Readers Write (Aug. 10): Twin Cities traffic congestion, Minneapolis police, personal care attendants and unions, GMOs, Terrace Theatre, Clinton, Trump and integrity

In response to an Aug. 8 letter, does the writer have any ideas where to get the money to add two lanes on Hwy. 169? The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) does not have the money. What has the writer done to help with MnDOT's effort to increase revenue? Has he ever talked to his state senator or legislator about increasing the gas tax? Does he know where they stand? If not, don't criticize. I suggest that the writer attend a legislative session on this issue next year so he can learn why it is so difficult to increase revenue for transportation needs. It is not the result of lack of effort by MnDOT. It is the result of inaction by the Legislature.

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What we all need to understand and apparently do not realize is that the public simply does not know how to drive. Transportation planners could build 15 lanes in every direction and it wouldn't change the fact that people who feel compelled to be in front of everyone else will continue to clog our freeways. Open areas in any lanes are seized by these people, which happen to be most of us, and simply do not understand the big picture. The left lane is for passing only. Once you have passed, move back over. If a person is driving 50 miles per hour, he should allow five car lengths of space ahead of him; 60 mph should be six lengths, and so on. These spaces, which require a certain amount of driver patience and consideration, would get everyone to his destination quicker and safer, allowing easier access on and off freeway ramps. Let us all save the state (us) a lot of money and learn how to drive.

Reading the Aug. 9 article "Use-of-force policy revised," I was once again angered to read comments by government officials and the Minneapolis police chief that police reform is necessary to mend fences and restore public trust. I believe the goal of police reform should be to stop the police from shooting to death innocent, unarmed black people and to ensure that blacks aren't stopped for minor traffic infractions, like a broken taillight, that white people aren't routinely stopped for. Once that goal is achieved, relations between the police and the community will heal on their own.

While I respect that Kris Greene's highest priority is care for her daughter, I had difficulty following her argument that unionization of personal care attendants amounts to "confiscation" of funds intended for her family ("Why personal care attendants should beat back the union," Opinion Exchange, Aug. 8). Medicaid is making payments for labor. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) exists to promote fair wages and working conditions, which in turn makes it possible for more individuals to serve as PCAs.

As a taxpayer, it is important to me that the Medicaid program covers services provided by workers who are not exploited. As a former public servant, I was glad to be represented by SEIU and happy to pay the dues. I regret that Ms. Greene encourages fellow PCAs to reject paying dues while receiving the benefits of union representation.

Recent letters and essays from big corporations and their shills (for example, the Chamber of Commerce) have touted the benefits of GMO foods and their safety. While the food products may be safe, the agricultural practices that GMO crops enable are not. GMO corn and soybeans are designed to survive higher applications of Roundup herbicide. Glyphosate, the chemical in Roundup, has been found in 93 percent of humans sampled, and in the majority of rivers and streams in more than three dozen states. So while GMO food may not kill you, the agricultural runoff might.

The Rainbow store was certainly large enough as grocery stores go. Why sacrifice the iconic Terrace to accommodate this monument to crass commercialism? Just because it's bigger doesn't mean it's better. Having said that, it seems that, for all the interest in preserving the theater structure, there is no interest (read: money) to renovate it and show movies again. Maybe Robbinsdale needs to talk to the folks at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights and offer them a deal to come in and restore the Terrace, then come to their senses and scale back the Hy-Vee proposal to a functional grocery store — which is what the people of Robbinsdale really want.

I agree with Michael Gersonthat there is "an acute shortage of public integrity at the highest level of our politics" — ever since the Citizens United political action committee was allowed to keep campaign donors anonymous ("We know Trump fumbled. So ... Clinton?, Aug. 9). How can anyone aspiring to higher office not compromise themselves when private money from corporations and billionaires influences elections?

As for the magnifying glass that is constantly applied to Hillary Clinton's character (three classified e-mails out of 10,000?): A woman has to be more qualified than a man to reach the same position. Clinton is 10 times less imperfect than Donald Trump, whose imperfections don't need magnifying.

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Perhaps the paramount lesson for the politician is guile. Almost all politicians learn it to survive — or is it called be re-elected?

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As much as I love reading the newspaper while drinking my morning coffee, as well as knowing fully there is no place else to get better local news, I am having a real internal struggle renewing my annual subscription.

I suppose I will renew in the end, but the continual browbeating about Republican presidential candidate Trump is getting hard to take. I am sure you are convincing fewer and fewer people that Trump is some sort of demon.

For many of us conservatives, maybe Trump was not our first choice, but he is the choice that has been made.

Likening the hate writing that the Star Tribune publishes to what was said about Jesse Ventura, who really didn't break anything, it no longer serves a purpose, in my judgment. Remember, Trump will be up against the same sort of and probably worse stalwart-to-themselves-only bureaucracy.