Letters to the editor for Sunday, Sept. 21

The government has stepped in and bailed out AIG because, we are told, it is too big to fail. It is involved in too many areas and would cause too many disruptions.

If a company is allowed to become so big we can't allow it to fail it undermines business. If it can't fail, it changes the way it will make business decisions. It has an unfair advantage over its not too big to fail competitors. It can take on higher risks than its competitors, safe in the knowledge that it'll be bailed out if something happens.

This creates an environment that rewards more and more speculation without the usual balance of risks as a downside, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab when the house of cards falls.

PAUL KOPNICK, BLOOMINGTON

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When the American people were hit last week with the devastating news of the Wall Street meltdown, Sen. Barack Obama missed an opportunity to reclaim the Obama brand: an iconic hope-oriented speech, uplifting us in the midst of crisis with the inspiring rhetoric that has made him famous. Instead, he used the crisis as another opportunity to attack John McCain. Maybe Obama's strategy will help him win, but it will be the American people who will lose if it turns out "hope" was just a marketing strategy, abandoned when no longer expedient.

KARA WEST, MAPLE GROVE

Sorry, Sen. McCain. It's too late for a commission to study the economy. My recollection is that McCain wants less governmental regulation of the economy. He's the guy who wants Social Security to be privatized. Can you imagine the mess this country would be in if the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers was investing our Social Security monies? We need action with real leadership -- something McCain's been incapable of providing during his 22 years in the U.S. Senate.

BRENT SJODIN, MINNEAPOLIS

After reading the Sept. 14 full-page article about "How Palin governs," I'm inclined to think it's just that Dick Cheney had a sex-change operation and changed his name.

I'm neither a Democrat nor a Republican, by the way. I vote for who I think is the "best" candidate.

RICHARD KLEVEN, HAM LAKE

REBECCA THIESSE, OLIVIA, MINN.

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Norm Coleman's ad says that Al Franken is angry. Well, guess what? So am I!

My question to Sen. Coleman is why aren't you mad at what is happening to this country? November can't get here soon enough for me.

JOHN REYNOLDS, MERRIFIELD, MINN.

We had no warning, no vote, no input. Our access road to the forest was closed (via signage) so we have to go 2 miles to the highway, through the ditches (which is legal) and proceed 5 miles further down the highway to access a road which may or may not be open. These roads are open to cars and trucks.

The Department of Natural Resources has to remember that it does not own public property, the people do! I don't approve of those tearing up habitat, but we don't punish all people for the crimes of a few.

SUSAN RICE, ST. CLOUD

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Last June I observed three all-terrain vehicles leave a closed trail in a state forest. An adult led the small pack on a large ATV. Trailing him on smaller ATVs were two young kids in helmets and safety gear. I know the trail. It, and many others in the same area, were constructed in 2000 by persons unknown, across state forest land, through wetlands, and up and across steep slopes. Eight years later, two years after being designated closed, this trail is actively used and more rutted every weekend.

ATV problems are not going away in spite of forest designation plans and a few new regulations. How about an ultimatum from our resource-minded legislative leaders to ATV users? Shape up by 2010 or our ATV friendly regulations like "open" and "managed" state forests and the "big game hunting" ATV use exemption disappear? And ATV registration fees double and ATV trail building and maintenance funding gets redirected to increased enforcement.