Readers write for Feb. 23, 2010

At the CPAC convention last week, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said (incorrectly) of Tiger Woods' situation, "We should take a page out of [Elin Woods'] playbook. Take a 9-iron and smash the window of big government in this country." Would the governor have said the same about Joseph Stack -- the man who flew an airplane into an office building in Austin, Texas, that housed IRS offices?

I have thought for a long time that our greatest threat does not come from the likes of Al-Qaida but from some homegrown domestic terrorist.

And this level of rhetoric is coming from a man who wants to be our next president?

CRAIG BRAYMEN, BALDWIN, WIS.

President Obama has created a panel to look into ways to cut the deficit. The panel is supposed to put politics aside and find ways to trim the red ink.

Of course, this commission was created for the sole purpose of insulating him from the inevitable conclusions -- cut spending and raise taxes. He thinks he's pulling a fast one on the American people.

We should really raise the roof because he's completely abdicating government's responsibility on this matter. He is, in fact, outsourcing the work of Congress.

Jim Lenfestey's Feb. 13 article ("Third parties are nothing but trouble") should have been titled "Democracies are nothing but trouble."

Lenfestey's hostility to third parties was an irrelevant accompaniment to Tim Penny's article in support of instant-runoff voting. After the close 2000 election debacle, when the nation didn't know the winner of the presidency for a month, neither party introduced serious electoral reform. The Democrats, instead, settled for blaming Reform Party candidate Ralph Nader.

Lenfestey points out that the last three gubernatorial elections have not produced a candidate winning an electoral majority. Besides instant runoff, a possible remedy would be an open primary in which the top two in a state race advanced to the general election, the way Minnesota picked the Legislature before 1974. Another alternative would be the Georgia system, which calls for a runoff when there is not a electoral majority.

It is disappointing that DFL partisans like Lenfestey do not respect electoral democracy.

PHILIP H. WILLKIE, MINNEAPOLIS

Bayh is a perfect example of the rampant corporatism that has infected our governing bodies from the top down, and the fact that a man with deep ties to the health care industry (his wife reportedly netted in excess of $2 million over the past six years as a member of Wellpoint's board of directors) could very possibly cash in on a lucrative lobbying job should get more attention.

As long as Washington's "revolving door" policy goes uncriticized by the mainstream press, the wrong kinds of people -- those motivated purely by self-interest -- will be attracted to public service.

TOM DOLAN, MINNEAPOLIS

Regarding the Feb. 19 editorial "Legislature must fix St. Croix loophole," how "wild and scenic" can our precious protected river be when a megamall of a new bridge is planned to slam into the shorelines and tower over our scenic St. Croix riverway? We need to find alternatives to preserve the valley from this irretrievable construction. Building a mansion on the river pales in comparison.

BARBARA BABER, HUDSON, WIS.

What is strange is that Republican legislators overwhelmingly voted for this bill -- 125-9 in the House and 47-16 in the Senate, but now are displaying hypocrisy by threatening to change their vote when it comes up for a veto override.

This inconsistent voting is a major reason why we have gridlock in state government. Pawlenty is responsible for so much gridlock and polarization. His veto of GAMC is just one of a long line of slights that he's given minorities and the poor in Minnesotans. He has ignored these communities.

Name one notable policy initiative or act that Pawlenty has ever promoted or actually done to really help these citizens.

GARY THOMPSON, ST. PAUL

In these tough economic times, with Minneapolis alleys suffering from a lack of snow removal, perhaps we should look at the ruts from a different perspective. After all, why should any of us venture off to Disneyland when we can experience "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" every time we navigate the alley in the hopes of skidding into our respective garages?