Letters to the editor for Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008

Those who voted against the bailout should not be accused of "doing nothing." They are voting to let the market correct itself -- likely a painful process in the short term, but not provably wrong for the long term.

SUZANNE LAUKKA, EDEN PRAIRIE

•••

As a good mother knows, it's always hard to watch your child trip and fall, but your instincts tell you that it's necessary. Eventually the child learns to walk.

Nobody is talking about helping me with a recent cash-flow problem at my restaurant in south Minneapolis. I went out and, because of my good history of paying back loans and playing by the rules, found the money.

If those rules cease to have real meaning, then I quit. I'm only interested in doing business with ethical people in an ethical place.

KEVIN SHEEHY, MINNEAPOLIS

You don't need to be an economist to know what is wrong with the economy any more than you need to be a moral theologian to know that murder is wrong. When I hear the economists on the news say "credit is the life blood of our economy," I shout "no, it's the problem."

When I started Project for Pride in Living, a wise businessman told me that he funded the phenomenal growth of his business by profits, not debt. I took those words to heart and always funded PPL (and my personal net worth) by making more money than I spent. Now both are healthy. I doubt very much that they would have been bigger and healthier if I had gambled with debt financing.

On the macro level, I think countries that follow that philosophy do a lot better in the long run. The United States, with its deficit spending, is in a heap of trouble, needing less developed countries like China to buy our assets.

When I toured China recently our tour guide said, "Our leaders tell us that China cannot afford war." Isn't it ironic that the "godless communists" are becoming stronger than the "god-fearing capitalists."

All countries would grow stronger if we lived within our means and grew by profits, not debt.

•••

I suppose at some point, when the music has stopped playing and we're all catching our breath, someone will again bring forward the perennial "too big to fail" debate.

A question to ponder, however, is if it's too big to fail, is it too big?

If we're left with only a handful of banks, investment banks, insurance companies, etc., because one has gobbled up many more during this time, will my great-grandchildren have to get involved in bailing out the "too-big-to-fail" banks then?

MARK REID, PLYMOUTH

John McCain and other Republicans claim a "strongly worded partisan speech" by Speaker Nancy Pelosi caused the outcome of Monday's bailout vote to be "poisoned." That's a pretty pathetic reason for putting our nation's financial health at risk.

CHRIS MAU, OAKDALE

•••

Al-Qaida destroyed the World Trade Center in an attempt to inflict economic upheaval in the United States. Ultimately we promote the very same cause by heaping financial chaos upon ourselves.

PAUL RIDLEY, MINNEAPOLIS

St. Paul Police Chief Bob Fletcher and his crew found nothing that could be used for bombs during preemptive raids on houses of journalists and people who were organizing to cook food for others. He found two buckets of gray water (bath water that environmentalists keep and use to flush their toilets) and household items like jars, rags and peanut butter.

As to the incidents of property damage, our organization -- Communities United Against Police Brutality -- has two witnesses who state that the individual who broke the Macy's window stepped from behind the police line, broke the window and then returned behind that line. And, even if the individual is not associated with the police, a significant number of police officers watched the incident and did absolutely nothing to stop it.

Kersten is upset because we refuse to throw other activists under the bus for the benefit of the brutal cops whose grotesque overreaction to a few minor incidents resulted in hundreds of injuries and the crushing of the rights of thousands. I'm proud that we won't do it. We're clear who the real enemy is -- and it isn't "the anarchists" who only want a world without the kind of sick and twisted power dynamics that have us in a "war without end" and have brought our economy to near-implosion.

MICHELLE GROSS, MINNEAPOLIS

I will not shed any tears for the television networks and the Associated Press as they sue to gain access to the polls for purposes of exit polling (Star Tribune, Sept. 30). They are engaged in the disgusting practice of disintegrating the time-honored legacy of the secret ballot.

As a 12-year-old who likes reading the Star Tribune sports section, I find it frustrating that soccer is badly covered. I, as well as many of my friends, enjoy soccer. (The park I play for has three soccer teams and no football teams.) We like to watch Minnesota Thunder and Lightning games.

On Sunday night, my friends and I cheered on the Thunder in a playoff game against Vancouver. Even though the Thunder won, they were eliminated from the playoffs. On Monday, there was just a short story inside the sports section. Not only is it disappointing to miss coverage of our own state's professional team, it is also annoying to find little about international soccer. Next season, I hope the Star Tribune will publish more articles about soccer.