Readers Write for Thursday, May 28

I'm disappointed that columnist Dennis Anderson ("Legacy fight has winners, losers," May 22) detracted from the wonderful gift that the Legacy Amendment funding will provide for our state.

The real threat to the "casters and blasters" (which includes me) is not a few legislators who have a wider view of conservation than edible animals, but rather bulldozers in the woods, bilge hikers in ships, mercury from smokestacks, and the elimination of every tree and blade of grass in the agricultural landscape. It is time to tackle the serious problems and stop braying at friends.

LES EVERETT, ST. PAUL

I find it interesting that in their objections to the new rules Congress wants, the credit card companies are singing the same song the mortgage companies were singing. The name of the song is, "It's your fault we have to do it this way."

The first stanza is, "If we feel we are honest and up front with you, you might not use our stuff." The refrain is, "The only way we can make money is to screw you over." And the final verse is, "If we didn't screw you over, our CEOs couldn't make multimillion-dollar salaries, and what would we do without them?"

Thank you to Congress for starting to put things in place to get them back to doing what the rest of us have to do: earn the income they make.

BECKY COLE, ST. ANTHONY

Does the average Minnesotan know that the state has increased spending by an average of 19 percent per biennium over the last 39 years? Please do the math. With inflation running about 3 percent per year for the past 10 years, this means the state is spending at a rate of three times inflation. Now couple the state spending and inflation with your paycheck (providing you're still receiving one in these tough economic times); have your average pay increases run between 3 percent and 9.5 percent per year? I believe the majority of Minnesotans would come nowhere close to this figure. It's time to rein in state spending before we end up like California!

BOB JACKSON, ROSEMOUNT

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Every year local governments balance their budgets; work hard to provide the programs and services our residents need and want; plan for the future; strive to maintain adequate fund balances so we can pay our bills between the twice-a-year tax and aid payments from the state; react to mandates and funding changes from the state; make the tough choices if cuts need to be made; raise taxes if necessary, and answer directly to our friends, neighbors and constituents every day about the choices we make.

Contrast that to the governor's budget, which becomes balanced only by using huge amounts of one-time money and accounting shifts; that fails to build any appreciable budget reserves; that ignores problems looming on the horizon; that doesn't provide for more long-term stability, and that pushes tax increases down to the local level. All are poor examples to follow. Yet the governor continually lectures cities on what we should do to balance our budgets in the face of more cuts in state aid.

MAYOR STEVE COOK, HUTCHINSON, MINN.

I would add another cardinal sin to the 129 listed for restaurant staff (Taste, May 21): When trying to determine if a plate should be removed, asking "Are you still working on that?" instead of "Are you finished with your dinner?"

JACK MCHUGH, EDINA

The Star Tribune's May 23 editorial on new seat-belt laws gives readers the impression that Minnesota is sincerely interested in the public's safety. I'd like to know where the sincere concern is for motorcyclists, who aren't even required to wear helmets.

The article states that more than half of those killed in car crashes aren't wearing seat belts. I wonder what the statistics reveal about the mortality rate of bikers in accidents who do and do not wear helmets.