnesota can grow without wrecking the place, and I will try to activate organizations to lobby to get this done. Please, farmers, take a chance and do not cut down more trees to save on property taxes.

How can the state afford this, given the budget crisis? First, it's a drop in the state fiscal bucket. Second, on Christmas Eve, I delivered to the governor and legislative leaders a plan to modernize our state/local fiscal system that could solve up to $2 billion or more of the problem and change many incentives from the wrong to the right direction.

Among the incentives to be reversed are those tied to the foolish notion, embodied in the culprit law here, that land is no more than an economic commodity. That is dead wrong; land is also at the foundation of the ecosystem. Minnesotans just amended the Constitution to better care for our lands and waters. For that expression of public will to mean anything, we must change our property tax system to deal with the reality of land's dual nature.

Contact me at johnpjames@ earthlink.net for a copy of my plan.

JOHN JAMES, LITTLE CANADA

While Jeremy Powers, Senate District 51 DFL chair, may make a reasonable point in his Dec. 24 letter "...you get what you pay for," it is hard for the average citizen to feel sorry for legislators not making enough money when they get perks like a $96 per day per diem for food alone.

Aren't they state employees, after all? Why aren't they getting the $31 per day that state employees get? If we are thinking of ways to cut the budget, why don't we start with cutting their per diem to $31 per day? Who can eat $96 per day of food anyway? That amount of money would feed a poor family for a number of days.

CHERYL HUNSTOCK, MINNEAPOLIS

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In response to the Dec. 24 letter about legislative pay cuts, and the writer's contention that legislators are underpaid: Maybe he's correct, but do we actually need 201 bodies in St. Paul to pass legislation? Maybe give them a raise, but let's cut the number of legislators in half. I'm pretty sure if we limit the number to around 100, that should be enough politicians to run the state.

JOSEPH ST. GERMAIN, FOREST LAKE

While many of us are unhappy about government handling of the bailout, let's not be too harsh. These economic times are unprecedented for most of us. The current recession, if that's only as deep as it goes, is totally unpredictable.

So getting people back to work producing significant quantities of goods sold to foreigners no longer seems a reasonable possibility.

The end result of the years of borrowing against our credit cards and homes and raiding our savings has come home to roost. The bear market in stocks and fear of being fired have paralyzed shoppers. We can no longer spend what we don't have in the bank. And that's bad news for every American because it holds out the strong possibility of a permanently lower standard of living.

MIKE DUCAR, EDINA

Cheers for the Burnsville High School students and other teens from Fellowship of Christian Athletes for their response to the apartment fire.

This is just another example of what I've maintained for years: Always remember the great kids far outnumber the troublemakers. Luckily there are enough great kids that they don't qualify as news.

Shortly after moving to Minneapolis in the 1970s, my husband and I discovered Theodore Wirth Park. Having grown up in arid western Colorado, my husband was amazed that a lush green expanse was just a few miles from our downtown neighborhood.

Within the grounds of this wonderful park we have run, skied, cycled, snow-shoed and hiked. We've gone swimming and sledding and played golf, enjoyed picnics and watched birds.

As I skied a well-groomed track on Christmas Day, I thought about the diverse enjoyment our park system has brought to our citizens.

I'm thankful we live in a metro area that offers so many year-round outdoor activities at low cost to individuals. For our community well-being, it is important we support our parks and open spaces despite state and local government budget challenges.

SUSAN CUSHMAN, GOLDEN VALLEY

Franken lived in New York City for 30 years, so he knows that state very well -- much better than he knows Minnesota.

A win-win: Minnesota keeps its excellent senator and gets rid of a carpetbagger. New York state gets rid of a carpetbagger, Caroline Kennedy, and keeps a state resident as senator.