Readers write (April 18): Taxes, racial disparities, funding priorities, Timberwolves

I have finished doing my taxes. My family will pay 36.2 percent of our gross income for federal, state, Social Security, Medicare and real-estate taxes.

If I include sales tax, gas taxes and utility taxes, it would be nearly 40 percent. Yet I have my governor and president telling me we are not paying enough.

We are not rich. We have worked hard, saved money, lived conservatively, and were hoping to reap the benefits of our lifestyle as we got older.

Some folks in leadership positions would like to penalize us for our responsible financial behavior.

I believe:

• There's something inherently wrong with one group of people wanting to raise the taxes on another group of people (like the Twins and the Hennepin County tax).

• There's something inherently wrong when people receiving the government money or aid have a louder voice than the folks paying the bills.

• That we are watching our future unfold in Europe as countries, one by one, encounter severe financial problems and require bailouts.

• That our federal, state and local governments are having money problems because they spend too much and use our money inefficiently, not because we are undertaxed.

• That any mistakes or problems my family has should be solved by us, not by the government.

• That two families making the same amount of money should pay the same amount of taxes, period. It should be impossible to avoid taxes through loopholes or deductions.

We will be leaving this state upon retirement for one with lower or no taxes -- one that doesn't penalize successful families for hard work and for trying to do the right thing.

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So, Lisa Albrecht thinks whites can benefit from examining their privileges because they're a majority ("White guilt? No, it's about bigger things," April 14)?

The problem is that she doesn't go far enough! Here are some more majority groups that could benefit from humble self-examination of their "privileges."

• Hutus in Rwanda. (Ask the Tutsis.)

• Communists in China. (Ask Ai Weiwei, the architect who just disappeared.)

• Muslims in Egypt. (Christians were recently murdered and churches were burned there.)

• Capitalists on Wall Street.

• Liars in politics.

• Packer backers in Wisconsin.

• Nutters in Hollywood.

A majority-white nation just elected a black president. Continually picking at the scab of racism simply ensures that the wound will never heal.

CHIP COMBS, EDINA

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I find it extremely sad and ironic at a time that Congress is cutting funding for "Sesame Street" in the United States, USAID, an arm of our State Department, is funding a $20 million grant to bring Sesame Street to Pakistani children ("Elmo's world gets a lot bigger," April 10). That is on top of $1.5 billion already given to Pakistan yearly.

Is it any surprise that American children are falling behind?

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I was more than slightly surprised and disappointed in my elected officials when I read that the city of Minneapolis and UCare are donating funds to assist residents in Somalia. I completely agree with funds from sources such as United Way, Red Cross and other "nonprofit" organizations.

However, my home has decreased in value yet my property taxes have continually increased on an annual basis. Why would we send local money abroad when we have so many needs here in our own city and state?

KATHLEEN BALABAN, MINNEAPOLIS

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Boss Kahn's teams have amassed an ineffaceable record of 32-132. I vote in favor of giving him another year to show considerable improvement, but only if he quits insulting us by suggesting that the team needs some fine-tuning and is viewed among NBA rivals as a "team on the come."

David, be a man, 'fess up, and then move on.

MICHAEL PERLMAN, MINNETONKA

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